Rey’s switchblade saber is just the latest in a long line of strange lightsaber designs. Here’s a look at the most memorable blades in Star Wars history.
Month: September 2019
How Frozen 2 Songs Will Compare to the Original Disney Movie
Don’t expect “Let It Go 2.0” when Frozen 2 hits theaters later in 2019. Star Idina Menzel describes the new songs in the upcoming sequel to be “apples and oranges” when compared with the 2013 film.
“The music is exquisite. I’m really proud of it. I really think that it tells beautiful stories and develops the story in an extraordinary way,” she told IGN at D23 Expo 2019. “It’s not about the comparison. It’s really apples and oranges. I love the music in the movie, that I sing and that I don’t sing, and I think it will really resonate with people.”
The D23 panel debuted a new song for Elsa (Menzel), which sees her grappling with whether or not to pursue a mysterious singing voice that is calling out to her. The lyrics include lines like: “Are you here to distract me so I make a big mistake? Or are you someone out there who’s a little bit like me, who knows deep down I’m not where I’m meant to be? Every day’s a little harder as I feel my power grow. Don’t you know there’s a part of me that longs to go into the unknown?”
IGN’s Hellbound: Episode 2 of an Early Look at Baldur’s Gate: Descent Into Avernus
Dungeons & Dragon’s newest adventure, Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus, is just a few weeks away. We here at IGN have been eager to explore more of Faerun’s most dangerous city – and, of course, the infernal planes it leads to – since it was first revealed a D&D Live 2019.
We invited Dungeons & Dragons Game Designer Kate Welch and D&D artist Tyler Jacobson (who did the cover art for Avernus) to show myself, Casey DeFreitas and Brandin Tyrrel what it takes to survive a trip to Avernus. Kate leads us on a quest from Baldur’s Gate and into the top level of the Nine Hells – though whether we make it back or not remains to be seen!
Control Debug Tool Reveals Possible DLC Focusing on Side Character
Future DLC for Remedy Entertainment’s Control may have been inadvertently revealed after a YouTuber used the game’s debug tool on PC to discover a hidden mission reference.
Discovered by YouTuber ManFightDragon and first reported by PC Gamer, the evidence seems to be a mission name that’s absent from the main game, but possibly focuses on a side character.
For those unfamiliar, a debug tool allows a developer to test various parts of a game before release. Oftentimes, to save time or money, a developer might just put an unused asset somewhere the player can’t find it. ManFightDragon managed to use Control’s debug tool to find a possible reference to DLC, which you can see at the 5:20 mark in their YouTube video.
Deal Alert: The Best Labor Day Deals on Games, 4K TVs, Tech and More
Labor Day is upon us, and while you are relaxing today, why not browse some of the absolute best Labor Day sales we could find on the internet. Below is a list of just that: the absolute best deals that we could find, that we thought you’d be interested in. As always with special offers and holiday deals, make sure to act fast as stock tends to run out quickly.
Preorder Final Fantasy VII Remake for $49.95 ($10 off) at Amazon
The reunion is nearly upon us, but if you want to save some money before it gets here, you can preorder your copy of FF7 for $10 off right now, over at Amazon.
Best PAX West 2019 Cosplay — Cyberpunk 2077, Borderlands, Monster Hunter, More (Day 3)
The Best Cosplay From PAX West Day 3
As one of the video games’ biggest fan gatherings, PAX is always a golden opportunity to spot some spectacular cosplay. This year’s PAX West was no exception. From timeless characters like Cloud and Zero to creative mash-ups like Zero Suit Waluigi, check out some of our favorites below.
For more PAX West 2019 cosplay galleries, check out the links below.
Fall TV Preview – IGN First
Between all the broadcast, cable, and streaming networks, there’s more TV than ever before, and with several new streaming platforms launching in the next few months alone, you’ll soon have hundreds of new and returning shows competing for your attention (not to mention your subscription dollars) between now and December.
That’s why, all September long, IGN is once again spotlighting some of the best upcoming TV series of the new season with a TV-centric IGN First, featuring exclusive trailer debuts, image reveals, episode sneak peeks, and interviews with your favorite stars and creators. We’ll have an exclusive preview of a new or returning show almost every day, and while we can’t fit in every show we love (there are only so many days in the month, after all), we think the shows we’ve selected will be worth your valuable time and attention when they premiere in the coming months.
Fall TV Premieres: Every Release Date You Need to Know
September once again marks IGN’s Fall TV preview, in which we’ll spotlight a host of upcoming new shows and returning favorites, one per day, throughout the entire month, to get you fully prepped for some of the season’s biggest series. But before we kick off our IGN First TV spotlight on September 3, we figured you might want a list of every announced fall TV premiere date we know so far.
Just when you thought Peak TV couldn’t get any Peak-ier (and we’re not even talking about Peaky Blinders), Disney is entering the streaming arena with Disney+ this fall. So while TV premieres usually slow down in November, this year there’s a full docket due to the November 12 launch of the new streaming platform – featuring a new live-action Star Wars show, a Jeff Goldblum docu-series, and a hanfdul of original movies, among other offerings.
The Epic Games Store Development Roadmap Will No Longer Display Expected Dates
The Epic Games Store’s Trello roadmap has been revamped and will no longer list the planned release dates for features currently in development. The company created the Trello board close to the store’s launch in an effort to increase transparency.
In a blog post, Epic announced that dates and expected delivery times have been removed. The Trello board previously listed target windows so players could track when new features were arriving, but Epic often missed these dates or rolled them out to select games rather than the entire store.
“The Trello roadmap is not fulfilling the goal we set when it was introduced,” the blog post says. “The goal with the Trello roadmap is to provide visibility into the development cycle for the store’s more player-centric feature set. While it’s accomplished that to some degree, we’ve missed the mark accurately displaying the timelines for feature delivery. We regularly delay feature releases due to shifting priorities and the need for further iteration. We’re always focusing on improving, and we believe the Trello can be improved as well.”
Instead of showing the time of delivery, the Trello board will now be focused on what’s actively in development and provide “more granular updates on individually listed features.” These will be split up into vague categories for what’s up next, and what’s in the plan for future development. Epic says the Trello will be updated every two weeks, and it also plans to detail larger feature updates in its blog, much like it did last month with a post on cloud saves, new product pages, and more.
Cyberpunk 2077 Will Be Locked Into First-Person During Cutscenes
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Cyberpunk 2077 developer CD Projekt Red is so committed to first-person in its upcoming role-playing game, that even cutscenes will be locked to the perspective (and yes, that includes sex scenes as well). It marks a notable change for the studio after its work on the third-person Witcher series.
CD Projekt Red already explained the importance of Cyberpunk 2077’s first-person viewpoint at E3 2018, and has clearly stuck to its guns despite some early backlash. Marcin Momot, the global community lead at CD Projekt Red, recently reiterated the studio’s choice. “Achieving full immersion in a [first-person perspective] game is extremely important,” he said in a tweet. “The decision made by the team to go 100% first person in Cyberpunk 2077 is something that will benefit it greatly from gameplay and story-telling perspectives.” He adds that players will still see their created character in the inventory screen, during driving sequences, in mirrors and, very occasionally, in some of the cutscenes. While the official Cyberpunk 2077 Twitter account replied to a direct message confirming that the game’s sex scenes will also be locked into first-person.
Over on the official Cyberpunk 2077 forums, user Shavod translated an interview with senior level designer Miles Tost from the German site Night City Life. Tost offered some insight into Cyberpunk 2077’s level design, comparing the differences between designing for a first-person game as opposed to a third-person game like The Witcher 3. In the latter, Geralt would always enter a house first, with the camera following behind. Because of this, the designers would always have to leave an extra bit of free space by the entrance to any building to avoid Geralt colliding with objects. In Cyberpunk 2077, the first-person perspective means they don’t have to worry about this anymore, allowing rooms to be designed with more authenticity. It’s not something you might ever notice, but it’s an interesting detail about one of the lesser-known aspects of level design.
Tost also notes how convenient the open spaces in The Witcher 3 were for allowing him to expand locations however and whenever he needed to. This isn’t possible in Cyberpunk 2077 with the way the city is designed, but the limitations forced him to be more creative in how he packs a lot into limited horizontal spaces. Despite this, Tost says protagonist V’s greater mobility allows for the level design to be more expansive, offering lots of hidden and alternate paths that V can reach using double jumps and charged jumps. He also mentions that V is capable of climbing the exteriors of tall buildings to reach a lot of dizzying heights.
CD Projekt Red recently showed another 15 minutes of gameplay from Cyberpunk 2077, focusing on combat, customisation, different play styles, and the Night City district of Pacifica.
The upcoming action-RPG has also dropped binary male/female options in favor of inclusivity. “You know, we really want to make a video game that’s really inclusive,” senior concept artist Marthe Jonkers told Metro. “Of course, if you tackle certain subjects then you will expect people to have an opinion about it and we respect that. And it’s good that people give us feedback.”
Cyberpunk 2077 is expected to launch on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on April 16, 2020. The game is also scheduled to release for Google Stadia in 2020.