Author: Trafficblast

Comedy Central has officially handed out a series order for a “reimagining” of The Ren & Stimpy Show, more than two decades after the classic animated series went off the air.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the network is planning on hiring an all-new creative team for the revived series, which will be “reimagined for a new generation” with Nickelodeon overseeing the project. However, there is no word yet on who will be sitting in the writer’s room, how many episodes have been greenlit, or when the new series will premiere.

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“We are excited to reinvent this iconic franchise with a new creative team and our partners at the Nickelodeon Animation Studio,” said Chris McCarthy, President of ViacomCBS Entertainment & Youth Group. “Ren & Stimpy joins our rapidly expanding roster of adult animation including South Park, Beavis and Butt-Head and Clone High as we continue to reimagine our treasure chest of beloved IP for new generations.”

The original animated series launched in 1991 as part of Nickelodeon’s Nicktoons lineup; the series followed the adventures of a disturbed chihuahua and a chowderheaded cat for five seasons before being officially cancelled in 1995. At the time, The Ren & Stimpy Show served as a precursor to the likes of Beavis and Butt-Head and South Park, wowing the college crowd with its dark humour, adult jokes, and controversial scenarios.

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The Ren & Stimpy reboot joins a growing roster of animated properties being revived at Comedy Central, with this latest announcement coming just over a  month after the network commissioned two new seasons of Beavis and Butt-Head and acquired Daria spinoff Jodie, focused on Tracee Ellis Ross’ character Jodie Landon. Still, we think there are a few other animated sitcoms that deserve a revival yet.

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

Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones made The Fugitive an iconic film back in 1993, earning an impressive seven Academy Award nominations, with Jones walking away with a statue for Best Supporting Actor. Twenty-seven years later, actors Kiefer Sutherland and Boyd Holbrook are starring in a new version of the franchise on the Quibi streaming platform.

While this interpretation of The Fugitive features an innocent man on the run, who’s trying to clear his name, there are some distinct differences from the Harrison Ford film. “The biggest thing that I liked,” Sutherland explained, “was that [The Fugitive] didn’t center around one crime and that it didn’t center around one murder. The scope of the crime was much larger and it involved a terrorist attack.”

For more on what Sutherland and Holbrook have to say about their respective roles in The Fugitive, IGN can exclusively reveal a never-before-seen featurette in the video below or at the top of the page:

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Sutherland also jokes about collaborating with 24 director Stephen Hopkins once again. “He’s the only director where I’ve actually been doing a scene and he called out in the middle of the scenes, ‘you’re boring me.’ And it made me laugh while he said it.”

The Fugitive is currently airing on Quibi every weekday until August 18.

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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.

Developer Cold Symmetry has announced that its Dark Souls-inspired RPG Mortal Shell launches on August 18 for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. The studio shared a release date trailer showcasing the new Ballistazooka ranged weapon, which you can check out below.

Published by Playstack, Mortal Shell can be purchased from digital retailers–the Epic Games Store, Microsoft Store, and PlayStation Store–for $30, with a Steam version slated to drop sometime in 2021.

“Launching Mortal Shell worldwide is a dream come true,” said Cold Symmetry’s four co-founders in a joint statement. “Our commitment to our fans is to create a souls-like game that is authentic, uncompromising and unrelenting. We were humbled by the popularity of the beta and we closely studied the feedback we received to create something that we are incredibly proud of.”

The studio also announced that Mortal Shell’s beta had more than 350,000 downloads in one week and surpassed more than six million views across Twitch and YouTube.

“Mortal Shell is already achieving the kind of pre-release metrics that would turn heads at any publisher, be it indie or triple-A,” Playstack chief executive Harvey Elliott said. “I am delighted that Playstack has delivered a publishing and marketing campaign that ensures the game gains the exposure and response it truly deserves. More than anything I can’t wait for fans around the world to finally play it from August 18th.”

Mortal Shell was revealed earlier this year and drew plenty of comparisons to Dark Souls, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, and Warframe. We went hands-on with the game last month, where editor Phil Hornshaw called Mortal Shell “a tough and punishing game like those that inspire it [that also] found ways to take elements of the Dark Souls formula and recombine them into something new.”

Ninja is back on Twitch, and he’s received a raucous response from viewers. Over 100,000 viewers tuned in to watch Ninja play Call of Duty: Warzone with Lupo, and the number is holding steady at around 60,000 now.

Arguably the most famous streamer in the world–he had over 14 million followers on Twitch before he switched platforms–Ninja signed a $50 million deal to stream exclusively on Microsoft’s Mixer back in August 2019. However, Microsoft announced that Mixer would close earlier this summer, triggering speculation as to what platform Ninja would stream on next.

Though he briefly streamed on YouTube last month, this is the first time Ninja has streamed on Twitch in a year. According to a tweet from esports consultant Rod Breslau, as with YouTube, this Twitch stream is not the result of a deal with the platform, and both he and fellow big-name streamer Shroud are still negotiating with the different platforms.

As previously claimed by Breslau, Ninja and Shroud were offered “insane” contracts to join Facebook Gaming that were almost double their original Mixer deals, but they both turned them down. Ninja reportedly made $30 million from the buyout.

Developer Mediatonic has shared the extent of Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout‘s launch day traffic, and the numbers are mightily impressive for a new indie game. During its first 24 hours on sale, the wacky 60-person battle royale had over 1.5 million new players. This number is split between both Steam and PlayStation 4, where the game is available for free on the latter if you’re a PlayStation Plus subscriber.

Fall Guys launched yesterday to immense popularity. The massively online party game already took Twitch by storm during its beta period, becoming the most-watched game on the streaming platform during the weekend of July 27. So it’s no surprise that the game’s servers struggled to handle the load in the hours following its release.

According to SteamDB, the peak for concurrent players on PC currently stands at 76,520. Mediatonic also announced yesterday afternoon that the overall number of concurrent players on both platforms was over 120k, but that number may have risen since then. PlayStation Plus has certainly contributed to those 1.5 million new players, but that hasn’t stopped Fall Guys from reaching the top of the Steam top sellers list either.

Mediatonic says it’s working on the first patch for the game and is listening to community feedback and ideas (fewer team games, please). There are already plans for new levels, features, and costumes in the future as well.

Developer Obsidian Entertainment has certainly been busy ever since Microsoft acquired the studio back in 2018. It just launched Grounded, the arachnophobic survival game, in Early Access on both PC and Xbox One, and just last month it unveiled the first-person RPG Avowed during Microsoft’s Xbox Series X Showcase Event.

As it turns out, the famed RPG developer also has another project in the works. Studio design director Josh Sawyer, who led the development of Fallout: New Vegas and both Pillars of Eternity games, has revealed that he’s working on something new. This tidbit of information cropped up after Sawyer posted a blog post on Tumblr describing his job role at Obsidian. In response to the post, a Twitter user expressed sadness that Sawyer isn’t overseeing his own project, to which the design director replied that he’s heading up something new that isn’t Avowed.

It’s surprising that Sawyer isn’t handling director duties on Avowed. We don’t know too much about the upcoming RPG, but it’s been established that it’s set in the Pillars of Eternity universe which Sawyer is intimately familiar with. We do know, however, that he won’t be working on another Pillars of Eternity sequel. Despite reviewing well, Deadfire didn’t sell, and Sawyer says a third game will only happen if the devs can get “jazzed” about it.

Obsidian’s newest game was awarded 6/10 in GameSpot’s Grounded Early Access review. “Grounded has the foundation needed to turn into a great survival game, but it has a long way to go yet,” said critic Joab Gilroy. “The titular term comes from aviation–when a pilot finds themselves, for whatever reason, unable to fly, they are Grounded. It’s a pretty apt name for the current state of Obsidian’s foray into the co-op survival genre. But like a balsa wood airplane, Grounded sits at the outstretched tension point of a strong rubber band. It is pure, unadulterated potential energy, and all we can do is sit back and wait to see if that rubber band snaps or if the game achieves take off. I think it’s gonna fly.”

Dipping into the well of under-appreciated Wii U titles again, Nintendo has announced Pikmin 3 Deluxe for Nintendo Switch. It’s out on October 30 and will retail for $60 USD.

Pikmin 3 Deluxe brings with it the traditional Pikmin formula, where you’ll amass a small platoon of brightly color-coded Pikmin to help you in combat, puzzle solving, and resource gathering. The deluxe version coming to the Switch will include all the game’s original DLC, as well as new prologue and epilogue missions with Olimar and Louie. Additional difficulty options will also be included in the remaster.

The entirety of Pikmin 3 Deluxe will also be playable in co-op, including its included DLC and new missions. The action should be more seamless too with new lock-on targeting options and additional hints for those who might need them. A new Piklopedia has also been added, giving you more insight into the creatures you’ll encounter throughout the campaign.

Pikmin 3 originally launched for the Wii U in 2013 and was praised for its creativity and whimsy. In GameSpot’s 8/10 Pikmin 3 review, critic Tom Mc Shea wrote, “There’s nothing quite like Pikmin out there, and its delightful combination of survival strategy and unflinching cuteness should entertain you throughout this lengthy adventure.”

Pikmin 4 was announced all the way back in 2015 but hasn’t had any significant updates since. Shigeru Miyamoto did confirm in 2016 that the project was still in development, but that it was a difficult title to fit into Nintendo’s list of priorities. Since then Nintendo has launched the Nintendo Switch as well as The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Super Mario Odyssey, Splatoon 2, and more in its more popular franchises, so perhaps that slate is looking a little more flexible now.

If you’re looking for something to play on your Nintendo Switch, GameStop’s Deal of the Day for August 5 discounts three fairly recent games: Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore, Daemon X Machina, and Dragon Quest Builders 2. These deals are only good until 9 PM PT / 12 AM ET, and it’s possible they’ll sell out sooner.

All three deals are on pre-owned copies of the games. Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore is down to $40, Daemon X Machina is $30, and Dragon Quest Builders 2 is $40. These are the best prices we’e seen on Tokyo Mirage Sessions and Daemon X Machina, but we should note that we’ve seen Dragon Quest Builders 2 for around $30. Still, it’s a wonderful game that regularly goes for $50, so this is still a good price.

Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore, an enhanced port of the 2016 Wii U game, released earlier this year on Switch. Developed by Atlus, Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE Encore is an amalgamation of Fire Emblem and Shin Megami Tensei with a musical bent. The original Wii U release earned an 8/10 in GameSpot’s Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE review, so if you’re in need of a 50-plus hour JRPG, it’s worth a look.

Daemon X Machina is a third-person mech game that released last year on Switch, offering fun solo and cooperative mech combat that’s highly customizable. It earned a 7/10 in our Daemon X Machina review.

For fans of Minecraft and action-RPGs, Dragon Quest Builders 2 makes a strong impression. The much-improved sequel has a lavish open-world to explore, great building mechanics, and varied quests to keep the lengthy experience fresh after dozens of hours. We gave it an 8/10 in our Dragon Quest Builders 2 review.