Rockstar’s Parent Company Re-Registers Trademarks For “Judas”

Rockstar and 2K’s parent company, Take-Two Interactive, has seemingly re-registered its trademarks for a mysterious project called “Judas.”

Records from the Unites States Patent & Trademark Office database show that Take-Two re-registered its trademarks for Judas on May 11, after originally registering the trademarks in April 2016.

The prosecution history for the original April 2016 Judas trademark filings show that Take-Two filed for multiple extensions on the trademark, up until November 2019. The new trademarks cover the same goods and services, including video games, movies, and more.

This is the only image of Judas released so far
This is the only image of Judas released so far

You can read the full text of each trademark filing through the links below.

May 11, 2020

April 22, 2016

A website, “www.judasthegame.com,” is registered to brand protection agency MarkMonitor, which is also the registrar for Rockstar’s official website. Take-Two has never commented on Judas.

According to the Bible, Judas Iscariot was one of Jesus Christ’s twelve disciples. He is perhaps best known for his betrayal of Jesus, and today, Judas is often used to describe a traitorous person.

Trademark filings don’t always lead to product announcements, as Activision obtained trademarks for things like Call of Duty Space Warfare and Secret Warfare, and those never came to be. Rockstar famously announced a spy game called Agent at E3 2009, but it never came out.

The re-registration of the Judas trademarks comes just before Take-Two releases its next earnings report on May 20. If there is any news on Judas during that event, we’ll report back with more details.

During Take-Two’s earnings report in February, CEO Strauss Zelnick teased that the company’s upcoming development pipeline for the coming years is the “largest and most diverse in our history.” The slate of releases includes sequels and new IP, Zelnick said, according to Tweaktown.

Take-Two president Karl Slatoff tempered expectations for the company’s new release slate, saying he’s sure that plans will change and not every game in development will be released. “One thing we know for sure is that it will change,” Zelnick said about Take-Two’s development pipeline. “Not everything in the pipeline will see the light of day, and there will be things that are not in the pipeline that will come out.”

Now Playing: Red Dead Redemption 2 Video Review

PlayStation 5 Will Feature An Evolution In Sound, Sony Says

The PlayStation 5 will offer what Sony is calling an “evolution” for sound. This is according to the slides from Sony’s latest corporate strategy meeting, which outline many of the company’s plans for the upcoming next-generation console.

One slide of their presentation outlines how the PlayStation 5 will open up new sound possibilities thanks to the new processing unit it contains. “By installing a customized 3D audio processing unit in PS5, we have made it possible to deliver diverse and sophisticated 3D audio experiences,” the slide reads. “Players can experience sound that moves in from front to behind, above to below, and all around them.”

According to the report, combining these new sound possibilities with other features like the speed of an SSD and haptic feedback controllers, the PlayStation 5 will offer “experiences that were not possible before.”

The possibilities of what the PS5 could achieve were recently showcased by Unreal, which showed how games powered by Unreal Engine 5 might look on the system. The report also suggests that Sony will unveil some next-generation games soon.

While we haven’t seen any PS5 games yet, we’re getting a better picture of what the console will be capable of. Here’s everything we know so far.

Now Playing: Unreal Engine 5 – PlayStation 5 Real-Time Demo

A New Physical 3DS Game,The Atooi Collection, Is Releasing

A new 3DS physical release is coming soon, courtesy of developer Atooi–and it’s called Atooi Collection. The cartridge, which will collect together various Atooi releases from the 3DS Eshop, doesn’t have a release date yet, but it’ll be published through Limited Run Games.

Atooi announced that the game has been approved by Nintendo, and is now just awaiting some final confirmations before it can go on sale.

Atooi Collection was actually announced in June 2019 with a video (below), but with no word since, it wasn’t clear what was happening with it until now. It will collect together Mutant Mudds, Mutant Mudds: Super Challenge, Bomb Monkey, Xeodrifter, and Chicken Wiggle.

The last 3DS cartridge released up to this point was Persona Q2, which released on June 4, 2019. Unfortunately, Atooi Collection will likely only be available in North America, as 3DS carts are region locked. Atooi confirmed this in a follow-up tweet, stating that if a region-free cart was an option, they would take it.

3DS game collectors might want to make a little more room on their shelf for this final title–it seems unlikely that we’ll see more 3DS cartridges after this.

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See Gears Of War 3 Running On PS3 In Leaked Video

The Gears of War franchise is synonymous with Xbox. Even before Microsoft acquired the franchise, the series was exclusive to Xbox. The game began as a console exclusive to Xbox and has remained that way ever since. So it was an interesting piece of news recently when footage of 2011’s Gears of War 3 running on PlayStation 3 was published online.

Epic Games has now confirmed that the studio never had any plans to release Gears of War 3 on Sony’s console. The footage is derived from tests that Epic conducted for Unreal Engine 3.

“This footage is a byproduct of Epic’s internal Unreal Engine 3 testing process, which utilized both Gears and Unreal Tournament, and was never part of any actual product work for PS3,” Epic told Kotaku.

The latest mainline Gears game, Gears 5, was released in September 2019 for Xbox One and PC. Developer The Coalition is bringing the game to Xbox Series X as a launch title, featuring frame rates up to 120FPS. Outside of the main series, the XCOM-style strategy game Gears Tactics debuted in April.

Now Playing: Gears Tactics Video Review

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This Neo Geo Arcade Stick Pro Bundle Is Hugely Discounted, Works With PS4 And Switch

The Neo Geo Arcade Stick Pro is the latest mini console from SNK, the company behind great fighting game franchises like King of Fighters, Fatal Fury, and Samurai Shodown. It contains 20 fighting games across these franchises and more as well as some additional free games you can download and install on your console. It also has the ability to connect to a PC and be used as an arcade stick–and with a Gamelinq adapter, you can connect it to PS4 and Switch. Amazon’s currently got an excellent deal on a Neo Geo Arcade Stick Pro bundle for $100, down from $190, which includes that adapter and an HDMI cable. It comes with free two-day shipping with Amazon Prime.

The Neo Geo Arcade Stick Pro is compatible with the Neo Geo Mini’s controllers, allowing you to plug them into the stick and play the games on a TV. Of course, you can also play single-player with the Arcade Stick Pro itself. It boasts 720p output and a 3.5mm jack for headphones.

Neo Geo Arcade Stick Pro with Gamelinq adapter and HDMI cable

$100 ($190)

No Caption Provided

How the Gamelinq adapter works is by plugging it into your PS4 or Nintendo Switch. You then use a USB-A cable to connect the Gamelinq adapter and Arcade Stick Pro. If you’re interested in only using it on PC, then no adapter is required. It also works without an adapter on the Neo Geo Mini.

Among the 20 included fighting games is the excellent Garou: Mark of the Wolves, Samurai Shodown II, and Fatal Fury Special as well as The King of Fighters series from ’95 to 2002. These all come pre-loaded, but if you want to unlock even more, SNK is releasing a couple free games every month. These hidden games include Super Sidekicks, Shock Troopers, and the Metal Slug series.

Art of Fighting Kizuna Encounter
Fatal Fury Special The Last Blade 2
Fatal Fury 3 Ninja Masters
Garou: Mark of the Wolves Samurai Shodown II
The King of Fighters ’95 Samurai Shodown III
The King of Fighters ’97 Samurai Shodown IV
The King of Fighters ’98 Samurai Shodown V Special
The King of Fighters ’99 World Heroes 2
The King of Fighters 2000 World Heroes 2 Jet
The King of Fighters 2002 World Heroes Perfect
Metal Slug* Metal Slug 2*
The Last Blade* Shock Troopers*
Fatal Fury* League Bowling*
Savage Reign* Metal Slug 3*
Super Sidekicks* Metal Slug X*
The Super Spy* Ninja Combat*

*indicates unlockable game

The Arcade Stick Pro has a bunch of games that are sure to keep you busy while stuck at home, but if you’re interested in more ways to kill the time during isolation, then there are a lot of free games you can claim right now. Developers and publishers have been giving away their titles in an effort to help those in quarantine. If you want even more suggestions, then GameSpot also has a great guide to the best TV, movies, and games for social distancing.

Dell’s Memorial Day Sale Kicks Off Today: Huge Discounts on Alienware PCs

Move over Black Friday. When it comes to Dell, the best deals don’t come in November, but right here and right now in May. The Dell Memorial Day Sale has always offered the best deals you could find on Alienware gaming PCs and gaming laptops, and this year looks to be no different. The deals start today and they are definitely the best we’ve seen for 2020. This article will be updated constantly all the way through Memorial Day.

Dell and Alienware Coupon Codes

If you already have a particular config in mind at Dell (or Alienware), use one of these codes. Not all configs are eligible but you’d be surprised how many are (especially for the $50 off).

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The Best Dell Memorial Day Gaming PC Deals

You have a variety of tiers to choose from. If you’ve got a big budget, there are discounted models on Alienwares equipped with Intel Core i9 processors or RTX 2080 Ti video cards. For more budget minded folks, gaming PCs with RTX 2070, RX 5700 XT, and GTX 1660 TI video cards can be had for less than $1200.

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The Best Dell Memorial Day Gaming Laptop Deals

Gaming laptops are more powerful than they used to be, and lighter to boot. Most of these Dell and Alienware gaming laptops (those equipped with GTX 1660 Ti video cards and up) are capable of running just about any game at 1080p resolution. If you want one of the fancier laptops equipped with 4K OLED displays, 144Hz refresh rates, or you want to plug in a VR headset, then more powerful options are also available at the best prices we’ve seen so far.

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The Best Dell Memorial Day HDTV Deals

What’s a good Memorial Day Sale without great TV deals. Dell is never one to skip out on solid deals. These prices match the best you’ll find anywhere else, but in addition you get a bonus gift card that you can spend on anything at Dell’s site. Use it on gaming consoles, video games, computers, electronics, or anything else that tickles your fancy. The gift card is emailed within 2-3 weeks after your TV ships out, and they carry a 90-day expiration date.

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Eric Song is IGN’s deal curator and spends 25% of his pay on stuff he posts.

Xbox Series X’s Second Wave of Games and COVID-19

IGN’s Xbox team discusses Phil Spencer’s recent comments about how COVID-19 might affect early 2021 games, the dates and details for Gamescom’s all-digital event later this summer, the three classic games that Double Fine is bringing to Xbox this year, and more!

Subscribe on any of your favorite podcast feeds, or grab an MP3 download of this week’s episode. For more awesome content, check out the latest episode of IGN Unfiltered, featuring an interview with Master Chief creator and longtime Bungie veteran Marcus Lehto:

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It’s already an incredibly fun year of Xbox coverage, and the best is yet to come. Join us!

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Ryan McCaffrey is IGN’s Executive Editor of Previews. Follow him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan, catch him on Unlocked, and drop-ship him Taylor Ham sandwiches from New Jersey whenever possible.

Dune: It Took a Year to Perfect the Sandworm Design for the New Movie

Director Denis Villeneuve has revealed the level of attention to detail and time spent on perfecting the look of the iconic sandworms of planet Arrakis in his upcoming screen retelling of Dune.

Villeneuve, who previously brought alien creatures to life in Arrival before tackling Blade Runner 2049, told Empire Magazine (via /Film) that he and his production team spent a year understanding how such a giant creature would operate in a desert environment in order to obtain the right look.

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“We talked about every little detail that would make such a beast possible, from the texture of the skin, to the way the mouth opens, to the system to eat its food in the sand,” Villeneuve said.

He added, “It was a year of work to design and to find the perfect shape that looked prehistoric enough.”

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The sandworms literally loom large in the saga of Dune. They inhabit the deserts of the planet Arrakis, where they are integral to the production of the spice that makes Arrakis such a singularly important world.

And the spice, as any Dune fan knows, is the source of great wealth and thus power, leading to the dangerous rivalries between the story’s great houses.

For more on Dune, check out our breakdown of the new stillsuits and weaponsall the official photos, get the lowdown on the prequel comic, and learn why Dune ’84 director David Lynch has “zero interest” in the remake.

SteelSeries Arctis 1 Wireless Xbox Gaming Headset Review

SteelSeries is known for producing solid gaming headsets, and the company’s Arctis line is especially great. Durable frames, high level of comfort, that signature Arctis sound – there’s a reason a bunch of them landed on our Best Gaming Headsets of 2020 list.

Take the Arctis 1 Wireless Xbox Johnny Silverhand Edition headset for example. At first glance, it offers more of the same; this limited model features all the bells and whistles we’ve come to expect from the Arctis line. That said, some slight tweaks to its design make it more compatible with Microsoft’s console this time around – including compatibility with the upcoming Xbox Series X.

Design and Features

SteelSeries’ Arctis 1 Wireless Xbox headset is similar to the one we reviewed last year. It still has a steel-based headband wrapped in plastic and foam. The frame applies slight pressure for a snug fit while the soft, padded cushions hug the ears for extra stability. A detachable mic extends from the left cup, connecting right above several important features. They include a Micro-USB jack for charging, a standard 3.5 mm audio jack, the volume wheel and a microphone mute switch. The right cup houses the power button and LED that indicates connectivity and overall battery life.

Steelseries Arctis 1 Xbox Wireless ear cup art

Again, these basic design elements can be found in the previous model. That’s not a bad thing mind you. The frame is sturdy. Built with durability in mind, it feels solid enough to survive a fall from a computer desk or short table. And while the steel headband isn’t very flexible, the pressure it places on the ears is reasonable. As someone who’s sensitive to that sort of thing, I can’t stress enough how important this is. No one wants to wear an uncomfortable pair of cans. Thankfully, the Arctis 1 is all about comfort; its extremely soft ear cushions can attest to that.

The Arctis 1 feels great to wear. They’re also rather easy to use. It only takes a second or two to raise the speaker volume and/or mute via the left cup. Long pressing the power button (on the right cup) turns the headset off and on. A short press will answer/end calls or play/pause music; skipping between the next and previous track requires double and triple presses, respectively.

Steelseries Arctis 1 Xbox Wireless ear cups

Connecting wirelessly to various devices is also a breeze. This is thanks to that the aforementioned tweaks and multiple connecting cables. The PS4, Nintendo Switch, PC, and Android devices – sans Samsung phones prior to the Galaxy Note 10, which lack voice functionality via USB-C – utilize the Arctis 1 wireless dongle. This is done by either connecting the dongle to a device’s USB-C port directly or by using the USB-A adapter cable. The same goes for the Xbox One. Previously, you’d have to connect the headset to an Xbox One controller using a 3.5 mm audio cable. That’s not the case anymore. Just simply shift the wireless dongle’s mode to Xbox, connect it to the USB-A adapter, plug it into the console and you’re off to the races.

Steelseries Arctis 1 Xbox Wireless wireless dongle

The Arctis 1 Wireless Xbox headset is great in terms of form and function. I’d be remiss if I didn’t bring up the flashy decorations on the unit I tested. Inspired by Keanu Reeves’ Cyberpunk 2077 character, the Johnny Silverhand special edition is uniquely stylized. Half black, half chrome (or silver), each earcup seems to visually showcase Johnny’s human and cybernetic sides. The right cup is adorned with an Oni Demon – part cyborg as well – while the left is chromed out, the words “No Future” are scratched into the frame.

Everything from the Samurai headband to the silver mic arm screams Cyberpunk. Even the inside of the ear cups is stylized, featuring an Arasaka – a megacorporation found in the upcoming game – logo and serial number. Basically, the cool design should resonate with Cyberpunk fans.

Performance

Like previous Arctis headsets, this one features SteelSeries’ high-performance speaker drivers. Their purpose is to provide pertinent details during play. You won’t get a true 7.1 surround sound experience. But you will be able to pinpoint a rival’s location in Call of Duty: Warzone by the sound of their footsteps.

Being able to hear where enemies are is important. Being able to communicate that information to your peers is even more so. The Arctis 1’s 2.4 Ghz wireless connection and ClearCast mic help in this regard. For one, the connection was always solid. I never had to deal with latency issues or choppy audio regardless of what I was doing during play. Even when I went upstairs towards the back of my house, away from my Xbox, I was still able to hear my friends in private chat. My friends could also hear me thanks to the ClearCast mic. Made with a bidirectional design, the mic was great at picking up my voice while ignoring background noises; my teammates couldn’t hear my kids running around while we played various games.

Steelseries Arctis 1 Xbox Wireless side view

The same could be said when playing on other devices. Especially on my PC, where I could use its sound settings and/or the SteelSeries Engine 3 software to tweak my experience. Which actually brings to me my only complaint: the inability to address sound issues on the Xbox One. There were times when a game’s sounds would drown out portions of the chat. Gunfire, loud music, explosions – whenever things got really exciting, I’d have a hard time hearing anyone who was speaking lower than usual. And because the headset doesn’t differentiate/split the game audio from voice chat, cranking up the volume only made things worse.

To be fair, this issue had more to do with the console than the SteelSeries’ headset. That’s because there’s no menu option to change the volume when connected wirelessly. If you connect it to an Xbox One controller via the 3.5 mm audio cable, an audio option pops up under settings that allows you to adjust how much of the game’s audio is heard over chat. That doesn’t happen when connected through the wireless dongle. Outside of changing the stereo settings – choosing audio formats like Dolby Atmos – and tweaking the mic’s output, you’re pretty much stuck with a shared audio experience. That’s not the case with the PS4 though. On Sony’s console, you can toggle between having all of the audio or just the chat coming through your speakers when using the headset wirelessly.

Purchasing Guide

The limited edition SteelSeries Arctis 1 Wireless Xbox Johnny Silverhand Edition is compatible with PC, PS4, Android phones (with a USB-C port), Nintendo Switch, and Xbox – both the Xbox One and the upcoming Xbox Series X. It can be found at Best Buy or direct from SteelSeries with an MSRP of $109. The regular edition is available without the Cyberpunk branding for $10 less.

InXile Confirms Next-Gen RPG Will Use Unreal Engine 5

InXile Entertainment, a California-based video game developer founded by Brian Fargo, confirmed that its next project after the release of Wasteland 3 will be a new triple-A RPG developed using Unreal Engine 5.

Considering inXile is now a Microsoft first-party studio, it means the Xbox Series X will indeed have first-party games developed using Epic’s game engine.

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In response to a question from a fan on Twitter, inXile Entertainment confirmed that its next video game project will “indeed be using Unreal Engine 5 for our next project.” Studio boss Brian Fargo also confirmed on Twitter that its “next gen RPG” will use Unreal Engine 5.

Unreal Engine 5 is Epic Games’ next-gen game engine. Two major features of the engine are two technologies called Lumen and Nanite. Lumen is a universal lighting system that makes it easier for developers to create realistic lighting effects, while Nanite lets developers import movie-quality digital assets directly into their games.

In an interview with IGN Tim Sweeney said that the technology running the Lumen in the Land of Nanite tech demo was possible thanks to the SSD technology in the PS5. But Sweeney also said the same two technologies were able to run on the Xbox Series X.

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Xbox boss Phil Spencer also tweeted how “many of our [Xbox Game Studios] are using Unreal,” and mentioned Ninja Theory is using the engine for Hellblade 2.

InXile is currently developing Wasteland 3, a sequel to the isometric post-apocalyptic RPG, Wasteland 2.

In 2018 Microsoft Studios announced that it acquired InXile along with Obsidian Entertainment to join its new Xbox Game Studios stable. Other Xbox Game Studios developers include Rare, 343 Industries, Ninja Theory, and more.

Both Xbox and PlayStation are prepping to reveal more next-gen games, with Sony’s CEO confirming PS5 game reveals will happen soon. Meanwhile, Xbox is planning another 20/20 livestream focused on first-party titles, including Halo Infinite.

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Matt Kim is a reporter for IGN.