Monthly Archives: January 2020

DC Comics Teases the Final Battle Between Batman and Joker

Warning: this article contains some spoilers for recent issues of Batman! [poilib element="accentDivider"] A major showdown is brewing between Batman and the Joker, and DC Comics has given it a name - Joker War. DC's solicitation for Batman #93 gives us our first taste of what Joker War entails. Issue #93 serves as the finale to new writer James Tynion IV's first major story arc, as Batman confronts Gotham City's newest supervillain, the Designer. But even as that battle plays out, Joker is planning his latest and greatest attack on the Dark Knight. [caption id="attachment_2289123" align="aligncenter" width="2062"]Batman #93 cover by Tony Daniel. (Image Credit: DC) Batman #93 cover by Tony Daniel. (Image Credit: DC)[/caption] Here's the full synopsis for Batman #93: Batman faces off with the Designer as “Their Dark Designs” reaches its epic climax! In the last year, Batman has lost more than he could have imagined, and now he faces a cost so dear it will change the course of his life. And there is worse on the horizon. In the midst of all the horror, he can feel the drumbeat of battle. “Joker War” is coming, and Gotham City will never be the same. Recent issues of Batman actually give us a pretty good idea of what Joker has in store for his arch-nemesis. 2012's Batman: Death of the Family revealed Joker has known Batman's secret identity for years. To date, Joker has never bothered to act on that information, as he doesn't want to spoil his carefully cultivated relationship with Batman. But as shown in Tynion and Guillem March's backup story in Batman #85, Joker has suddenly realized he can use that knowledge to strike at Batman where he least expects. [caption id="attachment_2289139" align="aligncenter" width="936"]Art by Guillem March. (Image Credit: DC) Art by Guillem March. (Image Credit: DC)[/caption] Batman #86's backup story continues that plot thread, showing Joker systematically destroying his headquarters and killing off his henchmen as he prepares for his criminal master stroke. As far as Joker is concerned, this is going to be his final battle with Batman, and he wants to make it a good one. It's probably safe to assume Joker War will deal directly with the Clown Prince of Crime's decision to target Bruce Wayne. Will Joker leak Batman's identity to the public? Will he declare war on Wayne Enterprises? Whatever happens, it sounds like it's going to be a rough year for Batman. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-25-greatest-batman-graphic-novels-of-all-time&captions=true"] Batman #93 is written by James Tynion IV and drawn by Guillem March and is scheduled for release on Wednesday, April 15. We're expecting Joker War to begin as early as May's Batman #94, likely culminating in Batman #100 later this year. For other big developments in the Batman franchise, see how DC is paying tribute to a fallen hero, find out how Flashpoint's Batman survived and learn which iconic Batman: The Animated Series villain is finally making their DC Comics debut. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/01/17/unboxing-dc-multiverse-action-figures-from-mcfarlane-toys"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.

Despite the Delay, Cyberpunk 2077 Devs Will Still Have to Crunch

Following the news of the Cyberpunk 2077 delay was an investors Q&A with executive Adam Kiciński where it was confirmed CD Projekt Red developers will be putting in crunch hours to get the sci-fi RPG out by September. During the investor's call, a participant inquired, "is the development team required to put in crunch hours?" Kiciński responded, "To some degree, yes – to be honest. We try to limit crunch as much as possible, but it is the final stage. We try to be reasonable in this regard, but yes. Unfortunately." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2018/08/27/cyberpunk-2077-gameplay-demo"] In response to another question from the same participant about pushing back the release date, Kiciński elaborated more on why the team decided to delay Cyberpunk 2077 three months ahead of launch. "Why three months before release? Well, we have been waiting and there always comes the moment to decision. We are constantly evaluating the game and we decided if we are to delay this is the right moment, and that with the decision to add five months we would be really sure that we can deliver what we had planned." [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=7-cyberpunk-games-to-play-while-youre-waiting-for-cyberpunk-2077&captions=true"] Cyberpunk 2077 was initially set to release on April 16, 2020. It was then postponed to September 17 despite President and CEO Adam Kiciński confirming it's, "complete and playable." The CD Projekt Red executive stated the reason for the delay is needing more time for "playtesting, fixing, and polishing." In the same investor's Q&A, it was also revealed the Cyberpunk 2077 Multiplayer Mode would likely not be playable until after 2021. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=every-2020-video-game-release&captions=true"] The ethical treatment of game developers has been a major topic of discussion over the years. Vulture's interview with Rockstar Games' VP Dan Houser shed light on crunch culture at Rockstar Games and propelled the issue into mainstream news. Since then, many more stories about game developers and crunch in studios have come to light, including one about CD Projekt Red. With increased awareness of the issue and efforts from game developers to unionize, we may start to see an increase in game publishers and developers taking more time to release their games in the best condition possible. For more on CD Projekt Red's upcoming sci-fi RPG, read up on everything we know about Cyberpunk 2077.

Despite the Delay, Cyberpunk 2077 Devs Will Still Have to Crunch

Following the news of the Cyberpunk 2077 delay was an investors Q&A with executive Adam Kiciński where it was confirmed CD Projekt Red developers will be putting in crunch hours to get the sci-fi RPG out by September. During the investor's call, a participant inquired, "is the development team required to put in crunch hours?" Kiciński responded, "To some degree, yes – to be honest. We try to limit crunch as much as possible, but it is the final stage. We try to be reasonable in this regard, but yes. Unfortunately." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2018/08/27/cyberpunk-2077-gameplay-demo"] In response to another question from the same participant about pushing back the release date, Kiciński elaborated more on why the team decided to delay Cyberpunk 2077 three months ahead of launch. "Why three months before release? Well, we have been waiting and there always comes the moment to decision. We are constantly evaluating the game and we decided if we are to delay this is the right moment, and that with the decision to add five months we would be really sure that we can deliver what we had planned." [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=7-cyberpunk-games-to-play-while-youre-waiting-for-cyberpunk-2077&captions=true"] Cyberpunk 2077 was initially set to release on April 16, 2020. It was then postponed to September 17 despite President and CEO Adam Kiciński confirming it's, "complete and playable." The CD Projekt Red executive stated the reason for the delay is needing more time for "playtesting, fixing, and polishing." In the same investor's Q&A, it was also revealed the Cyberpunk 2077 Multiplayer Mode would likely not be playable until after 2021. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=every-2020-video-game-release&captions=true"] The ethical treatment of game developers has been a major topic of discussion over the years. Vulture's interview with Rockstar Games' VP Dan Houser shed light on crunch culture at Rockstar Games and propelled the issue into mainstream news. Since then, many more stories about game developers and crunch in studios have come to light, including one about CD Projekt Red. With increased awareness of the issue and efforts from game developers to unionize, we may start to see an increase in game publishers and developers taking more time to release their games in the best condition possible. For more on CD Projekt Red's upcoming sci-fi RPG, read up on everything we know about Cyberpunk 2077.

The Simpsons Voice Actor Will No Longer Play Apu

Hank Azaria, the voice actor responsible for iconic Simpsons voices like Moe, Chief Wiggum, and Comic Book Guy, will be dropping one famous character from his repertoire: Apu. Speaking to /Film, Azaria confirmed that while the future for the character Apu on The Simpsons is still being decided upon, he won’t be voicing the character going forward. “All we know there is I won’t be doing the voice anymore unless there’s some way to transition it or something,” Azaria said. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-25-best-adult-cartoon-tv-series&captions=true"] Apu is an Indian immigrant in The Simpsons who runs the Kiwk-E-Mart convenience store in Springfield. The character has come under controversy since comedian Hari Kondabolu released his 2017 documentary, The Problem with Apu, which dove deep into the character and representation. Azaria has gone on record to say that he’s seen the documentary and would step down from voicing the character. However, no concrete plans regarding Apu’s future on The Simpsons has appeared. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2015/08/20/history-of-awesome-the-simpsons"] And even though Azaria says he’ll not be voicing the character, it’s unclear whether Apu will be phased out of the show or if someone else will be voicing the character going forward. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Kim is a reporter for IGN. You can reach him on Twitter.

The Simpsons Voice Actor Will No Longer Play Apu

Hank Azaria, the voice actor responsible for iconic Simpsons voices like Moe, Chief Wiggum, and Comic Book Guy, will be dropping one famous character from his repertoire: Apu. Speaking to /Film, Azaria confirmed that while the future for the character Apu on The Simpsons is still being decided upon, he won’t be voicing the character going forward. “All we know there is I won’t be doing the voice anymore unless there’s some way to transition it or something,” Azaria said. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-25-best-adult-cartoon-tv-series&captions=true"] Apu is an Indian immigrant in The Simpsons who runs the Kiwk-E-Mart convenience store in Springfield. The character has come under controversy since comedian Hari Kondabolu released his 2017 documentary, The Problem with Apu, which dove deep into the character and representation. Azaria has gone on record to say that he’s seen the documentary and would step down from voicing the character. However, no concrete plans regarding Apu’s future on The Simpsons has appeared. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2015/08/20/history-of-awesome-the-simpsons"] And even though Azaria says he’ll not be voicing the character, it’s unclear whether Apu will be phased out of the show or if someone else will be voicing the character going forward. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Kim is a reporter for IGN. You can reach him on Twitter.

20th Century Studios: Disney Dropping Fox Name, Rebranding Fox Searchlight

The Walt Disney Company is losing the “Fox” part of 20th Century Fox and its other studios as part of a big rebranding maneuver.

Variety reports that 20th Century Fox will be known as 20th Century Studios going forward, while Fox Searchlight Pictures will be Searchlight Pictures. However, no decision has yet been made about changing the names of 20th Century Fox Television and Fox 21 Television Studios.

[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2017/12/14/disney-officially-to-buy-21st-century-fox-for-524-billion-ign-news"]

Searchlight staff have apparently already had their email addresses changed, while the website fox.com will become searchlightpictures.com.

The first films affected by the rebranding will be Downhill, which will release with the Searchlight Pictures name and logo. Call of the Wild will similarly be released as a 20th Century Studios picture.

[widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=fox-movie-and-tv-show-properties-possibly-headed-to-disney&captions=true"]

Disney completed its acquisition of 20th Century Fox in March 2019, making it the most powerful film studio of all time. The merger meant Disney acquired huge names, including the likes of Alien, Family Guy, Avatar, the X-Men universe, and many more.

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Chris Priestman is a freelancer who writes news for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

20th Century Studios: Disney Dropping Fox Name, Rebranding Fox Searchlight

The Walt Disney Company is losing the “Fox” part of 20th Century Fox and its other studios as part of a big rebranding maneuver.

Variety reports that 20th Century Fox will be known as 20th Century Studios going forward, while Fox Searchlight Pictures will be Searchlight Pictures. However, no decision has yet been made about changing the names of 20th Century Fox Television and Fox 21 Television Studios.

[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2017/12/14/disney-officially-to-buy-21st-century-fox-for-524-billion-ign-news"]

Searchlight staff have apparently already had their email addresses changed, while the website fox.com will become searchlightpictures.com.

The first films affected by the rebranding will be Downhill, which will release with the Searchlight Pictures name and logo. Call of the Wild will similarly be released as a 20th Century Studios picture.

[widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=fox-movie-and-tv-show-properties-possibly-headed-to-disney&captions=true"]

Disney completed its acquisition of 20th Century Fox in March 2019, making it the most powerful film studio of all time. The merger meant Disney acquired huge names, including the likes of Alien, Family Guy, Avatar, the X-Men universe, and many more.

[poilib element="accentDivider"]

Chris Priestman is a freelancer who writes news for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

Disney Is Removing Baby Yoda Toys Due to Copyright Violations

Over the past week, Disney has issued takedown notices to a number of Etsy sellers who had listings for unofficial Baby Yoda merchandise.

The Verge reports that the Etsy sellers targeted by Disney were using the words “Star Wars,” “Mandalorian,” and “Yoda” to sell their unofficial Baby Yoda plushies and toys. Etsy acted on Disney’s request and deactivated the sellers’ storefronts until the copyright infringing words were removed from their listings.

[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/12/03/the-mandalorian-director-bryce-dallas-howard-on-keeping-baby-yoda-a-secret"]

However, that hasn’t stopped those sellers from fulfilling their backlog of orders, or from selling further products that resemble Baby Yoda. The difference now is they are using words such as “baby alien” and “The Baby Child.”

Baby Yoda merchandise has been highly sought after since The Mandalorian premiered in November 2019 on Disney+. There hasn’t been any official merch released yet as Disney wanted to keep Baby Yoda under wraps until the show went out.

[widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=an-adorable-gallery-of-baby-yoda&captions=true"]

Fortunately, Disney has seen the huge demand for Baby Yoda merch and is going to be releasing it soon. Need something to tide you over until then? Have a look at a photo of George Lucas hugging Baby Yoda.

[poilib element="accentDivider"] Chris Priestman is a freelancer who writes news for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

Disney Is Removing Baby Yoda Toys Due to Copyright Violations

Over the past week, Disney has issued takedown notices to a number of Etsy sellers who had listings for unofficial Baby Yoda merchandise.

The Verge reports that the Etsy sellers targeted by Disney were using the words “Star Wars,” “Mandalorian,” and “Yoda” to sell their unofficial Baby Yoda plushies and toys. Etsy acted on Disney’s request and deactivated the sellers’ storefronts until the copyright infringing words were removed from their listings.

[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/12/03/the-mandalorian-director-bryce-dallas-howard-on-keeping-baby-yoda-a-secret"]

However, that hasn’t stopped those sellers from fulfilling their backlog of orders, or from selling further products that resemble Baby Yoda. The difference now is they are using words such as “baby alien” and “The Baby Child.”

Baby Yoda merchandise has been highly sought after since The Mandalorian premiered in November 2019 on Disney+. There hasn’t been any official merch released yet as Disney wanted to keep Baby Yoda under wraps until the show went out.

[widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=an-adorable-gallery-of-baby-yoda&captions=true"]

Fortunately, Disney has seen the huge demand for Baby Yoda merch and is going to be releasing it soon. Need something to tide you over until then? Have a look at a photo of George Lucas hugging Baby Yoda.

[poilib element="accentDivider"] Chris Priestman is a freelancer who writes news for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

Unity Of Command 2 Review – Lifetime Supply

At first glance, Unity of Command 2 may look intimidating, the familiarity of the pint-sized tanks and military men that populate its World War II battlefields obscured by an impenetrable fog of unintuitive jargon and confounding icons. But once the confusion clears it reveals a surprisingly straightforward wargame whose keen focus on establishing and severing lines of supply delivers remarkable strategic depth.

This isn't really a strategy game about marching your troops forward to attack the enemy. Unity of Command 2's twist on the genre makes it a game about manoeuvring your units to occupy spaces that maintain clear supply lines to your forces and deny supply to the enemy. In fact, the winning move often involves holding your position. Sometimes you don't even need to engage the enemy at all; you just have to starve them out.

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Placing you in charge of the Allied forces in 1943, the campaign opens in North Africa before pushing up through Italy and into the heart of Western Europe. Missions arrive in groups known as conferences, one of the first off-putting terms you'll encounter. At the start of a conference, you can spend prestige points on upgrading your field headquarters, extending their range and efficiency during combat, and on purchasing theatre cards that you can play in battle to grant additional abilities. Beat all the missions in a conference and you unlock the next, along with another chance to upgrade and purchase.

Luck and short-term planning combine here in an interesting way. The cards available to purchase are shuffled randomly, meaning you can't always rely on picking up a favourite and may need to accommodate a curveball or two. And the choices you make are locked in for the duration of the conference, so you've got to manage with what you've got in terms of HQ upgrades and make those cards last over several missions. Knowing you have only three opportunities to use a naval bombardment over the course of a single mission does a lot to focus the mind. Such constraints force you to make bold choices about which targets you absolutely must hit and when precisely is the right time to do so. Get these plays right and you feel like the greatest general the world’s ever seen. Extra cards can be collected during missions as you complete certain objectives, but they arrive more as a relief package--an unexpected boon to your cause rather than a way to undermine the decisions you finalised at the last conference.

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At the outset of each mission you're able to survey the map and plan your approach. Usually there are a couple of primary objectives that must be fulfilled to complete the scenario, accompanied by a few secondary objectives that, if achieved, offer a bonus reward or even a slight tactical advantage in the next mission. These objectives are designed in such a way to guide you across the map, and the attentive player will glean useful advantages from them. For example, if the objectives ask you to take a certain town by turn 5 and a second town by turn 8, then it's likely that taking the first town will be beneficial to your efforts to take the second. And if you're tasked with taking and holding a location then doing so will undoubtedly accord an ongoing advantage. Clear, concise objectives provide a structure to each mission that makes it easy to digest what's expected of you, and when you should be aiming to have it accomplished.

Rounding out the preparatory phase, the units at your disposal are pre-assigned as per the scenario, so you're never burdened with choosing whether or not to deploy the US 13th Airborne or the 7th British Armoured Division--they're already there, conveniently positioned on a hex, ready to go. Although units come in only two types--tank and infantry divisions--there's a host of critical attributes that can distinguish one tank division from the next, assuming you can get your head around the collection of arcane icons used to describe them.

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Units are composed of "steps," an offputting, unfamiliar term that basically measures the health of the unit. All else being equal, a five-step unit will beat a three-step unit. Yet in these variable battlefields, things are rarely equal. Tiny stars and crosses next to a unit indicate whether it's an elite, veteran or regular unit, but these icons are all-too-easily missed, and even after dozens of hours of play I still found myself occasionally not noticing I was sending a regular infantry to their doom against an elite. Other, multi-coloured symbols represent various specialists serving in the division, but there's no tooltip or in-game explanation as to how a specialist can benefit a unit. I had to rely on an external guide, alt-tabbing out to remind myself that the dark blue icon with the chevron indicated a self-propelled anti-tank specialist while the chevron and dot meant it was a towed anti-tank specialist. There's a lot to remember and keep track of, and unfortunately, the tutorials and in-game tooltips aren't up to the job.

However, once you've taken stock there's the opportunity to make some last-minute adjustments, adding more regular or specialist units to this squad or that, to better suit the strategic gambit you wish to employ. Deploying an engineer specialist to the siege at your primary objective will help whittle away the enemy's fortification bonuses, but maybe you're better off assigning them to the infantry in the east to help ford all those rivers and secure a secondary objective? All these resources are limited, though, and the trade-offs you're forced into always carry weight.

The importance of every decision you make is heightened by the tight turn limit applied to each mission. Of course, you're free to take all the time in the world on each turn. But Unity of Command 2 is a wargame with a fast turnover, and that's precisely what makes it so accessible. Brief skirmishes are the order of the day rather than long, drawn-out stalemates. Often you'll be asked to tick off secondary goals within three or four turns while 10 or 12 turns is a generous amount of time to secure the primary objectives. Experimentation is encouraged by the short time scale. Roll the dice on one strategy, fail quickly, and then before you know it you're back at the battle planning stage, pondering a more effective approach based on the lessons taught by your unsuccessful sortie.

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Battles are won through a combination of clear, decisive strikes and a conservative support structure that can swiftly respond to any breach in your line. The way you have to manage logistics through the supply line system turns what could have been a puzzle game about finding the correct solution into a meaty strategy game brimming with flexibility. Victory is all about identifying where you really need to break through the enemy line to secure that vital railroad junction that will cut off supply to every enemy unit in a particular region of the map. Or it's about realising that you can drop those paratroopers behind enemy lines to blow up a bridge that will deny the Germans' ability to keep supplying the frontline. Seeing your plan executed successfully is incredibly satisfying, but at the same time, it's still entertaining to see a plan fall apart as enemy tanks overrun a key chokepoint, suddenly finding yourself scrambling to hold the line and divert supply to your now-stranded troops.

Unity of Command 2 is an overall excellent wargame. The early going can be tough as it takes time to acclimatise to some idiosyncratic terms and learn to interpret the raft of poorly-explained icons. Persistence--not to mention some handy community-written guides--does pay off, though. Stick with it, and you'll be rewarded with one of the finest strategy games in recent times.