The First 13 Minutes of Control – IGN First

Remedy Entertainment, purveyor of consistently excellent action games, is back. The creator of Max Payne, Alan Wake and Quantum Break returns on August 27 with Control, and we’ll be running an IGN First on the game all this month.

So let’s begin at the beginning, shall we? In the video above, you’ll get a look at the game’s opening sequence, introducing heroine Jesse Faden as she enters the mysterious Federal Bureau of Control for the first time, and quickly discovers that things have gone very wrong indeed. It’s a quiet, strange, beautiful intro, and one that introduces many of the game’s main characters.

In fact, if you’re a Remedy fan, you might spot some familiar faces and hear some familiar voices in here: Jesse is played by Courtney Hope (Beth Wilder in Quantum Break); Max Payne himself, James McCaffrey takes on the role of the ill-fated Director Trench; and Matthew Porretta, the voice of Alan Wake, appears as Head of Research Dr. Casper Darling. Control director Mikael Kasurinen tells me that, in some ways, this feels like a culmination of all of Remedy’s work up until this point, and the cast lives up to that assertion.

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Spider-Man: Far From Home Director Answers Our Biggest Questions

Spider-Man: Far From Home is officially the last Marvel movie in the MCU’s Phase 3, and with it comes a whole lot of set up, plot twists and Easter eggs to obsess over. That’s why we got director Jon Watts on the phone to answer all of our biggest questions about the Spider-Man: Homecoming sequel, and try to figure out as much as we can about what comes next.

Full spoilers for Spider-Man: Far From Home, obviously, lie ahead.

While we’ve already broken out and dived deeper into some of the newsiest interview talking points you’ll read below — including the J.K. Simmons cameo as J. Jonah JamesonNick Fury Skrulls twist, whether Insomniac’s PS4 game influenced the movie and a Mysterio deleted scene — we know there is enough interest around Spider-Man: Far From Home within IGN’s audience that we wanted to share the full Jon Watts Q&A in its entirety.

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Borderlands 3 Has an Apex Legends-Style Ping System

Gearbox Software has revealed new accessibility features for Borderlands 3, including an Apex Legends-style pinging system that will allow players to point out enemies, friends, chests, items, and more.

As reported by VG247, Gearbox detailed these new additions during its Guardian Con panel and further explained that the pinging system will ensure communication is in place for co-op teammates, even when voice chat is not available. When players ping anything in the world, a contextually relevant VO line will be played and the marked point will appear in the game world, as well as on the mini-map, for each player.

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Pokemon Sword & Shield Have Version-Exclusive Gyms

The latest trailer for Pokemon Sword and Shield has arrived, and it gives us a look at some more new features and Pokemon from the upcoming Switch games. Just as previous titles, Sword and Shield will each feature a handful of exclusive Pokemon that can only be found in that version, but that isn’t the only difference between the two games; each will also have some version-exclusive Gyms.

As we learned in the new trailer (which you can watch above), some cities in Pokemon Sword and Shield will feature different Gyms depending on which version you’re playing. It’s unclear how many version-exclusive Gyms there will be in total, but the latest trailer showcases at least one of them. In Pokemon Sword, players will challenge Bea, who specializes in Fighting Pokemon. The same town in Pokemon Shield, however, is home to a Ghost-type Gym led by the creepy Allister. You can take a look at the two Gym Leaders below.

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This isn’t the first time Pokemon games have featured version-exclusive Gym Leaders; the Leader of the final Gym in Pokemon Black and White would differ depending on which version you were playing, although in both cases, the trainer would still specialize in Dragon Pokemon. Some cities in Black and White also featured aesthetic differences depending on the version, although it’s as-yet unknown if Sword and Shield will implement other version differences.

Of course, along with version-exclusive Gyms, there will be a handful of Pokemon you’ll only be able to catch in either Sword or Shield, and now we’ve gotten our first glimpse at a couple that will be exclusive to each version. The Dragon Pokemon Deino and Jangmo-o will only appear in the wild in Pokemon Sword, while Larvitar and Goomy can only be found in Pokemon Shield.

That isn’t all the latest trailer revealed; we also got a look at another four new Gen 8 Pokemon, as well as a new mechanic called Gigantamaxing. Unlike standard Dynamaxing, only certain Pokemon can Gigantamax, and their size as well as their appearance will be transformed. The trailer also introduced the chairman of the Galar Pokemon League, Rose, and his secretary Oleana.

Pokemon Sword and Shield launch for Nintendo Switch on November 15. The games will be compatible with the upcoming Pokemon Home service, allowing you to bring over some of your old monsters. However, you won’t be able to transfer every old Pokemon to the games. That decision has been so controversial that series producer, Junichi Masuda, issued a statement addressing the drama. For more on the titles, be sure to check out our Pokemon Sword and Shield release date and pre-order guide.

Destiny 2 Won’t Work With Ryzen 3000 CPUs, PC Players Report

AMD’s new line of Ryzen 3000 processors hit store shelves on Sunday, July 7–and within hours, Destiny 2 players were reporting problems. Apparently, some players are seeing Destiny 2 rendered unplayable when they install the new Ryzen chips in their PCs, and speculation has it that a patch from Bungie will be required to fix the issue.

Players took to the Bungie forums and to Reddit to share and discuss the issue. According to reports, trying to start Destiny 2 from Activision Blizzard’s Battle.net launcher causes the game to hang forever. The computer thinks the game has started, but it never actually loads up. Posts on Bungie.net and Reddit suggest the CPU is to blame, with at least one poster claiming to have fixed the issue by removing the new Ryzen chip and going back to their previous system.

PC-focused outlets published reviews of the new Ryzen chips to go with their launch, many of which detailed games reviewers tried with the CPUs, so it doesn’t appear that the issue with Destiny 2 is necessarily affecting other games. That suggests Bungie will need to issue a patch to make Destiny 2 compatible with AMD’s new processors. We’ve reached out to Bungie for a comment on the situation and any details on when a fix might be made available.

In the meantime, it seems PC players will need to hang onto their old processors and motherboards to keep playing Destiny 2, what with the new Lumina Exotic hand cannon to chase. The weekly reset on Tuesday, July 9, also marks the start of a new slate of Moments of Triumph to earn, making this a particularly rough time for Destiny PC players to lose their access to the game.

Joker ‘Doesn’t Follow Anything From the Comics’

Joker writer and director Todd Phillips has said that his version of the clown prince of crime does not follow any established elements from the DC comics, and that Joaquin Phoenix’s character is a unique, original interpretation.

Talking to Empire magazine, Phillips said “We didn’t follow anything from the comic-books, which people are gonna be mad about. We just wrote our own version of where a guy like Joker might come from. That’s what was interesting to me. We’re not even doing Joker, but the story of becoming Joker. It’s about this man.”

It was clear from the first trailer for Joker that this was going to be a very different kind of super villain film, with its Scorsese vibe and heavy political tones. But Phillip’s words mean you can discount any story threads from The Killing Joke finding its way into this R-rated film.

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Mortal Kombat 11 Teases Sindel DLC Character

NetherRealm has teased another DLC character for Mortal Kombat 11. The queen of Outworld Sindel is up next, per a teaser tweeted out from producer Ed Boon that shows off her new look.

The image shows Sindel draped in shadow accompanied by the tagline “7 deadly Sindels”–a reference to the religious concept of the seven deadly sins. The teaser didn’t give any indication of when to expect more details or a release date for the character. This follows another tweet in late June, when Boon teased Nightwolf.

So far NetherRealm has released Shang Tsung, and teased Spawn, Nightwolf, and Sindel. Shao Kahn was a pre-order bonus who is also available as a separate purchase for $6. The first MK11 Kombat Pack will include six DLC fighters in all, and NetherRealm has yet to officially announce the remaining two. Ed Boon had offered a fighter reveal in exchange for helping to locate a stolen car, and shortly after teased Nightwolf, but he had already been announced.

“MK11 isn’t just a sequel for series fans and NetherRealm devotees, it’s a gateway into the realm of fighting games for anyone who has a passing interest in watching ruthless warriors beat each other silly,” Edmond Tran wrote in GameSpot’s review. “Streamlined mechanics keep the act of fighting furiously exciting no matter what your skill level, and comprehensive tutorials encourage you to dig into the nitty-gritty. There’s a diverse roster of interesting characters and playstyles, and the story mode is an entertaining romp.”

Pokemon Sword / Shield Trailer Reveals New Gen 8 Pokemon And Gigantamaxing Mechanic

The Pokemon Company has shared a new trailer for the upcoming Pokemon Sword and Shield. The video gives us a glimpse at another handful of new Gen 8 Pokemon you’ll discover in the Galar region, as well as a couple of new characters you’ll encounter and a special type of Dynamaxing known as Gigantamaxing.

Whereas standard Dynamaxing increases a Pokemon’s size, Gigantamaxing also alters their physical appearance. A Gigantamaxed Drednaw, for instance, will stand upright on its hind legs, and the armor of a Gigantamaxed Corviknight will separate and fly around like bladed birds. While nearly every Pokemon is capable of Dynamaxing, it appears only certain species are able to Gigantax, and according to The Pokemon Company, “even among such species, only rare specimens will be able to Gigantamax.” You can capture Gigantamax Pokemon in Max Raid Battles.

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The trailer also introduced four new species of Pokemon. First is Alcremie, a Fairy-type that resembles whipped cream. It’s one of the few Pokemon capable of Gigantamaxing, and when it undergoes the transformation, it resembles a towering cake. Next is Yamper, an Electric-type puppy Pokemon with a new Ability called Ball Fetch; if you throw a Poke Ball at a wild Pokemon but fail to capture it, Yamper will fetch the first one you threw (provided it isn’t already holding an item). We also got a look at the Rock-type coal Pokemon, Rolycoly, as well as the Steel/Dragon-type Duraludon. You can see artwork of all four new Pokemon below.

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Finally, the trailer introduced a handful of new characters, including two new Gym Leaders. First is Bea, a Fighting-type expert exclusive to Pokemon Sword. Pokemon Shield players, on the other hand, will battle the creepy Allister, a Ghost-type Gym Leader. The trailer also gave us a quick look at the chairman of the Galar Pokemon League, Rose, and his secretary Oleana. You can watch the full trailer above.

Pokemon Sword and Shield launch for Nintendo Switch on November 15. It’s unclear as of yet how many Pokemon will appear in the game, but we know you won’t be able to transfer every old monster to them–a decision that has proven so controversial that the games’ producer, Junichi Masuda, had to issue a statement addressing the drama. For more on the titles, be sure to check out our Pokemon Sword and Shield pre-order guide.

Stranger Things Fortnite Skins And Items Now Available

Fortnite has begun its crossover event with Stranger Things, which began with pieces of the Stranger Things mall entering the game, including some Upsidedown portals. Now as you look around your Stranger Things environments you can look the part, with new skins and other cosmetics modeled after the hit Netflix show.

As announced on Twitter, the Stranger Things content includes outfits modeled after Chief Hopper and the Demogorgon, along with a Vines Wrap. The cosmetics were added alongside the premiere of the new season of Stranger Things on July 4.

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Netflix had previously hinted at a Fortnite crossover after fans noticed the show’s ice cream shop in the game. That panel also announced another Stranger Things video game coming in 2020, and more details about the SNES brawler-style game that released along with Season 3.

Meanwhile, Fortnite is still celebrating its 14 Days of Summer event, along with other seasonal challenges. The game is preparing itself for the launch of Season 10, and as such we’ve seen some strange happenings that could be laying the groundwork. One of those is a giant rubber duckie, which could herald the seasonal changeover or just more summer shenanigans. When the next season does come, it will be accompanied by new system requirements, so make sure you’re ready.