Monthly Archives: September 2022

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Dragon Age: Dreadwolf Codex Entries Revealed By BioWare

BioWare has shared several codex entries from the upcoming Dragon Age: Dreadwolf as part of its ongoing developer diaries for the next fantasy RPG.

In a new blog, Bioware has shared a few codex excerpts from the upcoming Dragon Age: Dreadwolf as well as an interview with two members of the game’s narrative team, narrative editor Ryan Cormier and senior writer Sylvia Feketekuty.

The first entry is about the Necropolis from an unnamed character’s diary. While the text cites Brother Genitivi from Dragon Age Origins and Nevarra from Dragon Age: Inquisition, the codex entry is meant to set the scene for what players might expect from the next Dragon Age.

We also get some insight into what the process is like for writing the next Dragon Age game. According to Feketekuty, “Dragon Age: Dreadwolf has been a balance of providing answers to long-standing questions for veteran fans while making a game that new players, or someone who only played [Inquisition] years ago, can also get into.”

Dragon Age: Dreadwolf will return to Thesdas where players will run into familiar friends and places.

While we’ll have to wait a bit longer to see more of Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, the codex entries should paint some picture of what to expect from the game’s lore. These will be presented “in-world” through notes, letters, books in Dreadwolf to add layers to the RPG for players who want them.

There’s still no release date for Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, but alongside the new Mass Effect, BioWare is returning to the two pillar franchises beloved by fans.

Matt T.M. Kim is IGN's News Editor. You can reach him @lawoftd.

Dragon Age: Dreadwolf Codex Entries Revealed By BioWare

BioWare has shared several codex entries from the upcoming Dragon Age: Dreadwolf as part of its ongoing developer diaries for the next fantasy RPG.

In a new blog, Bioware has shared a few codex excerpts from the upcoming Dragon Age: Dreadwolf as well as an interview with two members of the game’s narrative team, narrative editor Ryan Cormier and senior writer Sylvia Feketekuty.

The first entry is about the Necropolis from an unnamed character’s diary. While the text cites Brother Genitivi from Dragon Age Origins and Nevarra from Dragon Age: Inquisition, the codex entry is meant to set the scene for what players might expect from the next Dragon Age.

We also get some insight into what the process is like for writing the next Dragon Age game. According to Feketekuty, “Dragon Age: Dreadwolf has been a balance of providing answers to long-standing questions for veteran fans while making a game that new players, or someone who only played [Inquisition] years ago, can also get into.”

Dragon Age: Dreadwolf will return to Thesdas where players will run into familiar friends and places.

While we’ll have to wait a bit longer to see more of Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, the codex entries should paint some picture of what to expect from the game’s lore. These will be presented “in-world” through notes, letters, books in Dreadwolf to add layers to the RPG for players who want them.

There’s still no release date for Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, but alongside the new Mass Effect, BioWare is returning to the two pillar franchises beloved by fans.

Matt T.M. Kim is IGN's News Editor. You can reach him @lawoftd.

Christian Bale Just Wants To Hit His Head On a Door in Star Wars

Christian Bale still wants to be in Star Wars, even if it means being a rank-and-file stormtrooper.

During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the former Batman star revealed that he would still love to head to the galaxy far, far away… and he has a very specific role in mind.

“All I ever wanted in Star Wars was to be in a Star Wars outfit and hit my head on a door or something as I walked through,” he said. “The real nerds who watched Star Wars way too many times always knew about that one scene where the Stormtrooper hits his head on the door as he comes through. I wanted to be that guy. That was it.”

It’s not exactly a starring role, but I get the feeling it wouldn’t be out of the question. After all, 007 actor Daniel Craig made his Star Wars debut as a First Order stormtrooper in The Force Awakens.

And it’s nice to know that Bale is a bit of a Star Wars fan, too.

After all, he knows all about the infamous moment when a stormtrooper bumped his head in Star Wars: A New Hope.

Bale recently appeared in Thor: Love and Thunder as the comic book villain, Gorr the God Butcher, and with a history at Marvel/Disney, it’s not out of the question that he might know someone who can help him don a stormtrooper uniform.

“But look, if I’m fortunate enough to be more than that, oh man, yeah,” he said. “What a delight that would be. I’ve still got the figures from when I was little. I also know Kathy Kennedy very well because she was working with Spielberg when I did Empire of the Sun, and now, she runs the Star Wars universe.”

Will the former Batman get the chance to join the Empire? For now, we’ll have to wait and see.

Want to read more about Star Wars? Check out the Force Unleashed Easter egg in Andor and learn about the divided factions of the Rebel Alliance.

Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

Christian Bale Just Wants To Hit His Head On a Door in Star Wars

Christian Bale still wants to be in Star Wars, even if it means being a rank-and-file stormtrooper.

During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the former Batman star revealed that he would still love to head to the galaxy far, far away… and he has a very specific role in mind.

“All I ever wanted in Star Wars was to be in a Star Wars outfit and hit my head on a door or something as I walked through,” he said. “The real nerds who watched Star Wars way too many times always knew about that one scene where the Stormtrooper hits his head on the door as he comes through. I wanted to be that guy. That was it.”

It’s not exactly a starring role, but I get the feeling it wouldn’t be out of the question. After all, 007 actor Daniel Craig made his Star Wars debut as a First Order stormtrooper in The Force Awakens.

And it’s nice to know that Bale is a bit of a Star Wars fan, too.

After all, he knows all about the infamous moment when a stormtrooper bumped his head in Star Wars: A New Hope.

Bale recently appeared in Thor: Love and Thunder as the comic book villain, Gorr the God Butcher, and with a history at Marvel/Disney, it’s not out of the question that he might know someone who can help him don a stormtrooper uniform.

“But look, if I’m fortunate enough to be more than that, oh man, yeah,” he said. “What a delight that would be. I’ve still got the figures from when I was little. I also know Kathy Kennedy very well because she was working with Spielberg when I did Empire of the Sun, and now, she runs the Star Wars universe.”

Will the former Batman get the chance to join the Empire? For now, we’ll have to wait and see.

Want to read more about Star Wars? Check out the Force Unleashed Easter egg in Andor and learn about the divided factions of the Rebel Alliance.

Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

Ubisoft, Bungie, and Others Working on Stadia Game Save Transfers

Ubisoft, Bungie, and others are working on letting players transfer Google Stadia saves.

After the unexpected shutdown of Google Stadia, developers from across the industry are trying to help players by allowing them to transfer game saves to other platforms.

“While Stadia will shut down on January 18, 2023, we're happy to share that we're working to bring the games you own on Stadia to PC through Ubisoft Connect,” said Ubisoft. “We'll have more to share regarding specific details as well as the impact for Ubisoft+ subscribers at a later date.”

Google Stadia unexpectedly announced yesterday that it’s shutting down on January 18, 2023. Additionally, Google will be refunding all hardware and game purchases made through the service.

“We're grateful to the dedicated Stadia players that have been with us from the start,” said Google. “We will be refunding all Stadia hardware purchases made through the Google Store, and all game and add-on content purchases made through the Stadia Store.”

The video game streaming service didn’t exactly prove popular among gamers, but with players putting in hundreds or even thousands of hours into their favorite games on the platform, developers are keen not to leave them hung out to dry.

“We just learned about Stadia shutting down and have begun conversations about next steps for our players,” said Destiny 2 developers, Bungie. “We will announce and send out information regarding Destiny 2 Stadia accounts once we have a plan of action.”

Hitman developer IO Interactive is also working on a solution for its players.

“To all our HITMAN fans on Google Stadia,” they said. “We hear you - we are looking into ways for you to continue your HITMAN experience on other platforms.”

The quick response of developers to this unexpected issue sure is commendable, but will likely mean additional development time to implement a solution. Whether or not this has a knock-on effect on any of their upcoming updates or DLCs remains to be seen.

Still, it’s a lovely response that might just help Stadia players not lose countless hours of playtime in their favorite games.

Want to read more about Google Stadia? Check out Google’s test, launching streaming games direct from the search results, and find out how much Google paid to get Red Redemption 2 on the Stadia.

Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

Ubisoft, Bungie, and Others Working on Stadia Game Save Transfers

Ubisoft, Bungie, and others are working on letting players transfer Google Stadia saves.

After the unexpected shutdown of Google Stadia, developers from across the industry are trying to help players by allowing them to transfer game saves to other platforms.

“While Stadia will shut down on January 18, 2023, we're happy to share that we're working to bring the games you own on Stadia to PC through Ubisoft Connect,” said Ubisoft. “We'll have more to share regarding specific details as well as the impact for Ubisoft+ subscribers at a later date.”

Google Stadia unexpectedly announced yesterday that it’s shutting down on January 18, 2023. Additionally, Google will be refunding all hardware and game purchases made through the service.

“We're grateful to the dedicated Stadia players that have been with us from the start,” said Google. “We will be refunding all Stadia hardware purchases made through the Google Store, and all game and add-on content purchases made through the Stadia Store.”

The video game streaming service didn’t exactly prove popular among gamers, but with players putting in hundreds or even thousands of hours into their favorite games on the platform, developers are keen not to leave them hung out to dry.

“We just learned about Stadia shutting down and have begun conversations about next steps for our players,” said Destiny 2 developers, Bungie. “We will announce and send out information regarding Destiny 2 Stadia accounts once we have a plan of action.”

Hitman developer IO Interactive is also working on a solution for its players.

“To all our HITMAN fans on Google Stadia,” they said. “We hear you - we are looking into ways for you to continue your HITMAN experience on other platforms.”

The quick response of developers to this unexpected issue sure is commendable, but will likely mean additional development time to implement a solution. Whether or not this has a knock-on effect on any of their upcoming updates or DLCs remains to be seen.

Still, it’s a lovely response that might just help Stadia players not lose countless hours of playtime in their favorite games.

Want to read more about Google Stadia? Check out Google’s test, launching streaming games direct from the search results, and find out how much Google paid to get Red Redemption 2 on the Stadia.

Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

The Callisto Protocol’s Latest Trailer Reveals The Boys’ Karen Fukuhara

The latest trailer for The Callisto Protocol, dubbed “The Truth of Back Iron,” features Japanese-American actress Karen Fukuhara as Dani Nakamura. Fukuhara’s most notable roles include Kimiko in The Boys and Katana in Suicide Squad.

In the new trailer, protagonist Jacob Lee explores the Black Iron Prison on Jupiter’s moon, Calisto. He finds it crawling with disgusting creatures that can evolve and mutate as their limbs are cut off. One of the characters, Dani, is seen accompanying Jacob as they make their way through the maximum security facility.

Towards the end of the trailer, Dani exclaims to Jacob that just finding a way out of Black Iron Prison isn’t enough—they need to find answers to what happened to all of the prisoners and why the truth is being covered up.

Fukuhara previously hosted a panel at San Diego Comic-Con earlier this year for The Callisto Protocol, but the extent of her involvement in the game was unknown. Now, we have confirmation that the character Dani will utilize her likeness for the game. This also looks to be Fukuhara's first video game credit as well.

The Callisto Protocol launches on December 2 for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.

George Yang is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @yinyangfooey

The Callisto Protocol’s Latest Trailer Reveals The Boys’ Karen Fukuhara

The latest trailer for The Callisto Protocol, dubbed “The Truth of Back Iron,” features Japanese-American actress Karen Fukuhara as Dani Nakamura. Fukuhara’s most notable roles include Kimiko in The Boys and Katana in Suicide Squad.

In the new trailer, protagonist Jacob Lee explores the Black Iron Prison on Jupiter’s moon, Calisto. He finds it crawling with disgusting creatures that can evolve and mutate as their limbs are cut off. One of the characters, Dani, is seen accompanying Jacob as they make their way through the maximum security facility.

Towards the end of the trailer, Dani exclaims to Jacob that just finding a way out of Black Iron Prison isn’t enough—they need to find answers to what happened to all of the prisoners and why the truth is being covered up.

Fukuhara previously hosted a panel at San Diego Comic-Con earlier this year for The Callisto Protocol, but the extent of her involvement in the game was unknown. Now, we have confirmation that the character Dani will utilize her likeness for the game. This also looks to be Fukuhara's first video game credit as well.

The Callisto Protocol launches on December 2 for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.

George Yang is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @yinyangfooey

NASA Is Working on a Plan to Keep Hubble Alive (By Flying a SpaceX Craft Into It)

NASA has teamed up with SpaceX and the Polaris Program to explore the potential of using a Dragon spacecraft to push the Hubble Space Telescope into a higher orbit, thus prolonging its life.

Since launching in April 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope has become a scientific powerhouse. To date, it has captured over 1.5 million observations of the cosmos and fuelled the publication of over 19,000 scientific papers.

Sadly, the legendary telescope can’t simply go on observing the heavens forever. Hubble is starting to show its age. Over the past three decades, the stalwart observatory has suffered a host of hardware and software issues, the most serious of which were remedied in daring shuttle-era servicing missions.

However, despite these hardships, it remains an impressive tool for astronomers attempting to unravel the mysteries of the universe.

“After more than 32 years, Hubble remains incredibly productive scientifically, with unique capabilities for exploring the unknowns of the universe,” said Hubble Telescope project manager Patrick Crouse, during a joint NASA, SpaceX press conference. “Using these unique capabilities, working in tandem with the James Webb Space Telescope’s, enables greater productivity than either of the missions would have achieved working on their own.”

One of the major factors limiting Hubble’s lifespan is its slowly decaying orbit. Upon launching in 1990, Hubble was placed in a stable 380-mile-high orbit. However, over the past 32 years, atmospheric drag has forced the telescope into a lower orbit — a mere 335 miles above Earth’s surface. The most recent projections give Hubble a 50/50 chance of burning up in Earth’s atmosphere sometime in the year 2037.

A New Hope

However, depending on the success of a new study, Hubble may be granted a reprieve. NASA recently announced a new Space Act Agreement — or partnership — with SpaceX, and the Polaris Program, which will see the collaborators explore the potential of using a Dragon spacecraft to boost the Hubble Space Telescope’s degrading orbit.

This would be a tricky endeavour. Figuring out how to make two spacecraft rendezvous in low-Earth orbit is a complex undertaking at the best of times, though it has become relatively commonplace in modern day spaceflight thanks to the crew rotation requirements of the International Space Station.

Scientists will also need to develop a way to modify a Dragon spacecraft to allow it to securely dock with the telescope, and figure out how to fire its thrusters to raise Hubble’s orbit without placing its delicate instruments at risk.

The key to safely docking the two spacecraft could be the Soft Capture Mechanism that was installed on Hubble’s aft bulkhead during the final shuttle servicing mission in 2009. This ring-like addition was initially designed to allow a robotic probe to grapple onto the observatory in order to de-orbit it in a controlled fashion. However, it could equally be a means to extend Hubble’s life.

The 6-month feasibility study will also examine whether such a mission could service the telescope by, for example, replacing some of the gyroscopes that help Hubble remain steady as it makes observations of distant stars and galaxies.

In an ideal scenario, NASA and SpaceX would look to boost Hubble back up to its initial orbit 380 miles above Earth — a move which would significantly extend its scientific career, and allow it to complement observations made by the James Webb Space Telescope.

NASA is keen to emphasize that the agreement with SpaceX is simply a feasibility study designed to explore commercial opportunities and that it has not committed to greenlighting a servicing mission. It is also not paying SpaceX or the Polaris Program to undertake their part of the research.

However, if the results of the study are promising, then the opportunity to extend Hubble’s scientific career would be a tempting prospect.

Regardless, whilst Hubble and Dragon are set to be the focus of the new study, its findings could be used to inform any future missions seeking to service a spacecraft or give it an orbital boost.

“SpaceX and the Polaris Program want to expand the boundaries of current technology and explore how commercial partnerships can creatively solve challenging complex problems,” commented Vice President of Customer Operations and Integration at SpaceX, Jessica Jensen. “Missions such as servicing Hubble would help us expand space capabilities to ultimately help all of us achieve our goals of becoming a space-faring, multi-planetary civilization.”

Anthony Wood is a freelance science writer for IGN

NASA Is Working on a Plan to Keep Hubble Alive (By Flying a SpaceX Craft Into It)

NASA has teamed up with SpaceX and the Polaris Program to explore the potential of using a Dragon spacecraft to push the Hubble Space Telescope into a higher orbit, thus prolonging its life.

Since launching in April 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope has become a scientific powerhouse. To date, it has captured over 1.5 million observations of the cosmos and fuelled the publication of over 19,000 scientific papers.

Sadly, the legendary telescope can’t simply go on observing the heavens forever. Hubble is starting to show its age. Over the past three decades, the stalwart observatory has suffered a host of hardware and software issues, the most serious of which were remedied in daring shuttle-era servicing missions.

However, despite these hardships, it remains an impressive tool for astronomers attempting to unravel the mysteries of the universe.

“After more than 32 years, Hubble remains incredibly productive scientifically, with unique capabilities for exploring the unknowns of the universe,” said Hubble Telescope project manager Patrick Crouse, during a joint NASA, SpaceX press conference. “Using these unique capabilities, working in tandem with the James Webb Space Telescope’s, enables greater productivity than either of the missions would have achieved working on their own.”

One of the major factors limiting Hubble’s lifespan is its slowly decaying orbit. Upon launching in 1990, Hubble was placed in a stable 380-mile-high orbit. However, over the past 32 years, atmospheric drag has forced the telescope into a lower orbit — a mere 335 miles above Earth’s surface. The most recent projections give Hubble a 50/50 chance of burning up in Earth’s atmosphere sometime in the year 2037.

A New Hope

However, depending on the success of a new study, Hubble may be granted a reprieve. NASA recently announced a new Space Act Agreement — or partnership — with SpaceX, and the Polaris Program, which will see the collaborators explore the potential of using a Dragon spacecraft to boost the Hubble Space Telescope’s degrading orbit.

This would be a tricky endeavour. Figuring out how to make two spacecraft rendezvous in low-Earth orbit is a complex undertaking at the best of times, though it has become relatively commonplace in modern day spaceflight thanks to the crew rotation requirements of the International Space Station.

Scientists will also need to develop a way to modify a Dragon spacecraft to allow it to securely dock with the telescope, and figure out how to fire its thrusters to raise Hubble’s orbit without placing its delicate instruments at risk.

The key to safely docking the two spacecraft could be the Soft Capture Mechanism that was installed on Hubble’s aft bulkhead during the final shuttle servicing mission in 2009. This ring-like addition was initially designed to allow a robotic probe to grapple onto the observatory in order to de-orbit it in a controlled fashion. However, it could equally be a means to extend Hubble’s life.

The 6-month feasibility study will also examine whether such a mission could service the telescope by, for example, replacing some of the gyroscopes that help Hubble remain steady as it makes observations of distant stars and galaxies.

In an ideal scenario, NASA and SpaceX would look to boost Hubble back up to its initial orbit 380 miles above Earth — a move which would significantly extend its scientific career, and allow it to complement observations made by the James Webb Space Telescope.

NASA is keen to emphasize that the agreement with SpaceX is simply a feasibility study designed to explore commercial opportunities and that it has not committed to greenlighting a servicing mission. It is also not paying SpaceX or the Polaris Program to undertake their part of the research.

However, if the results of the study are promising, then the opportunity to extend Hubble’s scientific career would be a tempting prospect.

Regardless, whilst Hubble and Dragon are set to be the focus of the new study, its findings could be used to inform any future missions seeking to service a spacecraft or give it an orbital boost.

“SpaceX and the Polaris Program want to expand the boundaries of current technology and explore how commercial partnerships can creatively solve challenging complex problems,” commented Vice President of Customer Operations and Integration at SpaceX, Jessica Jensen. “Missions such as servicing Hubble would help us expand space capabilities to ultimately help all of us achieve our goals of becoming a space-faring, multi-planetary civilization.”

Anthony Wood is a freelance science writer for IGN

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