Monthly Archives: February 2016
Activision Hit With Layoffs
Activision has laid off employees from its Minneapolis, Minnesota branch following its quarterly earnings call.
The company confirmed its layoffs to Game Informer, noting games for Activision's "core audiences"—like Call of Duty Black Ops III—performed well, while its games for "casual audiences," namely, Guitar Hero and Skylanders, disappointed.
An Activision spokesperson told Game Informer the layoffs are part of its "refocusing" efforts, "to better align with Activision's long-term priorities."Its strategy, the spokesperson said, continues to change in order to stay "ahead of a rapidly-changing industry."
Agent Carter: Black Widow’s Back and… Teaming with Peggy?
We haven’t seen the deadly Russian spy Dottie Underwood (Bridget Regan) since the Agent Carter season premiere a few weeks back, but she returns in a big way Tuesday night, in two back-to-back new episodes.
These episodes find Peggy (Hayley Atwell) needing help and with few options, leading her to make a desperate move by looking for none other than Dottie to assist her and Jarvis (James D’Arcy) on a vital mission.
IGN has an exclusive clip from the episode, as a disguised Peggy first approaches the imprisoned Dottie – who certainly seems excited to see her enemy.
Check out the clip below!
I spoke to Regan about Dottie’s return and what viewers can expect from this unusual situation. Regan discussed just what’s at the root of Dottie’s constant flirtatious vibe with Peggy, working alongside James D’Arcy -- as Dottie and Jarvis go undercover (and dance!) together -- and more, including what it was like for the actress to discover her character was part of the Black Widow program back in Season 1.
Mass Effect: Andromeda Writer Leaves BioWare
Mass Effect: Andromeda lead writer Chris Schlerf confirmed today that he has left BioWare Montreal and joined Bungie to work on Destiny.
Schlerf revealed the news via a series of posts on Twitter.
To confirm what some folks asked about a few months back, I am no longer working on ME:A at BioWare Montreal.
— schlerf (@schlerf) February 16, 2016
Schlerf explained that his time at BioWare was one of the “best experiences” of his career and he believes Mass Effect: Andromeda “is really gonna blow people away”, but he also noted he’s very happy to be back in Seattle.
Why Rogue One is Crucial to Star Wars Battlefront
There are about as many things to love about DICE’s Star Wars Battlefront as there are to nit-pick. For everything it nails in terms of pitch-perfect holy recreation of the Original Trilogy (OT), it frustrates in terms of matchmaking, later-level unlocks and, generally, a lack of content.
While that first detractor is the responsibility of DICE’s internal decisions, the latter two gripes are the flip-side con of remaining faithful to the original Star Wars movies.
To further complicate matters for DICE, with George Lucas out and Disney the new star kids on the block, the House of Mouse has laid down some strict rules about narrative cohesion in terms of the overarching Star Wars canon. It’s pledged that every official release with a narrative component will be canon.
All Hell Is About to Break Loose on The Magicians
Full spoilers for The Magicians continue below.
There's a problem around every turn on The Magicians right now. The Hedgewitches have it out for the magicians at Brakebills. None of the main characters have any strong grasp of their powers or the range of their abilities. To make matters worse, The Beast is off torturing people in Fillory, which is a real place. And all this within the series' first five episode.
If you're surprised by the breakneck speed of the Syfy series, star Arjun Gupta wants you to know that things are about to get even more crazy. Gupta, who plays Penny, got on the phone with me to talk about what that big reveal of The Beast at the end of "Mendings, Major and Minor" means for the show, how the next episode is going to mark a big shift and why he thinks his version of Penny isn't that big a change from the character in Lev Grossman's novel.
Suck Less at Street Fighter 5
With every new fighting game release comes a wave of new players, most of whom claim that they suck at fighting games. But we don’t want that to be your experience with Street Fighter 5, so we’ve put together this short list of basic tips to help you improve your fundamentals. Check out the video above for visual references to all five. They won't make you an expert, but they will help you stop mashing, and start playing. Enjoy!
...or at least jump a lot less. Jumping is a bad idea in Street Fighter. It locks you into moving in a pre-set arc, limits your offensive options, and eliminates all your defensive ones. You’re basically asking to be tagged with an anti-air attack, giving free damage away to your opponent. Also keep inmind that players tend to jump when they feel that they’re losing the ground game, so be sure to have your best anti-air ready, like Ryu’s crouching heavy punch, when your opponent starts recklessly taking to the skies. By doing this, you'll take fewer senseless hits over the course of a match, and pick up a few free ones for yourself.
Hasbro Reveals Monopoly: Star Wars Rey Figurine
Hasbro has revealed Rey in the newest edition of Monopoly: Star Wars, coming this fall.
According to The Verge, the figurine for Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ heroine was on hand at Toy Fair in New York City.
Hasbro received a great deal of criticism for the exclusion of Rey in Monopoly: Star Wars.
The original release of the game featured all male characters — Finn, Luke, Kylo Ren, and Darth Vader.
Better Call Saul’s Return is This Week’s TV Highlight
We've got a big week of TV and Streaming ahead of us as Netflix launches Judd Apatow's new comedy series, Love, Hulu airs 11.22.63 from J.J. Abrams and Stephen King, and History's Vikings returns for a fourth season.
Our highlight this week though is AMC's Better Call Saul, which returns on Monday for a second season. One devoted to displaying Jimmy McGill's ongoing descent into sleazy mall lawyer territory. AKA the "Saul Goodman" character we knew him as on Breaking Bad.
When we last left Bob Odenkirk's Jimmy, he'd just discovered that his ill (and perhaps mentally ill) brother, Chuck (Michael McKean), had actually been working to undermine him, having never believed in the first place that a former con man could work his way up to becoming a successful lawyer. Bitter and disillusioned, Jimmy rejected a job at a high-profile firm and the rest is...Season 2.
Out This Week: Street Fighter V, Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright and Conquest
With so many new games and movies coming out, it can be hard to keep up. Lucky for you, IGN is here to help with a weekly round-up of the biggest releases each and every week. Check out the latest releases for this week, and be sure to come back next Monday for a new update.
Note: The prices and deals compiled below are accurate at the time we published this story, but all are subject to change.
Dark Souls Being Added to Xbox One Backwards Compatibility
The first Dark Souls is being added as a Xbox One backwards compatible game, according to the Australian Xbox Store.
What's more, the listing (which you can view by setting your store location to AU) states that those who digitally pre-order Dark Souls 3 will get access to Dark Souls on Xbox One for free.
Players who pre-order will get a code for the original game sent to their Xbox message center within 7 to 10 days. The window suggests that the game could be coming to Xbox One within the next week.
The game has yet to be officially announced for Xbox One backwards compatibility and the pre-order bonus is not live on the US Xbox Store. We've reached out to Bandai Namco for comment and will update the story if we hear anything back.