From its epic scale and unmatched sense of adventure to its beloved characters and the unforgettable relationships between them, Lord of the Rings remains the all-time best series of fantasy films. Now, 21 years after The Fellowship of the Ring, LotR is back in the zeitgeist thanks to Amazon’s upcoming Middle-earth TV series, The Rings of Power.
Watching the Lord of the Rings movies in order is a fairly straightforward endeavor, though ahead of the TV series' September 2 debut, we’ve put together this article to make sure newcomers can properly navigate both The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies. With series newcomers in mind, the brief plot synopsises below will be spoiler-free beyond broad plot points and character...
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The Songbirds take their stage, as they always do, on the white cobblestones of Limsa Lominsa. It's dusk in Final Fantasy XIV. Foot traffic around the city swells after the sun goes down, when students race home from school and grown-ups clock out from their day jobs. A faint, familiar MIDI melody leaves the band's violins and keyboards, and after a few bars I'm able to place it: "Kiss From A Rose," by Seal. A row of identically dressed bards — like a '60s Phil Specter girl group — weave together a miraculous harmony despite bandwidth and latency. Fans toss glow sticks in the air, warriors and mages lock into their dance animations on the periphery, it's Coachella with Chocobos. The Songbirds are the most famous band in MMO history, and...
When it comes to making a new game, a significant development choice is deciding between using an in-house proprietary engine or one of the established and well-supported game development platforms. In the case of Striking Distance Studios and its upcoming game The Callisto Protocol, the team chose the latter – specifically Unreal Engine version 4.27.
I had a chance to speak with Mark James, the Chief Technical Officer of Striking Distance Studios to discuss the business and development side of making a new game, why and how Unreal helped, and some of the bespoke improvements the team made to the engine.
IGN: With the immense challenge of setting up a new studio and team, how has the use of Unreal Engine been an enabler in your...
Welcome back to IGN Game Scoop!, the ONLY video game podcast! This week your Omega Cops -- Daemon Hatfield, Justin Davis, Mark Medina, and Colin Stevens -- are discussing GTA 6, the KOTOR remake, Meta Quest 2, Stray, Live a Live, and more. And, of course, they play Video Game 20 Questions.
Watch the video above or hit the link below to your favorite podcast service.
Listen on:
Apple Podcasts
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Spotify
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Find previous episodes here!
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Ever since Steam Deck was announced last summer, Valve's handheld has been defined by long queues and limited supply. That may soon be changing, though, as Valve announced today that it has some "good news" for prospective Steam Deck customers.
In a news post that went up this morning, Valve announced that it would be able to fulfill demand sooner than expected.
"Many of the supply chain shortfalls that affect Steam Deck are gradually clearing up, and we're continuing to ramp production, so we're able to produce more Decks faster than ever before," Valve said.
As a result, Valve is promising that everyone currently in the reservation queue will get their Steam Deck email "this year," with "many customers" who were in the Q4 or...
The eldritch horror, Xur, is now live in Destiny 2 for the weekend until next week's reset. If you're looking to get your some shiny new Exotic armor or weapons for your Guardian, look no further.
Each week, Xûr has a random assortment of Exotic armor, one for each Guardian class, as well as a random Exotic Weapon and an Exotic Engram available for purchase. In addition to his Exotic wares, he's got a random collection of Legendary weapons and armor to deck out your Guardians.
We've rounded up all the info on Xûr for the week including where to find Xûr, which Exotic weapons and armor are available, as well as which Legendary weapons you should pick up, either for PvE or PvP.
Where Is Xûr Today?
Xûr's location can be found at The...
Fighting games are communal by nature, and the broader Fighting Game Community (FGC) and the many pockets of it that pop up around different games regularly create and participate in events based on their favorite games. From Super Smash Bros. to Mortal Kombat to Street Fighter, players of varying skill levels gather to compete, occasionally teach, and celebrate their favorite fighting games. The FGC fosters growth and support to both professional and casual members of all walks of life, so it’s only natural that events catering toward disabled players would form, too.
Fighting game popularity amongst disabled players has evolved with the broader accessibility movement. Control remapping, difficulty settings, and even the upcoming...
San Diego Comic-Con 2022 was a big show for Marvel Studios and fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. At Marvel’s Hall H panel, we were given a roadmap through 2025 that reveals many of the movies and TV shows that will make up Phases 4, 5, and 6 of the MCU.
In celebration of this bright future called The Multiverse Saga we thought it would be the perfect time to ask you which project you are most excited for.
Is Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania the title that has you most excited? Or maybe you're more of an X-Men '97, Captain America: New World Order or Fantastic Four type? We’ve included 30 MCU films and TV shows that have either been officially announced or heavily reported on to “Face-Off” against each other two at a time. Will...
Nearly two years after Minecraft's Steve joined the DLC roster of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, his (and his female counterpart Alex's) amiibo will finally reach store shelves on September 9.
Nintendo announced the release date for Minecraft's amiibo via Twitter. Alongside the post, fans also got a short video with a first look at the final designs for the Steve and Alex amiibo, which are truly faithful to the characters' original blocky designs.
While initially announced for a spring 2022 release, the Steve and Alex amiibo were delayed until later in 2022 "due to a logistics and production delay."
Now that Minecraft's amiibo collection finally has a release date, Nintendo is also nearing the end of its Super Smash Bros. Ultimate...
After days of intrigue, it's finally been revealed that the mysterious videos of hitherto unknown areas in Nier: Automata were the work of extremely talented modders.
The 'church saga' began when a Reddit user called sadfutago posted a video of a door that no Nier player had ever seen before, and followed it up with clips that showed bizarre content that included references to other games. It has hooked the Nier community (and many, many others), who couldn't work out if this was an ARG for a new game, or the work of modders - although the latter had been deemed impossible by many.
As it turns out, it wasn't as impossible to mod Nier: Automata as we thought, with a Twitch stream revealing that the entire saga was indeed the work of...
Thank your own personal deity—possibly Angrboda—it's Friday! We're stuck in the dead period of the year, so today is all about staking your claim on future goodies. Get your Amazon preorder on for Bayonetta 3, FIFA 23 or Forspoken. Then, feel safe in the fact that you'll automatically get the best pricepoint should they drop even lower between now and launch. It's almost too easy.
Notable Sales for Nintendo Switch
Purchase Cheaply for PC
Exciting Offers for XO/XS
Product Savings for PS4/PS5
Legit Discounts for LEGO
Adam Mathew is our Aussie deals wrangler. He's @grizwords and games on YouTube.
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The second annual Annapurna Interactive Showcase has just wrapped up, during which we got a look at a ton of new projects in development, updates, and a handful of upcoming releases from the publisher of Stray, Neon White, Sayonara Wild Hearts, and tons more.
In case you missed the show or want to remind yourself of that cool game you didn’t catch the name of, here’s everything we just saw at the showcase:
Thirsty Suitors
From Outerloop Games (Falcon Age), we got a new, deeper look at Thirsty Suitors, an upcoming RPG that mixes elements of dating sims, turn-based battles, and skateboarding mechanics. Play as Jala, a young woman who returns home for her sister’s wedding and is forced to confront and reconcile with her multiple exes...
During today's Annapurna Interactive showcase, we got two surprising upgrade announcements to two beloved games: Outer Wilds and What Remains of Edith Finch.
First up, Outer Wilds is getting a 60fps upgrade on Xbox Series X, S, and PS5 that's coming September 15, and the upgrade is free if you own the game already. Developer Mobius Digital also confirmed that the game is still planned for Switch at some point in the future, but haven't given a date for that just yet.
Meanwhile, What Remains of Edith Finch is getting a 60fps upgrade and 4k on Xbox Series X and PS5, and that update is not only free, it's also available today.
Both of these are pleasant surprise upgrades for two widely acclaimed games. We called Edith Finch "one of...
After Katamari Damacy and Wattam, Keita Takahashi is hard at work on his next game: it's called Uvula. It is, most likely, about uvulas.
During today's Annapurna Interactive Showcase we got a brief teaser for Takahashi's next game. It showed a boy in Takahashi's signature art style gently snoring away, with the camera zoomed in close on his uvula - you know, the little hangy down thing in the back of the throat. It slowly zoomed out to his face, and a dog licks the boy's cheek. That's all!
It's anyone's guess how this is going to make a game, but if anyone can do it, it's probably Takahashi. All of his past games have been extremely quirky and original, from Katamari (a game about rolling every object on earth into a giant katamari...
The highly anticipated co-op shooter Warhammer 40,000: Darktide has been delayed.
The upcoming Left 4 Dead-style co-op game, set in the Warhammer 40k universe, was due to be released on September 13. But the PC version has now been pushed back until November 30, 2022, with the console edition launching on Xbox Series X|S shortly after.
“Delaying a game is perhaps one of the most difficult decisions a developer faces and one we are not excited about making,” said Fatshark CEO Martin Wahlund via Twitter. “Still, we hope this speaks to our commitment to taking the time necessary and doing whatever it takes to get you the best possible game.”
Specifically, it looks as though the Fatshark team needs more time to improve the game before...
Developers Paul Hart and Lee Williams along with publisher Akupara Games have revealed Cryptmaster, a new narrative adventure game with a distinct black-and-white art style and an even more distinct gameplay hook: it mixes text-based adventures with modern graphics to enable a sort-of Scribblenauts-meets-D&D experience in which you type out what you want your character to do next and the game responds.
Hart and Williams describe Cryptmaster as "a dungeon-crawling narrative adventure with a nostalgic visual style about a party of recently awakened dead heroes. An eccentric figure, known as the Cryptmaster, has tasked you to journey upwards through the strata of several fantastic underground kingdoms." Watch the reveal trailer above and...
Goat Simulator 3 is coming on November 17, 2022.
The upcoming sequel to the original Goat Simulator (no, there is no Goat Simulator 2) will arrive on PC via the Epic Games Store, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
“People told us not to beat a dead horse but no one ever said anything about goats, so we’re thrilled to announce Goat Simulator 3’s release date,” said Santiago Ferrero, creative director at Coffee Stain North.
“I wouldn’t exactly say we’re ‘proud’ to be bringing Pilgor’s antics back to players in November, but that’s definitely what we’re doing,” he added. “And at that time of year you won’t have much reason to leave the house anyway - you might as well be playing a new Goat Sim game.”
Goat Simulator 3 was announced just last...
MTV has added a "Best Metaverse Performance" category to the Video Music Awards, pitting the likes of Ariana Grande's performance in Fortnite against Twenty One Pilots' concert in Roblox.
As reported by The Hill, voting is now open for the metaverse category and 21 others, and MTV will announce the winners at the VMA live show on August 28.
The full list of nominees are: Ariana Grande's headlining performance at the Fortnite Rift Tour, Blackpink's concert in PUBG: Mobile, BTS's performance in Minecraft, Charli XCX's appearance in Roblox, Justin Bieber's interactive virtual experience in Wave, and Twenty One Pilots' concert in Roblox.
MTV said the increasing number of artists hosting performances digitally led them to create the new...
Fans have been clamoring for a remake of Rockstar’s Bully for years, and finally, there’s a trailer. The catch? It's a fan project and you’ll never get to play it.
The trailer comes from TeaserPlay on YouTube and shows Jimmy Hopkins at Bullworth Academy like we’ve never seen him before.
The folks at TeaserPlay used Unreal Engine 5 to create the trailer. They relied on features like Lumen, Nanite, Ray Tracing and Metahuman to create Jimmy Hopkins and Dr Crabblesnitch’s Face. They wanted to make the trailer because it is a “great nostalgic game that we need now in next gen graphics.”
Jimmy's seen skateboarding down overgrown streets, walking through sun-filled hallways, and being yelled at by Dr. Crabblesnitch in glorious high...
As reported by PC Gamer, a new update that added several features, including the ability to designate Sims' sexual orientation, also brought with it this bizarre bug.
Only players using the "short" and "long" lifespan options for their Sims appear to be experiencing the super-fast aging, with those on the "normal" setting seemingly unaffected.
Twitter user @windyroses_ (above) said that, after ten minutes of playing, "kids are teens and young adults are almost elders". The age progression happened without the usual birthday notifications, and even pets were reportedly over-aging and dying.
Another player on the Sims Community website shared their experience with the issue. The first time they logged in after the updated, "every Sim...
Welcome to a Thursday of sweet clearance action. Take the pro tip from a guy who once endured the rigours of gaming retail. This is absolutely the time of year when brick 'n' mortar types assess their inventory and realise their store is not some "magic pocket" inventory system in a video game. All that physical shelf space will soon be needed for Xmas. Take full advantage. Stock up your own shelves for Xmas.
Notable Sales for Nintendo Switch
Purchase Cheaply for PC
Exciting Offers for XO/XS
Product Savings for PS4/PS5
Legit Discounts for LEGO
Adam Mathew is our Aussie deals wrangler. He's @grizwords and games on YouTube.
Continue reading...
Former CD Projekt Red developer Jakub Ben has formed a new studio called Dark Passenger. The studio’s staff has worked on cinematics for games such as Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and Cyberpunk 2077.
Ben is a co-founder of Dark Passenger, along with Pawel Kuleta as the COO and Magdalena Furman as a 3D character animator. Currently, the studio is looking to hire for many roles including gameplay programmer, tech artist, environmental artist, and sound designer.
The studio’s first game is a multiplayer online game set in Feudal Japan one built using Unreal Engine 5 that includes co-op, PVP, and PVE. It tells the story of an invader that overthrew the ruling shogun and established a new throne.
“Our goal is to create highly exciting online...
During the testing phase for MultiVersus, the new platform fighter from Warner Bros., players were subject to regular progress resets. However, alongside yesterday's open beta release, the game won’t have any more resets, allowing players to keep their progress forever.
As pointed out by PC Gamer, in an announcement on the MultiVersus Discord server, Warner Bros. social and community director Nikki Grantham explained how progression will work going forward. “If you played during the Early Access period, all of your progression to ALL of the characters you played during 7/19 - 7/25 is saved (yay!),” Grantham said.
“So, no worries if you can't unlock all of the characters you played before, you'll keep and resume your progress once...
This past weekend, TapTap Presents held its third annual digital mobile showcase and it featured world premiere titles as well as 24 games that are currently available to download and pre-register on the TapTap App. From Genshin Impact to CAPTAIN TSUBASA: ACE, there were a TON of exciting announcements, and we are here to share all the biggest details in this roundup.
Speaking of Genshin Impact, the incredibly popular open-world adventure RPG from HoYoverse revealed a revamped worldview perspective that will be available to play soon.
As for CAPTAIN TSUBASA: ACE, Mario Kart Tour and Pokemon Masters EX’s developer DeNA will be bringing the immersive soccer simulation game based on the anime of the same name to mobile devices...
Few companies have the wealth of recognizable and exciting characters required to create a platform fighter that could rival the likes of Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros. series. With the help of developer Player First Games, Warner Bros. is trying to use the seemingly endless list of movie and TV studios it owns to do just that, bringing together an eclectic roster of fan-favorite characters that somehow includes Harley Quinn, Bugs Bunny, and Shaggy all at once. While the result makes for some gleeful multiplayer chaos, MultiVersus is ambitious in its laser focus on competitive multiplayer too. That’s left some of the more casual aspects undercooked, but its prioritization of 2v2 online matches still makes for a fresh take on an...
Sony has revealed the PlayStation Plus games for August 2022 are Yakuza: Like a Dragon, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 & 2, and Little Nightmares. Revealed on the PlayStation Blog, all three games will be made available at no extra cost to all PlayStation Plus subscribers on August 2.
Yakuza: Like a Dragon is another entry in the increasingly wacky, action-heavy Yakuza series in which protagonist Ichiban Kasuga attempts to rise through his crime organisation from zero to hero. Like a Dragon marked the entry of a new era for the franchise as it introduced turn-based combat for the first time, a mechanic that will be continued in recently confirmed sequel Yakuza 8.
In our 7/10 review, IGN said: "Yakuza: Like a Dragon takes some bold steps...
Hey, have you heard of a game where you play a super soldier that goes to Hell to kill everything that moves? One that involves swapping exotic weapons to deal with the ever-changing challenges that a persistent horde of twisted fleshy mutant hellions provide? Well, Scathe isn’t Doom exactly. It tries its best, but very much lacks the hand-crafted gun puzzle arenas and air-tight weapon balancing that turned first-person demon-slaying on its head for at least the past seven-ish years. But what it lacks in polish, momentum, and wit it replaces with some interesting but obtuse dungeon crawling and maybe its biggest standout feature - co-op.
It may not be completely fair to compare Scathe so directly to Doom. From a distance, the...
The Roblox "oof" sound, which became famous not just with players but around the internet as a meme, has been removed from the game entirely due to a licensing issue.
The simple soundbite, a second-long "oof" sound that plays when a player dies or resets their character, has proven surprisingly awkward due to copyright claims in the last few years. It would appear these complications are now officially too much Roblox's development team, however, which has now announced the "oof" sound is no longer in the game.
It's been replaced with a similar default sound but, as announced on the Roblox Twitter (below), a whole range of new sounds, both old and new, will be released into the Avatar Shop in the future to make the transition away...
Brand new platform fighter MultiVersus is already hitting huge player numbers and nearing to tops of console charts.
After a launching into open beta yesterday, the new fighting game from Warner Bros. has seen some staggering numbers – reaching a peak of 144,456 concurrent players yesterday on Steam alone. This puts the game ahead of the likes of Warframe, Rust, and even Destiny 2.
The free-to-play multiversal crossover game, starring the likes of Batman, Bugs Bunny, and Shaggy, has already proven to be an extremely popular alternative to Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. And even without console figures, the game’s Beta launch is doing ridiculous numbers.
MultiVersus is also proving to be very popular on consoles with the...
A dedicated fan is creating a remaster mod for The Simpsons: Hit & Run – while also hand-drawing every cutscene for the game in the classic Simpsons style.
El Gato Del Tejado on YouTube uploaded a video showing their progress so far, which includes the complications that occur when remastering a near-two decade old game by yourself. One of these issues occurred as El Gato Del Tejado began work on Hit & Run's cutscenes, which are depicted in 3D in the original 2003 version.
"I would love to see the cutscenes of Hit & Run with current 3D technology like [the] Crash Bandicoot remake or Battle for Bikini Bottom," they said in the video. "I don't have much experience in 3D animation, so better to choose 2D."
El Gato Del Tejado explained...