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The winners of the 2016 Steam Awards have been announced.
Grand Theft Auto V, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Portal 2 were among the winning titles of the first ever Steam Awards. Valve's portal-focused puzzle game won "Villain Most in Need of a Hug," while Rockstar's open-world hit received both the "Whoooaaaaaaa, dude!" award and the "Game Within a Game" award.
Disney has released a short preview of Emma Watson singing a classic Beauty and the Beast song from the upcoming live-action remake.
You can listen to Watson via a 30-second audio snippet on Twitter, where she performs “Something There.” Though brief, the clip does give a decent preview of just how different Watson's rendition of the song might be from the version sung by Paige O’Hara in the original 1991 animated film
Here's your exclusive first listen of @EmmaWatson singing 'Something There' from Beauty and the Beast. #BeOurGuest http://pic.twitter.com/AWpcrDmELY
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Matthew McConaughey has come forward to explain why he turned down a role in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 for the opportunity to star as the Man in Black in Sony's upcoming film adaptation of The Dark Tower.
In an interview with Playboy (via io9) the actor said he'd "feel like an amendment" if he joined James Gunn's forthcoming sequel. "I like Guardians of the Galaxy, but what I saw was 'It’s successful, and now we’ve got room to make a colorful part for another big-name actor.'"
Kojima Productions, Hideo Kojima's new development studio, recently showed off a new half-scale replica of its mascot Ludens — and it will only cost interested buyers $1999 USD.
The figure, a collaboration between Kojima Productions and Sideshow Collectibles, stands just over five feet tall. Limited to a run of 150 produced statues, each statue will be signed by Kojima himself and will come with LEDs in the helmet that can light up.
Ludens is currently available for pre-order on Sideshow's website and is expected to arrive to customers between January and March 2018. The statue costs $1999.99, and can be purchased at a flat rate or via monthly payments of $225.
A viral teaser site for 20th Century Fox's final Wolverine film Logan has launched online.
The first 1,974 fans who sign up at 1974framesoflogan.com with their home and email address will receive a "custom limited-edition postcard featuring a single frame from the final trailer for Logan." A total of 1,974 frames will be featured, hence the limited supply.
Logan opens in theaters March 3. IGN recently had the opportunity to watch the first 40 minutes of Fox's upcoming film, during which we learned the movie draws inspiration from the classic western Shane.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is now this year's third highest-grossing movie at the domestic box office, bringing in over $375 million USD so far.
After grossing $16.6 million on Thursday, the standalone Star Wars film surged past Deadpool, The Jungle Book, and The Secret Life of Pets to take third place on this year's list of highest grossers, according to Variety.
Rogue One is expected to finish the year as 2016's second highest-grossing movie, as it'll likely surpass Captain America: Civil War's $408 million haul within the next two days. With a $486 million gross, Finding Dory will almost certainly finish as 2016's top domestic box office earner.
Showtime is giving its subscribers a late holiday gift: the Season 6 premiere of Homeland is available to watch early starting today, December 30. That's more than two weeks before its on-air debut on January 15.
Homeland's new episode is available to Showtime subscribers on its streaming services Showtime On Demand and Showtime Anytime. For those who aren't currently subscribers, the network has a seven-day free trial available on its website.
There are plenty of great games to look forward to in 2017, but with all the big-name titles to anticipate, it can be easy to let some of the smaller gems slip under your radar.
Here are 39 awesome looking games you shouldn't overlook in 2017.
Absolver’s sharp, eye-catching style isn’t the only enticing thing about it. An elaborate hand-to-hand combat system that combines tactical stances, customizable combos, and rearrangeable decks makes every encounter feel as fine-tuned as a fighting game. Check out 7 minutes of Absolver gameplay for more.
Agony is a first-person survival horror set in what is probably the most gruesome, shocking, and bizarre depiction of hell in a game, ever. Bone gates open up into shifting tunnels of teeth and bloody, corpse-filled caverns occupied by massive split-faced demons. If horror games are meant to create images that will stick in your mind long after you’d like them to, Agony already has that part down. Head to its website for more info.
Need a roadmap for all the winter and spring TV premieres and midseason returns? IGN's got you covered.
While shows like Black Sails, Bates Motel, Grimm, The Leftovers and Girls wrap up their stories with final seasons, a splendid spread of new shows enter the picture - like Marvel's Iron Fist, FX's Legion and Taboo, Starz's American Gods, and The CW's Riverdale.
Meanwhile, The Walking Dead, Arrow, The Flash, Gotham, Lethal Weapon, Supergirl, and more resume their current seasons while The 100, iZombie, Colony, The Expanse, Homeland, Humans, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Baskets, and Sherlock return for brand new ones.
More new shows include FOX's 24: Legacy, NBC's DC Comics-based Powerless, CBS' Training Day, and HBO's Crashing. As you can see, there's plenty to add to your already overstuffed viewing schedule.
NASA would like to see SpaceX pull off a successful landing on Mars before it lends its equipment to the company, it recently announced.
Speaking at the fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union (via Space.com), Jim Green, the head of NASA's Planetary Science Division, said, "I want to wait this one out," in reference to SpaceX's planned 2018 unmanned "Red Dragon" mission to Mars. "Landing on Mars is hard," he said.
But, as he tells it, once SpaceX is successful, it'll be all systems go for a full NASA collaboration. "I can't wait for it to be successful, because it opens up our opportunities to deliver important science instruments into the Mars environment," Green continued.
This new year has the potential to be a great one at the movies. There are long-awaited sequels (xXx: The Return of Xander Cage, Blade Runner 2049, T2: Trainspotting) and new installments in long-running franchises (Transformers: The Last Knight, Star Wars: Episode VIII, The Fate of the Furious) peppered throughout.
Not only will 2017 bring us the superhero team-up many thought would never happen (Justice League), but it also offers a goodbye to an old friend (Logan) and maybe an entire franchise (Resident Evil: The Final Chapter).
Fans of Stephen King will find themselves over the moon as not one, but two, high-profile adaptations arrive in the second half of 2017 (The Dark Tower, It) and several other classic monsters (The Mummy, Kong: Skull Island) will be resurrected during the year.
So you made it through 2016. Your stomach should now be so full of turkey that you are pinned to the sofa, with nothing but your TV and the feeling you should be buying cut-price oak furniture somewhere.
What better time to listen to our preview podcast for 2017, where Alex, Rory and Alysia look forward to the best games, TV shows and films coming in the next 12 months.
In other news, thank you so much for listening to the podcast this year - the whole UK team super appreciates all your support! From all of us, happy holidays, and have a great New Year!
IGN UK Podcast #364: Big Fat 2017 Preview
You don’t have to look too far online to find a subjective list of the best shooter maps ever made. Because regurgitating another one of those lists would be too easy, and apparently I love making life difficult, I’ve gone the other way. What follows is a breakdown of my pick of the 10 most underrated shooter maps of all time. To further complicate (or, perhaps, refine) the selection process, I’ve enforced a rule of only one game per series which, believe you me, makes things a whole lot trickier.
In no particular order, here we go!
Look online and you’ll find a lot of hate for Outskirts which – coupled with the reality that Treyarch had the unenviable task of following up on the mega-success of Infinity Ward’s Modern Warfare – makes for the perfect first entry in this list. The more popular maps in World at War had a greater emphasis on close-quarters combat and tight corners. Outskirts, on the other hand, bucked the trend, with long lines of sight and plenty of open space between ruined houses, which made it a sniper’s delight. It also forced run-and-gun SMG players (like me) to shift to longer-range firearms, or trick opponents into intense corner battles. Also, it had tanks.
Pokemon Prism, the fan-made ROM hack for Pokemon Crystal Version, has been make available online.
Pokemon Prism creator Koolboyman shut down his website and the project after receiving a cease and desist from Nintendo, but shortly thereafter, the files for the hack circulated on 4chan by fans allegedly unaffiliated with the project who, in a README text document, referred to themselves as "a group of people interested in seeing ROM hacks succeed."
Kotaku reached out to group of anonymous distributors to find out why they took it upon themselves to make the ROM hack available to the public. "Regardless of Nintendo's legal rights, we do believe that they are destroying their fans' hard work for no reason and at no gain," they said. "Nintendo could have used this (and any other good ROM hack) as an opportunity to promote the Pokémon series in general. They don’t even have to do anything other than let the games live."
Carrie Fisher, who recently passed away at age 60, had a minor role in Dishonored.
According to Glixel, Fisher recorded several lines for developer Arkane Studios' stealth game and her work is well hidden. You have to kill a certain propaganda officer during the "Return to the Tower" mission.
Afterwards, late in the game, you have to pay close attention to spot her voice coming over the public address system in Dunwall, Dishonored's main setting.
Fisher tells people not to "interfere with the regular transfer of deceased persons to disposal centers in the Flooded District" or that "any disturbance in the region of Dunwall Tower this evening has been the result of a previously scheduled training exercise."
If you've ever set a Tweet into the wild with a glaring typo, the only way to fix it is to delete the whole thing and try again. However, we may soon have the ability to simply edit the offending typo in our 140-character micro-blogs.
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey asked what users would like to see from Twitter in the new year and personally responded to a few of the replies asking for an edit function.
@_AlexLawrence @cloleaf yup me too. We're thinking a lot about it.
— jack (@jack) December 29, 2016
Scarlett Johansson narrowly topped her Marvel co-stars Chris Evans and Robert Downey Jr. to become 2016's top-grossing actor.
According to Forbes, which calculated the global ticket sales of actors’ movies released this year, Johansson brought in $1.2 billion at the box office thanks largely to her role as Black Widow in Captain America: Civil War, which made over $1.1 billion worldwide. Johansson also had a minor part in the Coen brothers’ latest film Hail Caesar!, where she played 1950s Hollywood actor DeeAnna Moran.
Johansson starred in The Jungle Book, which grossed over $950 million worldwide, and the recently-released Sing as well this year, but Forbes did not count animated films where only actors’ voices were used. Johansson's Civil War co-stars Evans and Downey each grossed $1.15 billion in 2016 and tie for second place.
Amazon Prime welcomes us to the new year with their new shows Sneaky Pete -- from executive producer Bryan Cranston -- and Z: The Beginning of Everything, starring Christina Ricci. You'll also be able stream Swiss Army Man, Hellboy, The Infiltrator, She's All That, Dirty Grandpa, and more.
For purchase, you'll find The Accountant, Inferno, Deepwater Horizon, and The Girl on the Train. Here's the full list for January!
13 Hours: Secret Soldiers of Benghazi
Across the Universe
Happy Feet
Rent
Hellboy
Radio
Stardust
American History X
Norm of the North
Are We There Yet?
With another excellent year of gaming in the books, it's time to look forward to what's in store for us next year. Everything from long-awaited sequels to fresh takes on familiar genres, there are a ton of interesting games headed our way. Here are 43 big games coming in 2017.
Agents of Mayhem was the featured game for our June IGN First, and we got some fairly extensive hands-on time with it. Though it technically exists in the same storytelling universe as Volition’s Saints Row series, it’s a new IP that plays quite differently from its sister series, or from any sandbox action game really. You choose three squad members from a larger pool of diverse heroes, all of whom have customizable passive and active abilities, and by swapping between them on the fly, you can put together some impressive pyrotechnic displays. The core combat is already a good time, and if the open world elements wind up matching it, Agents of Mayhem could be the sandbox action game to beat in 2017. -- Vince Ingenito, Editor
Another year done, another lengthy list of TV casualties. Cancelations are part of the natural selection of the business, along with shows coming to an end because the creators decided it was time, and some great shows took their final bow in 2016 - but which one will you miss the most?
Now, you may notice that not ALL the canceled shows are on the poll because we're only counting established series that were on for at least two seasons. That being the case, you won't find The Grinder, Damien, Braindead, Limitless, Heartbeat, or any of the other shows that came and went after only a single season. You also won't find shows whose final run may have started this fall, but won't actually air their final episode until 2017 (Teen Wolf, Salem, The Vampire Diaries, we'll see you on next year's poll).
A new form of artificial intelligence (AI) can create its own films by simulating possible outcomes based on a picture.
As reported by Scientific American, humans are able to look at a picture of, say, two other beings interacting, and imagine different ways the scene could play out, and new technology could allow machines to do something similar.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) put this technology to the test, pitting two AI systems against each other. One AI system would create short videos realistic enough that they tricked the other, which was tasked with trying to pick out real videos from machine-created. When the videos were shown to workers at Amazon’s Mechanical Turk, 20 percent of the time they picked the AI created videos over the real ones.
Nintendo has announced that Android users can now pre-register to download Super Mario Run.
As announced on Nintendo of America’s Twitter account, Android users can pre-register on Google Play and will receive a notification as soon as Mario’s auto-runner becomes available for download.
The Google Play listing confirms that, just like on iOS, players will be able to download the first few levels of Super Mario Run for free, then have the option to purchase the remaining levels for a set price. Also just like on iOS, internet connectivity is required to play Super Mario Run.
Warning: The following interview with Vikings creator/showrunner Michael Hirst contains massive spoilers from this week's episode, "All His Angels."
This week, Vikings star Travis Fimmel exited the show in epic fashion as Ragnar, traded over to King Ælla, fell to a series of burnings, beatings and poisonous snake bites. Doomed to the vengeful king's viper pit, Ragnar sacrificed himself for the sake of his own legacy and for the future of his people, knowing that Ivar and his brothers would swear revenge and come calling on England for blood.
I spoke to Vikings creator Michael Hirst about the game-changing episode, "All His Angels," and what Ragnar's demise means for the rest of the series. Plus, I got Hirst's thoughts about the death itself, Ragnar's relationship with Ecbert, and why Ivar was, ultimately, Ragnar's choice to succeed him.
A listing on GameStop's website has revealed a For Honor Collector's Edition, called the 'For Honor Apollyon Collector's Edition'.
The listing says the CE includes:
The final chapter of Civil War II reveals the ultimate fate of Tony Stark.
Warning: this article contains spoilers for Civil War II #8!
Several post-Civil War II comics have strongly hinted that Tony Stark died in his final battle with Captain Marvel. The truth, as it turns out, is a little more complicated than that. Carol did defeat Tony in one-on-one combat, destroying his massive armor and leaving Tony in a severely injured and comatose state.
When I first started my daunting journey through the Final Fantasy series for IGN at the start of 2016, I did so opting for the most convenient and cost-effective methods available to me. For the earliest games in this beloved franchise, that meant resorting to remasters, the trade-off being that I could easily carry the first ten Final Fantasy games around with me on my Vita, grind a few levels whenever I had spare time throughout the day and speed up my playthroughs massively.
As I half-expected, when the first piece in this series landed on IGN’s homepage back in January, I drew some criticism in the comments for not playing the original NES version of the first Final Fantasy. I get it: long-term fans of classic franchises tend to want others to experience what they experienced and in the way they experienced it. It is, of course, not only unrealistic to expect that everyone has had the same formative experiences as you, it’s simply impossible, and is what makes your fellow human beings so damn interesting.
While we ever so patiently await the worldwide release of Persona 5 (the game has been out in Japan since September), we couldn't resist a chance to sample an array of food and drinks based on the Atlus title when we had the chance.
A recent trip to Japan happened to coincide with a month-long Persona 5 pop up cafe that featured eight meals and eight drinks modeled after the game's characters and their Personas. While two people couldn't justifiably order all 16 items (maybe next time...) we did order one item per character for a sampling of what the cafe had to offer. Click right to view the photo gallery of our culinary adventure.
The lineup of free games for PlayStation Plus subscribers in January has been revealed ahead of their availability next month.
According PlayStation Blog's announcement, Day of the Tentacle Remastered and This War of Mine: The Little Ones will be available for PlayStation 4 owners, with the former also available on PS Vita via cross buy. For our thoughts on DoubleFine's faithful and "lovingly-drawn" remaster of LucasArts' 1993 classic, read IGN's Day of the Tentacle Remastered review.
Potential spoilers for Logan continue below, so read on at your own risk.
If a new report is to be believed, the Merc with a Mouth could be making an appearance in 2017's Logan, the forthcoming Wolverine film starring Hugh Jackman.
TheWrap reports Ryan Reynolds has filmed a scene as Deadpool that will appear in Logan. According to the site, the scene will likely end up as a post-credits tag. Deadpool 2 director David Leitch reportedly directed the Deadpool scene for the film. IGN has reached out to Fox for comment.
Fox's 2016 hit firmly established Deadpool as part of the studio's X-Men universe, though Reynolds' character never actually encountered any of the existing characters in the franchise. He picks up X-Men sidekicks Negasonic Teenage Warhead and Colossus at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, and has several fourth wall-breaking scenes, including one where he asks if the "Professor" Colossus mentions is "McAvoy or Stewart."
SPOILERS: The following article contains the basic plot synopsis for an upcoming episode of DC's Legends of Tomorrow.
A young George Lucas is set to make an appearance in DC's Legends of Tomorrow.
After the recent reveal of Rip Hunter (Arthur Darvill) working as a director in 1967 Los Angeles, Entertainment Weekly reports that the character will cross paths with a young Lucas in the upcoming winter premiere.
Lucas, who will be played by Matt Angel (Grimm), will be a major part of of the episode, titled “Raiders of the Lost Art,” which will have consequences for Nate (Nick Zano) and Ray (Brandon Routh). According to executive producer Marc Guggenheim, episode 209’s time aberration will involve Lucas, and it causes him to never make Raiders of the Lost Ark and Star Wars.
Hulu has landed a deal with Disney that will offer an exclusive library of live-action and animated films.
According to USA Today, the deal will last for several years and includes over 50 different movies. Customers can stream The Nightmare Before Christmas, Sister Act, and Air Bud, among many others, right now. Additional Disney movies such as Lilo & Stitch, Tarzan, The Emperor's New Groove, Muppet Treasure Island, The Princess and the Frog, Con Air, Gone in 60 Seconds, The Mighty Ducks, Pearl Harbor, Step Up, and Romy and Michele's High School Reunion will be available in the coming months.
What better way to celebrate 2016 being the 30th anniversary of Dragon Ball than by eating your way through food and beverage versions of the characters?
During a recent trip to Tokyo, we made a pit stop at the Dragon Ball 30th anniversary pop up cafe at Tower Records in Shibuya to try to sample as many of the Dragon Ball tie-in food and drink items as we could. Click right to view the photo gallery of our culinary adventure.
The first episode of the Dragon Ball anime made its debut on Fuji TV on February 26, 1989. Since then, the anime has spawned multiple spin-off series, all the way from the beloved Dragon Ball Z (which ran from 1989 to 1996) though the currently airing Dragon Ball Super.
The R-rated comedy Bad Moms is getting a sequel next year.
Actress Kristen Bell announced Bad Moms 2 on Twitter. "Get ready. It's about to get festive as a mother," she wrote. "A BAD MOMS CHRISTMAS coming for ya winter 2017!"
The accompanying video also indicated the sequel's Christmas setting.
Get ready. It's about to get festive as a mother. A BAD MOMS CHRISTMAS coming for ya winter 2017! #BadMomsXmas http://pic.twitter.com/JAkR1EXrTz
— Kristen Bell (@IMKristenBell) December 24, 2016
It's time to bid farewell good riddance to 2016 - but not before we look back at the year of professional wrasslin'! The year that gave us the "New Era" of WWE, which was a term that was used for the hottest of minutes back in the spring before getting unceremoniously dropped for no particular reason. The era was new, and then it wasn't. We were entering a fresh and exciting age, and then we weren't.
This was also the year when WWE decided to go full-tilt bonkers with their WWE Network programming, offering up something like 7000 hours of things for our eye and ear holes. To make things mathematically more apropos of nothing, Michael Cole informed us that if we were to watch one hour a week -- just a single hour -- it would take us 20 years to get through all the content. Also, if you laid out all the content, stretched it out end to end, it would wrap around the earth five times. So much science. Can't handle the science.
NASA is currently in the process of developing special food that will one day be used on manned-trips to Mars.
The food (which can be seen in the video below) is currently being developed for use on the Orion Spacecraft, which is designed to take astronauts beyond low Earth orbit. Orion's upcoming trip, Exploration Mission 2, will take its crew around the Earth's moon "without being attached to any habitation module," explains Orion Crew Support Equipment System Manager Jessica Vos.
As we close out 2016 and try to wrangle the wild, untamed 455 (!) scripted shows that were on TV this past year, it's time to look back at the best battles, duels, tussles, throwdowns, and slobberknockers that our favorite stories had to offer. That's right, it's the holiday season, so it's time to fight!
This year we had warring Jedis, clashing pirates, scrapping vikings, and tenacious teens fending off ravenous interdimensional monsters. There was a little bit of everything on the action front, including superheroes overcoming small armies, dystopian warriors fighting for tribal supremacy, and a guy getting his head sucked up into a butt. WE SAID EVERYTHING!
Click through the gallery below to see the best TV fights from 2016.
Carrie Fisher's Star Wars family was quick to mourn her passing after news of her death at age 60 broke on Tuesday, December 27th.
The accomplished actress, writer and activist is best known for her work in Star Wars. Her involvement in the series spans her entire life; she joined A New Hope when she was just 19, and she will appear in the forthcoming Episode VIII, which hits theaters in 2017. She touched many lives as Princess Leia, not the least of which are the people who worked directly with her in the Star Wars franchise. Here's a round up of their responses to news of her passing.
We'll have one last chance to fall in love again with Carrie Fisher's portrayal of Leia Organa, as her scenes for the upcoming Star Wars Episode VIII finished filming in July.
According to Variety, anonymous sources say Fisher's work on the film was finished when filming of Episode VIII completed in July. This has yet to be confirmed by LucasFilm, but IGN has reached out for comment and will update this article with any additional information we receive.
Carrie Fisher has passed away at age 60, her family confirmed in a statement.
Fisher's daughter Billie Lourd released a statement through the family spokesman Simon Halls confirming her mother's death to People.
“It is with a very deep sadness that Billie Lourd confirms that her beloved mother Carrie Fisher passed away at 8:55 this morning,” reads the statement. “She was loved by the world and she will be missed profoundly. Our entire family thanks you for your thoughts and prayers.”
It’s unusual that we’d run an interview at IGN where one of the interviewees is an IGN editor, but Love is Love is a very special project.
Published by IDW, in participation with DC Comics, Love is Love -- which will be available on December 28th for $9.99 -- is a 144-page anthology comic book created as a tribute to the victims of the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, FL earlier this year. Comic book writer Marc Andreyko (Batwoman, Wonder Woman '77) organized the book and its participants and all of the work for Love is Love was done for free, with all proceeds going to Equality Florida to benefit the victims and survivors from Pulse, along with their families.
The astounding list of contributors includes some of the biggest names in comic books, including Jim Lee, Paul Dini, Mark Millar, Grant Morrison, Scott Snyder, Jill Thompson, George Perez, Matt Wagner, Amanda Connor, Phil Jimenez, Olivier Coipel and many more. The book also features contributions from notable actors, writers and directors outside the comic book world, including Patton Oswalt, Damon Lindelof, Taran Killam, Matt Bomer, Morgan Spurlock and none other than J.K. Rowling, whose Harry Potter characters are featured in a page drawn by Jim Lee. Along with several stories that feature Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Harley Quinn and other DC Comics icons, the Archie characters also appear, and the book features work by some, like Marvel’s Brian Michael Bendis, who have notably been given permission to circumvent their current exclusive deals.
Between the massive influx of new titles launching on Steam and emerging sites like itch.io every day and the tendency for high-profile AAA releases to overshadow smaller projects, it’s getting harder to keep track of all the awesome games that come out every year.
We decided to round-up some of our favorite hidden gems from this year. Despite flying under the radar for many, these games are beautiful, clever, and deserve a closer look.
Here are 13 of the most awesome games no one talked about in 2016.
They might not be cylons from Battlestar: Galactica, but robots will most likely be making our fast food in the near future.
Recode reports that there are already machines making sushi and ramen, putting together pizzas, and even mixing drinks. That's on top of new fast food startups that utilize robots.
For example, Momentum Machines hopes to open in San Francisco with a robot that flips burgers. Meanwhile, Eatsa promises "better, faster food" without any human interaction.
There are also companies — including Alphabet and Amazon — looking into drones delivering food instead of people.
Ahead of the film's release next year, a new photo from Stephen King's It has been revealed.
The image, which comes courtesy of Entertainment Weekly, offers yet another creepy look at Bill Skarsgard as Pennywise the clown. This time, however, he's seen lurking in the sewer system below Derry, Maine.
Assassin's Creed had an underwhelming debut at the domestic box office, earning just $15 million over the four-day holiday weekend.
As noted by Variety, the video game-inspired film, starring Michael Fassbender, earned $22.5 million during its first six days in theaters, placing fifth at the box office. As such, the movie still has a long way to go to recoup its $125 million production budget.
The studio expects the film to perform well in international markets. "This start exceeded our modeling," Fox domestic distribution chief Chris Aronson said. "We'll be the beneficiaries of a strong holiday play period."
One of the most interesting aspects of traveling to an amusement park in a different country is a chance to sample their take on theme park food, and in that regard, Universal Studios Japan totally delivers.
During recent trips to Japan (for the Ghost in the Shell trailer launch and to get hands on with Resident Evil 7), several IGN editors took a side trip to check out the Osaka theme park and get a sense of how it's different from other Universal parks in one of the most important ways: the food. Click the arrow right to advance the photo gallery.
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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.
Batman and Superman battled it out on the big screen, Pokemon started appearing around every corner of the real world, the first Disney-released Star Wars spinoff debuted, and much more dominated the entertainment landscape of 2016. IGN was there to cover all of it — the biggest games, movies, TV, and comics reveals, surprises, successes, and failures — but what were the biggest stories that captivated you, our readers and viewers, throughout this year?
Read on to find out what you were most intrigued by this year (hint: the DC cinematic universe will appear more than a couple of times) with IGN’s 10 biggest news stories of the year:
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice started with a strong opening weekend, but broke a record after its first full week in theaters.
Soon astronauts will travel where no human has gone before, further into the solar system than any mission in history.
NASA's Orion spacecraft will begin ground testing, according to NASA, and once completed, the ship will move into "the proving grounds," an area of space around the moon where astronauts "can build and test systems" in preparation for a future mission to Mars.
Following the debut of Fuller House: Season 2 earlier this month, Netflix has announced a third season will release sometime next year.
News of the show's Season 3 renewal was shared via Fuller House's various social media pages. Check out the announcement video below, which was posted on Twitter:
Holiday wishes, answered. Fuller House Season 3, coming 2017. http://pic.twitter.com/pJkRASTpBj
from IGN News http://ift.tt/2iuKUAl
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Overwatch recently rolled out it's Winter Wonderland update, and with that, cosplayers have jumped on the holiday celebrations, too.
Here are three of the coolest (get it, coolest?) Overwatch cosplayers we've ever seen - click right to see them all:
The Tracer cosplay, by Knitemaya, is a pretty spot-on recreation of Tracer's Winter Wonderland skin. The photographer who took those photos is Pireze.
Check out all the hi-res photos 20th Century Fox has released thus far from Alien: Covenant by scrolling through the image gallery below.
Alien and Prometheus director Ridley Scott returns to the sci-fi/horror franchise he created with the forthcoming Alien: Covenant.
The film's stellar cast includes Michael Fassbender, Katherine Waterston, Billy Crudup, Danny McBride, Demián Bichir, Carmen Ejogo, Amy Seimetz, Jussie Smollet, Callie Hernandez, Nathaniel Dean, Alexander England, and Benjamin Rigby.
Here is the official plot synopsis for Alien: Covenant, which takes place several years after the events of Prometheus:
"The crew of the colony ship Covenant, bound for a remote planet on the far side of the galaxy, discovers what they think is an uncharted paradise, but is actually a dark, dangerous world. When they uncover a threat beyond their imagination, they must attempt a harrowing escape."
Ever wonder what it would be like to have your annual Christmas dinner at Hogwarts? One fan did just that, and documented the entire thing.
Artist Destiny Blue recently attended a yearly event that hosts a dinner at the original Great Hall set at Warner Brothers' London studio (via Mashable). The event, which occurred on December 7 and 8, isn't necessarily the cheapest way to celebrate fandom, with tickets running £240 (~$304 USD) each. But according to Blue on her imgur account, "there's no experience like it."
Remember Pizza Rat, the adorable NYC rat caught on camera dragging a slice of pie back to its rat-lair? As cute as that humanized vermin was, you probably didn't think "Boy, I'd sure like to eat that small animal!"
First of all, it would take a whole lot of rats to make just one tasty burger, but fortunately the nutria, a cousin of the rat, has enough meat to put a dent the appetite of Louisiana Cajuns and more recently, Russian diners.
The river rat, as its sometimes known, is found in southern Russia and is now a hot item in some Moscow eateries. Chef Takhir Kholikberdiev "serves up nutria burgers and a whole range of other rodent-based dishes" in his Moscow based restaurant Krasnodar Bistro, according to The Guardian.
Marvel Comics released their full lineup of solicitations for March 2017 this week. That month will mark the beginning of the ResurrXion relaunch and the debut of new series like America and Iron Fist.
New Series:
Ending Series:
Studios from around the industry with franchises on PlayStation have released eCards to wish their fans happy holidays.
As a thank you to PlayStation fans for their support throughout 2016, PlayStation Blog has compiled a collection of holiday cards from its studios and various partners and shared them with the community. Death Stranding developer Kojima Productions also took to Twitter to share a holiday card of its own, featuring an adorable illustration of its mascot Ludens. See them all in the gallery below.
Funimation has released the first official promo video for Attack on Titan: Season 2.
Watch the video below to see the first-ever footage to be released for the show's second season, which features several familiar faces from Season 1. The clip also provides a glimpse at the new "Beast Titan" who will soon enter the fray.
Attack on Titan: Season 2 will premiere this coming April and has been licensed for simulcast by Funimation. The core staff from Season 1 are back, with Tetsuo Araki now overseeing as chief director and Masashi Koizuka serving as director.
At FFXIV Fan Festival in Tokyo today, Square Enix announced that Final Fantasy XIV’s Stormblood expansion will launch on June 20, 2017.
The release date was confirmed on Final Fantasy XIV's official Twitter account. During the event, Square Enix also revealed the new Red Mage job class, as well as a new raid titled Return to Ivalice.
Via the official PlayStation Twitter account, a handful of new images from Stormblood were also revealed. You can swipe through the gallery below to see new art of the Red Mage, the logo for Return to Ivalice, as well as screenshots featuring swimming, diving, and more.
Star Wars actress Carrie Fisher has reportedly suffered a heart attack at the age of 60 while on an international flight and is currently in "critical condition" according to multiple reports.
The Los Angeles Times reports that Fisher was in critical condition following what emergency officials described as a "cardiac episode" that occurred during her flight from London on Friday, December 23. She was then rushed to the hospital by paramedics from the Los Angeles Fire Department after the plane landed at LAX. A source also confirming the "full cardiac arrest" to NBC News said the actress' condition was "not good."
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Nintendo announced today that Super Mario Run has been downloaded 50 million times since its launch on December 15.
The news comes via Twitter, and came along with the following image from Nintendo:
Today’s milestone marks 10 million additional downloads since the 40 million milestone Nintendo announced earlier this week. According to Nintendo, Super Mario Run was “the fastest in App Store history” to hit that milestone, topping the charts in 140 different countries.
Jason Rubin, the co-founder of Naughty Dog and current head of content at Oculus, sees no limit to the potential for VR, going so far as to suggest it could very well be the final form of computing technology.
"If you believe in VR, you believe it's the last computing platform," Rubin said on the latest episode of our monthly interview show IGN Unfiltered.
"There have been various computing platforms that have come over time, and all of them have opened up opportunities that the previous computing platform has not," Ruben explained, citing GPS-equipped mobile devices as one such example.
2016 was a year full of video game surprises. Beloved franchises took exciting turns, new games wowed us with their brilliance, and we got our first real taste of the wonders of VR.
As the year draws to a close, join us in celebrating some of the epic moments that made 2016 an awesome year for gamers. Be warned, though: major spoilers ahead!
Rocksteady’s Batman: Arkham VR let you don the Dark Knight’s suit piece-by-piece, from his infamous cowl to a host of awesome gadgets. Yet it's the moment after the suit is assembled, when you see yourself reflected in a mirror as the Batman himself, that made us feel like our six-year-old self’s dreams had come true. Arkham VR makes you feel like Batman. And it feels awesome. — Jonathon Dornbush
Earth's highest mountain is about to host an exclusive eatery. A pop-up One Star House Party restaurant is taking 15 guests and serving them locally-sourced meals at base camp.
It's not nearly as dramatic as a Taco Bell at the summit, but given how dangerous the trek to the top can be, it's probably for the best.
Potential diners had to have made reservations before the end of November, and chef James Sharman has organized more than just a stop at the base of Everest.
The end of the year is nigh. So before we peer into the future (well, it'll be more a cursory perusal of a release calendar) on the next week's show, we take a moment to look back at 2016. No, we don't focus on that or that and especially not that, but there's plenty of time to focus on the things we did like.
We'll be giving out some very important, serious awards shortly on the site, but until then, check out these very special 9 categories cooked up by our very partial panel of Daniel Krupa, Gav Murphy, and Joe Skrebels... enjoy:
IGN UK Podcast #363: The Alternative IGN Awards 2016
Coming hot off the heels of the mysterious new Green/White Power Ranger, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #11 by writer Kyle Higgins and artist Hendry Prasetya from BOOM! Studios will debut another new type of Power Ranger called Mastodon Sentries.
Take a look:
Ubisoft is apparently interested in making the Animus device used in the Assassin's Creed game series more like the one created for its new tie-in movie according to its director and star.
The movie Animus is a far cry from the virtual reality headset/hip lounge chair we're used to, instead comprising a giant mechanical arm and holographic lights to help represent the genetic memories its accessing in the user.
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"We're really excited about it," explained director Justin Kurzel in an interview with IGN. "Actually, Ubisoft were really interested in it. They thought that the potential of it to actually interact as gameplay was really interesting. So they were talking about maybe evolving it even further for possible games for the future.
With just a few weeks left this year, there’s still a chance that the 2016 box office could come out ahead of 2015’s record totals. But that’s not the complete picture of this year’s cinematic landscape. There was a lot of carnage along the way, as previously safe sequels and franchises were soundly rejected by audiences or met with indifference.
Even a few quality films fell victim to some of 2016’s strange box office fluctuations, which may only encourage Hollywood to take fewer and fewer risks going forward. We can’t say what the future holds for the movie industry, but we can look back at some of the biggest flops of the year. Note that our box office data is current as of December 21, 2016.
Last week Disney announced the winners of its global "Go Rogue" contest, which celebrated Star Wars fan content, creativity and storytelling in the run up to Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. The competition invited fans from around the world to share their own rogue stories, for a chance to win a trip to Lucasfilm in San Francisco and see their videos premiered on the big screen before an early screening of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
The seven winners from Australia/New Zealand, Germany, Mexico, South East Asia and the U.S./Canada were selected based on their quality of storytelling, character development, originality and overall entertainment value. Led by Rogue One: A Star Wars Story director Gareth Edwards, the panel of judges also included Ashley Eckstein, who voices “Ahsoka” on Star Wars Rebels.
After its announcement earlier this year, Pokemon Go is now available for download on the Apple Watch starting today.
Niantic Labs revealed the app's availability today in a new blog post, again detailing what the smartwatch version of the game will allow Pokemon trainers to do. Players can use Pokemon Go on the Apple Watch to discover Pokemon around them and tap into PokeStops and collect items from them. Pokemon cannot be caught through the Apple Watch version of the game, however — if notified about nearby Pokemon via the smartwatch app, players must then catch them via the iPhone version.
Using Pokemon Go on Apple Watch will also count toward a player's cumulative distances for hatching Pokemon Eggs and for receiving Candy for your chosen Buddy Pokemon. The Apple Watch app will also notify users when Eggs are hatching and if they have received any medals.
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War for the Planet of the Apes has a big connection with the first two original Apes movies.
Throughout the first trailer for War for the Planet of the Apes, a young child can be spotted with the gorilla Maurice. She's in the beginning of the trailer, hugging Maurice tightly and riding a horse while Caesar is staring at her. According to Entertainment Weekly, this young girl is Nova, the same mute character played by Linda Harrison in the original Planet of the Apes and Beneath the Planet of the Apes.
While speaking to EW, director Matt Reeves revealed that Caesar finds Nova while trying to hunt down Woody Harrelson's character, Colonel. Reeves wanted to include Nova in the film to highlight that there's a battle "not just between the humans and the apes, but in Caesar’s soul."
Wonder Woman prepares to take her fight to Europe in a new image from the upcoming Wonder Woman film.
Via Entertainment Weekly, the still shows Diana stealing the Amazonian mythical sword the "god killer" from the armory on Themyscira as she makes the decision to help the humans fighting in World War I in order to help "save humanity."
Director Patty Jenkins describes this scene to EW as Wonder Woman's "moment." "She’s heard all the terrible things about man’s land. But she’s also heard that mankind is in need and under duress," said Jenkins. "This is her great moment to make the decision to be the one to try and save them."
