Monthly Archives: August 2022

PixelJunk Scrappers Drops Apple Arcade Exclusivity, Deluxe PC Version on the Way

PixelJunk Scrappers – previously an Apple Arcade exclusive – is now coming to PC as a Deluxe edition. We've got some exclusive gameplay to show you.

Part of Q-Games' ever-changing PixelJunk series, Scrappersis a 2D brawler mixed with a party game that sees teams of players cleaning up the streets of Junktown, and fighting off rival crews of garbage collecting robots.

You can check out seven minutes of exclusive gameplay in the video below:

The Deluxe version is currently listed only as "coming soon", and will add "an array of additional features including new combat methods, the addition of weapon drops, multiple level adjustments and the inclusion of score challenges across all stages."

Q-Games creative director Maeta Kazushi adds, "We’ve also spent time optimizing for Steam Deck and the game feels amazing to play on the go. We’ll have more details to share soon, but our whole team is really excited for the PixelJunk series to be back on PC!”

The game supports up to four players in local or online co-op, includes 25 stages, 100 items to unlock, multiple modes and mini-games, and characters to unlock throughout.

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.

Super Punch-Out!!’s Secret Two-Player Mode Discovered After 28 Years

It turns out Super Punch-Out!! was a competitive multiplayer game all along — it just took fans 28 years to figure it out.

Earlier today, the Twitter account Unlisted Cheats revealed two new previously undiscovered cheats for Super Punch-Out!!, the sequel to Punch-Out!! released in 1994.

The first cheat offers access to a free single match with any fighter in the game. It can be accessed by holding Y+R on a controller plugged into the player two slot, then pressing start on the player one controller.

The second cheat, remarkably, makes it possible to actually play as one of the 16 characters in Super Punch-Out!!, and even perform their special moves. Want to use Bald Bull's charge attack? Just press Down + B and away you'll go (just pray you don't get punched at the wrong time).

To access the two-player mode, you'll need to enter the free match mode screen; select a fighter, and when it goes to the character info screen, holding B+Y on the player two controller while pressing start on player one. You should be able to control the second fighter from that point onward.

Both cheats have been confirmed to work on the Nintendo Switch Online version of Super Punch-Out by IGN. You can see the full list of confirmed cheat codes on our SNES Cheat Code Guide.

It's unclear why this secret mode has been hidden away all this time, though it's likely there for testing purposes. Whatever the reason, it adds a whole new dimension to this 16-bit classic, allowing players to unleash the full might of Bear Hugger and Gabby Jay.

This isn't the first time a Punch-Out!! game has had multiplayer, granted. The Wii's Punch-Out!! also had multiplayer, though you fought a clone of Little Mac instead of one of the actual boxers. Super Punch-Out!!, by contrast, now allows you to play as a crazed circus clown.

You can read our review of Super Punch-Out!! as well as where it lands on our list of the Top 125 Nintendo Games of All Time. And if you want additional news from the world of Nintendo, check out the Nintendo Voice Chat podcast, where we recently reviewed Xenoblade Chronicles 3.

Kat Bailey is a Senior News Editor at IGN as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.

Ezra Miller Is Now Being Charged With Felony Burglary

The Flash star Ezra Miller has been charged with felony burglary, adding to their legal troubles in Hawaii, Massachusetts, and North Dakota.

According to a police report filed August 7 in Vermont, several bottles of alcohol were taken from a home on May 1, leading police to charge Miller with felony burglary after viewing surveillance videos and statements.

Miller was finally located on August 7. They will appear in court on September 26 for arraignment on the burglary charge.

Miller, who is set to star in Warner Bros' upcoming Flash movie, has been accused of throwing a chair at a woman, grooming minors, and other misconduct. In addition to Vermont, their legal troubles extend across Hwaii, Massachusetts, and North Dakota.

Miller drew national attention when they abruptly deleted their Instgram and seemingly vanished.

Warner Bros. Discovery has remained largely silent amid growing speculation that The Flash might be in trouble due to Miller's legal troubles. Director Kevin Smith is among those who have criticized the media giant for canceling Batgirl while seemingly allowing The Flash to move on.

"I don't give a sh*t how bad the Batgirl movie is, nobody in that movie is complicated or has anything in their real life you have to market around. In The Flash movie, we all know there's a big problem! Flash is the Reverse-Flash in real life," Smith said in his podcast, Hollywood Babble-On.

Smith also called it an "incredibly bad look" to "cancel the Latina Batgirl movie." At least for now, though, The Flash is currently set to release on June 23, 2023.

Blogroll image credit: David Bennett / Getty Images

Kat Bailey is a Senior News Editor at IGN as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.

Tom Cruise Wants to Play Tropic Thunder’s Les Grossman Again

Top Gun: Maverick star Tom Cruise wants to return as Les Grossman from Tropic Thunder.

According to Deadline, the 60-year-old actor and Mission: Impossible producer Chris McQuarrie are “fixated” on Grossman.

“It’s unclear if they will create a whole movie around Grossman or borrow him for inclusion in [one of two upcoming movies],” they explained.

The two projects in question are an upcoming musical that Cruise and McQuarrie are said to be putting together, as well as another “original action film” with franchise potential that’s presumably unconnected to Mission: Impossible.

But their fixation on Les Grossman is far less straightforward.

Tom Cruise starred as producer Les Grossman in the 2008 comedy film, Tropic Thunder. Starring Robert Downey Jr, Ben Stiller, and Jack Black, the action comedy followed a band of actors shooting a war film in the middle of the jungle… only to find themselves thrust into the middle of a real-life conflict.

Grossman was the film’s crass, over-the-top producer – not exactly a shoo-in for Tom Cruise, but a role he made his own with some extraordinary one-liners and a killer dance routine.

How they work Grossman into their upcoming films remains to be seen. The thought of Les Grossman appearing in a musical is certainly an intriguing concept, especially if the film has firm comedy roots. But Les Grossman in a straight action flick? I can’t exactly see that happening.

Then there’s the prospect of a Les Grossman solo film… surely an extraordinarily difficult watch. But the cringe-inducing producer could well make an excellent addition to another project – especially if it’s one about filmmaking.

Cruise and McQuarrie will next reteam for Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One with Dead Reckoning Part 2 soon to follow.

The upcoming Mission: Impossible flick is said to include Cruise’s most dangerous stunt ever and recently unveiled its thrilling first trailer.

Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

Joy-Con Support is Finally Coming to Steam

Valve has finally added Nintendo Switch Joy-Con support to Steam through its Client Beta program.

As reported by PCGamer, the Steam Client Beta was re-released and updated on August 5, allowing for official support of Nintendo Switch Joy-Con controllers. They can be used individually as a mini-gamepad or combined into pairs.

The update also provided improved support for the Nintendo Online Classic controllers.

In order to use this function, users will need to go into the Steam Client Beta and at the top left corner, click "Steam," then "Settings." After that, go into the "Account" tab and in the "Beta Participation" section, click "Change."

Click the dropdown menu and select "Steam Beta Update." After that, restart Steam and you should be good to go.

Steam supports a wide variety of controllers, both wired and wireless. Unfortunately, there's no way to wire your Joy-Cons to your PC set up so you'll have to use bluetooth.

While Nintendo insists that Joy-Con durability and manufacturing have improved since the Switch's launch in 2017, some repair centers reportedly felt overwhelmed due to the sheer volume being sent in for fixing.

George Yang is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @yinyangfooey

Game of Thrones Star Sean Bean Doesn’t Like ‘Intimacy Coordinators,’ Censorship, Fan Conventions

There's a lot Game of Thrones star Sean Bean didn't like about, well, being a star.

Speaking to the U.K.'s Times Magazine (via Variety), Bean, who played Ned Stark in the Game of Thrones, said he disliked the intimacy coordinators production would bring in to help film the show's many sex scenes because they would "spoil the spontaneity" of a scene.

“It would inhibit me more because it’s drawing attention to things,” Bean said. “Somebody saying, ‘Do this, put your hands there, while you touch his thing… I think the natural way lovers behave would be ruined by someone bringing it right down to a technical exercise.”

Speaking about Snowpiercer, another series Bean worked on, the actor said he doesn't like when TV companies or advertisers cut out the most "experimental" part of a sex scene.

"I think they cut a bit out actually. Often the best work you do, where you’re trying to push the boundaries, and the very nature of it is experimental, gets censored when TV companies or the advertisers say it’s so much. It’s a nice scene, quite surreal, dream-like and abstract. And mango-esque.”

When asked if the intimacy coordinators are present to protect the performers, Bean said it depends on the actress.

Some other Game of Thrones stars don't agree with Bean's take on the steamy scenes in the show. Actress Gemma Whelan, who played Yara Greyjoy in Game of Thrones, said the sex scenes were "a frenzied mess" due to the lack of direction, and that other projects benefit from intimacy directors. "With intimacy directors, it’s choreography – you move there, I move there, and permission and consent is given before you start. It is a step in the right direction.”

Bean is also not a fan of fan conventions, citing a bad experience he had at one Lord of the Rings convention. Bean said the fans were "good-natured, positive people who were getting tossed around and overcharged for things.”

The conversation surrounding Game of Thrones' sex scenes is continuing with the franchise's prequel show, House of the Dragon. Just over the weekend, House of the Dragon star Matt Smith said he thinks there are too many sex scenes in the series.

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

Olivia Newton-John, Co-Star of Grease, Dies at 73

Grease star Olivia Newton-John has died today aged 73.

Newton-John passed away surrounded by family and friends at her home in California according to a statement from her husband, John Easterling.

“Dame Olivia Newton-John (73) passed away peacefully at her Ranch in Southern California this morning, surrounded by family and friends,” he said via Facebook. “We ask that everyone please respect the family’s privacy during this very difficult time.”

Renowned for her iconic role as Sandy in Grease, she was also a four-time Grammy winner and even represented the United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1974.

“Olivia has been a symbol of triumphs and hope for over 30 years sharing her journey with breast cancer. Her healing inspiration and pioneering experience with plant medicine continues with the Olivia Newton-John Foundation Fund, dedicated to researching plant medicine and cancer.”

Back in 2017, Newton-John announced that the breast cancer she first developed in 1992 had since returned and spread to her spine.

She also revealed that she had been given a second cancer diagnosis in 2013 but had not spoken publicly about it.

“I believe I will win over it and that's my goal,” she told the Australian TV show, Sunday Night (via BBC News). She also called upon the Australian government to follow California in legalizing marijuana for medicinal use – a cause she continued to support via the Olivia Newton-John Foundation Fund.

“My dream is that, in Australia soon, it will be available to all the cancer patients and people going through cancer that causes pain,” she said.

Her family has asked for donations to the Olivia Newton-John Foundation in lieu of flowers.

Following her role in Grease in 1978, Newton-John enjoyed several smash hits with the Grease soundtracking spending 12 consecutive weeks at number 1 in the US, while her performance was nominated for a Golden Globe.

She also performed Hopelessly Devoted to You at the 1979 Oscars.

More recently, she appeared in Sharknado 5: Global Swarming and made an appearance as herself in the first season of Glee, as well as appearing as a judge on RuPaul’s Drag Race and Dancing with the Stars.

Olivia is survived by her husband John Easterling, daughter Chloe Lattanzi, sister Sarah Newton-John, and brother Toby Newton-John.

Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

Take-Two Expects Almost Half its Sales This Year to Come From Zynga’s Mobile Games

Take-Two has just released its first set of earnings since it fully acquired mobile developer and publisher Zynga, and it looks like mobile is already playing an absolutely massive role in the publisher's future.

Take-Two's net bookings for the quarter were up 41% year-over-year in no small part thanks to Zynga. And recurrent consumer spending was up 48% and accounted for 73% of that total, again largely thanks to Zynga, though NBA 2K22 and Tiny Tina's Wonderlands also played a role.

What's more, Take-Two is expecting Zynga to account for a whopping 45% of its total net bookings for the entire fiscal year ending March of 2023, with 2K making up 37%, Rockstar accounting for 17%, and Private Division making up 1%. Admittedly, Take-Two has officially folded in its former T2 Mobile division into Zynga, so it's not all Zynga. But for context, during its previous fiscal year, mobile games accounted for only 12% of Take-Two's net bookings. So this is a pretty massive jump.

In a call with IGN ahead of today's earnings release, CEO Strauss Zelnick affirmed the company's strategy to use its new mobile flexibility to create more mobile spin-offs of its existing IP, assuming the conditions were right.

"The first criterion would be that we have a team that's incredibly passionate about working on that IP and bringing it to mobile. And then of course we'd look at the connection that the historic intellectual property has with an audience, the format in which it would reside, and the like."

When asked if Take-Two was looking at mobile ports of existing games or spin-offs, he pointed out that Take-Two has historically brought many of its games to tablets and smartphones, but added that "what we're talking about when we talk about bringing Take-Two core intellection property to mobile is a brand new title made for mobile."

On the same call, we also learned that NBA 2K22 has sold over 12 million copies, GTA V has once again sold around 5 million in a single quarter and brought its lifetime total to nearly 170 million sold, and Red Dead Redemption 2 has sold over 45 million copies. We also learned that Marvel's Midnight Suns has been delayed once again.

Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.

This article was amended after publication to correctly read that Rockstar accounted for 17% of net bookings.

Marvel’s Midnight Suns Delayed Once Again, Possibly to 2023

Marvel's Midnight Suns has been delayed a second time, and while it doesn't seem to be a long delay, we're now once again without a clear release date for the Firaxis tactical RPG.

In today's Take-Two earnings results, the publisher revealed that it has moved back the launch of Midnight Suns "to ensure the teams at Firaxis Games and 2K deliver the best possible experience for our fans."

It's expected to arrive "later this fiscal year," which for Take-Two means sometime before March of 2023, but we don't have a specific date yet. Additionally, only PC, PS4, and Xbox Series X and S players will get to jump in on that date - the PS4, Xbox One, and Switch versions are planned for even later.

Midnight Suns was originally planned for Take-Two's previous fiscal year with a scheduled release this past March. But it was delayed once already, pushing it into October of this year. At the time, it was implied that the delay was at least in part connected to increases in the difficulty of making games as technology has improved.

Speaking to Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick, he reiterated that this second delay was due to a "search for quality, and a great deal of confidence that we have a wonderful title on our hands and we want to make sure it's as good as it can possibly be." When asked if there was any concern that Midnight Suns would dip out of the fiscal year a second time (aka, get delayed a third time) he replied, "I'm not concerned about that."

On the same call, we learned that Take-Two had a couple of other games that moved "within the year" that impacted its financials, but it has not confirmed what those are.

Midnight Suns was first revealed almost a year ago at Gamescom 2021 as a superpowered version of XCOM featuring characters like Captain Marvel, Iron Man, and Wolverine.

Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.

Rosario Dawson Walks Back Punisher Return Comments

Jon Bernthal’s Punisher may not be returning after all…

After comments suggesting that Marvel’s Punisher would be back in a new series, it looks as though actress Rosario Dawson has had second thoughts.

“I can’t be trusted,” she said via Twitter. “Getting intel from fans during signings is iffy apparently. My bad. I get excited. Confirmation is key when you’re told what you want to hear…”

The 43-year-old actress played Claire Temple (aka Night Nurse) in several of Marvel’s recent Netflix shows, including Daredevil, Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, and Iron Fist, not to mention their eventual team-up in The Defenders.

She first encountered Bernthal’s version of The Punisher in Daredevil Season 2 and clearly enjoyed working with the iconic Marvel character after she excitedly told fans that Jon Bernthal would be returning as Frank Castle.

“I found out yesterday that The Punisher was happening again,” she said. “So, I feel like it's my second chance because that's the only one of the shows I wasn't in and I love Jon Bernthal. So, let's all make it happen collectively, guys.”

However, now it looks as though she’s completely walked it back – playing dumb while claiming that her info came from fans and not Marvel itself.

If that’s true, it looks as though Bernthal’s Punisher may not return after all.

There’s certainly been no hint of The Punisher getting his own series once more after there was no mention of Frank Castle in Marvel’s upcoming slate that was announced at San Diego Comic Con.

Of course, The Punisher could return in one of Marvel’s other projects – the upcoming Daredevil series is a likely candidate since the pair already have a history on screen. But with Rosario claiming she had no insider info, that’s looking less likely, too.

Whether or not The Punisher returns to our screens remains to be seen… and while it could happen, it looks as though Dawson may not have the inside info we thought.

Find out more about Marvel’s upcoming slate with our full look at Marvel’s Phase 5 line-up as well as what to expect from Phase 6 and The Fantastic Four.

Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.