Author: Trafficblast

The Simpsons: The Good, The Bart, and The Loki is set to debut on Disney+ on July 7, and IGN can exclusively reveal first look images of The Simpson’s take on Loki, Lisa as Thor, Ned Flanders as Ant-Man, Ralph Wiggum as The Hulk, and Barney Gumble as Iron Man.

This Marvel-themed short starring Tom Hiddleston as the voice of Loki is an “ultimate crossover event” that will see the God of Mischief banished from Asgard once again and forced to “face his toughest opponents yet: the Simpsons and Springfield’s mightiest heroes.”

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As revealed in the announcement poster, this short will also see Milhouse as Hawkeye, Moe as Vision, Carl as Nick Fury, and much more.

The Good, The Bart, and The Loki is the second in Disney+’s series of shorts that highlights its other brands and titles in a humorous crossover. The first was the Star Wars-themed short “Maggie Simpson in ‘The Force Awakens from Its Nap,’ which is available now.

This special treat for fans of The Simpsons and The Avengers on the same day as Loki’s fifth episode on Disney+. In our review of episode four, we said, “Loki’s fourth entry jogs in place. The story grinds to a halt so it can re-tread and speed through character beats, and the plot, ironically, begins to feel as deterministic as the Time Keepers, leaving little room for tension or possibility.”

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For more on Loki, check out our explainer of the fourth episode’s post-credits, our latest theories and questions for the series, and how the Loki costume worn by Sylvie’s Sophia Di Martino featured a very thoughtful alteration.

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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.

Hot Wheels Unleashed, the upcoming arcade-y racing game due out on September 30 for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S that aims to channel the playful spirit of the tiny die-cast toy cars you played with as a kid, is adding a custom track builder to its list of features.

Watch the trailer for the new mode above, and then watch lead designer Federico Cardini from developer Milestone take you on a tour of it in the gameplay walkthrough below. The team promises over 20 modules to mix and match from, including Hungry Cobra, T-Rex Escape, and Spider Ambush. And, of course, you’ll be able to share them online and try out tracks made by others in the Unleashed community.

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Don’t miss the original announcement trailer for Hot Wheels Unleashed from earlier this year, as well as our hands-on preview impressions of the game.

Compared to the Xbox Series X and PS5, the Series S is arguably a much lighter console to carry. While it’s no Nintendo Switch, if you have been looking for a way to play next-gen games on the go, and play endless titles on Game Pass, this new portable monitor is designed to do just that. Clearly, it’s a popular idea, meeting its Kickstarter funding goal in just 20 minutes.

xScreen by UPspec Gaming is an attachable monitor that turns the Xbox Series S into a laptop-like design, and allows you to play your Xbox Series S games when you can’t connect your console to a TV or monitor. It features an 11.6-inch 1080p IPS screen with a refresh rate of 60Hz., and also includes in-built speakers. The screen plugs directly into both the HDMI and USB ports on the back of the Series S.

The xScreen also includes a pass-through so the device won’t get in the way when you need to plug in the power cable or a storage expansion card into your Series S. UPspec also makes clear that the screen doesn’t require its own power source, nor does it require your Series S to be modified in any way. The final model will be designed to match the colour and finish of the Series S case.

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Additionally because it has a laptop-like form factor, the design allows you to fold the screen onto the console for easy portability. According to UPspec, when the xScreen is connected to the Series S it can fit inside a 15-inch laptop bag.

The Kickstarter for the device launched at 10am ET this morning, and it was fully funded just 20 minutes after the project went live on the crowdfunding website. While it has reached its funding goal already, if you are interested in backing the project, you can still do so as the project is slated to close on August 6.

Pledging $249 AU (approximately $187 USD / $135) to the project guarantees you will receive one xScreen display for your Xbox Series S. Keep in mind that the Kickstarter page mentions that an estimated delivery for the xSccreen is for January 2022.

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Taylor is the Associate Tech Editor at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.

Nintendo has announced a new online event for Tetris 99 that is themed around the recently released Mario Golf: Super Rush. The Tetris 99 Grand Prix 22 challenges players to earn 100 event points to unlock new content based around Super Rush.

The new Maximus Cup runs midnight PT on July 9 through 11:59 PM PT on July 12, and during this time, you’ll be challenged to finish high on the ladder to get the most event points. Once you reach 100 event points, you’ll get new art, music, and Tetromino designs based on Super Rush. You can see some of the new content in the announcement trailer below.

If you’re able to reach 100 points and unlock the Super Rush content, it’s yours to keep in the game permanently; it’s not tied to the duration of the event itself.

Tetris 99 has previously crossed over with franchises like Pokemon and Animal Crossing, just to name a few. Tetris 99 is a battle royale-style Tetris game where 99 people play against each other at the same time until only one person remains and is crowned the winner.

In other Nintendo news, the company just announced a Switch OLED model that is set for release in October for $350. The company will also sell the new dock by itself.

AMC Networks has released its schedule for this year’s Comic-Con@Home. The virtual event runs July 23 to July 25, and the AMC line-up includes panels focusing on The Walking Dead, Fear the Walking Dead, Doctor Who, and Shudder titles such as Creepshow and V/H/S/94.

There will be three Walking Dead panels, all moderated by Talking Dead host Chris Hardwick. The first will preview the Season 7 of the spin-off Fear the Walking Dead and will feature the show’s cast members, producers, and the franchise’s chief content officer Scott M. Gimple. The second panel will provide a first look at Season 2 of the second spin-off, The Walking Dead: World’s Beyond, while third spotlights the 11th and final season of the main show, with showrunner Angela Kang and stars Norman Reedus, Melissa McBride, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and Lauren Cohan among the guests.

Fans of AMC’s horror streaming service Shudder will have plenty to check out too. There’s a preview of the upcoming movie V/H/S/94, the fourth part in the hit found footage series, plus a look at Season 3 of the popular anthology show Creepshow, with guests that include showrunner Greg Nicotero and actors Michael Rooker and James Remar. There’s also a first look at Shudder’s new anthology Horror Noire, in which the writers discuss their inspiration for the upcoming Black horror series, and preview of another anthology series, Slasher: Flesh and Blood.

Other Comic-Con@Home panels that AMC will present include a Doctor Who panel featuring star Jodie Whittaker and showrunner Chris Chibnall, and a look at the new stop-motion animated series Ultra City Smiths with stars Jimmi Simpson, Debra Winger, and Luis Guzmán.

Check out the full AMC Networks Comic-Con@Home line-up below:

V/H/S/94

Panel Time: Friday, July 23 at 1:00 PM PT

SLASHER: FLESH & BLOOD

Panel Time: Friday, July 23 at 6:00 PM PT

ULTRA CITY SMITHS

Panel Time: Saturday, July 24 at 11:00 AM PT

FEAR THE WALKING DEAD

Panel Time: Saturday, July 24 at 1:00 PM PT

THE WALKING DEAD: WORLD BEYOND

Panel Time: Saturday, July 24 at 2:00 PM PT

THE WALKING DEAD

Panel Time: Saturday, July 24 at 3:00 PM PT

HORROR NOIRE

Panel Time: Saturday, July 24 at 4:00 PM PT

CREEPSHOW

Panel Time: Saturday, July 24 at 6:00 PM PT

DOCTOR WHO

Panel Time: Sunday, July 25 at 10:00 AM PT

Destiny 2’s next big expansion won’t be arriving until 2022, but it looks like developer Bungie will have something to show off next month. Teasing a very lethal truth, Bungie’s tweet for the August 24 showcase is dressed up in the colors and vapors of its upcoming Witch Queen expansion:

As for what fans can expect at the event, it’ll likely be a look at where Guardians will be headed to next, what threats will be waiting for them when they arrive in this new patrol zone, and other big changes to Destiny 2‘s sandbox.

There might also be news on which locations are being retired and stored in the Destiny Vault to make way for the new locations of the Witch Queen and keep Destiny 2 at a more manageable size, with some rumors pointing towards the expansion taking place in a version of Chicago that has destructible environments.

Bungie has broken from its usual annual release schedule for new Destiny 2 expansions, using that extra time to further polish these major expansions while filling the gap between releases with a more focused seasonal model and better storytelling that points towards a massive paradigm shift as the Hive Queen approaches.

In other Destiny 2 news, the mid-season patch has brought with it a bunch of balancing changes to weapons for player-vs-player activities. Shotguns are a little less deadly, hand cannons with aggressive fire-rates have been re-balanced, and the Exotic scout rifle Dead Man’s Tale has received a major nerf.

Avalanche Studios CEO Pim Holfve has explained why he’s so happy to be working with Xbox on upcoming game Contraband – and it comes down in major part to Game Pass. Holfve even says that Game Pass has turned Xbox into a more important platform than Avalanche thought it would be for previous games.

There isn’t much that we currently know about Avalanche Studios’ upcoming co-op heist game, Contraband beyond its initial teaser trailer, but it certainly caught some attention during its reveal at Microsoft’s E3 event – seemingly promising a multiplayer, Just Cause-like experience for Xbox platforms.

In an interview with gamesindustry.biz, Holfve discussed the approach to working with Microsoft on bringing the ’70s-inspired smuggler setting of Bayan to life, and how bringing it to Game Pass will allow the game the opportunity to thrive. Releasing some of Avalanche’s previous games on Game Pass gave those games a legacy beyond their initial release dates, keeping the discussion about the game alive for longer, and Holfve hopes the same will happen with Contraband.

Holfve says that working directly with Xbox also allows it to get closer to the hardware, presumably meaning that Contraband is being designed directly for Xbox Series machines, rather than ported onto them. The CEO says it “made a lot of sense to work with Xbox on this because of the grandness of [the project].” and that it’s “not a concept we would pitch to every publisher.”

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Holfve referenced Avalanche Studios’ 2017 game TheHunter: Call of the Wild as an example of how Game Pass helped them to find success: “TheHunter: Call of the Wild helped us prove our service model and Xbox Game Pass was fantastic because we were able to reach so many more players. It’s a good way for people to try [the game], and since we have such a massive DLC catalogue for that title — over 20 DLCs — it’s a beautiful way of getting people in, getting engaged and showing that it’s a stellar game. Then people are really tempted to buy more. So the business model really works to our advantage.”

He added: “[Game Pass] made Xbox a way more important platform than we ever initially thought. We thought [the game’s userbase] was going to mainly be on PC. So we’re reaching a way bigger audience.”

More and more developers are aiming to bring their new IPs to Game Pass at launch, as it offers a level of security for them knowing that their games will reach a larger player base than they would through traditional sales, and profit off any sales on other consoles on top of that. Square Enix brought its new looter-shooter Outriders to Game Pass day one earlier this year, calming exploratory adventure Sable will be debuting on Game Pass when it launches in September, and popular indie games Among Us and Hades will also launch free with Game Pass day one on the platform. And of course, all of Microsoft’s first party output will also be available with Game Pass. Surprisingly, even Sony brought its previously PlayStation exclusive franchise MLB: The Show to Game Pass with the launch of MLB: The Show 21.

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Holfve also went onto discuss the studio’s approach to multiplayer in this new title, which is a new venture for their AAA action games. The team behind the Just Cause franchise and Mad Max is no stranger to creating high octane action games, but bringing the insanity of a single player set piece from Just Cause to a multiplayer title is a very different proposition.

Holfve simply states that “It is a challenge”, and that “If you’ve played the multiplayer mod for Just Cause 2, it’s just chaos. But it’s fun for five minutes. It’s a different beast to design an Avalanche game for multiplayer rather than single player, where you only have to take one player into account. Our worlds are super reactive, so when you have three additional people reacting or making the world react, it can be mayhem.”

We don’t yet have a release date for Avalanche Studios’ intriguing co-op action game, but as the next step for one of the more inventive open world game developers out there, Contraband looks to be a game worth keeping an eye on.

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Liam Wiseman is a Freelance news Writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @liamthewiseman

HBO’s The Last of Us TV series will have a 10-episode first season, writer and producer Craig Mazin has confirmed.

Culture Crave shared the episode count for the upcoming HBO series after it was revealed by Mazin during a recent appearance on the Scriptnotes podcast, in which he featured as a guest to discuss the process of prepping for an entire season of television. “We have five directors across 10 episodes,” Mazin revealed around the 17:40 mark.

He also indicated that they had figured out all of the pairings for the episodes in terms of the directors of photography and individual episode directors, though he didn’t speak any further on those matches. It was previously reported that Ali Abbasi, Kantemir Balagov, and Jasmila Zbanic will be stepping behind the camera to helm episodes of the TV series adaptation.

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With production kicking off this month, Mazin also touched on the show’s shooting schedule and some of the considerations surrounding that. In doing so, he revealed that the show will be mostly set during daylight hours due to the logistics of filming at night when Calgary only has about “4 and a half hours of proper dark” to shoot nighttime scenes in right now.

The Last of Us game creator Neil Druckmann is working as both a writer and executive producer alongside Mazin. Druckmann says the series will stay pretty close to the game at places, but other parts may “deviate greatly” because TV is a different medium. The drama between the characters is said to be one of the areas the series will explore further.

Those characters include Joel and Ellie, played by Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey respectively, together with Joel’s daughter Sarah (Nico Parker), Joel’s brother Tommy (Gabriel Luna), and Marlene (Merle Dandridge). The actress portraying Marlene is the same person who voiced the character in The Last of Us and during a flashback in The Last of Us Part II.

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In addition to The Last of Us TV series, Sony is also working on an Uncharted movie starring Tom Holland as Nathan Drake. The movie is set to hit theaters on February 18, 2022. PlayStation boss Jim Ryan has already stated that these two Naughty Dog adaptations are “just the beginning” of PlayStation’s efforts to expand into other mediums.

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Adele Ankers is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.

The Nintendo Switch OLED model comes with a new dock that includes a built-in LAN port, and this new dock will be sold separately for anyone who wants it.

A spokesperson for Nintendo told Digital Trends that white and black versions of the dock will be sold through the Nintendo online store, but not at retail. The dock doesn’t come with an HDMI cable or an AC adapter, and it will be delivered in no special packaging. Pricing for the standalone dock was not divulged, nor was a release date.

The regular Switch dock is available from the Nintendo store for $60.

The new docks from the OLED mode work with the standard Switch. It might be an attractive proposition for players who want to play or download games from a wired connection for presumably better, more consistent speeds. Nintendo does already sell a LAN adapter for the existing dock, but the built-in option could be considered more elegant. While the new OLED Switch dock has a LAN connection, it loses one of its USB ports, in case that matters to you.

The Nintendo Switch OLED launches on October 8 for $350 USD. The biggest new feature is its 7″ OLED screen, and it is seemingly aimed at people who really enjoy handheld mode. It is not the rumored “Pro” model that remains unannounced, though not ruled out.

For more, check out GameSpot’s video above where we discuss everything that’s new with the Nintendo Switch OLED. You can also read GameSpot’s breakdown of why the Switch OLED is coming now, featuring insights and analysis from video game analysts.

If you play Madden each year for the single-player experience, then it sounds like you’re in luck for Madden 22. EA is delivering a major overhaul for Face of the Franchise, complete with a few features that sound like they were inspired by a certain baseball series.

As explained by senior design director Ryan Santos in the latest All Access Trailer video, this year’s mode will begin with a prologue called Road to the Draft, which sees you as a college player who has just competed in the College Football Playoff and is gearing up for a short at the NFL. You’ll work out for a team prior to being selected, and choices you make–both on and off the field–can affect where you’re selected.

There’s also a new class progression system available within the game’s customization hub. You can give your avatar special abilities to fit your unique playstyle, and there are also archetypes similar to the ones in MLB The Show, which are based on existing players. “The General,” for example is based on Tom Brady and gives you tools for running an effective offense and making passes within the pocket. Patrick Mahomes’ “The Magician,” meanwhile, lets you detect defenses and make effective decisions both in and out of the pocket.

Alongside the major offensive positions many select in the mode–quarterback, wide receiver, and halfback–you can also play as a linebacker in this mode and there are unique archetypes there, too. You can choose from the “Hawk,” who excels in the middle of the field to maintain control, or the “Infiltrator,” which wasn’t detailed in the trailer but will presumably focus on making tackles for a loss.

With a unified progression system, you’ll have additional ways to level up and improve your player, and more details should be shared prior to Madden 22 launching on August 20. The game is available via the MVP Edition on August 17, and it will release on Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, PS5, Stadia and PC. It will also include unique features for all NFL stadiums when momentum shifts during a game.