Author: Trafficblast

Doctor Who: Christopher Eccleston Returning as The Ninth Doctor

Christopher Eccleston, as the Ninth Doctor, helped usher in a new era of Doctor Who, though his tenure would be short-lived as the actor would leave the series after only one season of 13 episodes due to a breakdown in his relationship with then-showrunner Russell T Davies.

Eccleston also famously turned down the chance to reprise the role on several occasions over the years, including an appearance on the 50th Anniversary show.

Now it’s been announced that Eccleston will return to the role of the Ninth Doctor after fifteen years, for a new Ninth Doctor audio series from BBC Studios and Big Finish.

The series will feature twelve full-cast audio adventures, due to be released across four box sets, starting with volume one in May 2021.

“After 15 years it will be exciting to revisit the Ninth Doctor’s world,” Eccleston said in a release, “bringing back to life a character I love playing.”

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Big Finish’s Chairman, Jason Haigh-Ellery said: “I first talked to Christopher about returning to the role of the Doctor at the Gallifrey One convention in February this year. Christopher said he was enjoying meeting the fans and was pleased that his Doctor was remembered so fondly. He indicated he would be open to discussing a project with Big Finish.”

“And then the pandemic happened and time moved both quickly and very slowly. Over recent months, ideas have been exchanged and discussions had. I am so pleased that Christopher has decided to return to the role with us – and I’m excited to welcome him to the Big Finish family as we discover the new adventures of the Ninth Doctor.”

The four volumes in Doctor Who: The Ninth Doctor Adventures will be released as a 4-disc collector’s edition box set or download containing three brand-new full cast audio adventures, plus a selection of behind-the-scenes extras. Pre-ordering is available now. Other details, including additional guest cast, are not known at this time.

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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.

Street Fighter Producer Yoshinori Ono to Leave Capcom After Almost 30 Years

Street Fighter producer and Capcom developer Yoshinori Ono has announced that he will be resigning from the company he’s worked with for almost 30 years this summer.

Ono took to Twitter to explain his decision, and he began by bringing up the challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic have brought upon the world and how it has impacted the Capcom Pro Tour and its format for 2020.

He then moved on to talk about his departure, and described how much Street Fighter, and its community, have meant to him.

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“I’ve been with the Street Fighter brand for a long time, experiencing good times, bad times, and even non-existent times,” Ono said. “My heart is filled with appreciation to those players who’ve been giving warm and kind support on the brand especially little over the past decade or so as all the activities on the Street Fighter brand regained sunshine and grew its liveliness.”

“And now, after serving almost 30 years at Capcom, I am leaving the company in this summer. This means that I will resign my position as the brand manager for Capcom’s various titles including Street Fighter. ”

“Capcom staff in the new generation will continue taking care of the Street Fighter brand and leading the World Warriors. And, I do believe that they will continue making Street Fighter extraordinary. I will look forward to seeing the new Street Fighter brand and how it’s going to be expanded, as just one of the regular gamers next time around.”

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Ono began his career at Capcom working on Mega Man: Battle & Chase for the original PlayStation as a music composer before he went to work on Street Fighter Alpha 3 as a sound manager. He would go on to help with many games, including Devil May Cry, Onimusha, Resident Evil: Outbreak, and more. He quickly became a fan favorite around his work on Street Fighter IV and Street Fighter V, as he would appear at many fan events and tournaments with a smile and wonderful energy.

You can read Ono’s full statement here.

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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.

Robert Pattinson Tried to Hide His Batman Audition from Christopher Nolan

The way production for both Christopher Nolan’s Tenet and Matt Reeves’ The Batman lined up, actor Robert Pattinson actually had to make up a story to get time away from the Tenet set so that he could go screen test for the role of Batman. Something which he tried to keep secret from Nolan.

While chatting with The Irish Times, Pattinson admitted that his sneakiness didn’t work and that Nolan, who was no stranger to the Caped Crusader, immediately figured it out.

“It’s funny because Chris is so secretive about everything to do with his movies,” Pattinson said. “And then I had to be really secretive about Batman stuff. So I had to lie to Chris about having to go for a screen test – I said I had a family emergency. And as soon as I said ‘it’s a family emergency’ he said: ‘You’re doing the Batman audition, aren’t you?’”

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The Batman, which paused production due to COVID-19 last March, was one of several films that got cleared to resume shooting soon.

A few weeks ago, it was announced that Warner Bros. had ordered a TV spinoff to The Batman – a prequel series focused on the members of the Gotham City Police Department that will be exclusive to HBO Max.

Dave Bautista tried his best to win the role of Bane in the film, but he wound up not getting the gig.

The Batman will be a part of DC’s FanDome event on August 22.

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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.

A Mother Recovers the $20K Her Son Spent on Twitch Donations in 17 Days

A teenage boy secretly spent $19,870.94 on Twitch donations in just 17 days by using her debit card. Luckily, she was able to recover mostly all of it.

As reported by Dot Esports, the donations, which wiped out “years of savings” for the mother, were made to such streamers as Tfue, Gorb, Ewokttv, Atlanta Falcons quarterback Kurt Benkert, and Miami Heat’s Meyers Leonard.

The mother, who chose to remain anonymous, claimed she had a tough time getting in touch with Twitch and “hitting a brick wall” with them was “the most frustrating thing of all.” She said no one would respond and there was no way to get in touch with anyone at the streaming company.

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She tried filling out an online help form with Twitch, sending registered mail to Twitch CEO Emmett Shear and Amazon’s legal team, and more, but had no luck getting any response.

Fortunately, she got a tip from a now-deleted Reddit post that she should contact Xsolla, the paying service company that’s partnered with Twitch.

She used the company’s online chat feature and was able to get a refund on the condition that the account it “permanently blocked to prevent future unauthorized charges.”

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The mother claims the son is “remorseful” and is going to counseling. He is also limited to only one hour of monitored daily playtime “with the stipulation that he must do positive activities throughout the day, get exercise, and interact with the family in a positive manner.”

Hopefully this will be of some help or a tale of caution for those who ever find themselves in a similar situation.

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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.

Teenager Spends Nearly $20,000 In Twitch Donations Using Mother’s Debit Card

It’s something of a nightmare for parents these days: You wake up only to discover your bank account has been drained by your children spending money online. We’ve seen it happen with microtransactions in games, but one teenager managed to spend close to $20,000 through Twitch donations.

Speaking to Dot Esports, the teenage boy’s mother revealed that over the course of two weeks in June, he donated more than $19,870 in Twitch donations using her debit card, and these donations went to both career Twitch streamers as well as professional athletes like Falcons quarterback Kurt Benkert.

Nearly all of the money was returned to her bank account by contacting the firm Xsolla, which Twitch uses for payments. The son is now limited to an hour of gaming per day and must also pursue activities outside and with his family.

Children’s easy ability to spend small amounts of money over time, which turn into huge bills, is hardly new. Back in 2014, Apple agreed to pay at least $32.5 million in refunds as a result of children making in-app purchases. A few years later, Microsoft refunded parents for an $8,000 bill after their son racked up charges playing FIFA on Xbox.

Daily Deals: Save $1000 on this TCL 4K HDR TV

Welcome to Sunday. We’ve got a nice little bundle of deals for you today, and kicking things off is a TCL 4K HDR TV that’s $1000 off right now. That is a giant amount of savings, on a very good TV. If that’s not for you, check our the other sales happening across the web, including some amazing Sennheiser earbuds, the Sega Genesis Mini and more.

Deals for August 9

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More Video Game Deals

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