Monthly Archives: April 2017
Valve Adds Phone Number Requirement for Dota 2 Ranked Matchmaking
Valve has announced a number of major changes to Dota 2's matchmaking, most notably an all-new feature that would require players to link their phone number to their Steam account in order to play ranked matchmaking.
According to the post on the Dota 2 Blog, the developers hope that this change will cut down on players using multiple accounts and lead to a more positive matchmaking experience at all skill levels. Players will have until May 4th to register their numbers, at which point any account without a linked number will be ineligible for ranked play.
In addition to phone number linking, Valve is bringing back solo queue along with an option to only match against other players that are queuing alone. In the past some solo players would occasionally be placed in matches with teams to speed up the matchmaking process, but now players can choose to opt out of these games.
Ganondorf’s Last Name Resurfaces on Official Nintendo Site
It may not help you beat him in any of The Legend of Zelda games, but Nintendo has reconfirmed one major piece of information about the series' recurring foe Ganondorf — his canonical last name.
The official Legend of Zelda website includes a character compendium, and the entry for the frequent Zelda villain reveals his full name is Ganondorf Dragmire, a name that has seemingly not been used in any official capacity since The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.
Ganondorf's official profile, via the Zelda online guide.
Doctor Strange Director to Helm Locke and Key Pilot
Doctor Strange director Scott Derrickson will helm the pilot for Hulu's TV adaptation of the graphic novel series Locke & Key.
Derrickson made the announcement on Twitter, though he didn't reveal when the hour-long pilot might be released if at all. However, Derrickson will be working closely with Locke & Key creator Joe Hill, who's scripting the pilot for the show and will serve as an executive producer on the project, and showrunner Carlton Cuse (Bates Motel, Lost).
IGN has reached out to Hulu for more information about the pilot and will update this story should they respond.
Ghost Recon: Wildlands, Zelda Top March 2017 Sales
The top-selling game in the US for March 2017 was Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Wildlands, followed by The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
Breath of the Wild came in at second place in spite of digital sales not being accounted for in NPDs tally. Similarly, Horizon Zero Dawn and MLB 17: The Show had strong showings on the top 10 list without accounting for digital sales.
Last week, Nintendo revealed it sold 906,000 Switch consoles in the first 28 days of the console's release, and sold 925,000 copies of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild for Switch during the same period, giving it the highest attach rate for "any non-bundled title" on new hardware since NPD began tracking in 1995.
Persona 5 Spinoffs Hinted at by Atlus Website Registrations
Atlus has registered several Persona 5-related domains that suggest spinoffs of the recently released RPG could be on the horizon.
The domain registrations were spotted by Twitter user MysticDistance, who noted that both P5D.jp and P5U.jp were registered earlier this week, on April 18.
As reported by Persona Central, several other domain names were registered, including P5AG.jp, P5R.jp, Persona-Dance.jp, PQ2.jp, Persona8.jp, Persona9.jp and Persona10.jp.
IGN Joins the #GamerHealthMatters Initiative
IGN is teaming up with the #GamerHealthMatters initiative to support the importance of living and enjoying an active, healthy lifestyle amongst the gaming community.
Led by TheSpazzyProf and CaptainTwaz, and in partnership with IGN, TeeSpring, ProfessorBroMan, +1 Life, and LevelUp Foods, #GamerHealthMatters encourages gamers and, specifically streamers, to be mindful of their habits and chat with other members of the community about the importance of physical and mental health.
Shadow of War: Ask The Developers Anything
All month long we've been bringing you special coverage of our IGN First game of the month, Middle-earth: Shadow of War. To close out April, we're excited to host a community Q&A with Monolith Productions, the developer behind Shadow of War. No question is off limits, but the developers will pick which ones they can best answer.
Leave your questions in the comments below and we’ll update this article next week with the answers!
And to see everything we’ve covered so far, be sure to stop by our Shadow of War IGN First hub!
Here’s What Around $400,000 of Star Wars Memorabilia Looks Like
One particular booth at Star Wars: Celebration is showing off some insanely expensive Star Wars memorabilia as part of a live auction.
The display was set up by PropStore.com, and includes items such as a camera used in The Empire Strikes Back, an original script, a SnowTrooper helmet and backpack, and more. We put together a gallery of some of the coolest stuff below - click right to see all the images:
The prices listed are based on auction estimates, and put together, those estimates add up to nearly half a million dollars. There's no doubt that owning original pieces from the set of Star Wars would be awesome, and people have spent some pretty insane amounts of money on PropStore's other Entertainment Memorabilia auctions.
Everybody’s Golf PS4 Release Date Announced
The latest game in the Hot Shots Golf series, Everybody's Golf, comes to PlayStation 4 August 29.
Pre-ordering the game through the PlayStation Store instantly unlocks an Everybody's Golf avatar, and Day 1 unlocks include a 20th Anniversary Course, Rabbit mascot costume, a "unique shirt" and "premium kart," as well as a theme for your PS4.
According to the PS Blog, a "closed online test" starts sometime next month, and Sony will contact "eligible players" through email.
Everybody's Golf for PS4 was first announced just before Tokyo Game Show 2014. Then, in 2015, we learned about Everybody's Golf custom avatar creator, a free roam mode that lets you go fishing in the water hazards, or just explore the courses on your golf cart.
To Vita or Not To Vita?
Welcome back to Game Scoop!, IGN's weekly video game talk show. This week we're discussing the PlayStation Vita, SNES Classic, Pac-Man Maker, and more. Watch the video above or download the podcast below.
Download Game Scoop! Episode 433
Or subscribe in iTunes and never miss an episode.
OR subscribe to the NEW Game Scoop! YouTube channel and never miss a video.