The director of the “John Wick” series has set up his next action outing.
New Line Cinema has won an auction for Chad Stahelski’s action-thriller “Classified,” per Deadline. The film is based on a story by Paranomal Activity: The Ghost Dimension writers Andrew Deutschman and Jason Pagan. There’s currently no word on who will star in the picture.
The project was pitched as a cross between Die Hard and Indiana Jones. The film is set inside a secret government bunker like the one seen at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark and the beginning of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. The facility contains artifacts recovered during World War II that prove to be dangerous. And then some Die Hard-style shenanigans proceed, presumably.
Stahelski made his name in Hollywood through stunts, serving as the stunt double for Keanu Reeves and a martial arts stunt coordinator for the original Matrix trilogy. Stahelski and David Leitch made their directorial debut in 2014 with the Reeves’ vehicle John Wick.
Additionally, Stahelski is also set to helm a reboot of the cult fantasy film Highlander. He is also directing the fourth and fifth John Wick movies, which are currently in pre-production and set to be filmed back-to-back. John Wick: Chapter 4 will release on May 27, 2022.
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J. Kim Murphy is a freelance entertainment writer.
On this week’s episode of IGN’s PlayStation show Podcast Beyond!, host Jonathon Dornbush is joined by Brian Altano and Lucy O’Brien to discuss what implications the Bethesda deal has on Sony’s current plans, how and what we think Sony can do to keep PlayStation Plus competitive and improve it, and our expectations for the future of PSVR and its successor.
In September last year, Blizzard asked World of Warcraft players to vote on a new mount that would be gifted for free to all players with Shadowlands active on their accounts. Players overwhelmingly voted for the Wandering Ancient–a big old walking tree you can ride on top of–and now it’s available in-game for eligible players.
Players were tasked with choosing between five unique options: the Wandering Ancient, Soaring Spelltome, Nerubian Swarmer, Curious Caterpillar, and Gooey Slimesaber. The options were listed with a brief description but without any visual aids, meaning players had to imagine the potential of each would-be mount.
The Wandering Ancient overwhelmingly came out on top, and the Blizzard team got to work bringing it to life, creating a walking tree mount that marks the first rideable Ancient in WoW. Just like the pint-sized Blossoming Ancient pet, the Wandering Ancient’s foliage will change with the seasons.
Players with Shadowlands will find the Wandering Ancient in their Mount Collection tab. If you don’t have Shadowlands yet don’t worry, you’ll be gifted the Wandering Ancient mount even if you purchase it at a later date.
While the Wandering Ancient was initially meant to arrive with the big Chains of Domination update, it’s instead dropped early with the smaller 9.0.5 update. While we don’t have a release window for the big Chains of Domination update yet, it’s set to bring a lot of changes and new content to the game when it drops.
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As the investigation into Jay ‘Sinatraa’ Won continues, the Overwatch League has issued a statement regarding the matter. Prior to playing Valorant esports, Won was a key member of the San Francisco Shock Overwatch team, where he was crowned MVP for the team’s winning 2019 season.
Furthermore, Overwatch will refund an Overwatch League skin for Zarya that was inspired by Won as part of his MVP win during his time in the league. The Overwatch League operates under a franchise system, and the San Francisco Shock is operated by a third-party company.
In a statement to IGN, an Overwatch League spokesperson says, “The Overwatch League is aware of allegations made against former player Jay “Sinatraa” Won. We take any allegations of this nature seriously and unequivocally support victims of abuse.”
Overwatch League also says it will offer refunds for the “Alien” Overwatch League skin, which was designed to commemorate Won’s MVP win. Anyone with the skin currently can refund the skin for 200 League Tokens (retail: $9.99 USD) and have the skin removed from their collection. The Overwatch Championship and MVP badges will also be removed from the Alien skin in a future patch.
An official blog post on the Overwatch League website for how Won helped inspire the Alien skin has already been taken down and now redirects to an error page.
Overwatch League ‘Alien’ skin for Zarya designed to commemorate Sinatraa’s MVP win. Source: Blizzard
Here is the Overwatch League’s full statement below:
“The Overwatch League is aware of allegations made against former player Jay “Sinatraa” Won. We take any allegations of this nature seriously and unequivocally support victims of abuse. The League is offering a refund of 200 League Tokens for the “Alien” Overwatch League MVP skin to players who request one, at which point the skin will be removed from their collection. We’ll share more information on how refunds will work soon. The Overwatch Championship and MVP badges will be removed from the “Alien” skin in a future patch.”
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Original Story: Professional Valorant player Jay ‘Sinatraa’ Won has been suspended from the North American Valorant Champions Tour following allegations that he sexually abused a former partner.
Content Warning: details on sexual and emotional abuse follows.
In a statement yesterday, Cleo Hernandez provides a detailed, graphic account of her relationship with Won, saying Won pressured her into sex on numerous occasions without her consent, even after she repeatedly told him no or expressed that she was in pain. She also accused him of being emotionally abusive and manipulative while they were together.
The account includes an audio recording in which Hernandez can be heard saying “No” repeatedly while a male voice, said to be Won’s, insists on continuing.
Today, Riot issued a statement through its official Valorant Champions Tour NA account authored by global head of competitive operations and Valorant, Alex Francois:
“We are aware of the current situation regarding Jay Won (Sinatraa) and have launched an investigation. Per our existing competitive rules and investigative process, a decision has been made to suspend Won throughout the investigation and therefore he will not be able to compete this weekend.”
Won’s team, the Los Angeles Sentinels, has also suspended Won with a similar statement:
“We are aware of the current situation regarding Jay ‘Sinatraa’ Won and have launched an investigation internally. While the investigation is pending, he is suspended from the team. We will provide a further update once the investigation has concluded.”
Won is a former competitive Overwatch player who used to play for the San Francisco Shock, before moving to the Sentinels and Valorant in 2020.
Won has yet to reply to these accusations. IGN has also reached out to the Overwatch League for comment as well.
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Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.
There’s a lot of great deals on games today. For the first time, Walmart has the AtGames Legends Ultimate Home Arcade in stock. Normally it’s only available at Sam’s Club with a membership and without free shipping. It’s a big step above the Arcade1Up cabinets that have been so popular lately in terms of build quality, versatility, and the number of games. The other big news is that today is Mario Day and there are several Nintendo Switch video games and eShop gift cards are on sale.
AtGames Legends Ultimate Home Arcade for $499 Shipped
The AtGames Legends Ultimate Home Arcade normally can only be purchased at Sam’s Club. That means you’d need a membership or pay the 10% surcharge fee. Shipping isn’t usually included, either. Now you can get it at Walmart for the same price, with no membership, and with free shipping. This is a full-sized cabinet that’s much more robust than your typical Arcade1Up cabinet. It features a generously sized high-definition 24″ LCD monitor and two player setup (each player gets a joystick, six action buttons, and a spinner). There’s also a trackball for precision gameplay like in Centipede. Speaking of which, the biggest draw are the 300 licensed arcade and console games that are preinstalled. That includes classics like Missile Command, Asteroid, Space Invaders, Burger Time, Fix It Felix, and much much more. If you have the technical know-how, you can also add in your own games with a USB flash drive. If you want our hands on impression, check out our IGN review for this arcade cabinet.
This popular Galaga mini-arcade is actually pretty hard to find at this price. It’s either sold out elsewhere or selling for over MSRP. Despite its diminutive size, it’s actually very playable with an 8″ hi-res display, speaker, and full sized joystick and control buttons. Both Galaga and Galaga ’88 come preinstalled.
Mario Day is officially day (Mar 10), and there are a bunch of Nintendo Switch games and eShop gift cards on sale today. If you’re still console-less, the limited Mario edition is in stock at Best Buy.
______________________________ Eric Song is IGN’s deal curator and spends roughly 1/4 of his income on stuff he posts. Check out his latest Daily Deals Article and subscribe to his IGN Deals Newsletter.
The final tier of armor available in Valheim right now is Padded Armor, and like the other tiers before it, you’re going to have to work hard to make it. You can only create Padded Armor with materials from the Plains biome, but unlike other armor sets, it doesn’t require you to find new metals, but rather new plants. Here’s everything you need to know to create Padded Armor in the Plains so you can prepare to take down the fifth Valheim boss, Yagluth.
You can’t really deal with the Plains biome until you’ve made significant strides through the other biomes, and particularly the Mountains. You’ll want a good set of Wolf Armor before venturing into the Plains, unless you don’t mind doing a lot of corpse runs to recover your stuff, so be prepared to construct a Silver mining operation to get yourself geared up. You may even want to put in the time to gather extra resources and upgrade your Wolf armor as much as you can.
As for weapons, a solid bow like the Draugr Fang is a good get, as is a Silver Shield for fighting enemies at close-range. You should also craft as many high-level arrows as you can. Poison arrows are a pretty solid choice, especially if you can tag enemies with them without being spotted.
The bounties of the Plains will be closed to you, however, until you kill Moder, the boss of the Mountain biome.
Defeating Moder in the Mountain biome gets you the Dragon Tear, which is necessary to access the crafting stations you’ll need to make Padded Armor (among other high-level stuff).
Defeat Moder
With a good set of Wolf Armor, a strong bow, and a Silver Shield, you should have everything you need to find and destroy Moder, the boss of the Mountain biome. Check out our complete Moder guide for a rundown of how to beat the frost dragon, either alone or with a team.
Moder drops Dragon Tears when defeated, which are a specific item you’ll need to make new crafting stations when you get to the Plains. The Dragon Tear powers the Artisan Table, which opens up the ability to make the Blast Furnace, Windmill, and Spinning Wheel crafting stations. You’ll need all three to make use of the materials you’ll find in the Plains, with the Spinning Wheel being the most essential for upgrading your armor.
Once Moder is down, you can prepare for venturing into the Plains to make a permanent base. You’ll want such a location, because in order to make Padded Armor, you’re probably going to need to set up a farm. More on that later.
How To Survive The Plains
The Plains are full of tough, high-level enemies that will make short work of you in just about any gear, so it’s best to exercise serious caution when exploring there. You might want to get into the settings and turn down Valheim’s music when entering the Plains, which will allow you to hear the telltale buzzing of some of its worst enemies: the Deathsquitos. These flying insects are tough to hit, tough to dodge, and tough to block–and they do serious damage when they attack you. Deathsquitos are best dealt with at great distances with your bow, or as they come straight in to attack you (as opposed to strafing sideways between their attacks).
Ranged fighting is how you’ll probably deal with most enemies on the Plains when you first start out–you’ll want to be as stealthy as possible so you don’t get rushed by multiple foes at once. Poison arrows are pretty effective here, and as you start killing Deathsquitos, crafting Needle Arrows out of their stingers will allow you to do more damage from afar.
If you can clear a Fuling outpost early, you can use it as a base of operations. Make sure to bring the gear to make a portal (and place one back at a safe spot) so you can create an emergency exit.
In general, it’s a good idea to have an exit strategy when you enter the Plains biome. Bring the gear to make portals with you, so you can set up small outposts and escape in an emergency. In order to really advance in the area, you’re going to need to raid the outposts created by the goblin-like Fulings, which can be tough because they’re usually very populous, so you’ll need a lot of ammo and a lot of high-level food. Sausages and Serpent Stew are recommended, as is Cooked Lox Meat if you can get it. In fact, you might want to dedicate your first few Plains excursions to killing Loxes to harvest their meat, which is some of the best food in the game. Be careful, though–Loxes are very tough to bring down and very deadly if they get close enough to attack you.
Eventually, try to set up a base where you can portal in and out of the Plains. If you can clear all the goblins in one of their outposts, you can just steal it; slap a Workbench inside one of their buildings and either build walls or cut ditches around the group of buildings, and you’re good to go.
What You Need For Padded Armor
While Wolf Armor requires you to find new pelts and a new metal (namely Silver) in order to craft it in the Mountain biome, you won’t have to hunt quite so much material for Padded Armor. It uses a new crafting material called Linen Thread as its primary component–each piece of armor requires 20 Linen Threads, so you’ll be making a lot of it. Linen Thread comes from Flax, a resource you can find on the Plains, which you’ll refine with the Spinning Wheel.
You’ll find Black Metal in the Plains biome, but Black Metal is only used for certain new weapons. To make Padded Armor, you’ll mostly need Iron, as well as a little bit of Silver, as well as lots of Linen Thread.
Before you can make Padded Armor, you’ll need several crafting tables. The armor is made at a Forge, and you’ll need to upgrade your Forge to at least Level 2, which means building an add-on for the crafting station. You’ll also need the Spinning Wheel, which requires 10 Iron Nails, 20 Fine Wood, and 10 Leather Scraps to make.
The Spinning Wheel is the key item for Padded Armor, as it’ll allow you to make Linen Thread–but don’t forget you need lots of Iron as well.
While it’s not technically part of the Padded Armor set, you can also make the Lox Cape from resources found in the Plains–namely, Lox Hides. Like the Wolf Fur Cape, the Lox Cape gives you Frost Resistance when you wear it, making it useful if you’re traversing between the Plains and the Mountains. The Linen Cape has higher durability when upgraded (and you can choose its color), but it won’t protect you from the cold, so keep that in mind.
Here’s the rundown of the resources each piece of Padded Armor requires:
Padded Cuirass
20 Linen Thread
10 Iron
Padded Grieves
20 Linen Thread
10 Iron
Padded Helmet
15 Linen Thread
10 Iron
Linen Cape
20 Linen Thread
1 Silver
Level 2 Workbench
Lox Cape
6 Lox Hides
2 Silver
Level 2 Workbench
Carefully snipe away at the Fulings in an outpost to clear it safely. Some will have patches of Flax growing within, or hidden in chests.
Where To Find Flax
The toughest element in crafting Padded Armor is locating Flax, because you won’t just come across it growing out of the ground in the Plains biome. Look for Flax either in the treasure chests in Fuling structures and ruined stone buildings, or growing in small cultivated patches inside Fuling outposts.
Finding Flax in the Plains is actually a bit rare, and you might have to clear out multiple Fuling outposts in order to get some. That can be tough, so take your time, snipe as many enemies as you can with your bow, and do your best to engage Fulings one at a time so you’re not overwhelmed and killed. Once you find Flax, do not immediately spin it into Linen Thread. Instead, you’ll want to craft a Cultivator at a Forge (out of 5 Core Wood and 5 Bronze) so you can farm your own Flax.
It takes some time, but you’ll want to farm as much Flax as you can, because the small amounts you find in Fuling villages and outposts won’t be enough to make everything you need.
With the Cultivator, you can make any patch of dirt Cultivated, which plants require to grow. Once you’ve done that, use the Cultivator menu like you would the Hammer, select your Flax, and plant it. It’s going to take some time, but it’s really worth it to plant as much Flax as you can early on–every Flax you plant yields two Flax when it fully matures, which takes two to three in-game days. It’s a while to wait, but you’ll run out of Flax long before you complete your armor if you only use what you find in Fuling outposts.
After a few planting rounds, you should have enough Flax to start making your Padded Armor. It’s worth it to take the time to upgrade your armor a few times–it’ll make it a lot tougher for random encounters with Loxes, Fulings, or Deathsquitos to end in your death. You’ll also want all the protection you can get before going after the king of the goblins, Yagluth.
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Apex Legends released on the Nintendo Switch, allowing players to drop into the popular battle royale on the go. Unfortunately, sacrifices in performance had to be made for it to work on the Switch, and we do a side by side comparison to see the details.
We take a look at the in-game menus, weapons, abilities, and combat and compare it to PC gameplay. Issues such as stuttering, pop-in’s, frame drops, and low resolution textures appear on the Switch version, making it not ideal for the serious competitor. But now, Apex Legends has arrived on every major console, and is playable on all platforms.
WandaVision’s first and possibly only season has come to a close on Disney+, and we’re still working through all the Easter eggs and plot implications. One of the biggest moments of the series was when Wanda’s dead brother, Pietro, knocked on her door. Only it wasn’t Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who played the character in Avengers: Age of Ultron. Instead, it was–spoilers ahead–actor Evan Peters, who played the mutant version of the character in three of Fox’s X-Men movies. In a new interview by Variety with actress Elizabeth Olsen and head writer Jac Schaeffer, Schaeffer revealed just how surprised she was by the fan reaction to this moment.
“Naively, I didn’t expect people to get carried away in that way,” Schaeffer said about the whirlwind of fan theories that followed Peters’ appearance. “We didn’t anticipate that the show would drop after a full year of MCU drought in the middle of a pandemic.”
“I couldn’t have anticipated, I don’t know, maybe [WandaVision executive producer] Mary Livanos and [MCU mastermind] Kevin Feige are like, ‘Yeah, it’s like this every time,'” Schaeffer continued. “But I’m like, these theories are crazy! So it’s not that it wasn’t that it was not part of my thinking, and also, that’s not my department. I am lucky enough that I get to hear about the other projects and sometimes involved in their conversations. I know a little bit about all the things that Lizzie’s been up to.”
While the theorizing itself surprised Schaeffer, she knew that Peters’ role itself would be huge.
“It’s one of the few things in this series that I was like, yeah, I was expecting a really big reaction. Everything else, I’ve been floored by the enormity of the reactions, but that was just the thing that I’ve been sitting on for two years being like, ‘just wait, just wait!'”
Nintendo has never been shy about finding occasions to trot out its legacy games, but it leaned especially heavily on Mario’s back catalog for its Super Mario 35th anniversary celebration. Back in September, the company collected the plumber’s three earliest 3D adventures–Mario 64, Mario Sunshine, and Mario Galaxy–into one Switch compilation, while Wii U’s Super Mario 3D World arrived on the system (bundled together with the wonderful new mini-adventure, Bowser’s Fury) just last month. Between these two releases, almost all of Mario’s 3D games are now available to play on the hybrid console, making it nearly the perfect system for Mario fans–were it not for a handful of glaring omissions.
While most of the plumber’s 3D outings have made their way to Switch by this point, Super Mario 3D Land and Super Mario Galaxy 2 are still conspicuously missing from the system. The former’s absence is somewhat understandable; although 3D Land remains a great game and was a true showpiece for the 3DS’s stereoscopic 3D, its ideas and gameplay would be greatly expanded on and refined by 3D World. With that game now on Switch, 3D Land isn’t as sorely missed (and, arguably, would not play as well if it were released on a system without stereoscopic 3D).
Super Mario Galaxy 2, however, remains a puzzling omission. Mario’s second Wii adventure is one of the most highly regarded entries in the series. Not only is it one of the rare few titles to earn a 10/10 from GameSpot, but it was also the highest-scoring game of its year according to GameSpot sister site Metacritic. All of this acclaim is for good reason: Mario Galaxy 2 built on its (already delightful) predecessor in every way imaginable, throwing a head-spinning array of inventive ideas and mechanics at players. Later Mario games, especially 3D World and Super Mario Odyssey, would retain Galaxy 2’s freewheeling inventiveness, but the Wii game remains the most finely tuned and polished game in the series.
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Which makes it even more disappointing that it hasn’t made its way to Switch yet, especially when the original Mario Galaxy translated so well to the hybrid system. It’s anyone’s guess as to why Nintendo chose not to include it alongside its predecessor in Super Mario 3D All-Stars. Considering its reputation as one of the series’ very best installments, perhaps Nintendo is saving Galaxy 2 for its own full-priced standalone release, similar to the way it’s bringing The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword–another late-gen Wii title–to the system.
If Mario Galaxy 2 were on the Switch, the hybrid console would have a near-exhaustive catalog of Mario games. Practically every mainline title in the series is available in some form on the system. The original Super Mario Bros. trilogy, as well as the previously Japan-only Lost Levels, were some of the earliest additions to Switch Online’s NES library, while Super Mario World and the original Super Mario All-Stars are featured in its SNES catalog. Even Mario’s few arcade outings–Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr., Mario Bros., and the rarely seen Vs. Super Mario Bros.–were brought to the system as part of Hamster’s Arcade Archives line, encompassing nearly the full spectrum of the plumber’s history. Just look at all the Mario games that are playable on Switch:
Donkey Kong (arcade and NES versions)
Donkey Kong Jr. (arcade and NES versions)
Mario Bros. (arcade and NES versions)
Super Mario Bros.
Vs. Super Mario Bros.
Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels
Super Mario Bros. 2
Super Mario Bros. 3
Super Mario World
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island
Super Mario 64
Super Mario Sunshine
Super Mario Galaxy
New Super Mario Bros. U
New Super Luigi U
Super Mario 3D World
Super Mario Odyssey
Super Mario Maker 2
Of course, there are still some Mario games we are hoping will come to the system. The plumber’s Game Boy adventures, Super Mario Land and Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins, are still absent, as are the first three New Super Mario Bros. games (although Switch did receive the best of the bunch in New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe back in 2019). Nintendo also still hasn’t gotten around to bringing classic Mario spin-offs like the Mario & Luigi games and Super Mario RPG to the Switch yet. And the system’s Mario collection won’t be nearly as exhaustive when Nintendo pulls Super Mario 3D All-Stars from sale after March 31, a decision that remains baffling. It’s a shame that the company is artificially limiting the compilation’s availability, but here’s hoping it’ll be back again down the line–maybe this time with Super Mario Galaxy 2 in tow.
The TV adaptation of the Wild Cards book series, which was created by A Song of Ice and Fire writer George R.R. Martin, will be released by Peacock. The show was originally set to be produced for Hulu.
Wild Cards was first announced back in 2018, with Andrew Miller (The Secret Circle) announced as writer and showrunner. However, he is no longer involved, and the show is now in development for NBCUniversal’s streaming service Peacock. Variety states that producers are currently looking for a new writer to take over the project. Martin will executively produce, with Melinda M. Snodgrass, who co-edits the book series.
Wild Cards is a long-running interconnected superhero universe that started in 1987 and spans many anthology books and standalone short stories, with more than 40 writers contributing to date. The series focuses on an alien pathogen that rewrites human DNA to either create superhuman powers or horrific deformities. The latest anthology, Knaves Over Queens, was published in 2019 and edited by Martin and Snodgrass.
In related news, it was reported last month that Martin will also produce an adaptation of Roger Zelazny’s sci-fi story Roadmarks for HBO. The series will be written by Star Trek: Discovery’s Kalinda Vazquez.
As for The Winds of Winter, the next A Song of Ice and Fire novel, Martin recently revealed that he wrote “hundreds and hundreds of pages” for it in 2020. Unfortunately for fans who have been waiting years for the novel, Martin also stated “I will make no predictions on when I will finish.”
