The defining feature of the Xbox Series S could be even more pronounced if a current Kickstarter project can make good on its promise to provide gamers with a portable screen that fits onto the smaller console.
Having already secured its modest pledge goal of $9,739–Currently over $15,000 at the time of writing–the xScreen is described as an integrated folding screen for the Xbox Series S that can create a laptop-like gaming experience. If you feel like making an early pledge, you’ll need to back the project with $195 for the early bird tier, as the xScreen will cost $250 when it hits the market next year. It’s not clear what the pledges from this drive will be spent on, although the final total could be used to show retailers just how much interest there is in the community before the product arrives.
The concept itself is a simple one: a plug-and-play screen that complements the design of the Xbox Series S, requires zero console modification and runs off of the power supplied to the hardware. As for the screen specs, the pending patent lists the device as being an 11.6-inch display with a 1080p and 60Hz output, weighs 24.5 ounces, and has integrated stereo speakers. There’s also a number of other controls on the bezels that can be used to fine-tune volume, brightness, and other screen settings.
There are even a few accessories planned, such as colored latches, a stand to provide some extra height, and a specially designed case to keep the screen safe when it’s not in use. Developer UPspec’s timeline has tooling and beta testing scheduled for August once the Kickstarter ends, with production kicking off in December, and delivery starting from January 2022.
This isn’t the first time that a hardware brand has attempted to create a portable monitor for gamers, with Asus having its own range of 17.3″ full HD screens available that can support anything with an HDMI port, but the xScreen does trump the more impressive specs of that hardware with its more compact design.
Just don’t tell Sony that the PS One LCD screen finally has a spiritual successor.
Watch live streams, videos, and more from GameSpot’s summer event. Check it out
Whether or not you already have your Monster Hunter guild card, Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin stands on its own as a great JRPG. It’s accessible enough for newcomers and younger players alike to enjoy, but with intricate mechanics to keep a more experienced audience engaged. It’s also a beautiful love-letter to the Monster Hunter series, and presents an imaginative world I can’t help but dream about just existing in, as dangerous as that would be.
Unlike Monster Hunter’s action-focused gameplay loop of hunting, crafting, and then hunting some more, Wings of Ruin plays like a tried-and-true JRPG. It can be played if you skip its predecessor, too: while there are some returning characters you befriend along the way, you don’t have to have played the first to understand the second. There are plenty of likable new characters thrown in as well, and its incredibly well-paced tutorials both teach well while letting you roam and do as you please early on. Wings of Ruin carries with it many great changes from the original, but some are, unfortunately, a bit of a letdown.
Like its predecessor, it swaps real-time combat for turn-based battles, deep customization systems, a copious amount of side tasks, and a heartfelt story. It translates the classic Monster Hunter formula well, except instead of being a Hunter you’re placed into the role of a Rider. Riders primarily befriend monsters (though they still make them into pants out of necessity, too), resulting in a party-building mechanic with somewhat similar to Pokemon, where each Monstie (monsters that are your besties, of course) has different stats, elemental strengths and weaknesses, and skills. This includes your Rider, too, who fights alongside your Monstie of choice and has armor and weapons to craft and equip. Each of the six weapon types have different mechanics, skills, and damage types, and you can equip three at a time. Being able to switch both weapons and Monsties out once a turn without losing an action makes switching between your three weapons and up to six Monsties a viable, necessary tactic and method to keep things from getting repetitive.
Rock Paper Scissors – Battle!
Turn-based combat is focused on a Rock-Paper-Scissors format with Power, Technical, and Speed type attacks, with each monster species (and Monstie) favoring one of these types. Wings of Ruin includes more intricate mechanics in a majority of battles than its predecessor, with monster parts to break and readable attack pattern changes rather than seemingly random ones.(You can read more about these changes in detail in here).
Though the previous method to reading an opponent’s intent was a near-impossible task, now it requires you to simply pay attention. If a monster becomes enraged, takes flight, or otherwise changes its appearance — like when a Zamtrios becomes iceclad — odds are it’s going to change the type it attacks with, giving you a heads-up to potentially switch to a Monstie that prefers the advantageous type of Speed, Power, or Technical to attack with. It’s way more doable and deliberate than memorizing a dubious pattern with variables like in the first.
Overall, I appreciate the combat changes. They make battles engaging, thought-provoking, and more reminiscent of classic Monster Hunter — attacking Duramboros’ legs specifically will eventually make it topple over, attacking Kulu-Ya-Ku’s rock with a blunt weapon will break it faster, or hitting it with a Flash Bomb will make it drop entirely. Early on, NPCs will hand out tips like these, but further into the campaign these more often become rewarding personal discoveries (or exercises of previous Monster Hunter knowledge).
There’s even more nuance to these battles, too, like the Kinship Gauge used to fuel skills and cool very anime “ultimate” Kinship Attacks, Head-to-Heads, your classic elemental strengths and weaknesses, quick-time events, and more. I wish I could turn off the QTEs so I could avoid button mashing, but that option isn’t available.
Eventually though, the length and tediousness of battles against your average overworld monsters began to wear on me — even though you can triple the animation speed (thank goodness), and use a “Quick Finish” function when facing something significantly weaker than you. The latter was only useful when backtracking, but since the Kinship Attacks that require you to completely build up a skill gauge with other moves don’t actually do all that much more damage than regular attacks and exploiting an enemy’s elemental weakness doesn’t have that drastic of an effect, there’s not really a reliable way to end battles quickly against monsters on par with your own power. It makes sense in a Monster Hunter context for battles to be hard-fought, but for a turn-based JRPG, the idea is less fun in practice.
Luckily, grinding specifically for experience generally wasn’t necessary because of a range of entertaining side tasks I’ll come to a little later, and the awesome new innate system that grants a huge EXP boosts for under-leveled Monsties. What a relief, since I loved experimenting with new Monsties on my team.
I only failed against a story scenario twice in the 70ish-hour campaign (which could have been a lot shorter if I didn’t tinker so much, more on that later), as it normally would require my own carelessness to lose. To counter the first, I simply upgraded the armor and weapons I had neglected. The grind for materials is also much more streamlined than in classic Monster Hunter; you don’t need specific materials, just a handful from a certain monster or two you want to forge equipment out of.
When nearing the end of the campaign, I found myself and my Monsties getting one-shot by a story boss. It took many hours to finetune my team, catch new Monsties up to speed with the rest, and craft equipment specifically for that fight. I indirectly gained a few levels in the process, and the new set-up then carried me to the credits, which I was thankful for.
Storied Exploration
While ‘Stories’ is right there in the title, the one told here isn’t actually Wings of Ruin’s main draw. The cutscenes are often thrilling visual spectacles, and there were plenty of surprising moments that made me gasp or even get a tad emotional – but this is primarily a lighthearted story that isn’t anything groundbreaking, complete with a mascot-worthy mouth-piece for your silent protagonist named named Navirou who speaks heavily in cat puns. The writing can be funny, and I laughed quite a bit, but there were only so many times I could hear “pawsitively clawdatious!” before I wanted to pawsitively claw Navirou’s tongue out of his meowth. Sorry.
The plot itself is actually pretty standard fare for Monster Hunter: something is making monsters run amok, forcing Hunters and Riders to face them. Odds are it’s being caused by some bigger, unknown threat, and it’s up to you to figure out what’s going on and to stop it. But while that’s not exactly breaking the mold, there are some exciting subplots that keep things moving at a decent pace, like your newly hatched Rathalos’ prophesied “Wings of Ruin” rumored to be connected to the disasters, your renowned grandpa’s past, and lots of interesting characters to meet and team up with in battle.
All throughout, the musical score acted as a brilliant companion, and I could not stop commenting on how great the music was within cutscenes and beyond. There is no repetitive battle music in Wings of Ruin, either, as this changes often depending on a variety of factors, making it so nothing ever got old.
The story held on just enough for me to stay invested, but the actual gameplay gripped tight and never let go. I wish I had an endless amount of time with Wings of Ruin because it’s filled to the brim with fun activities to distract you from the main path, and I wanted to do everything it threw at me. I really cannot praise enough how much stuff there is to do in Wings of Ruin, and how enticingly fun it all is.
There are tons of Subquests to take on outside of the core campaign missions. Some take the form of especially challenging monsters to track down and defeat out in the field, while others task you with collecting ingredients, a specific monster, armor, or weaponry.
Beyond the specific Subquests, from the Quest Board alone you can also choose to take on Trial Quests, compete in a Tournament Mode, and even do rewarding Multiplayer quests – the latter of which can be completed with a real-life buddy, although you’ll be paired with a fairly competent NPC if you want to try them alone. My favorite of the new Multiplayer quests were the Exploration quests, which let me pick up multiple random eggs (containing Monsties) at once. Though I was never able to actually try any of these with an actual person, I’m looking forward to riding with a friend in the future.
While I easily spent hours doing tasks at the Quest Board, the world outside it is, obviously, pretty vast as well. When you’re not in a town, you’ll be riding around one of Wings of Ruin’s six main hubs (among dozens more side areas) on your Monsties, gathering materials, fighting monsters, and exploring dens in search of eggs to hatch into more possible party members. The scenery is beautifully colorful, and just exploring on the back of my favorite monsters is a treat. Seeing new areas, like the bustling city of Loloska, or perpetual blooming cherry blossom grove of Pomore Garden, and new monsters always put a smile on my face.
Incidentally, beyond the credits there’s even more to do, including some truly exciting post-game content.
There are also terrain obstacles while you’re out and about, like breakable rocks or climbable vines blocking certain paths, which only monsters with specific field abilities can traverse. That put pressure on me to choose my team based not only on battle strategy, but field usefulness, too, as each Monstie in your party of six only has one or two field abilities. There are many useful field abilities that make exploration easier and restricted areas accessible, like Diablos’ Roar or Yian Kut-Ku’s rock breaker. But there are equally as many Monsties with less useful ones (some of which I can’t say for fear of spoilers), forcing me to leave some otherwise interesting Monsties on the bench in favor of Monsties more useful in the field. I opted for the opposite near the end of the campaign, where I ignored off-limits areas in favor of a more battle-ready team, and overall had become tired of actively exploring every nook and cranny for items that usually weren’t all that impactful anyway.
Though there is a fantastic fast-travel system, some areas are a far ride from warp spots, and schlepping back to those areas for a potential rare item just didn’t appeal to me enough to go through the effort considering all the other things I wanted to do. This fast-travel system has been upgraded from the original Stories by removing the need for an item to warp to one of dozens of Catavan Stands throughout the world, and you can warp to any Catavan Stand from anywhere — which also gratefully pop up automatically as a quick link when looking at a monster’s location in the Field Guide, too.
Constant, Delightful Distractions
While exploring these open areas and completing quests, there is a near-neverending stream of distracting shiny objects in the form of new monsters, crafting materials, rare and challenging Royal Monsters, treasure chests, Monster Dens, and the ever enticing golden Rare Monster Dens. The procedurally generated dens where you find new monster eggs are the most important of the lot because they drive my favorite part of Monster Hunter Stories: hatching and customizing my Monsties, of which there are more than 80. However, Speed-type Monsties are essentially non-existent besides Velocidrome until you approach the end of the second area, which took me almost around 15 hours to reach. This is remedied with more variety, complete with a few fan favorites, right after that–but I also learned a few of my personal favorites are disappointingly unridable, like the adorably large Duramboros.
There’s much more to a Monstie than just its species and preferred attack type: each one has nine gene slots, which can be filled upon hatching with either passive abilities like elemental defense boosts or active abilities like a Khezu’s Thunder Breath. Each species can hatch with only certain genes, but some genes are incredibly rare and powerful. Because any gene from any Monstie can be transferred over to any slot on another, there’s tons of freedom in how you can build and tweak your team, and duplicate Monsties aren’t so disappointing since they could have a cool gene! So if you want, you could make a Nargacuga with Thunder-element boost and Zinogre’s powerful Thunderfist, or a Barioth with a huge critical hit rate and the ability to heal when landing a crit.
The pattern, smell, and weight of the egg gives you a bit of intel on what kind of Monstie is inside, how many and how good their genes could be, and generally just how happy you should be with your pull. Anyone familiar with gacha mechanics will know the drill here, but without the microtransactions and artificial scarcity to drag it down, this system feels genuinely rewarding.
No matter the quest, the monster collection and customization mechanic had me searching for rare eggs and happily spending hours tweaking my team. It’s a fantastic system, but it also has one oversight I have a huge gripe with: you can’t see an individual Monstie’s full stats like you could in the first Monster Hunter Stories. You can only see an individual Monstie’s best and worst elemental stats — which I assume is tied to the overall simplification of elemental stats in Wings of Ruin. Even if that is the case, it’s still baffling for a JRPG, especially when Monsties can be born with stat variations and genes that make it no longer match the stats represented in Wings of Ruin’s version of the Pokedex.
You can change a Monstie’s elemental attack and defense type if you increase that stat enough, and like in the original Stories, a change to the attack will change the Monstie’s color (though in Wings of Ruin this change only appears in the overworld). However, I’m confounded by this, too. I can reliably change most Level 1 Monsties’ attack element easily, but never for a higher level Monstie. For example, Yian Kut-Ku’s base fire attack stat is rated a five out of ten, and its thunder element a four. After giving it both Extra Large and Large Thunder attack genes, plus a 150% increase bonus, it still reverted back to a fire type after reaching only level 15. I wish I could see its hidden stats to see if that’s the reason, and if this system can even be strategically useful–even if it wasn’t, maybe I’d just want to rock a Red Khezu with icy blue lips! But right now, I haven’t figured out how to get a high-level monster to change attack elements, though I’ve started chipping away at the postgame which has yet to reveal anything.
It’s not like Wings of Ruin is that hard, and its combat is more dependent on decisions made in battle than a Monstie’s minutely different elemental stats, but it’s still disheartening for people like me, who enjoy toiling away in menus to piece together that perfect strategy. My real worry is that this might not be the case when facing other genetically modified beasts in PvP, which I wasn’t able to try ahead of launch — without the kind of stat micromanagement that powers Pokémon’s PvP, for example, I do wonder how much myself and others will be drawn to play it here.
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.”
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.”
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.
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.
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.
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
Watch live streams, videos, and more from GameSpot’s summer event. Check it out
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.
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.
Watch live streams, videos, and more from GameSpot’s summer event. Check it out
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.”
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.
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.
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.