Nintendo’s ‘First Game Designer’ Retires After 45 Years
Genyo Takeda, who is considered as Nintendo's "first game designer" has retired after 45 years working at the company.
Takeda was considered one of the company's foremost hardware experts - he designed the N64 analog stick, and was the lead designer on the Nintendo Wii, becoming a vocal supporter of Nintendo's philosophy that graphical improvements are not the key to next-generation hardware.
Genyo Takeda
In his earlier days, Takeda was the creator of Punch-Out!! and StarTropics, and in an Iwata Asks interview, Shigeru Miyamoto mentioned that Takeda was even making games at Nintendo before Gunpei Yokoi, who was involved with the Game & Watch, the Game Boy, the ROB, the NES robot, and Dr. Mario.
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Nintendo Switch Sells 2.74 Million Units in Under a Month
Nintendo has announced that its new Switch console sold 2.74 million units worldwide in less than its first month on sale.
Nintendo announced the figure in its year-end earnings release, which it calls a "promising start" for the console. Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima originally expected to ship 2 million units of the console in its first month.
It also revealed that The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild for Switch has sold 2.76 million copies - meaning 20,000 more units of Zelda have been sold than there are Switches in the wild.
David Fincher Closing in on Directing World War Z Sequel
In a surprising development, David Fincher is reportedly closing in to direct the sequel to 2013's World War Z.
Variety reports that Paramount Pictures is not only moving ahead with the sequel, but that the Fight Club/Seven/Gone Girl director will likely take the reins. Last year it was reported that the film's original (and returning) star Brad Pitt was pushing to get Fincher on board the project, and Variety's sources claim it's also Fincher's tight relationship with Paramount's new CEO Jim Gianopulos that's helped massage the collaboration into fruition.
The sequel's future has been unknown since director Juan Antonio Bayona dropped out of the project earlier last year, and Paramount pulled it from its planned June release. However if Brad Pitt and Fincher are a lock, there's a chance the flick may justify its existence.
The Walking Dead: Two New Characters Coming to Season 8
The Walking Dead Season 8 will reportedly feature two new characters.
TVLine reports the series is currently casting two recurring good guys - a paranoid but likable Muslim American named Abbud who's been surviving on his own, and Dillon, a sarcastic blue-collar twentysomething. It's reportedly looking likely that Dillon will show up in subsequent seasons. For now, there's no casting information or further details for either roles.
The Walking Dead Season 7 recently concluded, with the finale being the lowest rated since Season 2. The upcoming eighth season is expected to premiere this fall. Three actors were promoted to series regulars for the series - Steven Ogg (Simon), Katelyn Nacon (Enid), and Pollyanna McIntosh (Jadis).
The Last Jedi’s Rian Johnson Not Involved With Ep 9’s Story
Star Wars: The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson has denied rumours of involvement in Episode 9's story.
Speaking to a fan on Twitter, Johnson said that the rumour he wrote a story treatment for Episode 9 "is old info."
"I haven't been involved in writing IX," wrote Johnson.
The rumour seemed to have stemmed from Johnson's Wikipedia page which cites reports from 2014.
Johnson recently discussed what Episode 8's title means, saying that, to him, "the last Jedi" is singular and refers to Luke Skywaker.
Captain America Director to Helm Fourth Narnia Movie
Joe Johnston, The Rocketeer and Captain America: The First Avenger director, will helm The Chronicles of Narnia: The Silver Chair.
IGN can confirm that Johnston will direct the film, which is being produced by TriStar Pictures, The Mark Gordon Company, The C.S. Lewis Company, and Entertainment One.
C.S. Lewis' original The Silver Chair novel focuses on Eustace Scrubb, the cousin to the Pevensie children who starred in the first three Chronicles of Narnia films. Scrubb is sent on a journey to save the child of Prince Caspian, who debuted in the second Chronicles of Narnia film in 2008.
D23 Expo 2017 Panel Lineup Announced
Disney has revealed its full Hall D23 panel lineup for this year's D23 Expo, which takes place from July 14 to July 16 at the Anaheim Convention Center.
Disney CEO Bob Iger will kick off the event at 10 a.m. PT with the Legends Awards Ceremony that honors this year’s Disney Legends Award recipients, which includes the likes of Stan Lee, Oprah Winfrey, and the late Carrie Fisher.
Following the ceremony, Pixar and Disney Animation Studios will take the stage at 2:30 p.m. PT to showcase their film projects for 2017 and beyond. Some of the movies that'll be in attendance are The Incredibles 2, Coco, and Ralph Breaks the Internet: Wreck-it Ralph 2. Disney is also promising a few surprises during the panel.
Now You Can Listen to IGN Spoken Editions on iHeartRadio
You can now hear IGN's news, previews, reviews and more with IGN Spoken Editions on iHeartRadio.
As nice as reading can be, sometimes it just isn't feasible. Take driving, for example, or even walking down the street. Your eyes need to keep you out of harm's way, so let your ears take over for a bit.
IGN Spoken Editions are read-aloud versions of our written content, so you can still fill your brain with IGN goodness while keeping your eyes where they need to be.
Over 100 million of iHeartRadio's registered users now have access to IGN Spoken Editions thanks to our partnership with Spokenlayer, who turn written stories into spoken ones.
You can access IGN Spoken Editions by visiting the iHeartRadio spoken editions landing page and choosing from several different IGN options. Who doesn't like options?
Atlus Apologizes, Updates Persona 5 Streaming Restrictions
Earlier this month Atlus released strict rules for streaming and posting late-game Persona 5 content, but now the developer is changing its limitations in response to fan criticism.
Atlus announced that players can now post and stream videos up until the in-game date of 11/19. Previously, players weren't supposed to post anything past 7/7.
"We also want to apologize to those of you who saw the previous guidelines blog post as threatening," Atlus said. "We want to be transparent about what we do, and the reason we released the guidelines was to give streamers the right information up front. It was never our intention to threaten people with copyright strikes, but we clearly chose the wrong tone for how to communicate this."