Monthly Archives: August 2015

Guild Wars 2 Getting Raids, Play Core Game for Free

ArenaNet has dropped two massive two pieces of Guild Wars 2 news – first, effective immediately, the core game is available free of charge to anyone who wants to play it, and secondly raids are set to make their debut in the MMO when its first expansion Heart of Thorns launches on October 23 of this year.

We got the chance to speak to studio president Mike O’Brien and creative director Colin Johanson about the decisions and why they were made, and the first thing both are keen to emphasise is that the decision to make the game a free download doesn’t mean the business model is shifting – there’s a clear distinction between being free-to-play, and letting your players play for free.

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How to Watch PAX Prime 2015

The Penny Arcade Expo kicks off this weekend, and IGN is partnering with YouTube to bring you live coverage of awesome, upcoming games on Sunday, August 30.

In addition to all of our usual previews, interviews, and panel coverage, you can get more IGN from PAX via our awesome live show, where we'll have developers with new demos of upcoming games -- and a few surprises for good measure. Don't forget you can hang out with IGN at PAX as well as tell @IGNAccess what to cover using the hashtag #ControlPAX on Twitter.

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Guild Wars 2 Heart of Thorns Expansion Gets a Release Date

The upcoming Guild Wars 2 expansion Heart of Thorns will release on October 23, 2015.

An add-on to Guild Wars 2, Heart of Thorns introduces a number of new changes, including new systems, specializations, locations, and competitive modes. It will cost $50 for the standard edition, $75 for the deluxe, and $100 for the ultimate. Both Deluxe and Ultimate offer several bonuses in addition to the expansion and the core game.

IGN learned the release date of the MMO's first expansion today during a PAX Prime panel. More information about Heart of Thorns and Guild Wars 2 is expected to be revealed today.

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Metal Gear Solid 5 PS4 CE Missing DLC Codes

If you pre-ordered the Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain Collector's Edition for PlayStation 4, you'll find that your purchase will be lacking a few codes for some key DLC content.

According to reports on both NeoGAF and Reddit, several consumers who received the game early have discovered it's missing codes for the Day One DLC and bonus content exclusive to the Collector's Edition.

Konami has since taken to Facebook to clear up the issue, confirming the codes aren't included in the physical package itself. Rather, the codes will be delivered on the receipt at the time of purchase or via email.

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Star Wars Battlefront: Twilight Company Cover Art Revealed

The cover for the upcoming tie-in novel to Star Wars Battlefront has been revealed. Called Star Wars Battlefront: Twilight Company, the novel centers on a group of soldiers fighting in the trenches during the galactic war.

"When orders come down for the Rebels to fall back in the face of superior opposition numbers and firepower, Twilight reluctantly complies. Then an unlikely ally radically changes the strategic equation—and gives the Alliance’s hardest-fighting warriors a crucial chance to turn retreat into resurgence."

The book is written by author Alexander Freed and will be released on November 3. Below is the cover image.

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Getting Blunt with Patrick Stewart

Last week, viewers of Starz’ new comedy series Blunt Talk were introduced to a very different kind of character for Patrick Stewart, as the man known for his iconic works as Captain Picard and Professor X made his debut as Walter Blunt. Despite his on-air persona as a tough newsman, Blunt is a huge mess – an immature, drug-abusing type who finds himself at a crossroads in his life, even while still expecting to be catered to.

I sat down to discuss the series with both Stewart and his co-star, Adrian Scarborough (The King’s Speech, Les Miserables), who plays Blunt’s manservant, Harry – someone Walter depends on to a ridiculous degree to get through the day.

The duo discussed working on the show, which comes from executive producers Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy) and Jonathan Ames (Bored to Death), and the dynamic between their characters in the series, which Starz gave a two-season order to from the get-go.

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Walking Dead Special Episode Will Introduce New Fear Character

This season, a standalone webisode of The Walking Dead will introduce a character for the series Fear the Walking Dead.

Set on an airplane, EW reports this half-hour special will show the events leading up to and during a walker outbreak on a midair flight during the early days of the zombie plague. One of the surviving characters of this disaster will later be added to the cast of Fear the Walking Dead in Season 2.

Alycia Debnam-Carey Talks Fear the Walking Dead

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Photos of New Supergirl Prove Her Awesomeness

Have you seen the various behind-the-scenes photos of Supergirl star Melissa Benoist hanging around in her costume? There she is walking her dog, who she loves so much. And here she is talking on her iPhone, and being so great at it! Also, she eats a Super-shield cake in one shot! And the best (so far): Here she is leading a group of mini-Supergirl (Scouts) for a stroll while cradling a puppy!

In a word, she's awesome. And so are the photos. Take a look at a few of them below:

How to Help Gearbox Test Battleborn

Today at PAX, Gearbox has revealed that you can sign up to help test Battleborn, starting now.

If you head on over to the Battleborn closed technical test website, you can sign up to participate as long as you have a Gearbox Shift account. You're not guaranteed a spot, however, as participants will be selected based on platform preference, location, availability, and other factors.

Gearbox President Randy Pitchford said those who register before October 15 will be "first in line."

Selected players will help test "various aspects of the game and online infrastructure in an ever-expanding series of closed technical tests."

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Rise of the Tomb Raider Captures the Spirit of Indiana Jones Incredibly

In the span of a 15-minute demo, Rise of the Tomb Raider made me feel the sheer sense of wonder, excitement, and terror of one of the classic Indiana Jones movies (sorry, Shia) better than nearly any game has. I survived a near-death experience (ok…more like a dozen of them), studied ancient murals in hopes of learning a foreign language, got horribly spooked by skeletons and scorpions, and escaped a temple that was simultaneously crumbling as well as flooding.

In short, this Lara Croft is every bit as amazing as Indy ever was.

My hands-on time with Rise began in the sun-baked mountains of Syria. After my driver turned on me, a thing that happened to poor Indy on more than one occasion, I climbed a cliff-side looking for a way inside a long-forgotten tomb. The gorgeous lighting, dynamic wind, and incredible particle effects all immediately worked in tandem to deliver one of the best-looking video game demos I’ve ever played.

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