Monthly Archives: August 2015
The 9 Biggest Stories from Gamescom 2015
Gamescom just keeps getting bigger and bigger. Sony may have skipped this year’s show, but we still received major announcements from Microsoft, Blizzard, Square Enix, 2K, and plenty more. But which stories were the biggest of the big?
Below we’ve compiled the 9 biggest articles and videos from Gamecom 2015, as determined by IGN.com traffic.
Although Dark Souls III was officially revealed at E3 2015 with a jaw-dropping trailer, Souls fans didn’t actually get to see any next-gen gameplay in action. So it should come as no surprise that the extended 16-minute Gamescom gameplay demonstration would be so enduringly popular. Dark Souls III looks faster, prettier, and just as brutal.
Zootopia: Disney’s Take on a Buddy Cop Movie
Disney fans got an extended look at the company’s next (non-Pixar) animated movie Zootopia Friday at the D23 expo. Disney Animation/Pixar CCO John Lasseter explained he'd always loved talking animal movies, and “wanted to do a new one, but modernized.”
Zootopia comes form directors Byron Howard (Tangled) and Rich Moore (Wreck-It Ralph) and Gennifer Goodwin voices the lead character, a bunny named Judy Hopps, whose dreams of being a police officer in the big city of Zootopia are semi-dashed when she is given parking duty – not seen as big and strong enough to be a real cop. Yes, in Zootopia, the anthropomorphic characters are amusingly much more to scale than is often the case in animation – so Judy is tiny compared to the horses and other large animals she co-exists with.
The Good Dinosaur Looks Like Another Pixar Tearjerker
At the D23 Expo today, several new scenes were debuted from the upcoming Pixar movie The Good Dinosaur. Behind the scenes, there was some turbulence on The Good Dinosaur, with a change in filmmakers -- Peter Sohn went from co-director to full director, after original director Bob Peterson was taken off the project -- and a delay in the film’s original release date. But anyone who knows Pixar’s history is aware this is not a new scenario for the company, with films like Toy Story 2, Ratatouille and Brave all underdoing pretty dramatic overhauls, only to find success when finished. And based on what was shown today, it seems The Good Dinosaur will be another hit for the company.
We learned a bit more about the plot, involving a young dinosaur (specifically an Apatosaurus) named Arlo (voiced by Raymond Ochoa) and how the story will take him from being “a timid and scared kid into a strong and confident one.”
Stories: The Hidden Path Announced for PS4
Spearhead Games has revealed its next game for PlayStation 4 is a new action-RPG called Stories: The Hidden Path.
In a post on the PS Blog, Spearhead co-founder Simon Darveau described Stories as “an action-RPG set in a vibrant universe filled with floating islands, majestic airships, and flamboyant magic.”
“We’re building Stories to feel like an enchanted book with a different tale to tell each time you open it. Every choice you make in the game affects the storyline in real-time, and the narrator adapts his tale dynamically to reflect your course of action.”
Story/Title for Pixar’s Upcoming Day of the Dead Movie
It was revealed today at the D23 Expo that Pixar's upcoming movie based on the Mexican Day of the Dead holiday -- first announced back in 2012 -- now has an official title: Coco.
Coco, from Toy Story 3 director Lee Unkrich, is inspired by real Dia de los Muertos traditions of honoring departed loved ones by putting out photos and things they loved in life. The main character, Miguel, is a 12 year-old boy living in rural Mexico. Unkrich said he was intrigued by the idea of "a big family reunion between living and the dead."
In the test footage shown during the event, a long, single take down a street shows cheerful skeletons dancing and playing music. The skeletons are trading top halves (the top of one skeleton leaping onto the lower portion of another), juggling skulls, and generally being enthusiastic and joyful about the afterlife. A mariachi band is playing gleefully when one of the skeleton's faces falls off to reveal Miguel wearing a mask.
Nintendo Voice Chat: Making IGN’s Mario Maker Challenge
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This week, IGN's Nintendo podcast talks a whole bunch about making Mario. Join host Jose Otero, Brian Altano, and Peer Schneider for a deep discussion about Nintendo's crazy course builder. Jose and Brian also share their experiences and breakthroughs as would-be game designers in the Super Mario Maker IGN Challenge. After the break, we run thorugh a pair of queries in the Question Block.
New Toy Story 4 Details Revealed
Pixar has revealed new Toy Story 4 details at Disney's D23 Expo.
Disney's Chief Creative Officer, John Lasseter, revealed that Toy Story 4 will be a romance story (this much we already knew) between two major characters: Woody and Bo Peep - the latter making her return after the character was gone in Toy Story 3, for unexplained reasons.
"Each of the stories is a different genre," Lasseter said, "and Toy Story 4 is a love story. It's a love story between Woody and Bo Peep. Bo's returned for Toy Story 4. Woody and Buzz head out to find Bo. It's a very, very emotional story, and it's very fun doing a story about
Person of Interest: Sarah Shahi Locked for Season 5 Return
Even though Person of Interest writer/producer Denise Thé told fans back at Comic-Con that fans "hadn't seen the last of Shaw," we now have more solid confirmation that Sarah Shahi will return for Person of Interest's Season 5 in a highly involved capacity.
POI Showrunner Greg Plageman recently told TVGuide.com that not only is Shahi returning to the series, but that it would be for more than just quick check-ins with Shaw, who'd only been seen for a couple of brief moments ever since her character was written off the series mid-Season 4 (Shahi, pregnant at the time, has since given birth to twins).
New Details on Finding Nemo Sequel Plot Revealed
Story details about the upcoming sequel to Finding Nemo, Finding Dory, were revealed during Disney's D23 event today, along with one new casting announcement - Ed O'Neill (Married, With Children/Modern Family) will play an octopus named Hank.
Andrew Stanton is back as director and said he initially didn't think there would be a follow-up to Finding Nemo... until he began to think about the question of who Dory's family was and where she came from.
Footage debuted today at the D23 Expo showed how the plot revolves around Dory searching for her family, after she begins to mention them in her sleep and have flashes of memory -- yes, having any memories shocks her -- about them. Nemo overhears Dory say "the jewel of Monterrey, California," and they realize that is there where Dory's parents are.
Watch Olivia Munn Train for X-Men: Apocalypse
While Olivia Munn didn't have a ton to do in the X-Men: Apocalypse footage that screened at Comic-Con last month, it seems her character Psylocke will be getting physical in the currently shooting film.
We saw her practicing her sword skills not that long ago, and now once again (thanks to Instagram) we’ve got a look at her prepping for stunt work. Check her out doing wire work below: