PlayStation Plus Games for February 2021 Announced
Sony has revealed that Destruction AllStars, Control: Ultimate Edition (PS4 and PS5!), and Concrete Genie are the PlayStation Plus games for February 2021.
Announced on PlayStation.Blog, all three games will be available on February 2, 2021. While Control: Ultimate Edition and Concrete Genie will only be available until March 1, Destruction AllStars will stay until April 5.
Alongside this news, PlayStation also shared its newest State of Play, and it is focused entirely on Destruction AllStars. It lasts nearly eight minutes, and gives an in-depth look at the "car-smashing, heart-pounding, thrill-seeking world of Destruction AllStars."
[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/01/27/destruction-allstars-state-of-play-video"]
Control: Ultimate Edition is a welcome one, as there was a bit of controversy over the fact that this version was the only one that would get the next-gen upgrades. Those who purchased the base game would have to buy Control again to get these improvements.
Control was our game of the year in 2019, and in our review, we said "thanks to a strong supporting cast, a well-written script, and plenty of intriguing breadcrumb trails, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my adventure through the shifting rooms of Oldest House. Jesse’s personal story feels like an afterthought next to that, but there’s enough to Control’s world that I remain invested in uncovering every secret, even though the story’s over."
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Concrete Genie was released on PS4 in 2019, and in our review, we said "Short and very sweet, Concrete Genie is a spellbinding experiment in player creativity."
Concrete Genie also includes two additional modes that were designed for PS VR.
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Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.
Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.
New Mortal Kombat and The Suicide Squad Clips Released in Warner Bros. Sizzle Reel
Warner Bros. has released a sizzle reel of its upcoming movie releases, which includes new snippets of Mortal Kombat and The Suicide Squad, among others.
The reel, showing off the movies that will arrive in theaters and on HBO Max on the same day, includes several shots of Mortal Kombat, including new looks at an unmasked Scorpion sword fighting with masked attackers, and Sonya Blade pointing to the words "Motal Kombat" on a picture and saying, "It's an invitation to Mortal Kombat" (just in case you didn't understand what the movie was called, I guess).
As for The Suicide Squad, we see a familiar rainy long shot of the titular squad, set to the words, "So this is the famous Suicide Squad" (also just in case you didn't guess), as well as Idris Elba's Bloodsport saying, "no one likes a show-off", to which John Cena's Peacemaker replies, "Unless what they're showing off is dope as f-", before being cut off. We also see a split-second of Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn escaping a collapsing building. The reel comprises a huge list of movies coming from Warner Bros. and HBO Max: The Little Things, Judas and the Black Messiah, Tom & Jerry the Movie, Godzilla vs. Kong, Mortal Kombat, Those Who Wish Me Dead, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, In the Heights, The Suicide Squad, Reminiscence, Cry Macho, King Richard, Space Jam: A New Legacy, Malignant, The Many Saints of Newark, Dune, and the untitled Matrix 4 (no footage of that one, I'm afraid). [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-suicide-squad-whos-who-full-cast-and-character-reveals&captions=true"] Mortal Kombat will arrive on April 16, and we recently got new images and details, including a mention of the fatalities. The reboot includes Mehcad Brooks as Jackson "Jax" Briggs, Chin Han as Shang Tsung, Hiroyuki Sanada as Scorpion, Joe Taslim as Sub-Zero, Tadanobu Asano as Raiden, Ludi Lin as Liu Kang, Sisi Stringer as Mileena, Josh Lawson as Kano, Jessica McNamee as Sonya Blade, Max Huang as Lung Lao Max, and Lewis Tan as an all-new character. The Suicide Squad, from director James Gunn, is described as a gritty war movie, and has a truly bonkers cast, from Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, to John Cena as Peacemaker, to Idris Elba as Bloodsport, to Sylvester Stallone and Taika Waititi. It will arrive on August 6. Warner Bros.' decision to release its movies in theaters and streaming has been highly controversial, with director Christopher Nolan saying "they don't understand what they're losing". [poilib element="accentDivider"] Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.This year every @WBPictures movie will be in theaters and streaming exclusively on HBO Max.
The biggest premieres every single month. pic.twitter.com/5ipY3x4mBi — HBO Max (@hbomax) January 27, 2021
Skull Island Anime Series Announced By Netflix
Netflix has announced Skull Island, a new anime series set in the Legendary MonsterVerse. It will be produced by Powerhouse Animation, the studio behind Castlevania.
As detailed by the tweet, the series will involve a shipwrecked crew landing on an island full of monsters, where one king rules them all. That 'king' is likely to be King Kong himself, considering Skull Island is the giant gorilla's home. Skull Island has been featured in numerous films, starting in the 1933 movie King Kong. Most recently, it was the setting of Kong: Skull Island, and modern film fans will also recall it being a large part of Peter Jackson's King Kong. The Kong: Skull Island version of the setting is officially part of the Legendary MonsterVerse, and so may well be the starting point for this show, which is also an official part of the universe. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/01/24/godzilla-vs-kong-official-trailer"] No images or artwork has yet been shown, but Powerhouse Animation has produced a variety of well-liked shows, including Netflix's Castlevania adaptation and Blood of Zeus. The studio is based in Austin, Texas, but has produced animation in a similar style to Japanese anime studios. For more, check out our look at every monster in the MonsterVerse, why Kong is so big in the upcoming Godzilla vs. Kong movie, and vote in our survey on who you think will win the epic monster battle. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer.A shipwrecked crew, an island of monsters, and one king to rule them all. Skull Island is a new anime series set in @Legendary’s Monsterverse from @PowerhouseAnim.
— NX (@NXOnNetflix) January 27, 2021
Skate Sequel to Be Developed by New EA Studio, Full Circle
EA has announced the newest studio in its stable, Full Circle, and the Vancouver-based, but also globally focused, studio will be the team behind the recently announced new Skate game.
While it remains unclear whether the newest entry in the Skate franchise will be Skate 4, or reboot of the franchise, or something else, EA confirmed the Full Circle team will be led by Daniel McCulloch, the former Head of Box Live at Microsoft. Returning Skate producers Deran Chung and Cuz Parry remain on board, having appeared in the Skate sequel's announcement video at EA Play 2020.
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Full Circle's Studio Logo[/caption]
“The fans wished Skate back into existence and we want them to feel involved in the process from development to game launch and beyond. We want them to feel like they are a part of Full Circle,” McCulloch said in a statement accompanying the announcement. “We’re all about having fun and making great games that people want to play with their friends. And, we’re looking for more developers to help us build compelling worlds for players to explore.”
The new studio is currently hiring for various positions including artists, designers, and engineers, and while it's based in Vancouver, is "embracing a geo-diverse team" with members involved in development "around the globe."
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Full Circle joins EA Sports and Respawn Entertainment as the third EA Studio in the Canadian city.
Unfortunately, there's no new word on development on the next Skate thus far, or any additional details about the vision for the upcoming game, but late last year we learned the new Skate may have a focus on user-generated content. At the time, EA's Andrew Wilson discussed how the new Skate was in "very early development" but that trends within the skateboarding world could fit into the scope of the new game.
"You take a game like Skate, and while skateboarding in and of itself has tremendous appeal to a huge, global audience, there’s another secular trend that’s happening inside our industry around user-generated content, open-world, and interaction,” Wilson said last June. “So for many people, you think about skating as a starting point that has appeal, but you start to build in user-generated content, exploration, and community on top of that and that expands the opportunity exponentially."
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Jonathon Dornbush is IGN's Senior News Editor, host of Podcast Beyond!, and PlayStation lead. Talk to him on Twitter @jmdornbush.
Full Circle's Studio Logo[/caption]
“The fans wished Skate back into existence and we want them to feel involved in the process from development to game launch and beyond. We want them to feel like they are a part of Full Circle,” McCulloch said in a statement accompanying the announcement. “We’re all about having fun and making great games that people want to play with their friends. And, we’re looking for more developers to help us build compelling worlds for players to explore.”
The new studio is currently hiring for various positions including artists, designers, and engineers, and while it's based in Vancouver, is "embracing a geo-diverse team" with members involved in development "around the globe."
[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/untitled-skate-game-announcement-trailer-ea-play-2020"]
Full Circle joins EA Sports and Respawn Entertainment as the third EA Studio in the Canadian city.
Unfortunately, there's no new word on development on the next Skate thus far, or any additional details about the vision for the upcoming game, but late last year we learned the new Skate may have a focus on user-generated content. At the time, EA's Andrew Wilson discussed how the new Skate was in "very early development" but that trends within the skateboarding world could fit into the scope of the new game.
"You take a game like Skate, and while skateboarding in and of itself has tremendous appeal to a huge, global audience, there’s another secular trend that’s happening inside our industry around user-generated content, open-world, and interaction,” Wilson said last June. “So for many people, you think about skating as a starting point that has appeal, but you start to build in user-generated content, exploration, and community on top of that and that expands the opportunity exponentially."
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Jonathon Dornbush is IGN's Senior News Editor, host of Podcast Beyond!, and PlayStation lead. Talk to him on Twitter @jmdornbush.European Commission Could Take Action Against Nintendo for Joy-Con Drift
Update 01/29/2021: The European Commission has confirmed that it will consider complaints into Nintendo Switch Joy-Con Drift, potentially launching further investigation and "coordinated action".
Speaking to IGN, a European Commission (EC) spokesperson explained: "The European Commission will carefully consider all the elements brought forward by BEUC together with the national consumer authorities in the coming weeks to assess the need for further investigation into the matter and a possible coordinated action as foreseen under the Consumer protection cooperation (CPC) regulation."
Asked what that coordinated action could involve, the EC spokesperson pointed to previous cases, in which companies were compelled to change their practices after being deemed to have broken EU consumer law. The original complaint called for Nintendo to offer free repairs to existing Joy-Cons, and to change the design in future models to prevent drift – the EC has made no mention of what it could enforce.
Didier Reynders, Commissioner for Justice provided a statement on the investigation centring on the idea of early obsolescence, in which companies are seen to create products that begin failing early, necessitating replacement or repair:
“Early obsolescence is a growing concern for all consumers. The Commission is determined to act against such trends and to empower consumers in the green transition. We are preparing a new legislative initiative aiming to provide consumers with better information on products’ sustainability, including durability, and better protection against certain practices, such as early obsolescence.”
It's not the first time Nintendo's fallen under EC scrutiny. In 2002, the Commission imposed a €149 million fine against the company for price-fixing, which was later reduced to €119 million on appeal. The EC has also recently levied fines on a number of game companies, including Valve, for geo-blocking games on digital services.
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The European Consumer Organization has submitted a complaint to the European Commission about Nintendo Switch Joy-Con Drift, and is calling for a "Europe-wide investigation" into the issue.
The European Consumer Organization (BEUC) revealed the news on the organization's website, noting that "nearly 25,000" complaints have been filed from Switch-owning consumers across Europe. If you're unfamiliar with Joy-Con drift, it's when the analog sticks on the console's controllers register movements without input from the player.
The article reports that, according to testimonies from consumers, "in 88% of cases, the game controllers broke within the first two years of use." This has led the BEUC to submit a complaint to the European Commission and national consumer protection authorities "for premature obsolescence and misleading omissions of key consumer information."
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The BEUC is further calling for a "Europe-wide investigation" into the Joy-Con Drift issue, asking Nintendo to "urgently address the premature failures of its product." The article also suggests that the faulty controllers should be repaired for free by Nintendo.
Per the complaint letter submitted, the BEUC is asking the European Commission to "call on the national authorities to investigate Nintendo’s practices in their countries, launch a coordinated enforcement action and issue a joint position, which should request the company to change the design of their product, to effectively prevent its early obsolescence, and until then, to repair this product for free and properly inform consumers about the limited lifespan of the Joy-Con controllers."
"Consumers assume the products they buy to last an appropriate amount of time according to justified expectations, not to have to pay for expensive replacements due to a technical defect," said Monique Goyens, Director of the BEUC. "Nintendo must now come up with proper solutions for the thousands of consumers affected by this problem."
Nintendo has been facing legal trouble over the issue in Europe, Canada and the US recently, with Canadian law firm lambert Avocat filing an application to bring a class-action suit against Nintendo in January of this year.
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Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.
Batora: Lost Haven Announced by Remothered Developers
Remothered developers Stormind Games have announced Batora: Lost Haven, a new action-RPG in development for current-gen consoles (including Nintendo Switch) and next-gen consoles as well as PC.
Batora puts you in control of Avril, a regular teenage girl who finds herself traveling to many planets to try and save a dying Earth from being destroyed. As the Stormind team describes it, "Batora is based on the duality between mind and body, introducing a new game mechanic that challenges players to find the perfect balance between the two - losing sight of one could mean that their journey is over. Batora doesn’t present the hero’s journey in black or white, good or evil: there are decisions and there are their consequences. Every single decision Avril makes will turn out to be important, often even life-changing, for the characters she meets or the places she visits." In gameplay terms, this means mastering when to alternate between physical-based and mental-based attacks within the same battles, which you can get a hint of in the announcement trailer above.
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The art direction is described as a 1950's sci-fi aesthetic inspired by the work of Paul Lehr. “Bridging the gap between the physical and mental calls for a particular visual representation and we’ve really tried to distinguish between the two with a hand-painted approach inspired by Sci-Fi art of the 1950s versus the photo-realistic approach of many of today’s AAA titles," said art director Gaetano Caltabiano. "We’ve really drawn a lot of inspiration from the likes of Alphonse Mucha and the intense sci-fi environments of Paul Lehr.” Batora will also have help from talent that's helped create games like the Batman: Arkham series and Assassin's Creed, as well as award-winning writer Anne Toole (The Witcher, Horizon: Zero Dawn).
We'll have more on Batora: Lost Haven as development progresses. In the meantime check out IGN's review of Remothered: Broken Porcelain.
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Ryan McCaffrey is IGN’s Executive Editor of Previews. Follow him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan, catch him on Unlocked, and drop-ship him Taylor Ham sandwiches from New Jersey whenever possible.
The Medium Review: Well-Done
The world of The Medium begs to be closely examined, to be parsed for small details that begin to paint monsters as something not too dissimilar to humans. Recognizing these similarities, at times, can be even more terrifying than facing an actual grotesque creature. There's something disturbing about being forced to confront the evils that humans can inflict on one another, and recognize how horrific acts of sexual abuse, ethnoreligious discrimination, and physical violence rarely, if ever, result in a singular trauma. The aftereffects of such actions can fester in the heart and mind of victims for years, an unsettling truth that is often glossed over. It's here that The Medium finds the basis for its story, one that leaves a lasting impression
In The Medium, you play as Marianne (voiced by Kelly Burke, who does a fabulous job), a powerful clairvoyant who travels to the Niwa Resort. She goes there in search of Thomas, a man who leaves her a strange message telling her to find and help him, promising that he'll give her the answers she seeks about her past in return. As a medium, Marianne is able to commune with spirits and help them pass on to the afterlife, a skill she's developed working in her foster father's funeral home. To that end, The Medium plays out on two planes of existence: the normal world and the spirit world, the latter of which acts as a twisted reflection of the former.
The spirit world--inspired by the surreal dystopia portrayed in the paintings of Zdzisław Beksiński--is a nightmarish hellscape, one where the doors are made of human skin that you have to slowly carve open with a rusty knife, and the inhabitants are either monstrous creatures or creepy mask-wearing spirits. Even Marianne takes on a new appearance when navigating the spirit world, the sleeve of her kickass jacket (she's so stylishly put together, I'm jealous as hell) and pant leg becoming frayed, as if this version of her is an incomplete, less-human being. But these two depictions of the world are not black and white opposites. Instead, the game posits that they exist as mirrors of one another--one manifesting literally what the other only hints at figuratively. And via this shared window into both perspectives, The Medium is able to explore the trauma of its characters through puzzle-solving and riddles.
Continue Reading at GameSpotThe Medium Review
The world of The Medium begs to be closely examined, to be parsed for small details that begin to paint monsters as something not too dissimilar to humans. Recognizing these similarities, at times, can be even more terrifying than facing an actual grotesque creature. There's something disturbing about being forced to confront the evils that humans can inflict on one another, and recognize how horrific acts of sexual abuse, ethnoreligious discrimination, and physical violence rarely, if ever, result in a singular trauma. The aftereffects of such actions can fester in the heart and mind of victims for years, an unsettling truth that is often glossed over. It's here that The Medium finds the basis for its story, one that leaves a lasting impression
In The Medium, you play as Marianne (voiced by Kelly Burke, who does a fabulous job), a powerful clairvoyant who travels to the Niwa Resort. She goes there in search of Thomas, a man who leaves her a strange message telling her to find and help him, promising that he'll give her the answers she seeks about her past in return. As a medium, Marianne is able to commune with spirits and help them pass on to the afterlife, a skill she's developed working in her foster father's funeral home. To that end, The Medium plays out on two planes of existence: the normal world and the spirit world, the latter of which acts as a twisted reflection of the former.
The spirit world--inspired by the surreal dystopia portrayed in the paintings of Zdzisław Beksiński--is a nightmarish hellscape, one where the doors are made of human skin that you have to slowly carve open with a rusty knife, and the inhabitants are either monstrous creatures or creepy mask-wearing spirits. Even Marianne takes on a new appearance when navigating the spirit world, the sleeve of her kickass jacket (she's so stylishly put together, I'm jealous as hell) and pant leg becoming frayed, as if this version of her is an incomplete, less-human being. But these two depictions of the world are not black and white opposites. Instead, the game posits that they exist as mirrors of one another--one manifesting literally what the other only hints at figuratively. And via this shared window into both perspectives, The Medium is able to explore the trauma of its characters through puzzle-solving and riddles.
Continue Reading at GameSpotRocket League Adding Visual Options to New Arena After Some Players Report Seizures
Psyonix is adding new visual options for the Rocket League arena Neon Fields following reports from players of potential seizures.
In early January, The Loadout reported on the neon-soaked new arena, noting that it was potentially causing seizures in some players. User psyonixistrynakillme made a post on the official Rocket League subreddit, which started "I am epileptic and the new map is giving me seizures. I've tried complaining on psyonix support and tweeting at them. Got no real answers than pretty much "Oops! Sorry!" So I made a reddit and hopefully my voice is heard here."
Other members of the subreddit rallied around the post, bringing it to the attention of Psyonix, who replied to the thread in an attempt to speak to the poster.
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The Neon Fields arena in Rocket League. Source: Psyonix[/caption]
Players' voices haver clearly have been heard as the latest update announcement on the Rocket League blog talks about the new effects settings that will be added to the game on February 1. "Based on recent player feedback, we've become aware that the effects and lighting in Neon Fields can negatively impact the game experience for some players," the blog post reads. "Following the update, players will be able to change this setting to 'Default or 'Low.'"
If players switch to the Low setting, pulsing effects, flashing lights, background light intensity and moving FX will be reduced or removed entirely when playing on Neon Fields. This will hopefully allow players who have been reporting the seizure-inducing effects to play the game once more.
[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/rocket-league-season-2-trailer"]
In other Rocket League news, the game recently made our list of the best games of the PS4/Xbox One generation.
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Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.
The Neon Fields arena in Rocket League. Source: Psyonix[/caption]
Players' voices haver clearly have been heard as the latest update announcement on the Rocket League blog talks about the new effects settings that will be added to the game on February 1. "Based on recent player feedback, we've become aware that the effects and lighting in Neon Fields can negatively impact the game experience for some players," the blog post reads. "Following the update, players will be able to change this setting to 'Default or 'Low.'"
If players switch to the Low setting, pulsing effects, flashing lights, background light intensity and moving FX will be reduced or removed entirely when playing on Neon Fields. This will hopefully allow players who have been reporting the seizure-inducing effects to play the game once more.
[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/rocket-league-season-2-trailer"]
In other Rocket League news, the game recently made our list of the best games of the PS4/Xbox One generation.
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Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.Wonder Woman 1984 Helps Double HBO Max Subscriber Numbers
The release of Wonder Woman 1984 helped HBO Max to double the number of activated subscriptions on its platform in the fourth quarter of 2020 compared to the third quarter.
AT&T highlighted WarnerMedia in its report of fourth-quarter and full-year results, noting that HBO Max subscribers had doubled - to 17.2 million - in the fourth quarter of last year. In addition, the company acquired 41.5 million HBO and HBO Max subscribers in the US by the end of 2020, up from 34.6 million the previous year. Plus, HBO and HBO Max subscribers topped nearly 61 million worldwide in 2020.
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AT&T said that the 41 million-strong US subscriber count for HBO and HBO Max came two years faster than the company's initial forecasts. AT&T CEO John Stankey attributed these figures, in part, to the release of Wonder Woman 1984, the Patty Jenkins-directed superhero sequel starring Gal Gadot, which he said ultimately helped to "drive" the subscriber numbers up.
Towards the end of the year, WarnerMedia also likely benefited from its long-awaited distribution deal with Roku, which resulted in HBO Max finally being rolled out to Roku-enabled devices after being unavailable for several months. The new agreement gave Roku owners the opportunity to download the HBO Max app and gain full access to its library, including Wonder Woman 1984.
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As previously reported, HBO Max saw an estimated 554,000 users sign up from December 25 - Wonder Woman 1984's release date - to December 27. This figure included a record 244,000 downloads on December 27 alone. WarnerMedia also said that "nearly half" of its HBO Max subscribers watched Wonder Woman 1984 on the day of release.
In our review of Wonder Woman 1984, we shared our belief that the Cold War-set sequel landed "exactly at a time that can benefit from it the most." We praised the movie for presenting "a nostalgic look back to a beloved time," which we felt ultimately provided "escapism from an exceptionally difficult year" and offered the "kind of bright and hopeful movie the character's legacy deserves."
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Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.