Monthly Archives: November 2022

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Ang Lee’s Son Will Play Bruce Lee in New Biopic

Hollywood's favorite martial arts legend Bruce Lee is getting the big screen treatment at Sony. Ang Lee, renowned for his work on movies like Life of Pi and Brokeback Mountain, is directing the biopic, and his son, Mason Lee, is attached to star in the film as the Chinese American star.

According to Deadline, the film is currently in development at Sony's 3000 Pictures with Dan Futterman adapting the script from Jean Castelli, Alex Law and Mabel Cheung and Wells Tower's earlier screenplays. Futterman's previous writing credits include hits like Capote and Foxcatcher.

“Accepted as neither fully American nor Fully Chinese, Bruce Lee was a bridge between East and West who introduced Chinese Gung Fu to the world, a scientist of combat and an iconic performing artist who revolutionized both the martial arts and action cinema,” Ang Lee said in a statement. “I feel compelled to tell the story of this brilliant, unique human being who yearned for belonging, possessed tremendous power in a 135-pound-frame, and who, through tireless hard work, made impossible dreams into reality.”

Bruce Lee made a name for himself in Hollywood during the 1960's and early 70's before his untimely death in 1973. The star popularized martial arts across the globe with hits like Fists of Fury, Enter the Dragon and The Way of the Dragon. Now, the story behind the legend is coming to the silver screen under the tutilage of an Oscar-winning director.

Ang Lee, whose film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is one of the greatest martial arts film ever made, is a life-long fan of Bruce Lee. According to Elizabeth Gabler, who is overseeing the project for Sony, the upcoming biopic is a "passion project" for Ang.

“’Bruce Lee’ is a longtime passion project for Ang and a deeply emotional story depicting the triumphs and conflicts of one of the foremost real life action heroes of our time,” Gabler said. “All of us at Sony and 3000 Pictures are proud to help Ang and his filmmaking team create what we believe will be an extraordinary theatrical event.”

Mason Lee has appeared in a few film roles including The Hangover Part II and Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk. Most recently, he starred in the Taiwanese romantic comedy “Stand By Me,” Hong Kong drama “Limbo” and “Who Killed Cock Robin.”

Carson Burton is a freelance news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter at @carsonsburton.

Nintendo Shuts Down Smash World Tour Fighting Game Championship

Organizers of the Smash World Tour have announced its 2022 championship tournament and its 2023 series of events have been canceled following a notice from Nintendo telling them they could no longer operate their tournament.

"It is with an unbelievably heavy heart that we must announce that both the upcoming Smash World Tour Championships, as well as the 2023 Smash World Tour must be canceled,” organizers wrote in a Medium post.

“Without any warning, we received notice the night before Thanksgiving from Nintendo that we could no longer operate. This was especially shocking given our discourse with Nintendo the past twelve months. Since then, we have been working around the clock to take the proper steps logistically, as well as to prepare this statement with proper legal guidance.”

The Smash World Tour boasted over 6,400 live events worldwide according to organizers with an attendance of over 325,000. This year’s championship was also set to have the largest prize pool in competitive Smash Bros. history at $250,000.

Nintendo has a known history of butting heads with third-party Super Smash Bros. events and tournaments. Nintendo shut down a Super Smash Bros. tournament in 2020 for using online mods, and famously, Nintendo tried to shut down Super Smash Bros. Melee from taking place at Evo 2013. This was following a community-driven donation drive where the winner could pick a game to enter in Evo which was Super Smash Bros. After online outcry, the tournament was allowed to proceed.

Last year, Nintendo seemed to be making inroads into the competitive Smash Bros. competitive scene by announcing an officially-licensed tournament with Panda Global called the Panda Cup. However, the organizers of the Smash World Tour allege this very relationship may have impacted the tournament’s closure.

The statement accuses Panda CEO Alan Bunney of sabotaging Smash World Tour’s organization efforts despite an ongoing discussion between Smash World Tour and Nintendo about a potential license for themselves and where the company “made it clear that Panda’s partnership was not exclusive[.]”

“However, we quickly found that many organizers were concerned about joining up [with Smash World Tour] in 2022. They told us that they had been told by Alan, the CEO, and co-founder of Panda, that we were going to get shut down and were not coming back in 2022.”

In a statement to IGN, Nintendo says, “Unfortunately after continuous conversations with Smash World Tour, and after giving the same deep consideration we apply to any potential partner, we were unable to come to an agreement with SWT for a full circuit in 2023. Nintendo did not request any changes to or cancellation of remaining events in 2022, including the 2022 Championship event, considering the negative impact on the players who were already planning to participate.”

The organizers dispute this in their blog saying, “Our Nintendo rep opened by letting us know that they are being asked to deliver the news that going forward, Nintendo expects us to only operate with a commercial license, and that we would not be granted one for the upcoming Championships or any activity in 2023.” The organizers say they received this notice in writing as well.

In an interview with IGN earlier this year about the Panda Cup, the company says the decision to officially license a tournament “was really an important kind of step for us.” However, the company also hinted at the internal decision-making processes which have frustrated the grassroots community for so long.

“We love the grassroots community, we want to see it thrive, we want to see it be strong, but there’s also — we as Nintendo have our own internal challenges,” Nintendo’s Bill Trinnen said at the time.

Regardless, organizers of the Smash World. Tour says they'll lose "hundreds of thousands of dollars due to Nintendo's actions," but is promising full refunds for all attendees.

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

The Last of Us HBO Character Posters Feature Joel, Ellie, Bill, and More

With less than two months to go until the premiere of HBO's The Last of Us adaptation, we're getting a closer look at most of the show's prominent characters.

HBO released posters for 11 of the show's characters, including Joel, Ellie, Marlene, Tommy, Tess, Bill, Sam, Frank, Henry, Riley, and Sarah. You can take a look at all of the new posters in the slideshow below.

The handful of characters featured in the posters are all from the 2013 video game to some extent, although characters like Bill's partner Frank never actually appear onscreen. We also know the show will include two brand new characters named Marlon and Florence.

The Last of Us will premiere on HBO on January 15, 2023. Season One consists of 10 episodes and will cover the events of Joel and Ellie's cross-country journey from the first game. However, the show will "deviate greatly" from the original game's story in some episodes.

Another clue that tells us the show will feel different from the game is the fact that both Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey both stayed away from finishing The Last of Us game to avoid copying Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson's performances of Joel and Ellie.

The first trailer for The Last of Us gave us a look at live-action Clickers, the post-apocalyptic United States Joel and Ellie will trek across, and the opening scene from the game. For more, you can check out our side-by-side comparison of the first teaser trailer and the game.

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN covering video game and entertainment news. He has over six years of experience in the gaming industry with bylines at IGN, Nintendo Wire, Switch Player Magazine, and Lifewire. Find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.

Streets of Rage Composer is Making a Brand-New Game… for the Sega Genesis

For the first time in nearly three decades, video game composer and designer Yuzo Koshiro is working on a new game for the Sega Genesis.

Koshiro is best known for contributing music to classic game series like Streets of Rage, The Revenge of Shinobi, Actraiser, Ys, and more. Now, the developer is working on a brand new shoot 'em up game designed for the original Genesis/Mega Drive hardware.

As revealed on Twitter, Koshiro posted a couple of images of the game that depict a spaceship flying through what appears to be an alien planet.

Koshiro wrote, "It looks like an old shoot 'em up but is a new game we're developing, harkening back to famous franchises in the 80s. We will release it for MD/Genesis. I'm making the soundtrack and have been back also as a game designer since Beyond Oasis."

The composer added that the soundtrack and sound effects will run off the authentic hardware, as well.

The game is under development at Ancient, which has been Koshiro's studio since the 1990s. This new title will be the first Genesis game from Koshiro since 1994's Beyond Oasis.

In various replies on Twitter, Koshiro said the studio is considering multiple ways to release the game, including physical carts. The developer also wrote that progress on the game just started and that the release date, price, and platforms are all up in the air right now.

Koshiro has remained active in the video game scene over the last number of years. The composer is credited on several recent games, including Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Streets of Rage 4, the upcoming Mina the Hollower, and more.

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN covering video game and entertainment news. He has over six years of experience in the gaming industry with bylines at IGN, Nintendo Wire, Switch Player Magazine, and Lifewire. Find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.

Warner Bros. Close to Bringing DC Animated Shows to Amazon Prime Video

Shakeups are continuing over at Warner Bros. in regards to DC-branded content. According to Channing Dungey, a high-level executive at Warner Bros TV group, Warner Bros. Television Studios is in the process of closing a major animation deal with Amazon for DC content, possibly introducing some animated DC content onto Prime Video.

According to Deadline, Dungey revealed the news at Content London, saying the studio is "exploring animated IP on different platforms." This includes HBO Max, which is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery.

“With animation we used to be about staying in-house but now we are doing it on different platforms,” Dungey said. “HBO Max is the first stop but we are in the process of closing a big deal with Amazon featuring DC branded content in animation.”

Dungey didn't elaborate further on the deal between the two mega companies.

Warner Bros. Discovery has made it clear that they are looking to merge HBO Max and Discovery Plus into one streaming service, so it is possible the new deal with Amazon is in search of a new home for DC animated projects.

The news comes at a time of drastic change at DC. Ever since Warner Bros was acquired by Discovery back in April, the company has implemented significant changes to the DC Extended Universe. From axing Batgirl to naming James Gunn and Peter Safran as heads of DC Studios, a new era of DC is surely upon us.

One of Gunn and Safran's main responsibilities is in animated DC properties, so the Amazon-WBD deal would likely have large implications for the duo's future plans. As Gunn and Safran continue to formulate their 8-10 year plan for DC, the future of animation seems to have just gotten a bit more complicated.

What the move would mean for current DC TV shows on various networks is yet to be seen, but hopefully things will become clearer once the deal is finalized.

Carson Burton is a freelance news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter at @carsonsburton.

Sonic Frontiers 2023 Roadmap Revealed, Adds New Playable Characters and Story

Sega has revealed the 2023 content roadmap for Sonic Frontiers. The game will receive 3 updates throughout the year, including a new playable character and story.

In a roadmap, Sega revealed the first update will include a Juke Box feature which could potentially allow players to choose the music they hear in the game. There will also be a Photo Mode and new Challenge Modes for players to tackle.

The second update will celebrate Sonic’s birthday in some sort of fashion. The franchise's birthday is in June, so that could be a hint as to when the update could potentially arrive. It’ll add more Open Zone Challenges to play and Koko to collect.

The third and final update is the biggest one, which will include more playable characters and a new story expansion. The details of the additional story are currently unknown, but the roadmap depicts Tails, Amy, Knuckles, and Sage, so it may revolve around them.

We'll have to wait for additional details, especially on the new character and story. But for more you can check out IGN’s Sonic Frontier’s review, where we said, "Sonic Frontiers is a delightfully weird and experimental evolution of the Sonic games so many of us grew up with."

George Yang is a freelance writer for IGN. He's been writing about the industry since 2019 and has worked with other publications such as Insider, Kotaku, NPR, and Variety.

When not writing about video games, George is playing video games. What a surprise! You can follow him on Twitter @Yinyangfooey

PlayStation Plus Games for December 2022 Announced

Sony has announced that the PlayStation Plus games for December 2022 are Mass Effect: Legendary Edition (PS4), Biomutant (PS4 and PS5), and Divine Knockout: Founder's Edition (PS4 and PS5).

As revealed on the PlayStation Blog, all three games will be made available at no extra cost to all PlayStation Plus subscribers on December 6.

Mass Effect: Legendary Edition turns the three-game line-up into a heftier five as it contains remastered versions of all three original Mass Effect games. Widely considered some of the best RPGs of all time, these modern sci-fi classics follow the story of Commander Shepard as they embark on several galaxy ending missions.

In our 9/10 review of what we called the best of the bunch, IGN said: "Mass Effect 2's Legendary Edition upgrades the graphics to near-modern standards and lets us immerse ourselves in the best game in BioWare's epic RPG trilogy all over again."

Biomutant is another RPG, this time set in a post-apocalyptic fantasy world full of kung-fu. Players can blend together melee combat with shooting and mutant abilities as they seek to save (or destroy) their complex planet.

IGN said it was "okay" in our review, adding that: "Biomutant has a lot of the building blocks of a top-drawer action RPG but its cookie-cutter approach to objectives and puzzles starts feeling very repetitive very early on."

Finally, Divine Knockout: Founder’s Edition launches directly on PlayStation Plus. This colourful third-person arena fighter has players adopt godly powers playing as the likes of Hercules, Thor, and more. Various modes are available including one on one, two on two, and three on three, with multiplayer featuring too.

All three games will be available at no extra cost until January 2, with last month's games - Nioh 2, LEGO Harry Potter Collection, and Heavenly Bodies - leaving the service on December 5.

Sony didn't announce the new games coming to its more expensive services but you can check out our updated lists of all PS Plus Premium Catalogue Games and PlayStation Plus Classic Games Catalogue on IGN Playlist. You can use these lists to plan what to play next, create custom-ranked lists of your favourites, and track your backlog.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer and acting UK news editor. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

Overwatch 2: Sojourn the Main Target of Nerfs in Season 2 Update

Blizzard Entertainment has revealed what we can expect from Season 2 of Overwatch 2, including balancing updates, limited-time events, skins, and more ahead of its December 6 launch date.

Alongside the introduction of the new Omnic revolutionary tank hero Ramattra and the winding Shambali Monastery Escort map, Season 2 is also bringing some important balancing changes, according to Blizzard Entertainment’s official blog post.

Most significantly, Blizzard Entertainment has moved to nerf the damage hero Sojourn, who according to a blog post on the company’s website has been dominating the high-skill competitive scene in recent weeks, while “remaining a challenge for players without the same mechanical skills”.

To address the issue, the developers announced that they would be “focussing on the lethality of her Rail Gun at distance for Season 2”. This has been done to encourage players of all skills to use Sojurn’s mobility and her power slide to “close the distance for more devastating right-clicks”.

Doomfist — another tank — will also receive significant balancing tweaks to better reflect “his role as the team’s front line”. Ana, Bastion, Junker Queen, Kiriko, Mercy, and Symmetra will also be tweaked when the new season goes live on December 6, though Blizzard Entertainment has yet to reveal exactly how.

Next month's launch will also bring a new map pool to Overwatch 2. Rialto and Blizzard World will be entering rotation alongside the new map Shambali Monastery. Oasis and Nepal will also be appearing “at different times of day”, while Hollywood and Watchpoint: Gibraltar will be rotated out.

Blizzard revealed details for the Greek mythology themed Season 2 Battle Pass. Progression rewards for the premium pass will include a Poseidon skin for Ramattra and a Hades costume for Pharah. The “pinnacle reward” for the pass is a Mythic Zeus skin for Junker Queen, which comes with “new customizations, weapon models, voice lines, and special effects".

Season 2 is also set to bring three special events to the game. Winter Wonderland will run from December 13 - January 4, while the Lunar New Year event will start on January 17 and end on February 1.

Special skins will be up for grabs during each event, including “Epic Ice Queen Brigitte, Legendary Winged Victory Mercy, and Legendary Kkachi Echo.”

Sandwiched between these seasonal celebrations is the Battle for Olympus event, which will be around for a limited time from January 5 - 19. During this period players will be able to earn skins as they engage in a new game mode which will see certain heroes “imbued with awesome god-like powers”.

Finally, Season 2 will feature catch up challenges that will allow players to unlock heroes, including Kiriko from Season 1. To stay up to date and find out how to get the most out of your hero, be sure to check out more of IGN’s coverage of Overwatch 2.

Anthony is a freelance contributor covering science and video gaming news for IGN. He has over eight years experience of covering breaking developments in multiple scientific fields and absolutely no time for your shenanigans. Follow him on Twitter @BeardConGamer

Fallout TV Show Has a Fresh Story Separate From the Games

Amazon's Fallout TV show will tell a fresh story completely separate from the games, though still in the same world.

Speaking to Lex Fridman on the latest episode of his podcast, Bethesda director and executive producer of the Fallout TV series Todd Howard said he'd been turned off by previous adaptation offers that only wanted to transfer the story of Fallout 3 or 4 into a film. When the idea was proposed to tell a new story adjacent to the events of the games, however, Howard got on board.

"When people wanted to make a movie they wanted to tell the story of Fallout 3 or tell the story of Fallout 4, and it was meh," he said. "For this it was, 'hey let's do something that exists within the world of Fallout.'

"It's not retelling a game story. It's basically an area of the map. Let's tell a story here that fits in the world that we have built, doesn't break any of the rules, can reference things in the games, but isn't a retelling of the games," he continued. "[It] exists in the same world but is its own unique thing, so it adds to it. While also, people who haven't played the games, who can't experience how crazy cool Fallout is, can watch the series."

Amazon has otherwise been tight-lipped about the plot of the Fallout show, not making clear (until now) if it would be a partial or full adaptation of the games. A brief teaser trailer released in October 2022 suggests the story will revolve around Vault 33, but details beyond that are still hazy.

The Fallout show was announced in July 2020 with Westworld co-creator Jonathan Nolan directing at least a few episodes. Walton Goggins will play the lead role alongside Ella Purnell and Kyle MacLachlan.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer and acting UK news editor. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

Todd Howard’s Indiana Jones Game Is a ‘Unique’ Mash-Up of Different Genres

The upcoming Indiana Jones game executive produced by Bethesda's Todd Howard will be a "unique" mash-up of different genres.

Speaking to Lex Fridman on the latest episode of his podcast, Howard denied to comment on which one genre Machine Games' Indiana Jones would be, instead saying it was a blend of different things.

When asked if it will be an action-adventure game, Howard said: "I will just say it's a mash-up. It's unique. It isn't one thing, intentionally, so it does a lot of different things that myself and the folks at Machine Games have wanted to do in a game. So it's a unique thing."

Very little has been said about Indiana Jones since Bethesda announced it in January 2021. It is confirmed to have an original story, at least some of which is set in 1937 and probably in Vatican City, meaning it's somewhere between Raiders of the Lost Ark and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

A very brief teaser trailer released alongside the announcement (above) also alludes that Indy will visit Egypt, Peru, and Mesopotamia.

Indiana Jones was thought to be in early development around that time, meaning it'll likely still be a couple of years before it's released. Given that Xbox now owns Bethesda, it will probably follow Starfield's lead of being an Xbox exclusive, though no hard details regarding a release date or platform have been given so far.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer and acting UK news editor. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

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