February 2019 – Page 80

Crunchyroll has announced the host for this year’s Anime Awards. The company also revealed the list of presenters that will be revealing the winners for each award during the ceremony.

For 2019’s Anime Awards, voice actress Cristina Vee is scheduled to be the host. Vee is well known within the anime and gaming community for voicing dozens of popular characters. For anime, Vee is most famous for portraying The Familiar of Zero’s Louise, Sailor Moon’s Rei Hino, Hunter x Hunter’s Killua Zoldyck, Devilman Crybaby’s Miki Makimura, and–most recently–Konosuba’s Darkness. In video games, Vee is best known for voicing Riven the Exile in League of Legends, Ophilia in Octopath Traveler, and Shantae in the past two Shantae titles.

Crunchyroll has secured several talented folks from the anime and animation industry to present the awards. Some are notable for their creative work within the industry, such as Made in Abyss composer Kevin Penkin and Rooster Teeth director and writer Miles Luna. Others are known for their efforts in reporting on and influencing the industry, like IGN senior editor Miranda Sanchez and YouTube content creator Geoff “Mother’s Basement” Thew. The full list of presenters are outlined below.

Crunchyroll’s Anime Awards 2019 Presenters

Michelle Phan — Entrepreneur, EM Cosmetics, and influencer
Ryan Potter — Actor (DC’s Titans and Big Hero 6)
Justin Briner — English voice actor (My Hero Academia)
Kevin Penkin — Composer (The Rising of the Shield Hero and Made in Abyss)
Freddie Wong — RocketJump Productions, Director (Anime Crimes Division)
SungWon Cho (ProZD) — Creator/Influencer (Anime Crimes Division)
Roger DiLuigi — Creator/Influencer (Roger’s Base)
Yssa Badiola — Animator/Director, Rooster Teeth
Miles Luna — Writer/Director, Rooster Teeth (gen:LOCK)
Tristan Gallant — Creator/Influencer (Glass Reflection)
Miranda Sanchez — Senior Editor, IGN
Geoff Thew — Creator/Influencer (Mother’s Basement)
Victoria Holden, Miles Thomas, and Tim Lyu — Crunchyroll staff and supporting hosts

This year’s Crunchyroll Anime Awards will be held February 16 at 6PM PT / 9PM ET / 2AM UK. You can buy tickets to watch them live in San Francisco, CA or tune in on Twitch to watch Crunchyroll’s livestream. New award categories were added to this year’s event. As one of the judges, I assisted in deciding the nominations for each category.

Apex Legends: 26 Essential Tips for Landing, Looting, and Combat

Learn more about the importance of Apex Legends’ colors, save landing zones, and a ton more with this Apex Legends guide.

Fortnite: How to Merge Accounts

Fortnite has finally released its long awaited account merging system and we have a quick and easy setup guide.

GTA Online: New Bonuses and Vehicle This Week

The new Schyster Deviant Muscle car has been added to GTA Online this week, along with new discounts and bonus rewards.

Kingdom Hearts 3’s Flan Locations, Scores, and Guide

Find the Orange Flan and the rest of the Flantastic Seven to earn abilities and an Orichalcum Plus.

PlayStation Now Adds 10 More Games, See Them Here

PlayStation Now, the game-streaming service on PlayStation 4 and PC, continues to add more games. February’s releases have been announced, and they include a mixture of PS3 and PS4 games. From EA, the new additions include Battlefield Hardline and Need for Speed Rivals, while NetherRealm’s fighting game Mortal Kombat X is also out right now on PlayStation Now.

Additionally, the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection and Metro Last Light Redux have been added to PlayStation Now, alongside Earth Defense Force 4.1, F1 2017, Magicka 2, Pillars of Eternity, and Rebel Galaxy. You can see the full list of 10 games at the bottom of this post.

With February’s new additions, the PlayStation Now library feature more than 750 games, including more than 250 PlayStation 4 games.

Sony also announced the most-played PlayStation Now games for January, and they include Mafia III, Red Dead Redemption, Steep, and Prey, among others.

February 2018 PlayStation Now Games:

Battlefield Hardline (PS3)
Earth Defense Force 4.1 (PS4)
F1 2017 (PS4)
Magicka 2 (PS4)
Metal Gear Solid HD Collection (PS3)
Metro Last Light Redux (PS4)
Mortal Kombat X (PS4)
Need for Speed Rivals (PS3)
Pillars of Eternity (PS4)
Rebel Galaxy (PS4)

Most played PlayStation Now Games For January 2018:

NBA 2K16
Mafia III
For Honor
Prey
Red Dead Redemption
Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution
Steep
WWE 2K16
The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited
Mortal Kombat

Deal Alert: Save $150 on a New iPad Pro, $50 Off Apple Watch 3

If you buy something through this post, IGN may get a share of the sale. For more, read our Terms of Use.

Today’s a lovely day to save some money on Apple products at Amazon or Walmart. Even if you scoff at the idea of using a Macintosh computer, it’s hard to deny the convenience of an iPad, or the coolness and functionality of an Apple Watch, even more so when they’re on sale. If you’re waiting on a tax refund, or already have one, this would be a good place to spend it, in my opinion. I have a Mac for work and PC as my own computer and I have no real preference, except when it comes to specific tasks like gaming. Then I’m ride-or-die PC all the way. But there’s no denying that a retina Macbook for $1300 or an iPad for $280 are both pretty attractive offers.

Review: Star Trek Discovery’s Latest Episode Misses the Mark

Full spoilers follow for this episode.

This week’s Star Trek: Discovery episode, “An Obol for Charon,” indulges in not one but two classic Star Trek style plotlines — the trapped starship and the mysteriously sick crewmember — and while it all starts off with a bang, the segment unfortunately soon peters out to become a talky, somewhat unsatisfying installment.

Things kick off with Rebecca Romijn finally debuting as Number One, Pike’s executive officer from the Enterprise who of course was originally played by Majel Barrett all the way back in “The Cage.” The character has always been a figure of some interest for many Trekkies, and in her brief appearance here Romijn and the writers do a good enough job of expanding on Number One and her dynamic with Pike. She’s got a bit of a witty edge to her, and she likes cheeseburgers! She also, apparently, fully avails herself of the Discovery’s mess hall during a mere five-minute meeting with her superior officer. (More on that below.) It would be nice to see more of her in future episodes, and indeed of the original Enterprise crew too — where are you, Doctor Boyce?!

Death Stranding Is A “Miracle,” Movie Director Says

Death Stranding, the next game from Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima, is already playable–and developer Kojima Productions is allowing outside people to play it. Jordan Vogt-Roberts, who is directing the upcoming Metal Gear Solid movie, recently tweeted that he’s had a chance to play Death Stranding. In short, he was blown away, describing the game as a “miracle.”

“YOU. ARE. NOT. READY,” Vogt-Roberts said of his impressions of Death Stranding thus far.

So @HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN let me play DEATH STRANDING❗️The world is next-level immaculate. It’s like freebasing pure Kojima & Shinkawa. Remember when FURY ROAD blew you away but also made you (in the best-most-thankful way) ask “wtf” how does this miracle exist? YOU. ARE. NOT. READY❗️ pic.twitter.com/RkVxtZCcbj

— Jordan Vogt-Roberts (@VogtRoberts) February 6, 2019

Vogt-Roberts isn’t the only celebrity to speak highly of Death Stranding. Speaking to Metro, The Walking Dead actor Norman Reedus, who plays a character in Death Stranding, said he’s never seen anything like what Kojima is doing with the game.

“The concept is so far out into the future. Instead of eliminating everyone around you, it’s bringing everyone together,” he explained. “It’s a very positive video game, but scary and depressing at the same time. It’s kind of a new movie. I’ve never seen anything like what we’re doing.”

Overall, Reedus said Death Stranding is a “crazy complicated game.” The trailers and information about the title released thus far do not fully encapsulate what Death Stranding is, it seems.

“The trailers show you an aspect of it, but not a whole picture of what the game will be,” he said.

Death Stranding is Kojima’s first new game since his split with Konami. Very little is known about the game, and that appears to be intentional, with Kojima weaving secrets into its new trailers. In addition to Reedus, the game features other celebrities such as Mads Mikkelsen, Lea Seydoux, Lindsay Wagner, Guillermo del Toro, and Troy Baker. No release date has been set as of yet.