Monthly Archives: May 2021

Netflix’s Castlevania Releases New Images From Final Season

Netflix has released a batch of new images from Castlevania’s upcoming final season, giving us another glimpse of Belmont, Sypha, Alucard, and their vampiric company beyond last week’s trailer.

Check out the gallery below.

[widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=netflixs-castlevania-season-4-first-look-images&captions=true"]

Notably, we get another look at Alucard with his shield, originally seen in Symphony of the Night. We also see the mysterious Saint Germain again in what appears to be the dimensional portal (otherwise known as the “Infinite Corridor”) he willingly leapt into at the end of season three.

Castlevania’s 10-episode final season kicks off on May 13, and promises to follow up on Belmont and Sypha’s fight with the vampiric Council of Sisters, as well as a possible resurrection of Vlad Dracula himself.

[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/03/05/netflixs-castlevania-season-3-review"]

Despite the whole “final season” thing, another Castlevania spinoff series is in the works at Netflix, which will explore a new cast of characters. Considering IGN gave Castlevania season three a 10 out of 10, we can’t complain. Castlevania’s success on Netflix has led the streaming giant to adapt other popular game franchises into animated series, including DOTA, The Witcher, Assassin’s Creed, and Cyberpunk 2077. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Joseph Knoop is a writer/producer/coffin-dweller for IGN.

Netflix’s Castlevania Releases New Images From Final Season

Netflix has released a batch of new images from Castlevania’s upcoming final season, giving us another glimpse of Belmont, Sypha, Alucard, and their vampiric company beyond last week’s trailer.

Check out the gallery below.

[widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=netflixs-castlevania-season-4-first-look-images&captions=true"]

Notably, we get another look at Alucard with his shield, originally seen in Symphony of the Night. We also see the mysterious Saint Germain again in what appears to be the dimensional portal (otherwise known as the “Infinite Corridor”) he willingly leapt into at the end of season three.

Castlevania’s 10-episode final season kicks off on May 13, and promises to follow up on Belmont and Sypha’s fight with the vampiric Council of Sisters, as well as a possible resurrection of Vlad Dracula himself.

[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/03/05/netflixs-castlevania-season-3-review"]

Despite the whole “final season” thing, another Castlevania spinoff series is in the works at Netflix, which will explore a new cast of characters. Considering IGN gave Castlevania season three a 10 out of 10, we can’t complain. Castlevania’s success on Netflix has led the streaming giant to adapt other popular game franchises into animated series, including DOTA, The Witcher, Assassin’s Creed, and Cyberpunk 2077. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Joseph Knoop is a writer/producer/coffin-dweller for IGN.

Nintendo ‘s Game Builder Garage Looks Like Labo Meets Dreams

Nintendo has announced Game Builder Garage, a new game that will let you "learn to make games from the minds at Nintendo." Its guided lessons and cute characters are designed to help you create a multitude of gaming experiences. On the face of it, the new game looks a lot like Dreams, which was released on PlayStation 4 in early 2020. It also seems to be in the spirit of Labo, which encouraged kids to craft unique items using cardboard. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/05/05/game-builder-garage-announcement-trailer"] Game Builder Garage is designed to teach visual game programming by connecting creatures called "Nodon." There are dozens of Nodon in Game Builder Garage, each with its own unique function. Lessons will be available to teach you the basics of designing games, with Free Programming mode available for those who want to go wild. The experiences touted in the trailer include platformers, shoot 'em ups, and something called "Tuna Cube Factory 2." It will also be possible to exchange and download games over the internet or via local wireless, which you can then examine via Free Programming mode to learn their inner workings. To aid in development, Game Builder Garage will support a compatible mouse, which can be plugged into the USB port on the Switch dock. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=screens-game-builder-garage&captions=true"] The announcement comes ahead of Nintendo's earnings release, which is expected tomorrow. Game Builder Garage will release June 11 on Nintendo Switch. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Kat Bailey is a Senior News Editor at IGN. 

Nintendo ‘s Game Builder Garage Looks Like Labo Meets Dreams

Nintendo has announced Game Builder Garage, a new game that will let you "learn to make games from the minds at Nintendo." Its guided lessons and cute characters are designed to help you create a multitude of gaming experiences. On the face of it, the new game looks a lot like Dreams, which was released on PlayStation 4 in early 2020. It also seems to be in the spirit of Labo, which encouraged kids to craft unique items using cardboard. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/05/05/game-builder-garage-announcement-trailer"] Game Builder Garage is designed to teach visual game programming by connecting creatures called "Nodon." There are dozens of Nodon in Game Builder Garage, each with its own unique function. Lessons will be available to teach you the basics of designing games, with Free Programming mode available for those who want to go wild. The experiences touted in the trailer include platformers, shoot 'em ups, and something called "Tuna Cube Factory 2." It will also be possible to exchange and download games over the internet or via local wireless, which you can then examine via Free Programming mode to learn their inner workings. To aid in development, Game Builder Garage will support a compatible mouse, which can be plugged into the USB port on the Switch dock. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=screens-game-builder-garage&captions=true"] The announcement comes ahead of Nintendo's earnings release, which is expected tomorrow. Game Builder Garage will release June 11 on Nintendo Switch. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Kat Bailey is a Senior News Editor at IGN. 

Mads Mikkelsen Says He Has Been “Invited to Create a Character” for Indiana Jones 5

After many years of development, Indiana Jones 5 is finally set to begin production. The project has been filling out its cast throughout the spring, with Mads Mikkelsen, one of Hollywood's favorite franchise actors, joining the ensemble. Though details about the story are being kept under wraps, Mikkelsen spoke to Collider recently to discuss his collaborative approach to realizing his character in the film. "I do think I’m invited in to create a character, I think that everybody wants that," Mikkelsen said. "That’s why they pick certain actors that they think can come up with certain things, and it will be a collaboration as it always is." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/10/24/uncharted-movie-vs-indiana-jones-5-which-might-be-better"] Mikkelsen went on to compare his function in the film to that of character actor Peter Lorre, whose performances added color to numerous Hollywood productions, from Casablanca to The Maltese Falcon. "There is kind of a genre mix in Indiana Jones always," the actor said. "There is something that is a little larger-than-life, almost back to the 30s with a Peter Lorre kind of feel, and then you have Indiana Jones who kind of is a straight man. But he does produce a lot of funny and interesting things, but there are different character genres in some of those films.” Mikkelsen also expressed his excitement to be involved with the series, extending his praise to the script for the upcoming film. "I’m very, very excited about it," Mikkelsen said. "I rewatched Raiders of the Lost Ark the other day. It is so well-done and so charming, and it’s such great storytelling. So yes it’s a great honor to be part of that franchise that I grew up with… I’m in a lucky position where they let me read the script before. And yes, it was everything I wished it to be, so that was just great.” In addition to Mikkelsen, Fleabag's Phoebe Waller-Bridge and German actor Thomas Krestchmann have been cast alongside Harrison Ford for the film. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/04/15/riders-of-justice-exclusive-official-trailer"] Disney has scheduled Indiana Jones 5 for a July 29, 2022 release. Steven Spielberg was previously attached to return to the series, but eventually left the project over disagreements on the script. Logan and Ford v Ferrari director James Mangold is now set to helm the project. [poilib element="accentDivider"] J. Kim Murphy is a freelance entertainment writer.

Mads Mikkelsen Says He Has Been “Invited to Create a Character” for Indiana Jones 5

After many years of development, Indiana Jones 5 is finally set to begin production. The project has been filling out its cast throughout the spring, with Mads Mikkelsen, one of Hollywood's favorite franchise actors, joining the ensemble. Though details about the story are being kept under wraps, Mikkelsen spoke to Collider recently to discuss his collaborative approach to realizing his character in the film. "I do think I’m invited in to create a character, I think that everybody wants that," Mikkelsen said. "That’s why they pick certain actors that they think can come up with certain things, and it will be a collaboration as it always is." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/10/24/uncharted-movie-vs-indiana-jones-5-which-might-be-better"] Mikkelsen went on to compare his function in the film to that of character actor Peter Lorre, whose performances added color to numerous Hollywood productions, from Casablanca to The Maltese Falcon. "There is kind of a genre mix in Indiana Jones always," the actor said. "There is something that is a little larger-than-life, almost back to the 30s with a Peter Lorre kind of feel, and then you have Indiana Jones who kind of is a straight man. But he does produce a lot of funny and interesting things, but there are different character genres in some of those films.” Mikkelsen also expressed his excitement to be involved with the series, extending his praise to the script for the upcoming film. "I’m very, very excited about it," Mikkelsen said. "I rewatched Raiders of the Lost Ark the other day. It is so well-done and so charming, and it’s such great storytelling. So yes it’s a great honor to be part of that franchise that I grew up with… I’m in a lucky position where they let me read the script before. And yes, it was everything I wished it to be, so that was just great.” In addition to Mikkelsen, Fleabag's Phoebe Waller-Bridge and German actor Thomas Krestchmann have been cast alongside Harrison Ford for the film. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/04/15/riders-of-justice-exclusive-official-trailer"] Disney has scheduled Indiana Jones 5 for a July 29, 2022 release. Steven Spielberg was previously attached to return to the series, but eventually left the project over disagreements on the script. Logan and Ford v Ferrari director James Mangold is now set to helm the project. [poilib element="accentDivider"] J. Kim Murphy is a freelance entertainment writer.

EA Buys Super Mega Baseball Developer Metalhead Software

EA has purchased Super Mega Baseball developer Metalhead Software. The two companies will combine to grow Metalhead’s Super Mega Baseball franchise, marking EA’s first venture back into the realm of Major League Baseball since losing the rights to 2K in 2005. EA last published MVP 07: NCAA Baseball in 2007.

[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/05/12/super-mega-baseball-3-review"]

Terms of the acquisition have not been disclosed, so it remains to be seen how much money EA spent on the acquisition.

The Super Mega Baseball franchise began with 2014’s first game, garnering high praise for its easy to learn controls and difficulty options. Super Mega Baseball 3, released in May 2020, similarly features an unlicensed take on baseball that isn’t as deep as MLB The Show, but is nonetheless fun and interesting to play. Despite the cartoonish avatars of baseball players, the series is less NFL Blitz and more accessible simulation, but doesn't feature any actual licensed MLB teams or products.

EA has been busy acquiring multiple studios known for their work in sports games. EA acquired Dirt series developer Codemasters for $1.2 billion in early 2021, acknowledging plans to release a new racing game every year. Codemasters also owns the Project cars and GRID franchises. EA Sports previously announced its return to developing officially licensed NCAA football games for the first time since 2013.

[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/05/11/super-mega-baseball-3-gameplay-trailer"]

“We put together a deliberate growth strategy for EA Sports that includes getting into a number of new sports that we haven’t been in, in a while, and placing our bets in certain places,” Cam Weber, senior vice president in charge of EA Sports, told Polygon. “One of those things was re-establishing a presence in baseball, and looking at our options there.”

If you’re wondering what EA’s involvement means for future installments of Super Mega Baseball, Weber says the publisher intends on keeping the goofy aesthetic and sense of humor.

“My belief is that Super Mega Baseball is well differentiated from MLB The Show, and I think it has its own spot in the marketplace,” Weber told Polygon.

As for official MLB licensing, things are still up in the air. Weber told Polygon that Super Mega Baseball may “possibly” become the basis for other MLB-licensed games, but declined to comment on further specifics.

“Obviously, we’re just completing the acquisition this week,” Weber told Polygon. “We’re going to sit down together and map out the future, and map out what we can do to expand and build up. I would like to build out Super Mega Baseball, at depth, and kind of fully realize what the team’s vision is for the game. And then, like I said, we will explore other sports as well and grow the studio. I think when it comes to licensing, we will look at what — for each individual game they work on, including Super Mega Baseball — we will look at what’s the best path forward to realize the vision.”

[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/09/22/the-5-biggest-takeaways-from-xboxs-bethesda-acquisition"]

EA also acquired Glu Mobile, makers of the mobile game TapSports Baseball ‘20 (among others) in early 2021 for $2.1 billion, making it one of the most expensive acquisitions in games industry history. Weber says that porting the Super Mega Baseball experience to mobile is not in EA’s short-term plans.

EA is currently working on a new next-gen PGA Tour game, saying that more news is coming in the near future. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Joseph Knoop is a writer/producer/pinch-hitter for IGN.

EA Buys Super Mega Baseball Developer Metalhead Software

EA has purchased Super Mega Baseball developer Metalhead Software. The two companies will combine to grow Metalhead’s Super Mega Baseball franchise, marking EA’s first venture back into the realm of Major League Baseball since losing the rights to 2K in 2005. EA last published MVP 07: NCAA Baseball in 2007.

[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/05/12/super-mega-baseball-3-review"]

Terms of the acquisition have not been disclosed, so it remains to be seen how much money EA spent on the acquisition.

The Super Mega Baseball franchise began with 2014’s first game, garnering high praise for its easy to learn controls and difficulty options. Super Mega Baseball 3, released in May 2020, similarly features an unlicensed take on baseball that isn’t as deep as MLB The Show, but is nonetheless fun and interesting to play. Despite the cartoonish avatars of baseball players, the series is less NFL Blitz and more accessible simulation, but doesn't feature any actual licensed MLB teams or products.

EA has been busy acquiring multiple studios known for their work in sports games. EA acquired Dirt series developer Codemasters for $1.2 billion in early 2021, acknowledging plans to release a new racing game every year. Codemasters also owns the Project cars and GRID franchises. EA Sports previously announced its return to developing officially licensed NCAA football games for the first time since 2013.

[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/05/11/super-mega-baseball-3-gameplay-trailer"]

“We put together a deliberate growth strategy for EA Sports that includes getting into a number of new sports that we haven’t been in, in a while, and placing our bets in certain places,” Cam Weber, senior vice president in charge of EA Sports, told Polygon. “One of those things was re-establishing a presence in baseball, and looking at our options there.”

If you’re wondering what EA’s involvement means for future installments of Super Mega Baseball, Weber says the publisher intends on keeping the goofy aesthetic and sense of humor.

“My belief is that Super Mega Baseball is well differentiated from MLB The Show, and I think it has its own spot in the marketplace,” Weber told Polygon.

As for official MLB licensing, things are still up in the air. Weber told Polygon that Super Mega Baseball may “possibly” become the basis for other MLB-licensed games, but declined to comment on further specifics.

“Obviously, we’re just completing the acquisition this week,” Weber told Polygon. “We’re going to sit down together and map out the future, and map out what we can do to expand and build up. I would like to build out Super Mega Baseball, at depth, and kind of fully realize what the team’s vision is for the game. And then, like I said, we will explore other sports as well and grow the studio. I think when it comes to licensing, we will look at what — for each individual game they work on, including Super Mega Baseball — we will look at what’s the best path forward to realize the vision.”

[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/09/22/the-5-biggest-takeaways-from-xboxs-bethesda-acquisition"]

EA also acquired Glu Mobile, makers of the mobile game TapSports Baseball ‘20 (among others) in early 2021 for $2.1 billion, making it one of the most expensive acquisitions in games industry history. Weber says that porting the Super Mega Baseball experience to mobile is not in EA’s short-term plans.

EA is currently working on a new next-gen PGA Tour game, saying that more news is coming in the near future. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Joseph Knoop is a writer/producer/pinch-hitter for IGN.

Succession Season 3 Adds Adrien Brody to the Cast

After numerous production delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, HBO's Succession is finally getting back on track. Last year's Emmy winner for Best Drama Series has added Adrien Brody to its cast for Season 3. Brody will guest star throughout Season 3 as Josh Aaronson, a billionaire activist and investor who becomes entangled in the Roy family's power struggle over the ownership of Waystar. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/05/30/hbo-max-streaming-service-review"] Brody is only the latest addition that Succession has made to its cast. Earlier this week, Alexander Skarsgård was announced for the upcoming season in the role of a tech CEO named Lukas Matsson. Skarsgård was last seen on HBO in the first season of Big Little Lies. Succession is the second HBO project that Brody has signed on for in recent months. The actor is also set to play basketball coach Pat Riley in the network's upcoming series dramatizing the professional and personal lives of the 1980's Los Angeles Lakers. Brody's last television role was on Peaky Blinders. The actor guest-starred as Italian gangster Luca Changretta throughout Season 4 of the crime show. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=everything-coming-to-hbo-max&captions=true"] HBO has not announced a premiere date for Season 3 of Succession, though production is now underway in New York. The series originally planned to film Season 3 in the early months of 2020, but those plans were put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In our 2019 year-end awards, IGN named Succession the Best Drama TV Series and the Best TV Ensemble. [poilib element="accentDivider"] J. Kim Murphy is a freelance entertainment writer. (Photo by Antony Jones/Getty Images)

The Official Stranger Things YouTube Channel Is Teasing Something Possibly Related to Season 4

A new and strange video uploaded to the official Stranger Things YouTube channel seems to be teasing something related to Season 4 of the Netflix show. It's been nearly two years since Season 3 of Netflix's Stranger Things and with no official release date in sight for Season 4, the teases continue to roll out. This time around, a new video has appeared on the Stranger Things YouTube channel that has to do with Hawkins National Laboratory, the lab heavily featured in the show's first season. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/07/06/what-will-happen-in-stranger-things-season-4"] "Due to technical difficulties, Hawkins National Laboratory will be closed until further notice," the video's description reads. "We will be back in service tomorrow at 9 a.m. ET." If you watch the video, you'll see what appears to be a bottom-up view of seven television screens. A strange, operatic song plays throughout the nearly two-minute video and occasionally throughout it, the screens flash video feeds. What's shown on the feeds gets progressively darker. At first, it appears to be video of a children's play area in the laboratory, or at least, an area decorated with comfy chairs, rainbows, and more. As the video goes on, we're shown chess pieces on a table followed by a bloody 8-ball. After that, one of the screen flashes what appears to be the floor of the room covered in blood. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/07/04/stranger-things-season-3-post-credits-scene-explained"] What all of this could mean is unknown. Perhaps it has something to do with Hopper, who is still alive, although his whereabouts are unknown. Maybe it's about another child with Eleven-like abilities who escaped from the laboratory in a bloody way. For now, we'll just have to wait and see. In the meantime, read this story about a "huge" backstory reveal happening in Season 4 related to Hopper and then check out this story about Stranger Things Season 4 adding Robert Englund to its cast. Catch up on our thoughts on the latest season of the show in IGN's Stranger Things Season 3 review after that. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Wesley LeBlanc is a freelance news writer and guide maker for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @LeBlancWes