Update: Nintendo of America confirmed that Super Nintendo World will open in Universal Studios Japan in Early 2021. Nintendo also released four new concept illustrations on Twitter showcasing some of the attractions that will be opening along with the park.

#SUPERNINTENDOWORLD featuring attractions based on iconic Nintendo games and characters is coming to Universal Studios Japan ( @USJ_Official ) in Early 2021! pic.twitter.com/HhTEStUGAq

— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) October 7, 2020

[poilib element="accentDivider"] Original Story: Super Nintendo World is reportedly now planning to open in Spring 2021 at Universal Studios Japan. Pop culture website Kai-You reports that the Super Mario-themed theme park is planning to open early next year. Super Nintendo World's was supposed to open in July 2020, but its launch was indefinitely delayed back in June 2020 in the midst of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Kotaku's Brian Ashcraft suggests that the opening date for Super Nintendo World may be April 2021, due to the fact that this is when the country is currently considering removing its entry ban for tourists. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2017/06/08/super-nintendo-world-japan-teaser-trailer"] The Kai-You report also reveals the 'Mario Cafe & Store,' which will apparently open prior to the official launch of the theme park - in its Hollywood Boulevard area - offering Nintendo merchandise and themed food and drinks. Some of the images shown offer a glimpse at the confectionary, including a pancake sandwich shaped like Mario and Luigi's iconic caps, a Super Mushroom cup and a set of themed Mario Brothers drinks with cute straws that make it look like you've got the face furniture made famous by the moustached plumbers. Check out these images to see some of the theme park's areas, courtesy of a Japanese photographer who captured the shots during the theme park's construction. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer. Follow him on Twitter.

Netflix has revealed the first official look for Anya Chalotra as Yennefer in The Witcher Season 2. The two new photos were shared to The Witcher's official Twitter account on Wednesday in a tweet that teases Yen's return in the upcoming season. The verse accompanying the first-look images reads: "She used her full might, and the battlefield burned. Then she vanished from sight, but Yen will return." The photos were also posted on the show's official Instagram page, with a caption to assure fans that Yennefer is "out there somewhere." The last time that we saw Yennefer, she had unleashed her fire and roasted most of the Nilfgaardian troops at The Battle of Sodden Hill. Now she appears to be paying the price for her actions, as her face is bloodied and her hands are bound in her Season 2 character photos. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/12/19/the-witcher-how-magic-works-for-geralt-and-yennefer-ign-first"] Yennefer's storyline in Season 1 spanned about 70 years, and even though she had her time at court and had many lovers, she ultimately found that her life was unfulfilled. Witcher showrunner Lauren Schmidt Hissrich previously told IGN that she intended to deal with all of the "messy stuff" that the character experiences before her transformation. The second season of The Witcher will finally see all of the characters exist on the "same timeline," with the show's "controversial" multi-timeline format being dropped in favour of a more streamlined narrative structure. With this news, a lot of fans are now looking forward to seeing how Yennefer's storyline could potentially intersect with Geralt and Ciri's stories. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-witcher-netflix-first-look-season-2-images-geralt-ciri-yennefer&captions=true"] Netflix's daily teasers of The Witcher Season 2 have already given us a little bit of insight into Geralt and Ciri's adventures. In their individual character photos, we glimpsed Henry Cavill's Geralt suited up in his new armour ahead of any training sessions that he might be having with Freya Allan's Ciri, who looked ready for combat in her official character snaps. We'll catch up with all of the characters when The Witcher Season 2 premieres in 2021. Filming resumed on The Witcher's highly anticipated second season in August following a five-month production shutdown as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Netflix is currently also working on The Witcher: Blood Origin and The Witcher: Nightmare of the Wolf. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.

Xbox boss Phil Spencer has said that he and Microsoft want to bring xCloud to Xbox consoles and PC, but that it is “just a bit further down” a long list of “cool things the xCloud team is working on”. Talking to a fan on Twitter, who quote-tweeted a post from Insider’s Ben Gilbert questioning why Xbox Game Pass doesn’t stream to consoles and PCs, Spencer clarified that the xCloud team does intend to bring the streaming service to console and PC.

Yes, we want to do this. It's in the long list of cool things the xCloud team is working on, just a bit further down the list. But we want console and PC players to be able to browse as easily as mobile players, it's a good gamepass feature.

— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) October 7, 2020

“Yes, we want to do this,” said Spencer. “It's in the long list of cool things the xCloud team is working on, just a bit further down the list. But we want console and PC players to be able to browse as easily as mobile players, it's a good game pass feature.” Currently, xCloud is only available on Android phones and tablets, although internal testing began for Windows 10 PCs earlier this year. It is unavailable on iOS devices due to Apple guidelines that restricts Microsoft from streaming the Game Pass library. But, despite being an Xbox product, xCloud is unavailable on actual Xbox consoles, and so games must be fully downloaded to play. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/08/05/xcloud-might-be-xboxs-secret-weapon-unlocked-455"] If or when xCloud does make it to Xbox, it would allow players to sample games before they commit to the download, or play entire games through the cloud. For more in xCloud, check out our hands-on preview of xCloud. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer. 

Netflix has announced that Godzilla Singular Point, an all-new anime series centered on the titular famed Kaiju, will premiere on its streaming service in 2021. Godzilla Singular Point will not be directly tied into any of the other Godzilla-related projects that have debuted on the streaming service in recent years. In fact, the upcoming anime series is set to feature a brand new cast and a completely original story, which will combine hand-drawn and CG animation styles. Check out an early sketch from the show's character designer Kazue Kato below: [caption id="attachment_2418357" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Image credit: Netflix[/caption] Atsushi Takahashi is directing the new anime series, with a creative team that comprises of Doraemon composer Kan Sawada, sci-fi novelist turned writer and editor Toh EnJoe, and Studio Ghibli animator Eiji Yamamori who is creating a brand new Godzilla design for the series. The project is being produced by Bones, the anime studio behind My Hero Academia, in partnership with Orange. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/10/02/new-to-netflix-for-october-2020"] Godzilla Singular Point is the latest addition to a growing list of Godzilla titles in the Netflix library, following on from the success of the streamer's slate of anime films based on the classic Japanese monster, including 2017's Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters, 2018's Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle, and Godzilla: The Planet Eater. IGN's review of Godzilla: The Planet Eater praised the film for providing an "emotionally satisfying conclusion" to an "uneven" animated trilogy. In our write-up, we also gave credit to the final chapter for offering "an emotional payoff and makes the trilogy as a whole much better when viewed as the conclusion of a single, ambitious longform story." [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=a-visual-history-of-godzilla&captions=true"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.

Following the immense success of their recent Pokemon line, BlackMilk Clothing, a popular Australia-based clothing brand who collaborates with fandoms, announced the release of not one, but two licensed lines in partnership with Nintendo. BlackMilk just revealed the lookbook for their upcoming Animal Crossing line, which will be dropping next week. First teased during Nintendo’s Super Mario Bros. 35th Anniversary Direct, the Super Mario Bros. line is officially live and available for purchase. Check out the Animal Crossing x BlackMilk Collection first-look, as well as the Super Mario line below: [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=blackmilk-clothing-x-animal-crossing-and-super-mario&captions=true"] The Animal Crossing line appears to feature Nook, Isabelle, Timmy, and Tommy, along with a variety of villagers with recognizable items like flowers and fruits. The Super Mario line features Mario, Bowser, Peach, and Yoshi along with additional characters and items, on both athletic and casual designed apparel. BlackMilk's lines are generally geared toward feminine silhouettes, but some of their pieces are unisex, like their bomber jackets and shooter shirts. Pieces range in price from AUD $59 to $139. If you decide you want something from either collection, you’ll want to hurry – their initial run of the Pokemon line sold out within 15 minutes. [poilib element="poll" parameters="id=4a0609a5-c0b7-41a3-b6aa-7f28871a08a5"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Ginger Smith is the product manager of user research and retention at IGN. She loves geek fashion and has a massive shoe collection. You can find her on Twitter @Gengarsmyth

Following the immense success of their recent Pokemon line, BlackMilk Clothing, a popular Australia-based clothing brand who collaborates with fandoms, announced the release of not one, but two licensed lines in partnership with Nintendo. BlackMilk just revealed the lookbook for their upcoming Animal Crossing line, which will be dropping next week. First teased during Nintendo’s Super Mario Bros. 35th Anniversary Direct, the Super Mario Bros. line is officially live and available for purchase. Check out the Animal Crossing x BlackMilk Collection first-look, as well as the Super Mario line below: [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=blackmilk-clothing-x-animal-crossing-and-super-mario&captions=true"] The Animal Crossing line appears to feature Nook, Isabelle, Timmy, and Tommy, along with a variety of villagers with recognizable items like flowers and fruits. The Super Mario line features Mario, Bowser, Peach, and Yoshi along with additional characters and items, on both athletic and casual designed apparel. BlackMilk's lines are generally geared toward feminine silhouettes, but some of their pieces are unisex, like their bomber jackets and shooter shirts. Pieces range in price from AUD $59 to $139. If you decide you want something from either collection, you’ll want to hurry – their initial run of the Pokemon line sold out within 15 minutes. [poilib element="poll" parameters="id=4a0609a5-c0b7-41a3-b6aa-7f28871a08a5"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Ginger Smith is the product manager of user research and retention at IGN. She loves geek fashion and has a massive shoe collection. You can find her on Twitter @Gengarsmyth

The dinosaurs will have to stay extinct for another year as Jurassic World: Dominion gets delayed by a year to 2022. Universal originally planned to release the Jurassic Park sequel in summer 2021. Jurassic World: Dominion was set to be released next summer, but Universal Pictures announced that it will now be released on June 10, 2022. Universal also released a new poster with the updated 2022 release date. Jurassic World: Dominion shut down production back in March because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but resumed production over the summer. Filming required strict new COVID protocols such as regular testing, temperature checks, and isolating cast members. Variety reports that Dominion is about less than a month away from wrapping. Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard will return for Dominion, and will be joined by original Jurassic Park stars Sam Neil, Laura Dern, and Jeff Goldblum. Colin Trevorrow returns as director. Jurassic Park: Dominion is the latest film to be delayed as a result of the pandemic, and the slower than anticipated recovery of the theater industry, if it can recover at this point. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=every-delayed-movie-due-to-coronavirus-so-far&captions=true"] Warner Bros. announced The Batman will be delayed to 2022, while Dune will be pushed back to 2021. Check the slideshow above for a full list of delayed films. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt T.M. Kim is a reporter for IGN.

The dinosaurs will have to stay extinct for another year as Jurassic World: Dominion gets delayed by a year to 2022. Universal originally planned to release the Jurassic Park sequel in summer 2021. Jurassic World: Dominion was set to be released next summer, but Universal Pictures announced that it will now be released on June 10, 2022. Universal also released a new poster with the updated 2022 release date. Jurassic World: Dominion shut down production back in March because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but resumed production over the summer. Filming required strict new COVID protocols such as regular testing, temperature checks, and isolating cast members. Variety reports that Dominion is about less than a month away from wrapping. Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard will return for Dominion, and will be joined by original Jurassic Park stars Sam Neil, Laura Dern, and Jeff Goldblum. Colin Trevorrow returns as director. Jurassic Park: Dominion is the latest film to be delayed as a result of the pandemic, and the slower than anticipated recovery of the theater industry, if it can recover at this point. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=every-delayed-movie-due-to-coronavirus-so-far&captions=true"] Warner Bros. announced The Batman will be delayed to 2022, while Dune will be pushed back to 2021. Check the slideshow above for a full list of delayed films. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt T.M. Kim is a reporter for IGN.

A new study suggests that megalodons grew over time to be as big as they did due to cannibalism taking place inside their wombs. In a scientific journal from Historical Biology, as reported by Science News, a team of researchers led by paleobiologist Kenshu Shimada of DePaul University claim that cannibalism in the womb is the reason the megalodon species was so gigantic compared to other shark species. This discovery came after the team wasn't satisfied with the prevailing explanation of their size, which is that as warm-blooded sharks, their body temperature enabled them to swim faster and catch more energetic prey leading to a larger overall mass. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/07/30/scientists-revive-100-million-year-old-lifeforms-ign-now"] The warm-blooded nature of these sharks did contribute to the megalodon's gigantism, but Shimada's team believes there must have been more to it. The team published a report in 2018 about the sheer size of the megalodon tooth, which is all that researchers have to study of these sharks because the rest of their body is made of cartilage and cartilage is not nearly as resistant to the passing of time as bone or teeth. Shimada's team determined that megalodons must have been at least 14 meters long, twice as long as any other shark that isn't a filter feeder, using their fossilized teeth. Other now-extinct species that exhibited traits of gigantism like the megalodon weren't nearly as long though, only growing to be about six meters in length. It was that discrepancy between megalodons and similar species that led Shimada's team to believe there must be more to the story, and that's how the team arrived at cannibalism. Sharks reproduce through ovoviviparity, which is a reproductive method where embryos develop inside eggs and stay inside their mother's womb until they hatch. This method of reproduction is inherently cannibalistic in this species because the first baby shark, or pup, to hatch then eats the rest of the eggs in the womb in a behavior known as intrauterine cannibalism. That's why when the pup finally leaves its mother's womb, it's already grown to be quite large and capable of defending itself. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-25-best-sci-fi-movies&captions=true"] Shimada's team believes that the intrauterine cannibalism combined with the environmental conditions the species experienced, like favorable water temperatures and the availability of food, led some shark species like the megalodon to grow into such a gigantic size. Calvert Marine Museum paleontologist, Stephen Godfrey, says that still doesn't explain the greater gigantism the megalodon experienced versus other gigantic shark species though. University of Bristol paleontologist, Humberto Férron, told Science News, “In my opinion, the evolution of gigantism in megalodon was the result of a combination of factors,” he says. The reproductive strategy may have helped them grow big, endothermy would have kept them active, and abundant large prey would have kept them fed." While the megalodon species is extinct, nothing's stopping you from watching Jason Statham battle a megalodon in The Meg. You can read about why we think that movie was good in our review of The Meg. If you're looking for some more underwater science to read about, check out this story about how scientists resurrected 100 million year-old underwater lifeforms and then read this story about a bionic moon jellyfish created by scientists. This article has been edited to include a direct-quote from Humberto Férron for further clarification.  [poilib element="accentDivider"] Wesley LeBlanc is a freelance news writer and guide maker for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @LeBlancWes. 

A new study suggests that megalodons grew over time to be as big as they did due to cannibalism taking place inside their wombs. In a scientific journal from Historical Biology, as reported by Science News, a team of researchers led by paleobiologist Kenshu Shimada of DePaul University claim that cannibalism in the womb is the reason the megalodon species was so gigantic compared to other shark species. This discovery came after the team wasn't satisfied with the prevailing explanation of their size, which is that as warm-blooded sharks, their body temperature enabled them to swim faster and catch more energetic prey leading to a larger overall mass. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/07/30/scientists-revive-100-million-year-old-lifeforms-ign-now"] The warm-blooded nature of these sharks did contribute to the megalodon's gigantism, but Shimada's team believes there must have been more to it. The team published a report in 2018 about the sheer size of the megalodon tooth, which is all that researchers have to study of these sharks because the rest of their body is made of cartilage and cartilage is not nearly as resistant to the passing of time as bone or teeth. Shimada's team determined that megalodons must have been at least 14 meters long, twice as long as any other shark that isn't a filter feeder, using their fossilized teeth. Other now-extinct species that exhibited traits of gigantism like the megalodon weren't nearly as long though, only growing to be about six meters in length. It was that discrepancy between megalodons and similar species that led Shimada's team to believe there must be more to the story, and that's how the team arrived at cannibalism. Sharks reproduce through ovoviviparity, which is a reproductive method where embryos develop inside eggs and stay inside their mother's womb until they hatch. This method of reproduction is inherently cannibalistic in this species because the first baby shark, or pup, to hatch then eats the rest of the eggs in the womb in a behavior known as intrauterine cannibalism. That's why when the pup finally leaves its mother's womb, it's already grown to be quite large and capable of defending itself. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-25-best-sci-fi-movies&captions=true"] Shimada's team believes that the intrauterine cannibalism combined with the environmental conditions the species experienced, like favorable water temperatures and the availability of food, led some shark species like the megalodon to grow into such a gigantic size. Calvert Marine Museum paleontologist, Stephen Godfrey, says that still doesn't explain the greater gigantism the megalodon experienced versus other gigantic shark species though. University of Bristol paleontologist, Humberto Férron, told Science News that he believes the megalodon's unique gigantism must have been the result of its ovoviparity reproductive strategy coupled with intrauterine cannibalism, as well as the species' endothermy and access to large prey for food. While the megalodon species is extinct, nothing's stopping you from watching Jason Statham battle a megalodon in The Meg. You can read about why we think that movie was good in our review of The Meg. If you're looking for some more underwater science to read about, check out this story about how scientists resurrected 100 million year-old underwater lifeforms and then read this story about a bionic moon jellyfish created by scientists. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Wesley LeBlanc is a freelance news writer and guide maker for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @LeBlancWes.