The man behind Luke Skywalker himself is defending the Star Wars prequels in a new interview. Star Wars icon Mark Hamill was interviewed for Howard Kazanjian: A Producer's Life, a book on the producer of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. In the interview, as reported by IndieWire, Hamill gave some love to prequel defenders across the galaxy.

“I was impressed the prequels had their own identity,” Hamill said. “They were criticized because they were exposition-heavy and more cerebral and probably, like he said back in 1976, they weren’t as commercial. It’s a darker story."

Hamill went on to say he's shocked at how brutal people can be on social media, both in regards to their Star Wars opinions, and otherwise.

Debate over the Star Wars prequels and sequels has been reignited recently, thanks to Marcia Lucas' comments about the films. Lucas is the Oscar-winning editor behind the original trilogy, and George Lucas' ex-wife.

In the very same book as Hamill's latest comments, Lucas talked about how she felt after seeing The Phantom Menace, saying, "I remember going out to the parking lot, sitting in my car and crying. I cried. I cried because I didn't think it was very good."

Lucas was also critical of the controversial sequel trilogy, saying, "when I saw the movie where they kill Han Solo, I was furious... Absolutely, positively there was no rhyme or reason to it. I thought, 'You don't get the Jedi story. You don't get the magic of Star Wars.'"

Hamill has previously spoken out about the sequels, saying he didn't agree with how The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson handled Luke in the film. However, Hamill later said he regretted voicing his concerns to the public, saying on Twitter, "All I wanted was to make good movie. I got more than that — @rianjohnson made an all-time GREAT one!" Hamill later spoke to IGN on the weirdly tragic trajectory of Luke Skywalker.

For more, check out how Star Wars Visions fits into the canon of the galaxy far, far away.

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN. You can find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.

Halo infinite's second multiplayer tech preview was this past weekend, and as you could guess, dataminers dug through the game and uncovered a lot of interesting images, from vehicle attachments to Spartan poses and even a render of the Scorpion battle tank.

First spotted by Redditor marcopolo444, the user posted a series of links and images, which show off a ton of content that did not make it into the latest technical preview for Halo Infinite. The post suggests that a lot of content will make its way into Halo Infinite at some point. This includes a helmet attachment that adds a Santa Claus hat on your Spartan, three images of maps we have yet to see in the technical preview, and a series of emblems that seem to take inspiration from famous memes.

Additionally, Twitter user @HaloCreation posted a video of playing the technical preview with split-screen enabled. Perhaps the most interesting thing from datamine this past weekend comes from Twitter user @HaloNoticiasMX, who tweeted a thread of various vehicles. Some were included in this weekend's tech preview, but some, such as the Scorpion was discovered.

[HILO] Vehículos de Halo Infinite Gameplay.

➡️Scorpion. pic.twitter.com/rOzsnIKJq0

— Halo Infinite Noticias & Filtraciones (@HaloNoticiasMX) September 26, 2021

Halo Infinite is scheduled to have another technical test beginning September 30 from October 4. According to the official schedule, the upcoming technical preview notes that Big Team Battle will be included in the weekend's multiplayer playlists.

Halo Infinite will release on December 8 for PC and Xbox. The multiplayer component will be free-to-play and both the single-player campaign and multiplayer will be available day one to Xbox Game Pass subscribers.

Taylor is the Associate Tech Editor at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.

The long, twilight struggle for a Babylon 5 reboot could be finally coming to an end. The Hollywood Reporter reports that a "from-the-ground-up reboot" of the 90s cult favorite sci-fi classic is in development for The CW with original creator Joe Michael Straczynski as writer and executive producer.

The new version will reportedly revolve around series protagonist John Sheridan as he takes command of Babylon 5 — a diplomatic station built in the wake of a devastating war with an advanced alien race. Notably, the concept doesn't appear to include original protagonist Jeffrey Sinclair, who exited the series as a regular after the first season but continue to have a role in the story.

Babylon 5 originally aired from 1993 to 1998, earning several awards along the way, including a Hugo. It was notable for its ambitious five-year story arc — a rarity in an era where syndicated television prized standalone episodes. Straczynski, affectionately known as JMS by his fans, was also something of an online trailblazer, interacting with fans through newsgroups and other early internet forums. The Lurker's Guide to Babylon 5 remains a fascinating early internet time capsule in that respect.

JMS has since moved on to various other projects, working on comics, an aborted World War Z script, and Sense8. The last major Babylon 5 project was the direct-to-DVD Lost Tales, which received mixed to poor reviews from critics.

While beloved in its day, Babylon 5 has been overshadowed in recent years by Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, which enjoyed bigger budgets and better production values than its competitor. Babylon 5 has likewise been hampered by its computer-generated special effects — once revolutionary, but now rather poor on high-definition televisions due to various mastering issues. All of these elements have had fans crying out for a reboot for many years now, which finally seems to be coming to fruition at The CW.

Stracynski is currently working on the reboot alongside Warner Bros., which helped produce the original Babylon 5, and will help pen the script. In the meantime, you can catch a remastered version of the original show on HBO Max, which cleans up the original special effects at the expense of returning to the original 4:3 aspect ratio.

Kat Bailey is a Senior News Editor at IGN.

The Dungeons & Dragons team has announced that the next iteration of the tabletop fantasy RPG will debut in 2024.

Revealed at D&D Celebration 2021, the next iteration of Dungeons & Dragons - though not officially named as D&D 6e - will launch with new versions of the core rulebooks to coincide with D&D's 50th anniversary. "Earlier this year, we began work on the next evolution of Dungeons & Dragons," said D&D's Executive Producer Ray Winninger during the "Future of D&D" panel, where they also outlined new sourcebooks focusing on both classic and brand new game settings (similar to this year's Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft or 2019's Ebberon: Rising from the Last War) coming in 2022 and '23.

Winninger says the new ruleset will still be compatible with Fifth Edition books and supplements, and will be largely designed based on community feedback for 5e. "We really really appreciate that feedback," Winninger said, continuing "we're doing our best to give you the version of the game that you really want.

While there weren't many concrete details discussed during the D&D Live panel – apart from that there may be a digital component or supplement involved – it sounds like we can expect a lot more information about what to expect once the team is a little further along in the development process next year. "We can't really say much more yet about what our plans are, we're still making them," Winninger said when asked about the development of this next iteration. "Next year we'll have lots more to say about the future of D&D ... and, probably most importantly, when we're ready to talk more about our plans next year, we'll have a lot more to say about how the fans can contribute and help shape this game into all that it can be."

JR is a Senior Producer at IGN, you can follow him on Twitter for more video games and tabletop RPG shenanigans.

Welcome back to IGN Game Scoop!, the ONLY video game podcast! This week your Omega Cops -- Daemon Hatfield, Tina Amini, Sam Claiborn, and Justin Davis -- are discussing that big Nintendo Direct, Kirby, Metroid Dread, Castlevania Advance, Zookeeper World, and more. And, of course, they play Video Game 20 Questions.

Watch the video above or hit the link below to your favorite podcast service.

Listen on:

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Find previous episodes here!

One of the biggest shows currently on Netflix is the South Korean import Squid Game. Now fan-made Squid Game experiences are popping up all over Roblox.

Squid Game was released on September 17 and has quickly become one of the most buzzed-about shows on Netflix, becoming the first South Korean television show to hit the number one spot in Netflix’s Top 10.

This popularity seems to be reaching across mediums as in recent days fan-made games based on the same deadly challenges seen in Squid Game have begun cropping up all over Roblox. There are already several Squid Game Roblox remakes on the site’s “Popular” section, which is impressive as a recent investigation by People Make Games reveals just how difficult it is to get your game featured on Roblox’s front page.

The Squid Game Roblox remakes are sometimes listed under different names like “Fish Game” or “Hexa Game,” but these experiences straight-up lift the costumes and challenges directly from the Netflix series. A quick search for ‘Squid Game’ on Roblox’s site reveals even more remakes that haven’t broken into Roblox’s most popular categories.

Squid Game is a nine-episode South Korean thriller where everyday people are gathered on a remote island to play deadly children’s games for the chance to win a big cash prize and escape poverty.

These challenges include playground games like Red Light, Green Light, or Tug-of-War, only the consequences for losing are deadly. While many have highlighted its similarities to older survival movies like Battle Royale, as well as the show's critiques of capitalism which is a popular topic in South Korean media, Squid Game's style and gore makes it a unique take on the genre.

The full first season is available to watch now on Netflix.

Matt T.M. Kim is IGN's News Editor. You can reach him @lawoftd.

Thumbnail Image Credit: Roblox, Artist @Zyleth, GOODJUJU

Outfits in Horizon Forbidden West will have skills attached to them, Guerrilla Games has revealed.

In a post on the PlayStation Blog discussing how Horizon Zero Dawn's lead protagonist Aloy will shape up in the franchise's upcoming sequel, Guerrilla Games Community Lead Bo de Vries spoke about the range of outfits that will be available to Aloy throughout Horizon Forbidden West and how the studio is building up versatility within this aspect of the game.

"Horizon Forbidden West will have a range of outfits for Aloy to benefit from; similar to and perhaps familiar from the first game, outfits allow for protection against a variety of dangers that Aloy encounters and can be purchased from Merchants or found in the world," says de Vries.

"A new addition to the system is that outfits in Horizon Forbidden West have skills attached to them, so players can boost their abilities in different ways. Maximizing these skills happens through a new and improved Skill Tree, something we will tell you more about some other time."

In Horizon Zero Dawn, each outfit provides different base values of resistance to unique types of damage which could then be augmented via additional modifications. Armor across the game could be purchased from various merchants and would range from basic armor types which offered little in the way of base stats to fire and frost resistant sets that could be utilized in various situations.

It isn't yet clear how Forbidden West will integrate this system into the game's new and improved skill tree; the wording doesn't make it clear if outfits will unlock whole new skills, or help enhance skills that players have already unlocked. But these changes do sound like they could allow for more versatility in the way that players are able to adapt their build of Aloy as they approach various situations within the game.

Elsewhere in the article Guerrilla delved further into how the development and release of the PlayStation 5 has allowed the studio to add even more detail to Aloy and other character models across Forbidden West. "We can create finer details such as peach fuzz, smooth contouring, or finer texture details and accurate materials expression, to name a few," says Guerrilla Lead Character Artist Bastien Ramisse.

"And not only do visual aspects benefit from the new PlayStation 5 hardware — we have also increased the number of skeletal joints to bring our deformations and facial expressions to a whole new level for more credible and immersive character performance."

Despite this, the studio was quick to reassure fans that its focus on pushing the boundaries of Forbidden West on PS5 won't leave its PlayStation 4 counterpart compromised. “We actually developed and tested the game simultaneously on both PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5," says Ramisse. "Because it’s very important to us as a studio to ensure PlayStation 4 players get an equally immersive experience."

Horizon: Forbidden West is slated for release on February 18, 2022. For more Horizon news, make sure to check out our comprehensive rundown of (nearly) everything we know about the game so far.

Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

James Bond producer Barbara Broccoli has said the search for Daniel Craig's successor will begin next year.

Broccoli appeared as a guest on BBC Radio 4's Today program alongside her half-brother and fellow Eon producer Michael G. Wilson to discuss all things 007 ahead of the upcoming release of No Time to Die. According to Deadline, the two producers said they would not be giving any thought to Daniel Craig's James Bond replacement until 2022.

"We're not thinking about it at all," Broccoli admitted after being quizzed on whether a decision had been made about who would take over the role of the iconic British spy following Craig's fifth and final outing as the MI6 agent. "We want Daniel [Craig] to have his time of celebration. Next year we'll start thinking about the future."

Broccoli credited Craig for bringing different facets of the character to the surface in a way that allowed them to "really explore the emotional life of Bond and go into the person and complexity and conflicts that happen within the Bond character." Wilson similarly praised Craig's performance as he acknowledged that he was leaving behind some "big shoes to fill."

Craig first portrayed Bond in the 2006 film Casino Royale. He reprised the role in 2008's Quantum of Solace, 2012's Skyfall and 2015's Spectre, all of which have collectively grossed more than $3.1 billion at the worldwide box office. Craig is officially bidding farewell to the 007 franchise with No Time To Die, which is the longest James Bond movie to date.

Craig previously offered some frank advice to the next actor that considers playing Bond in the blockbuster film franchise, and while we currently have no idea who that person might be, it's not likely to be a woman. Craig recently echoed the sentiments of the Bond producers as he shared his view that studios should go further than simply casting a female James Bond.

Craig's final outing as Bond is almost upon us, with the world premiere of No Time To Die set to take place at the Royal Albert Hall on September 28 following a number of delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The film will then feature its theatrical release in the UK on September 30 before releasing in the US on October 8 and in Australia on November 11.

Adele Ankers is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.

Activision Blizzard is currently facing serious ongoing allegations of harassment and mistreatment of marginalized workers. To learn more, please visit our timeline as well as our in-depth report on the subject.

Overwatch 2's Game Director Aaron Keller and Lead Hero Designer Geoff Goodman have revealed substantial character reworks for Bastion and Sombra that have been made for the upcoming sequel.

As well as sporting a charismatic new cap and slightly streamlined design, Bastion will see a number of changes in Overwatch 2 to make the battle automaton play rather differently.

"For starters, he no longer has his Self-Repair button at all. It's just gone," says Goodman. "Instead, he now has a brand-new ability that's bound to alternate fire. This ability fires a projectile that can bounce off of walls and stick to players, and does a ton of damage, has a really big radius, and is super fun to fire."

Goodman then went on to explain that Bastion's Recon form weapon has also changed, with his machine gun arm now more precise as it won't feature any spread at all. However, to compensate for this, players will notice that the weapon's fire rate has been significantly reduced. Goodman says the changes mean that Bastion will now be able to "poke at much longer ranges and play a little more like a pseudo-sniper".

In Sentry form, Bastion will now also be able to move around the map. Movement in this form seems to be similar to that of the character's tank-based ultimate in the original Overwatch, although at a much-reduced speed. In an attempt to ensure that the mobility of Bastion's Sentry form doesn't make the character too overpowered, the developers confirmed that it will feature a cooldown so that players won't be able to use it all the time.

Perhaps the most notable change for Bastion comes with its ultimate. As part of a complete overhaul, Bastion's tank-based ultimate has been traded out in Overwatch 2 for a brand new artillery mode. When deployed, players will gain a top-down perspective of the map from which they can pinpoint three zones that Bastion will then rain down rockets upon.

For Sombra's rework, Keller says that her crowd control abilities have been reduced, and her potential damage has been increased. Sombra's key ability, Hack, now lasts for eight seconds and has a reduced three-second cooldown, but will now include two components to it.

"The first component of the ability works exactly like it does in Overwatch 1, disabling abilities," says Goodman. "However, that effect has been reduced to one second. The second component of Hack is a brand-new effect that reveals Hack targets to Sombra and her team through walls and it lasts the entire duration of the hack."

While this might initially seem to be a poor trade-off for greater crowd control options, Sombra's passive has gained the ability to do 50% more damage to hacked targets. If that isn't enough to convince players of this rework, it has also been revealed that the Sombra will now also be able to use Hack while in stealth mode. Although using the ability will briefly reveal Sombra to opposing players, she will then quickly re-enter stealth mode as opposed to removing stealth completely.

Similar to Bastion, Sombra has also seen changes to her ultimate. "For her ultimate ability, we tweaked it so it no longer removes all shields," explains Goodman. "But instead, it now just deals damage to enemies up to 40% of their current health. Combined with her new passive effect this gives her even more finishing potential."

With Overwatch 2 set to feature a number of other changes including a switch in team sizes from 6v6 to 5v5, fans will be eager to see how character tweaks and reworks create changes to the game's overall flow and pacing in the upcoming sequel.

At present, Overwatch 2 does not yet have an official release date. However, for more Overwatch news, make sure to check out this article detailing how Overwatch League's 2022 Season will use an early build of Overwatch 2.

Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

Vin Diesel has suggested that Furya, the fourth film in The Chronicles of Riddick series, might not be as far off as people think.

Diesel teased the return of Riddick on Instagram this past weekend when he posted an old photo of himself in character as the franchise's titular anti-hero. In the caption, he revealed he had completed an "incredible meeting" with a team that he wouldn't name. He ended the post by suggesting that the fourth film in the sci-fi franchise is "maybe closer than you think."

The first installment of the series, Pitch Black, was released in 2000 and eventually birthed an entire franchise, collectively known as The Chronicles of Riddick, that spanned multiple live-action sequels, video games, and a direct-to-DVD animated film — all centered around gruff convict Riddick, an exceptional fighter with superhuman abilities and perfect night-vision.

Diesel announced back in 2014 that Universal Studios had expressed interest in developing the next installment in the Riddick film series. The following year, Diesel posted a video on Facebook in which he showed himself speaking with director David Twohy about a Riddick origin story, exploring "where it all started, where it all began" with the eponymous character.

News surrounding Furya fell quiet for a while, though that shouldn't come as a surprise as Diesel has been busy working on several other projects. He is confirmed to be appearing in James Cameron's Avatar sequels and has also returned to voice Groot in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, as well as reprising his role as Dominic Toretto in the Fast & Furious franchise.

Adele Ankers is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.