Mattel's New Minecraft Figures Revealed At Toy Fair 2020

Kerbal Space Program 2 Gets a New Developer

Development of Kerbal Space Program 2 has moved from Star Theory Games to a newly formed, KSP-dedicated studio, publisher Private Division announced Friday. The new studio is owned by Private Division parent company Take-Two Interactive.

Jeremy Ables, former studio head at Star Theory, will step into the same role at the new, currently unnamed studio. Joining him from Star Theory are Kerbal Space Program 2 creative director Nate Simpson and lead producer Nate Robinson, according to Gamesindustry.biz.

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“The decision to open our own studio and move development in-house allows us to provide the development team with the necessary time and resources to complete development of KSP 2 at the quality level we all want to deliver our players,” said Private Division. “Our goal — and the goal of our developers — is to provide our community with the highest level gaming experience with Kerbal Space Program 2.”

Take-Two acquired KSP in 2017. The sequel was then announced at Gamescom 2019 with Star Theory (formerly Uber Entertainment) as its developer. Original KSP developer Squad has been continuing to work on the first game.

IGN spoke with Simpson shortly after that Gamescom reveal. The creative director said Kerbal Space Program 2 will be more accessible to newcomers without being less challenging for core KSP players.

Kerbal Space Program 2 is coming to PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC during Take-Two’s fiscal year 2021 (April 2020–March 2021).

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Jordan is a freelance writer for IGN.

Homeworld Dev Has A Cool New Sci-Fi Salvaging Game Coming

Blackbird Interactive, developers behind Homeworld 3 and Deserts of Kharak, have a new intergalactic game forthcoming. Titled Hardspace: Shipbreaker, the game is in first-person and casts the player as a shipbreaker, who apparently has some hefty debt and needs to repay it by scavenging parts off of dead space ships.

Players will get to use a laser cutter and other cool tools to complete the job, with the caveat that electrocution, being blown up, and asphyxiation are all hazards of the occupation. (Resurrection adds more to the debt.)

If you’re looking to get a taste of the gameplay, Hardspace: Shipbreaker will be available through Steam’s Early Access sometime this summer at a currently unknown price. The Early Access version will include Act 1 of the campaign, which will require around 15-plus hours of gameplay to complete, and a “freeform sandbox mode” that allows for hundreds of more hours of gameplay. Players will have the choice of two types of spaceships to scavenge from and lots of salvaging tools and suit parts that they can upgrade. The total debt to pay back in the campaign will be 999,999,999 credits.

Blackbird Interactive has stated it “[has] a rough plan for a year of development beginning in May 2020,” but will “decide down the line exactly how much [of the] game [it] considers to be the 1.0 version.” The studio added, “[We’d] rather stay in Early Access for as long as needed than come out early to hit an imaginary window we’ve set for ourselves.”

However, the company did share some of its vision for the full game. Blackbird predicts the full campaign to take around 40-plus hours of gameplay and that the “unlimited sandbox fun mode” will stay. The full version will also likely have the addition of various new ships of different scale, leaderboards and daily challenges, and “modding support” for players to design their own ships and challenges.

GameSpot may get a commission from retail offers.

Jurassic World Figures Make Prehistoric Carnage Fun

Just ahead of the start of New York Toy Fair, we have an exclusive first look at new Jurassic World toys from Mattel. Some of these figures recreate iconic moments from the original Jurassic Park and 2015’s Jurassic World, while others tie into the upcoming animated series Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous.

Check out the slideshow gallery below for a closer look at all the dino sights on display at Toy Fair.

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Mattel’s lineup includes a mix of more kid-friendly, stylized toys like the Feeding Frenzy Indominus Rex and Imaginext Jurassic World Dino figure, and more movie-accurate interactive toys like the Epic Roarin’ Tyrannosaurus Rex and Control ‘N Conquer Carnotaurus Toro.

It’s no surprise to see Mattel continuing to emphasize the Jurassic World license. With Camp Cretaceous hitting Netflix in 2020 and Jurassic World 3 bringing back series stars Sam Neill, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum, the franchise will likely continue to be a huge money-maker over the next several years.

For more on what to expect from Jurassic World 3, check out this look at an adorable baby dinosaur from the sequel and learn which other Jurassic World characters will be returning.

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Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.

Animal Crossing, Dreams, And Last Of Us 2 Being Pulled From PAX | GameSpot After Dark #29

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Where to Secure Your Animatronic Baby Yoda Preorder

Toy Fair is in full effect and manufacturers are bringing their A-games for this season’s upcoming toys. Probably the biggest announcement so far has been the reveal of a “life-size” animatronic Baby Yoda toy from Hasbro, coming December 15.

Where to Buy the Animatronic Baby Yoda Toy

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Here are the retailers with available animatronic Baby Yoda preorders:

Baby Yoda – See it at Amazon
Baby Yoda – See it at Walmart
Baby Yoda – See it at Best Buy
Baby Yoda – See it at Big Bad Toy Store
Baby Yoda – See it at Target

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We have a huge selection of Baby Yoda shirts, as well as tons of other Star Wars and The Mandalorian designs, in the new IGN store, so if you’re looking to wear your fandom and don’t want to wait until December for the animatronic toy, you can outfit yourself right now.

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Snake Eyes, More Joes Coming in New 6-inch G.I. Joe Line

You may have already heard rumors of a new, 6″ G.I. Joe figure line, and this morning Hasbro confirmed it is, in fact, readying an all-new series of Joe’s for 2020.

The G.I. Joe Classified line are 6″ figures inspired by the 1980s G.I. Joe 3.75″ figures, but are so very much better. Take a look at Snake Eyes, Roadblock, and Scarlett in the gallery below:

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Snake Eyes, everyone’s favorite G.I. Joe ninja, comes with an “Arashikage Ninja Clan-inspired gear storage rack” for all his ninja gear, like his katana, sai, ninja stars and decidedly non-ninja submachine gun. Snake Eyes’ packaging includes “foil effects and original artwork from Tracie Ching and Miq Willmott,” and should be out sometime later this year. Check out a behind the scenes look at the Snake Eyes and the packaging in this video from Hasbro.

Scarlett comes with a crossbow and a whole grip of knives, and the packaging for the figure has art by Phil Noto. Roadblock comes with a “heavy artillery blaster” and package art by Mike Thompson and Ken Lashley. All three figures include multiple articulation points and Scarlett and Roadblock can be preordered directly from Hasbro Pulse beginning tomorrow, February 22 at 4 pm ET/1 pm PT, as well as the usual retailers you’d expect. The preorder page for Roadblock will be live at Amazon and Scarlett can be preordered from Amazon or Walmart in addition to Hasbro Pulse.

Snake Eyes, on the other hand, can be preordered right now, and ONLY from Hasbro Pulse. Snuck up on you, didn’t he? That’s the way of the ninja, my friends.

Hasbro has been busy this Toy Fair, introducing a new set of Transformers: WFC figures to coincide with the upcoming animated Netflix series.

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Seth Macy is IGN’s tech and commerce editor and just wants to be your friend. Find him on Twitter @sethmacy.

Mattel’s New Minecraft Figures Revealed At Toy Fair 2020

Mattel’s New Minecraft Figures Revealed At Toy Fair 2020 – GameSpot

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By Mat Elfring | @ImMatElfring on February 21, 2020 at 5:00AM PST

Toy Fair 2020

This year’s Toy Fair, taking place in New York City, offers up a look at plenty of new products from board games to building sets to collectibles. And this year, Mattel is offering up a ton of new Minecraft figures to add to your collection.

There are numerous sets being released by the toy company–which is also producing a Netflix He-Man series with a killer cast. Each of these Minecraft sets features different characters from the numerous games, which include some very familiar faces for fans of the series.

“Mattel and Minecraft continue to find ways to bring to life great experiences for fans both on and off screen,” said PJ Lewis, VP and Global Head of Action Figures at Mattel. “With Minecraft Earth Boost Minis, it’s a new chapter to what is already an incredible lineup of toys that through the years has brought delight to millions of Minecraft fans of all ages. We will continue to push the envelope together in 2020 and beyond.”

Below, you can find all the Minecraft toys revealed by Mattel at Toy Fair 2020. Additionally, there are some price points and soft release dates as well, so you can plan your shopping accordingly.

For more from this year’s Toy Fair, check out our first look at a new Build-A-Bear Baby Yoda toy along with Star Wars Lego sets and even more Baby Yoda merch.

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Minecraft Comic Mode Action Figure

You can gather your Minecraft forces to battle the forces of evil with the Comic Mode figures. Each figure is 3.25 inches tall, and it comes with a swappable face, accessory or tool, and a block you can use as a stand for your figure.

Additionally, every figure comes with a scannable code that unlocks sounds and special effects for the Comic Mode portion of the Minecraft app.

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Minecraft Comic Mode Action Figure

Price: $9 each

Release date: Spring 2020

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Minecraft Dungeons

Each of these explorers is 3.25 inches tall and features new heroes, weapons, armor, and mobs from Minecraft Dungeons.

Price: $10 each

Release date: Fall 2020

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Minecraft Dungeons: Redstone Monstrosity

Your new Minecraft Dungeons figures will need something to fight, right? Well, and oversized Redstone Monstrosity is headed your way, and this figure is more than twice the size of the Minecraft Dungeons toys. The toy features spring-loaded arms, so you can slam them on the heroes, just like in the game.

Price: $25

Release date: Fall 2020

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Minecraft Earth Boost Minis

Mattel has partnered with the team behind Minecraft Earth to produce some cool new minifigures. In addition to being collectible, these Boost Minis can also be scanned to unlock in-game perks for Minecraft Earth.

At launch, there will be 20 different Boosts Minis available, with more than 10 in-game boosts to choose from, once you scan it with your phone. You also get some XP as well.

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Minecraft Earth Boost Minis

Price $5 each

Release date: Spring 2020

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Minecraft Minis

If you’re into surprises, then the new Minecraft Minis may be up your alley. These collectibles are available individually in blind packs, so you have no clue which mini you’re getting. There will be multiple series releases throughout the year, each with a different theme. This spring, the minis will be inspired by Minecraft Earth.

Price: $3.50 each

Release date: Spring 2020

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Disclosure: ViacomCBS is GameSpot’s parent company

Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Season 7 Premiere Review

Note: this is a mostly spoiler-free review of the Season 7 premiere of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. All plot spoilers are confined to a marked section at the end.

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Star Wars: The Clone Wars has proven surprisingly resilient for a series that was technically canceled in 2013. A number of in-progress episodes were completed and released as a shorter sixth season dubbed Clone Wars: The Lost Missions, while other abandoned stories were told in new forms, like the comic book Darth Maul: Son of Dathomir and the novel Star Wars: Dark Disciple. And even if the animated series itself never quite gave us closure for characters like Ahsoka Tano, Captain Rex, and Darth Maul, the followup series Star Wars Rebels was only too happy to oblige.

It’s much easier nowadays to be at peace with the show’s untimely cancellation – and thankfully, it’s no longer even an issue. The Clone Wars is back for a seventh and final season, and the series immediately finds its groove despite being off the air for the better part of a decade.

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“The Bad Batch” immediately sets the tone for the final season. Even as the war draws closer to its dramatic conclusion, the Republic’s clone army is feeling the strain of mounting losses and an enemy that seems to predict its every move. Many of the series’ best story arcs have hinged on these clone heroes battling against overwhelming odds, so “The Bad Batch” feels like a great way to welcome the series back and further explore the toll of the war on those who were literally born to fight.

While it’s enough to see fan-favorite clones like Captain Rex and Commander Cody back in action, this episode stands out by introducing a very different roster of clone heroes: the titular Bad Batch – a group of clones far more independent and genetically diverse than normal. While on one hand the Star Wars geek in me can’t help but wish the series had simply dusted off the Republic Commandos for this particular storyline, this episode pretty quickly establishes why Clone Force 99 is the better option. With the premiere being so overwhelmingly clone-focused, it really helps to have characters with such distinct personalities. We need the comic relief provided by clones like Wrecker and Crosshair. The subtle rivalry and unease between Rex and his new comrades add another interesting layer to what might otherwise be a straightforward clones vs. droids mission.

Plus, the addition of the Bad Batch allows voice actor Dee Bradley Baker to cut loose. Baker practically carries this whole episode on his shoulders given how many of the characters are voiced by him. The series has always been surprisingly deft about differentiating the many clone characters even though they all look and sound pretty much the same. But in the case of these genetic abnormalities, they don’t look the same. Their personalities are much more extreme and over-the-top. Even in scenes with half a dozen or more clones sharing the same space, it never feels like one voice actor is talking to himself.

It’s also easy to see how much the series’ animation quality has improved in the six years since the Lost Missions. Fans may already be familiar with the Bad Batch arc, given that these four episodes were screened in rough animatic form at Star Wars Celebration 2015 and later released online. But it’s quite another thing to see this story play out in completed form with full visual effects. This still looks very much like the Clone Wars of old, but with a greater sense of detail and more dramatic camera angles. The upgrades are most apparent with Anakin, who suddenly looks a lot more like his Episode III self.

The upgrades are a welcome reminder that The Clone Wars still serves as the gold standard for Star Wars animation. While a worthy sequel in many ways, Rebels always suffered because of its comparatively stiff characters and barren, sterile environments. There’s much more detail and energy in this Clone Wars episode, which bodes well as we slowly march toward the long-awaited Siege of Mandalore arc.

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Warning: the remainder of this review contains spoilers for Season 7, Episode 1!

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Aside from the introduction of Clone Force 99, the biggest hook with “The Bad Batch” is definitely the reveal that fallen Clonetrooper Echo may still be alive and in Separatist custody. Here, too, this twist gives the storyline a bit of extra weight and differentiates it from similar clone vs. droid skirmishes. The series sometimes struggles to justify these longer story arcs, a problem that may come back into play with Season 7 being divided solely into a trio of four-episode arcs. But for now, “Bad Batch” starts things off on an eventful note.

It’s also a fitting twist with which to kick off the final season. The saga of Domino Squad has been one of the most important throughlines of the whole series, with that story seeming to come to an end when Fives was killed back in Season 6’s “Orders.” It seems only fitting that Season 7 finds a way to continue that story and potentially even find redemption for the one surviving Domino Squad member. We’ll see over the next few weeks whether the show can make good on that potential.

Star Wars: Clone Wars’ New Heroes Are Just The Ninja Turtles

It may have taken six years to happen, but Star Wars: The Clone Wars is finally back for its seventh and final season. As the show’s creative team begins wrapping up a story that first began with the 2008 animated film, a new group of heroes is joining the foray for this Disney+ original series.

Warning: The following contains spoilers for the Season 7 premiere of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, entitled “The Bad Batch.” If you haven’t watched the episode yet, look away now.

Early in the episode, a new group of “defective clones” are introduced. They call themselves the Bad Batch and are essentially soldiers for hire when there is a mission that might be harder to pull off. What’s interesting about the Bad Batch, though, is who they resemble. It might not be easy to see at the beginning, but once it’s explained that these particular clones have “desirable mutations,” it becomes clear.

The Bad Batch is just the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. The group of four defective soldiers share way too many similarities with the four turtle brothers from New York City and, honestly, it’s delightful.

Firstly, there’s Wrecker. As a brash and loud jokester that looks like he’s having too much fun in the chaos, this member of the group is clearly reminiscent of Michelangelo. We wouldn’t go so far as to call him a party dude, but the season is still unfolding. Next up is Tech, the genius who also happens to be good with computers and machines. Clearly, he’s the Donatello of the group. Crosshair is a dark, grim, and angry sniper that is quick to take down his targets. While he doesn’t get in their faces with a pair of sai, he’s obviously the Raphael of the group. That, of course, leaves Hunter–the leader and strategist of the Bad Batch. He’s possibly a better Leonardo than Leonardo, himself.

Interestingly, though, Hunter’s design calls to mind a very different fictional character. With his long black hair and red bandanna, Hunter looks like space Rambo. If you’re going to ape someone’s style, though, Rambo is as good as any.

Were the Bad Batch outright inspired by the Ninja Turtles? We may never know, but it really is fun to think about–especially since the ragtag group of clone troopers isn’t going anywhere. You can expect to see more of them in the coming episodes of Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

New episodes of Clone Wars will be released every Friday on Disney+.

The SteamWorld Series Is Coming To Stadia, And Pro Subscribers Will Get Two Games For Free

The popular SteamWorld series will soon make its way to Stadia, publisher Thunderful has announced. The four most recent games in the series, SteamWorld Dig, SteamWorld Heist, SteamWorld Dig 2, and SteamWorld Quest: Hand of Gilgamech are all coming to the platform “soon.” An exact date has not been announced.

The games, which all debuted on Nintendo platforms, cover a variety of genres. The two Dig titles are platformer adventures where you dig underground seeking treasure and battling enemies; Heist is a turn-based strategy combat game; and Quest is a card-based RPG.

All four games will be available for Stadia owners, but users with a Stadia Pro subscription will be able to pick up the two most recently released games, SteamWorld Dig 2 and SteamWorld Quest, at no additional charge.

All four games have been critically well received, and SteamWorld Quest is yet to make its way to PlayStation 4 or Xbox One yet. After launch, the game received a major update that added a new difficulty level and a New Game Plus mode.

Hopefully we’ll have release dates for these new Stadia games soon.