Kevin Conroy Explains How He Found Bruce Wayne’s Older Voice in Batman Beyond

Legendary Batman voice actor Kevin Conroy breaks down how he found the right voice for the 80-year-old version of Bruce Wayne he portrayed in Batman Beyond, which originally aired from 1999-2001.

During the Batman Beyond panel at NYCC 2020, Conroy was joined by co-star Will Friedle (voice of Terry McGinnis) and iconic voice director Andrea Romano (Avatar: The Last Airbender, Batman: The Animated Series).

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“They actually had me read for the role because Bruce Wayne at that point he’s 80 and he physically can’t do it anymore and that’s the whole genesis of the show, the whole reason it exists, is because [Bruce] needs a new recruit to do the stuff that the can’t do,” Conroy explained. “That first episode, when he goes to shoot a gun and that moment when he realized that he’s crossing that line, that he’s relying on a gun because he’s own physical strength isn’t enough anymore. So this [version of Bruce] had to be in his eighties. I was 45 [at the time], so it was a jump, so they had me audition. It wasn’t so much the register of the voice because they very much went into that Batman range for my voice. But for me, it was more about the weight of life. It wasn’t just the depth of the voice, it was the pace of the character.”

Ramona went into even more detail about how Conroy would change his physical posture while he was in the recording booth to find the proper cadence for the elderly Bruce Wayne.

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“You would physically sit at the microphone differently when you were voicing older Bruce Wayne,” Romano informed Conroy. “Because it actually helps to make Bruce Wayne’s voice older if you hunch over a little bit, so he doesn’t have that nice diaphragm strength, you know? You want him to be weaker. As much as your ability to manipulate your voice, it was really a lot about the acting. What is it like to be eighty, and to realize that [Bruce] can no longer do this? So there was a bitterness that Bruce Wayne had about that too, he was not pleased about the fact that he could no longer do it anymore.”

For more Batman Beyond, watch Kevin Conroy and Will Friedle swap lines and see how awesome the Batman Beyond Blu-ray remaster look compared to the original.

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David Griffin still watches DuckTales in his pajamas with a cereal bowl in hand. He’s also the TV Editor for IGN. Say hi on Twitter.

New Animal Crossing Update Out Now, Fixes A Few Bugs

Nintendo has rolled out a new update for Animal Crossing: New Horizons. This patch is another fairly minor one, primarily addressing a small handful of issues that have cropped up in the game following its big 1.5 update late last month.

According to the patch notes on Nintendo’s support website, New Horizons’ 1.5.1 update resolves a couple of bugs, including one where Nook Miles keywords would not appear in the passport list, and another that caused villagers to talk about pumpkins when they were given a bamboo shoot. You can read the full patch notes below.

The aforementioned 1.5 update released on September 29 and introduced an assortment of fall-themed content to the game, including the Halloween event, pumpkins, and spooky DIY recipes. Another big New Horizons update is coming in late November, and it appears that one will add the game’s Thanksgiving and Christmas events.

That’s not all that’s coming next month; Nintendo also announced that the Animal Crossing Amiibo cards are returning to stores this November. Each pack will cost $6 USD and includes six cards, which you can scan to invite villagers to live on your island or take photos of them in the game’s Photopia mode. The long sold-out Animal Crossing-edition Switch console is also starting to return to select stores.

In the meantime, a variety of new October bugs, fish, and sea creatures are appearing in the game right now. The Fishing Tourney is happening this weekend for both Northern and Southern Hemisphere players. The event takes place on Saturday, October 10, giving you another chance to earn exclusive fish-themed furniture and other items.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons Version 1.5.1 Patch Notes

General updates

The following issues occurring in Ver. 1.5.0 have been fixed:

  • Fixed an issue where some title keywords obtained via Nook Miles would not appear within the Passport.
  • Fixed an issue where certain messages would display in English for users playing in French, Spanish, German, Italian, Dutch, or Russian.
  • Fixed an issue where animal residents would talk about pumpkins when given a bamboo shoot.
  • Fixed an issue where it was no longer possible to jump over a river based on the location of certain furniture.

Now Playing: Animal Crossing: New Horizons Review

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Phasmophobia Is a New Steam and Twitch Sensation

Phasmophobia arrived on Steam Early Access just four weeks ago, and has already hit the heights of the most-played games on Steam, and the top 5 most-streamed games on Twitch in the last week.

A co-op ghost hunting game (playable across VR and non-VR) that mixes puzzle solving and jump scares, Phasmophobia’s picked up huge traction among streamers and YouTubers, and flown up Steam’s most-played charts in the last week.

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At time of writing, according to Steam Charts, the game hit an all-time peak of concurrent players on October 8, with 70,195. That record has been broken every day for the last week, a trend we can expect to see continue across the weekend.

That success is likely connected to the game’s increasing popularity on Twitch. According to Twitch Tracker, Phasmophobia has been the 5th most-streamed game in the last week, beating out Fortnite, FIFA 21 and Counter-Strike on the way.

Phasmophobia has you exploring haunted locations, using a variety of ghost hunting equipment – both folkloric and technological – to identify types of ghosts, before escaping without being killed. It heavily uses voice chat, both to stay in contact with teammates and to contact the procedurally generated spirits themselves.

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Currently in Early Access, the game’s selling at £11 / $14 USD, and is currently planned for full release in 2021.

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Joe Skrebels is IGN’s Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to [email protected].

Deals: Alienware RTX 3080 Gaming PCs Starting at $1899, RTX 3090 From $2699

Dell has made the RTX 3080 and RTX 3090 upgrade option available to the base Alienware Aurora gaming desktop. You can get an RTX 3080 gaming PC with minimal RAM and storage specs for as low as $1899 and then upgrade the RAM and SSD on your own. Chances are that you’ll be paying less for better quality components, and you won’t void your warranty.

Deals for October 9

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Video Game Deals

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Early Amazon Prime Day Deals

For more details, check our What to Expect for Amazon Prime Day 2020 article.

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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.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance Being Developed as Live-Action Series or Film

Warhorse Studios and former Netflix executive Erik Barmack have announced that they are developing a live-action adaptation of Kingdom Come: Deliverance, the popular open-world RPG that is set in the medieval time of the Holy Roman Empire.

Variety reports that the project will be a collaboration between Warhorse Studios and Wild Sheep Content, with Barmack and Warhorse CEO Martin Frývaldský producing the adaptation, which will take the form of either a live-action series or film. Barmack and Frývaldský are said to be in the process of reaching out to potential writers and directors to expand the creative team.

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Barmack spoke about the adaptable nature of video game properties and the ways in which they can deliver “amazing, non-U.S. worlds that are locally relevant, but with a regional and global popularity that streamers are looking for as they become more and more global.”

“It’s especially interesting that video games with heavy narrative, like The Witcher and Kingdom Come: Deliverance, are uniquely adaptable, and local but global all at once,” Barmack said, referencing Kingdom Come: Deliverance, which was developed by Warhorse Studios and published by Deep Silver for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

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“The biggest feedback we got from the gaming community and reviewers is that this is a very believable and also very relatable story where it is easy to identify with a not so heroic hero,” added Warhorse Studios’ PR Manager Tobias Stolz-Zwilling.

Released in 2018, Kingdom Come: Deliverance is a game for your inner historian. The story centres around Henry, the son of a blacksmith, who joins a resistance movement in his pursuit of justice for his murdered family. The game received widespread critical acclaim and went on to sell more than three million units across all platforms.

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The Kingdom Come: Deliverance adaptation joins a growing slate of video game movies and TV series’ that have been announced, planned, or are currently in production right now, including Amazon’s Fallout TV series, Netflix’s Cyberpunk 2077 anime, and Sega’s live-action Yakuza movie, which is being produced by Erik Barmack, Roberto Grande and Joshua Long.

If you want to know more Kingdom Come: Deliverance, now would be the perfect time to revisit our opinion piece on why we think the action-driven roleplaying game would make a great TV series. Also, check out our full review of the video game, commending the creators for building an immersive experience backed by “strong characters and storytelling.”

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Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.

Complete Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate Preorder Guide

Mortal Kombat 11 is receiving a brand-new Ultimate edition, arriving on November 17. Ultimate will comprise of the original base game, alongside the recent Aftermath expansion, and Kombat Packs 1 & 2. It’s getting a release across the board for consoles and streaming services alike, coming to PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC, and Stadia. Note, if you already own the game on PS4 or Xbox One, you get an upgrade to next-gen for free. But, that being said, Ultimate isn’t meant to be a next-gen overhaul either, simply a complete collection of MK11’s content.

There is also a brand new physical Kollector’s Edition will contain all of the above, as well as a “Sub Zero mask bust, exclusive steel case, commemorative magnet coin, authenticity plate and exclusive DLC.” The new Kollector’s Edition is currently available to preorder in the UK, but, at the time of writing, not in the US. We’re anticipating that these preorders will go live soon, but stay tuned for more updates, or follow @IGNDeals on Twitter.

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Preorder Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate Edition

mortal kombat 11 ultimate 1

If you haven’t yet picked up the excellent Mortal Kombat 11, now could be the best time. Ultimate will comprise of all the games current content, including the brand new Kombat Pack that includes Rambo, Mileena, and Rain. Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate will cost $59.99/ £49.99 and is available at all major retailers. Right now, only the next-gen preorders are available for the upcoming release, with more on the way.

Preordering Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate will net you an additional Time Warriors Skin Pack, which includes “Dark Web” Noob Saibot, “HCF” (Halt and Catch Fire) Liu Kang and “Blood Moon” Skarlet.

PlayStation

Xbox

UK Preorders

Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate Kollector’s Edition

mortal kombat 11 ultimate preorder kollector's edition sub zero

It’s a beauty. Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate Kollector’s Edition includes all of the content from the game, as well as a “Sub Zero mask bust, exclusive steel case, commemorative magnet coin, authenticity plate and exclusive DLC.” It’s a little pricey, at £229.99 (likely around $229.99 in the US as well), but you’re getting some serious kollectables here. Stock is likely limited, so preorder as soon as possible.

Preorders currently aren’t available for the US, but the UK gamers can already submit their claim. We’re predicting that preorders for Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate Kollector’s Edition will go live on October 15, to concede with the preorder date listed on the Mortal Kombat 11 website.

UK Preorders

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Robert Anderson is a Commerce Writer for IGN. You can follow him @robertliam21

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Just a Piece of Cyberpunk 2077’s Japanese Script Is Basically the Size of a Coffee Table

If you wanted a visual representation of quite how much voiced dialogue there’ll be in Cyberpunk 2077, look no further than a section of the Japanese script, which is, not to put too fine a point on it, massive.

To celebrate the game going gold, CD Projekt Red’s Japanese localization manager, Yuki Nishio, showed off what he says is just a part of the Cyberpunk dub script – making up four stacks of paper that each look to be 2 or more feet tall. It’s basically a coffee table:

It’s not clear quite how much of the script this section makes up, but it’s more than clear that there’s going to be a lot of voiced dialogue in the course of CD Projekt Red’s long-awaited RPG.

At one point, the sheer size of that script seems to have meant some expected languages weren’t going to be added – last year, the developer announced that it wouldn’t be able to add Korean voiceover. However, to celebrate Hangeul Day (Korean Alphabet Day), founder Marcin Iwinski revealed that the studio had reversed the decision and will add a free voiceover update pack in December.

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That sizeable script is likely down to the sheer breadth of things you can get up to in your time in Night City. We played just 4 hours of the game earlier this year, and discovered a very open world, saying, “Though many open-world games up to this point have shown off cleaner and dirtier cities, few were true playgrounds with explorable buildings and interesting activities. However, it’s looking like Cyberpunk 2077 could be a game to offer us just that.”

We’ll learn more about the game next week, during the fourth episode of CD Projekt Red’s Night City Wire livestream showcase for Cyberpunk 2077. It’s coming on Thursday, October 15 at 9am PT / 12pm ET / 5 pm UK and will “go into details about the looks, sounds, and specs of Cyberpunk 2077 vehicles.”

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Joe Skrebels is IGN’s Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to [email protected].

Robert Downey Jr. Planning to Build Out a Sherlock Holmes Cinematic Universe

Robert Downey Jr. has revealed his plans to expand the Sherlock Holmes franchise into a new cinematic universe with multiple spinoffs.

Speaking on a keynote panel at the Fast Company Innovation Festival earlier this week, Downey Jr. and producing partner Susan Downey outlined their intentions to spin a “mystery-verse” out of the third Sherlock Holmes film, which is being directed by Rocketman helmer Dexter Fletcher. In their minds, the new sequel would serve as an entry point into a new Holmes-inspired universe.

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“At this point, we really feel that there is not a mystery-verse built out anywhere, and Conan Doyle is the definitive voice in that arena, I think, to this day,” Downey Jr. said about the future of the Sherlock Holmes franchise. “So to me, why do a third movie if you’re not going to be able to spin off into some real gems of diversity and other times and elements?”

“We think there’s an opportunity to build it out more,” Susan said about the duo’s prospective plans to expand the Sherlock Holmes film franchise into a shared universe with various projects. “Spin-off characters from a third movie, to see what’s going on in the television landscape, to see what Warner Media is starting to build out, things with HBO and HBO Max.”

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The couple said that this type of project would be backed by the lessons that they both learned from their “decade of tutelage” working on the Marvel Cinematic Universe, which Downey Jr. helped to launch in 2008 with the release of Iron Man.

“I do think that the decade of tutelage and observation, what we were both able to have with Marvel, watching them build out and see all the opportunities, was invaluable. It was like a master class,” Susan said. “And they really did know what they were doing and they had this tight-knit group of people from [the] jump locked into a vision that enables them to broaden [the comics].”

“What I saw was very humble beginnings, very uncertain outcomes, a lot of creative risk-taking, but there was also an algorithm to the potential,” Downey Jr. added. “It’s also having the right people. Different sensibilities will get you to different places downfield.”

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The third Sherlock Holmes film has an expected release date of December 21, 2021. That makes it 10 years between the second and third Sherlock Holmes film. Warner Bros. says there were always plans for a third Sherlock Holmes film, but Downey Jr’s Iron Man schedule prevented filming on the third film.

Downey Jr. discussed Sherlock Holmes 3 back in 2016 and said that he hoped to start production on the film that year, though it never came to fruition. Since then, his commitments with Phase 3 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe have ended, so Downey Jr.’s schedule may finally allow him to return to Baker Street.

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Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.

Marvel’s Avengers Boss Promises New Missions and Modes in ‘the Weeks Ahead’

Crystal Dynamics Studio Head Scot Amos has said he’s “confident” that players will return to Marvel’s Avengers, with new missions and modes promised to arrive in “the weeks ahead.”

Amos issued a statement to Kotaku, who asked the developer for comment in light of what appears to be a diminishing player base, particularly on Steam, where it is now peaking at around 2,000 players a day, and has been dropping to less than 1,000.

“We have a number of new content pieces coming in the weeks ahead including: a totally new War Zone mission type called Tachyon Rifts, a new Outpost that’s a jumping-off point for new story missions in the future, and AIM’s Cloning Lab, which requires a coordinated high-level group of four players to beat with new top-end loot rewards for finishing it,” says Amos.

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Amos also touched on the forthcoming heroes, Kate Bishop and Clint Barton, who will arrive in “the near future.” “These new Operations pick up right from where the main Reassemble campaign ended in the core game and will propel the overall world story forward with new mysteries and villains, as well as new multi-player content,” Amos explains.

As well as the new heroes, missions and modes, Amos also noted that “loot distribution and quality of life features” are on the way to address feedback from players. “We are confident that we’ll see PC players (as well as those on Xbox One and PlayStation 4) return to the game as we add exciting new late-game content and demonstrate that we continue to be focused on improving the game,” Amos adds.

An update blog is coming next week with more details as well as “community communication initiatives” on the way in the near future.

We reviewed Marvel’s Avengers back when the game launched in early September, scoring it a 6 and calling the post-game “unrewarding and overly repetitive. The game’s 1.3 patch recently fixed over 1,000 player-reported issues.

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Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.