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Quentin Tarantino Mostly Kept His Promise To Never Give His Mom A Penny

Oscar-winning director Quentin Tarantino has kept his promise to never give his mother “a penny” after she sarcastically criticized his writing and his career pursuits at a young age. Tarantino said on The Moment podcast that his mother was “bitching at me” about his “scholastic non-abilities” when he was a kid.

“And then, in the middle of her little tirade, she said, ‘Oh and by the way, this little writing career?’–with the finger quotes–this little writing career that you’re doing? That sh** is f**king over!’ She just meant don’t do it in class when you’re supposed to be doing something else,” he said, as relayed by The Hollywood Reporter.

“When she said that to me in that sarcastic way, I was in my head and I go: ‘Okay, lady. When I become a successful writer, you will never see penny one from my success,” the director added.

“There will be no house for you. There’s no vacation for you; no Elvis Cadillac for mommy. You get nothing because you said that.”

Apart from helping his mother “out of a jam” with the IRS, Tarantino said he has stuck with his plan to not give his mom any cash. The interview mentioned that his mother criticizing his work when he was young might have lit a fire inside him, and in that way, she deserves credit. But Tarantino doesn’t see it that way.

“There are consequences for your words as you deal with your children!” he said.

Tarantino’s latest movie was Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, which won two Oscars. Brad Pitt won Best Supporting Actor and the movie in general took home the win for Best Achievement in Production Design. A novelization of the movie is out now, while Tarantino plans to make one more film and then retire.

American McGee Laments Lack Of Sign-Ups For New Alice Game

Game designer American McGee, the director of American McGee’s Alice and its sequel Alice: Madness Returns is trying to build up hype for a potential third game in the series, though the process isn’t going as fast as he would like. McGee posted to Twitter lamenting the lack of sign-ups for the Alice 3 mailing list, a number he says would help prove there was demand for another game.

The screenshot shows just over 50,000 people have signed up for the mailing list, which McGee says is the result of about three years of effort. He first started talking about a third Alice game back in 2014, and gave it the tentative title of Alice: Asylum in 2017.

Electronic Arts currently owns the rights to the Alice series, meaning McGee can’t produce a third game through alternative routes like crowdfunding unless he can obtain the rights. The developer’s current plan seems to be to use the mailing list to show there is interest in a third game, to convince EA it’s worth greenlighting a sequel. While replies to McGee’s tweet pointed out that mailing lists are a bit dated in 2021, when fans can easily find information about the game on social media, the developer has said signing up is still the best way to show support for Alice: Asylum.

McGee sees the recent resurrection of the Dead Space franchise as a hopeful sign for his own series, though in the past has criticised how EA handled the marketing of previous game Alice: Madness Returns.

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Fantasian Part 2 Releases On Apple Arcade On August 13

The second and final part of Fantasian, the recent JRPG by Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi, releases on Apple Arcade this Friday, Apple has announced. The JRPG arrives on the service on August 13 alongside a new puzzle game, Wurdweb, with two more titles–Zen Pinball Party and Zookeeper World–on the way in the near future.

Developed by Sakaguchi’s studio Mistwalker, Fantasian is a classic-style JRPG that blends CGI characters with handmade dioramas. According to Sakaguchi, Part 2 wraps up the saga and features “a more quest-driven style of gameplay,” offering approximately 40-60 hours of content.

“The release of Part 2 of Fantasian marks the completion of the saga. It ended up being, rather unexpectedly, about twice the volume of Part 1 and is more quest-driven, giving players the ability to progress through the world at their own pace,” Sakaguchi said in a press release.

“On behalf of all the dev team members, diorama artisans and musical talent including Uematsu-san–I think we can safely say that we left nothing on the table. We have carefully sculpted the experience preserving the ‘warmth’ of the dioramas with every attention to detail. I encourage everyone to experience this mysterious ’emotional’ energy, which is at the very heart of Fantasian.”

The first part of Fantasian released on Apple Arcade back in April and was met with positive reviews. Since then, Sakaguchi has been sharing in-development shots of Part 2 on his Twitter. For more on Fantasian, be sure to read our interview with Sakaguchi.

Apple Arcade is a subscription service that’s available on iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV. Subscriptions cost $5 per month and give you access to a library of nearly 200 games, all of which lack ads or in-game purchases.

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PAX Aus Cancelled for 2021

PAX Aus has been cancelled for 2021 due to ongoing concerns around the new outbreaks of COVID-19 in Australia.

The PAX Aus team has stressed it was initially optimistic the expo would be able to take place this October but has now conceded an event is no longer possible.

All PAX Aus 2021 ticket purchasers will receive a full refund. Refund information will arrive within the next seven days.

The PAX Aus team has confirmed it will still be working to host an online PAX Aus event from October 8-10 in place of the physical show.

PAX Aus is planned to return to Melbourne as a physical event in 2022.

This is the second year in a row PAX Aus has been cancelled; last year’s event was also scrapped thanks to the impact of COVID-19.

Luke is Games Editor at IGN’s Sydney office. You can find him on Twitter every few days @MrLukeReilly.

Valve’s Steam Deck – First Impressions

Valve’s portable PC console, the Steam Deck, is set to release in December 2021. Until then, GameSpot and Giant Bomb have teamed up to discuss a recent hands-on event in which Jan Ochoa was able to playtest the console for himself. Joined by Tamoor Hussain, Jan discusses his impressions including how it feels in-hand and how well it runs a selection of Steam titles including DOOM Eternal, Hades, and Control.

On top of its performance, Jan discusses his first impressions such as size, button layout and build quality. He compares it closely to the Wii-U gamepad as a light console with similar thumb sticks. Jan also put the console through its paces with some game-swap testing, changing of video settings and maxing out brightness to test battery strength.

The Steam Deck will launch in December of 2021. Valve is offering three models starting at $399 with a higher model costing $649. Stick with GameSpot and Giant Bomb for more coverage of the Steam Deck when it launches later this year.

Aussie Deals: Cut-Price Controllers, Mice, Wheels and More!

Accessories make everything better—an old fashion axiom that holds just as true for video gaming. With our help, your games den shall sparkle a little brighter today, thanks to some choice peripherals deals. Now’s the time to grab yourself a replacement mouse and/or controller that’s been through one too many rage-quits. We’ve also got our usual, carefully curated list of discounted titles to own.

Notable Sales for Nintendo Switch

Purchase Cheaply for PC

Exciting Offers for XO/XS

Product Savings for PS4/PS5

Sign up to get the best Aussie gaming deals sent straight to your inbox!

Adam’s an Aussie deals wrangler who spends too much of his income on the bargains he finds. You can occasionally find him @Grizwords.

New Dune Ensemble Poster Shows Off House Atreides

Warner Bros. has released yet another poster for Dune, its upcoming sci-fi epic based on Frank Herbert’s novel.

This latest poster is a classic theatrical one; the ensemble cast is collected together in a central montage, with lead TimothĂŠe Chalamet up top. Surrounding him are Zendaya, Oscar Isaac, Josh Brolin, Rebecca Ferguson, Jason Momoa, Sharon Duncan-Brewster, and Javier Bardem. Together, they represent they key players of protagonists House Atreides and the Fremen. Below the montage, we also see Chalamet’s Paul Atreides walking on the sands of the planet Arrakis, dressed in his stillsuit.

This ensemble poster follows fourteen character posters that Warner Bros. revealed last month, which also put key members of House Harkonnen in the spotlight, too.

Dune, as noted at the bottom of the poster, releases October 22 in cinemas, and will also be available to stream on HBO Max on the same day. This is a little later than originally planned due to a recent delay.

The tag line of the poster also states ‘It Begins’, a nod to the fact that this film is just the start of the Dune story. The movie covers the first half of the original novel, and while a sequel hasn’t been formally greenlit, Dune is planned to be a two-part story. Hopefully, despite fears of a HBO Max release impacting financial performance, Dune will generate enough success to see the story completed. From what we’ve already seen, the movie is a feast for the senses that deserves to be seen on the big screen.

Matt Purslow is IGN’s UK News and Entertainment Writer.

Fantasian Part 2 Is Coming This Week

The second part of Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi’s Apple Arcade RPG, Fantasian, is almost upon us, with developer Mistwalker announcing today it would release this Friday, August 13.

Part 2 of Fantasian is, per the studio’s announcement, more “quest-driven” than its very story-heavy first half. Mistwalker expects it to take players between 40 to 60 hours to fully experience, with Part 2 being approximately double the size of the first half. New features include the ability to swap party members in and out of battle and an expanded character Growth Map.

In its totality, Fantasian is made up of nearly 160 handmade dioramas, approximately 50 of which are original to Part 2. Part 2 will also include 34 new tracks from Nobuo Uematsu.

Fantasian follows the story of a young man named Leo who is looking for his father and ends up traveling across dimensions as he searches, suffering memory loss and encountering a number of companions and friends who join him on his way. Its “Dimengeon Battle” allows you to bank encounters with monsters as you run into them in the world, then fight them all at once in an alternate dimension for greater rewards.

Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.

Catherine Zeda-Jones and Luis Guzman Are Morticia and Gomez Addams In Tim Burton’s Netflix Series

Wednesday has found her parents. The upcoming Tim Burton-directed reboot of the Addams Family will feature Catherine Zeta-Jones and Luis Guzman as Morticia and Gomez Addams, Netflix announced today.

“Catherine Zeta-Jones will step into the iconic silhouette of Morticia Addams while Luis Guzman will bring to life the debonair Gomez Addams in the upcoming TV series Wednesday, starring Jenna Ortega as Wednesday Addams and directed by Tim Burton,” read the tweet from Netflix announcing the casting.

We reported last fall that Burton was developing a new live-action Addams Family television series with plans to produce and direct the series as his television debut, and Netflix announced the series formally in February.

According to the official synopsis for Wednesday, “The series is a sleuthing, supernaturally infused mystery charting Wednesday Addams’ years as a student at Nevermore Academy. Wednesday’s attempts to master her emerging psychic ability, thwart a monstrous killing spree that has terrorized the local town, and solve the supernatural mystery that embroiled her parents 25 years ago–all while navigating her new and very tangled relationships at Nevermore.”

Frequent collaborators Al Gough and Miles Millar, who also created Smallville, will serve as showrunners on the project, and will executive produce alongside Tim Burton, Kayla Alpert, Steve Stark, and Andrew Mittman. Netflix has not yet announced a production schedule for the series.

Gamescom 2021: Date, Partners, Predictions, and More

Gamescom 2021 is only a few weeks away and like E3 2021, it’s going to be an online-only event. While the game conference won’t quite be the same without the big show floor, at least we’ll be able to watch all the exciting trailers and gameplay from the comfort of our homes.

So far, we have a list of Gamescom 2021 attendees. With names like Xbox, Bethesda, Activision, and EA it’s looking like an exciting show already. Additionally, we expect to see plenty of indie games from the Awesome Indies show. Stay tuned for all the latest Gamescom news as we’ll be updating this page with all the info on the virtual games conference up to its start in late August.

When is Gamescom 2021?

Gamescom 2021 will take place from Wednesday, August 25 to Friday 27 August 27.

Gamescom 2021 Schedule

  • Xbox Stream – Tuesday, August 24 at 10am PT
  • Gamescom: Opening Night Live – Wednesday, August 25
  • Future Games Show at Gamescom – Thursday, August 26 at 1PM PT

Where is Gamescom?

Like last year Gamescom 2021 will be an online-only event. Gamescom was originally announced as a hybrid digital and physical event earlier in the year. However, the event organizer Koelnmesse later announced it would be all-digital after all. IGN will be carrying all of Gamescom as part of our Summer of Gaming coverage so you’ll be able to catch all the events, showcases, and announcements right on our homepage.

Gamescom 2021 Partners

So far Gamescom has confirmed it will have 19 game studios and publishers in attendance for its virtual gaming conference. On top of that there’s a long list of indie studios including Akupara Games, Draw Distance, and Numskull Games just to name a few. Here’s a list of the big hitters we’ll see at the show so far.

  • 505 Games
  • Activision
  • Aerosoft
  • Assemble Entertainment
  • Astragon Entertainment
  • Bandai Namco Entertainment
  • Bethesda Softworks
  • Electronic Arts
  • Gameevil COM2US Europe
  • Headup
  • Indie Arena Booth
  • Koch Media
  • Next Studios (Tencent)
  • Sega Europe
  • Team17
  • Thunderful Games
  • Ubisoft
  • Wargaming
  • Xbox

Gamescom 2021 Predictions

While we know who will and won’t be at Gamescom, what these companies actually have planned remains a mystery though. That said, we can take an educated guess on what Xbox, Bethesda, and the other attendees might announce based on what they revealed at E3 and any outstanding games we’ve yet to see.

Xbox

Even though we just got two Xbox keynotes at E3, Microsoft still has plenty left to show us with its Gamescom 2021 Xbox Stream on August 24 at 10am PT / 1pm ET / 6pm BST or August 25 at 3am AEST. Even a new trailer for the cadre of new games coming to Xbox this and next year would easily fill up a two-hour showcase. We may see more footage of Halo Infinite and Forza Horizon 5. But what we’d really like to see is more of Contraband and A Plague Tale Reqieum since both games were just revealed with teasers at E3.

Sony

Sony was notably absent from Gamescom’s attendee list so we doubt there will be a PlayStation livestream as an official part of Gamescom. However, Sony could surprise us with a State of Play event ahead of the European games conference. Just days before E3 started, Sony dropped extended gameplay of Horizon Zero Dawn: Forbidden West. We’ve got our fingers crossed to see something from God of War Ragnarok, Lost Judgement, or an entirely new property for PlayStation.

Nintendo

Nintendo wasn’t part of last year’s Gamescom’s lineup and it doesn’t seem like it’ll be showing up this year’s either as it has not appeared on the event list of attendees. It’s a real shame since we were hoping to see more of Metroid Dread and Breath of the Wild sequel. We’ve got our fingers crossed that the company still announces a surprise Nintendo Direct.

Bethesda

Besthesda is basically an extension of Xbox’s own official game studios and it has a huge collection of upcoming games we’re hoping to see again at Gamescom. The last Xbox and Bethesda showcase kicked off with a Starfield teaser trailer, that may have also included an Elder Scrolls 6 easter egg, and we’re hoping to see more footage of the game soon. Redfall, the co-op vampire hunting game, could be another Bethesda game will see at Gamescom, too.

Ubisoft

Ubisoft is one of the major game publishers that have announced its Gamescom attendance. We’re likely to see some Far Cry 6 gameplay and hopefully more details about the game’s DLC that will let you play as the series’ villains. Hopefully, there will also be more footage of the upcoming Avatar Frontiers of Pandora, the Avatar game we never thought we’d see.

Summer of Gaming

IGN’s season-long Summer of Gaming event will of course be serving up all the hot Gamescom announcements. During the week of Gamescom, come to IGN for exclusive announcements and content you won’t see anywhere else.

Future Games Show at Gamescom

Future’s self-titled gaming show from the GamesRadar staff is making it’s Gamescom debut. The show promises over 40 games from companies like Team17, Koch Media, Tripwire Interactive and Frontier Developments. It’ll also be co-hosted by the voice actors who played Lady Dimitrescu and the Duke, Maggie Robertson and Aaron LePlante, respectively. The Future Games Show will air on Thursday, August 26 at 1pm PT / 4pm ET / 9pm BST or August 27 at 6am AEST.

Konami

Konami has been relatively absent in the video game world for the last few year, but now the publisher is teasing some new announcements for Gamescom 2021. So far Konami has promised new announcements for its recently announced eFootball, the free-to-play football simulation platform, and Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel, which the company calls the the most complete Yu-Gi-Oh! game yet.

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Kevin Lee is IGN’s SEO Updates Editor. Follow him on Twitter @baggingspam