Month: September 2020

Animal Crossing: New Horizons has been an extraordinary success on Switch, selling 22.4 million copies since its release in March, and the game’s broad appeal was not by accident. During a presentation at Japan’s Computer Entertainment Developers Conference, which was viewed by Japanese site 4Gamer and translated by Video Games Chronicle, the game’s director Aya Kyogoku went deep on the series’ success, and who New Horizons has appealed to so far.

Kyogoku said that a series like Animal Crossing “cannot be sustained without change”–while the Animal Crossing games maintain similar gameplay between releases, there are a lot of changes that long-time fans will recognize. “Games are entertainment, so you will definitely get tired of making the same things,” Kyogoku said. “In order for the series to continue to exist as an IP and for many people to enjoy it for a long time, it is important to continue to challenge and change with the times.”

For New Horizons, she says, the main change was that players can get goals and achievements that change across their playtime, with the Nook Miles system giving more clear goals early on.

Hisashi Nogami, the series’ head producer, was also involved in the presentation. He said that the New Horizons player base doesn’t have a clear split between male and female players, and that many players are in their 20s and 30s. “What would the public imagine if they were asked what kind of game Animal Crossing is,” he asked. “I think there is probably an image of ‘a game where you can live leisurely with cute animals’ and ‘a game for young girls…However, looking at the gender and age data of Animal Crossing users, it is clear that the ratio of males and females is half and there are many users in their 20s and 30s.”

This will likely not come as a surprise to anyone who has followed the hype around the game–even Danny Trejo loves it. Nogami says that many younger players have likely not gotten the game yet because it has not been available over a holiday period yet, when children are more likely to receive the game as a present.

A second presentation, focused on New Horizons’ art, also happened. Art director Kouji Takahashi discussed the game’s art, saying that fish and buys were rendered realistically so that players could inspect them closely and enjoy them. Certain other elements, like trees and plants, are rendered in a more cartoony way, because going too realistic would make the picture on the screen too busy, and when that happens “the player becomes passive.”

Takahashi talks about the importances of the “imaginary gap,” whereby the image sparks player’s imaginations. “If artists are able to symbolize memories and images, each interpretation will be applied to the ‘imaginary gap’ and infinite value will be created,” he says.

If you’re on the hunt for new bugs and fish in September across New Horizons, here’s what to look for.

The ESRB has published its rating and description for Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, and there are few surprises to be found.

Like every previous mainline Call of Duty game, Black Ops Cold War is rated M for Mature in the United States. The game will have blood and gore, drug references, intense violence, strong language, and suggestive themes. There will also be in-game purchases.

The ratings summary, meanwhile, sheds a little more light on the violence and themes of Black Ops Cold War. “Battles are highlighted by realistic gunfire, blood-splatter effects, and cries of pain. In addition to ranged combat, players have the ability to stab or pistol-whip enemies close-up, or use them as human shields,” the description says. “Some weapons cause characters to explode into bloody chunks of flesh.”

In the Zombies mode, which has not yet been formally announced, players will decapitate and dismember the undead–this is all par for the course in Zombies. You can see the full ratings summary for Black Ops Cold War below.

Intriguingly, the ESRB rating for Black Ops Cold War lists the “Xbox Series” as a platform for the game as opposed to the Xbox Series X. This could be even further evidence pointing to the long-rumored and basically open secret Xbox Series S console.

Black Ops Cold War’s multiplayer will be revealed on September 9 at 10 AM PT. The surprise was spoiled early, however, as footage from the multiplayer recently leaked.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Ratings Summary

“This is a first-person shooter, set during the Cold War, in which players explore locations in Europe and Asia while engaging in combat/infiltration missions. Players use pistols, machine guns, assault rifles, and explosives to kill hostile forces in frenetic combat. Battles are highlighted by realistic gunfire, blood-splatter effects, and cries of pain. In addition to ranged combat, players have the ability to stab or pistol-whip enemies close-up, or use them as human shields. Some weapons cause characters to explode into bloody chunks of flesh. A zombie mode also depicts decapitation and dismemberment, as players use bladed weapons and guns to kill hordes of undead soldiers/creatures. In one setting, flyers with the words “peep show” and “XXX” can be seen alongside pictures of women in lingerie; a red-light-district storefront is depicted with a neon sign that reads “XXX.” During one mission, players infiltrate a drug cartel—drug packages and piles of white powder can be seen in a warehouse. The words “f**k” and “sh*t” appear in the dialogue.”

𝙹𝙾𝙴 (𝚅.𝙾.)
𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚛𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚘’𝚜 𝙶𝚘𝚕𝚍𝚎𝚗 𝙱𝚘𝚢 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚘 𝚝𝚘𝚎-𝚝𝚘-𝚝𝚘𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚆𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚎 𝙷𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜𝚝, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞’𝚛𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚔𝚒𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚗. pic.twitter.com/EOvUon3bUJ

— NetflixFilm (@NetflixFilm) September 5, 2020

For a brief time recently, EA put advertisements into UFC 4 but they have since been removed following outcry from the playerbase.

One of the ads was for Amazon’s show, The Boys, which recently returned for a second season. The ads played during replays and as part of an overlay, but they are now gone. You can see one of the ads in the video below. As you can see, the logo for The Boys was also displayed on the center of the Octagon.

In a statement sent to Eurogamer, EA said the feedback was loud and clear.

“It is abundantly clear from your feedback that integrating ads into the replay and overlay experience is not welcome,” EA said. “The advertisements have been disabled by the team and we apologize for any disruption to gameplay that players may have experienced.”

“We realize that this should have been communicated with players ahead of time and that’s on us. We want to make sure our players have the best possible experience playing EA Sports UFC 4, so ad integration in the Replay and overlay experience will not not be reappearing in the future. Thank you for your continued feedback on EA Sports UFC 4.”

In July, The Wall Street Journal reported that marketing departments at giant companies were turning their attention to ads in console games. AT&T’s WarnerMedia division ran a series of ads in UFC 3 to promote their TV shows including Snowpiercer and Rick & Morty. The idea of these tests was to determine how players might react to in-game ads in a console game as opposed to a free-to-play title for mobile where this is common practice.

A now taken-down page on Nintendo’s website may have revealed that Nintendo’s plans for Super Mario Bros. 35th Anniversary were delayed by nearly 5 months.

This now-removed page, discovered by those like @Wario64 on Twitter, was for the Super Mario Maker 2 “35th Anniversary Auto-Mario” Ninji Speedrun that was announced alongside Super Mario 3D All-Stars, Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury, and much more during last week’s Super Mario Bros. 35th Anniversary Direct.

However, this page stated that the special event was set to take place from April 14-21, almost 5 months before any of these celebrations in honor of Super Mario Bros.’ 35th anniversary were revealed.

[ignvideo url=”https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/09/03/super-mario-3d-all-stars-official-trailer”]

We may never know if all of what was announced in the most recent direct would have been shown that early, or if this was the beginning of the celebration that would continue on throughout the year.

Rumors of these plans and what is now known as Super Mario 3D All-Stars, which includes Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, and Super Mario Galaxy, started making their rounds in late March 2020, shortly before this event would have taken place.

Due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Nintendo and many other developers around the world had to change many of their plans for this year, but it does make one wonder what else Nintendo could have had planned this year if these celebrations took place even before what would have been E3 2020.

[widget path=”global/article/imagegallery” parameters=”albumSlug=super-mario-3d-all-stars-for-nintendo-switch-screenshots&captions=true”]

Alongside the previously mentioned games, Nintendo is also planning on celebrating Super Mario Bros.’ 35th anniversary with Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit, Game & Watch: Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros. 35, and so much more.

[poilib element=”accentDivider”]

Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to [email protected].

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

The way the dreaded Night King was dispatched in Game of Thrones’ final season didn’t just come as a surprise to fans, but to star Kit Harington as well. According to co-star Maisie Williams, whose beloved character Arya Stark wound up being the hero who vanquished the evil ice lord, Harington spent seasons thinking the Night King’s fate belonged to Jon Snow.

Talking to THR, Williams said “[Harington] expected it to go that way, too, and he even said ‘It was going to go that way. Someone told me in season three that I was going to kill The Night King.’

“And then he read the script, and it was Arya the whole time,” Williams laughed. “Yeah, I think it would’ve been too obvious. I’m glad that it was Arya, honestly. I think I had the best storyline of the final season.”

[widget path=”global/article/imagegallery” parameters=”albumSlug=new-mutants-every-character-confirmed&captions=true”]

Williams currently stars in Disney’s The Mutants, which finally found theatrical release after years of delay and then postponement due to COVID. Our review of The New Mutants said it’s an “entertaining, if at times formulaic small-scale genre movie” that didn’t deserved to be shelved for so long.

Meanwhile, Game of Thrones executive producers D.B. Weiss and David Benioff settled on their next project, teaming with Rian Johnson for a Netflix series inspired by Liu Cixin’s award-winning book trilogy The Three-Body Problem (Remembrance of Earth’s Past).

[ignvideo url=”https://www.ign.com/videos/2016/05/24/comics-history-101-the-new-mutants”]

[poilib element=”accentDivider”]

Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN and a member of the Television Critics Association. Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and Facebook at Facebook.com/MattBFowler.

One of the most iconic challenges in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 is S-K-A-T-E, which has you collecting letters scattered across each course as you do your best tricks. Until now, it has been limited to the virtual world, but Tony Hawk got to experience it for real.

Hawk was surprised to find that his halfpipe had been turned into a real S-K-A-T-E challenge when he arrived there on Friday, with balloons floating along the rails above the ramp. He quickly collected all the letters.

He didn’t, however, see the secret tape located in the “hidden room” of his facility. In the games, these are generally only accessible by performing some seriously impressive jumps and grinds. In the iconic Warehouse level from the first game, for instance, it’s in a small booth located above the halfpipe.

Because it’s 2020 and no one owns a VCR anymore, it’s possible we’ll never see what was actually on the secret tape. It could have been footage of Tony Hawk getting people to do a kickflip in public, or possibly of a self-kickflipping skateboard.

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 is out now on Xbox One, PS4, and PC. You can collect the S-K-A-T-E letters in the game along with several other challenges, such as collecting textbooks and wall-riding on top of bells in the School level.

If you’ve followed legendary skater Tony Hawk over the last few years, then you’ve likely seen him yell “Do a kickflip!” at unsuspecting kids in the wild. If they can do one successfully, he usually has a prize for them such as a new skateboard, but Hawk challenged YouTuber the Hacksmith to do something even more impressive: Design a skateboard that can do a kickflip on its own to celebrate the release of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2.

Looking much like a normal skateboard until you look underneath, Hacksmith’s self-kickflipping skateboard can pop up into the air and land back on its wheels without any input from a skater. All he has to do is press a few buttons on his DualShock 4 controller, which is connected to the board’s electronics via Bluetooth. While it’s one of the easiest tricks to perform in the video game, it’s something that many skaters, especially newcomers, struggle with for months.

After trying out fireworks and rocket engines, the final design was a little less terrifying. It used a mousetrap-style spring to force the board into a spin, and it works with or without a skater riding it. Of course, you still have to be pretty coordinated to stay on the board after the flip, regardless of if it’s flipping itself initially.

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 is available now on PS4, Xbox One, and PC. It’s a massive improvement for the series, with critic Mat Paget giving the game a 9/10 in our Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 review.