LEGO is launching Braille Bricks, a new method of play designed to help children with vision impairment develop new skills and learn the Braille writing system. After a successful pilot scheme launched in April 2019, LEGO Braille Bricks have now launched in seven countries, partnering with sight loss organizations in Brazil, Denmark, France, Germany, Norway, UK and the USA. LEGO plans to account for "eleven languages across twenty countries" by early 2021 and has prepared a website full of suggested activities for how children and educators can use LEGO Braille Bricks to learn the writing system. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=lego-braille-bricks-images&captions=true"] Each toolkit will have "300+ LEGO Braille Bricks covering the full alphabet in the chosen language, numbers 0-9, and select mathematical symbols and punctuation marks." The famous LEGO studs have been moulded so that they correspond to the Braille alphabet, with the appropriate letters and symbols marked on the bricks so that they can be used in collaboration with sighted players as well. LEGO Braille Bricks toolkits will be distributed for free to "select institutions, schools and services catering to the education of children with visual impairment" as they roll out around the world in the coming months. In other LEGO news, here's every IGN LEGO game review for those of you keen to dig into one of the brick-based titles. The latest in the series is LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, which recently received an October release date. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/06/16/lego-super-mario-is-great-once-it-clicks"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

LEGO is launching Braille Bricks, a new method of play designed to help children with vision impairment develop new skills and learn the Braille writing system. After a successful pilot scheme launched in April 2019, LEGO Braille Bricks have now launched in seven countries, partnering with sight loss organizations in Brazil, Denmark, France, Germany, Norway, UK and the USA. LEGO plans to account for "eleven languages across twenty countries" by early 2021 and has prepared a website full of suggested activities for how children and educators can use LEGO Braille Bricks to learn the writing system. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=lego-braille-bricks-images&captions=true"] Each toolkit will have "300+ LEGO Braille Bricks covering the full alphabet in the chosen language, numbers 0-9, and select mathematical symbols and punctuation marks." The famous LEGO studs have been moulded so that they correspond to the Braille alphabet, with the appropriate letters and symbols marked on the bricks so that they can be used in collaboration with sighted players as well. LEGO Braille Bricks toolkits will be distributed for free to "select institutions, schools and services catering to the education of children with visual impairment" as they roll out around the world in the coming months. In other LEGO news, here's every IGN LEGO game review for those of you keen to dig into one of the brick-based titles. The latest in the series is LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, which recently received an October release date. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/06/16/lego-super-mario-is-great-once-it-clicks"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

Black Myth: Wukong - an action-RPG based on classic Chinese tale Journey to the West - has been announced for consoles and PC alongside an impressive 13 minute gameplay video. That video is getting some sections of the internet very excited indeed. Developed by Game Science, Black Myth appears to be taking soulslike approach to gameplay, but with a vibrant environmental art style (created in Unreal Engine 4), and a neat stealth mechanic in which you turn into a cicada to avoid bigger threats. You can check out 13 minutes of pre-alpha gameplay below, including exploration, combat, stealth, boss battles, a montage of different environments, and a giant battle thrown in for good measure: [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/08/20/black-myth-wukong-official-13-minutes-gameplay-trailer"] It's safe to say the first impressions have been very good, with the gameplay flying up the r/games subreddit, and comments almost universally positive. "This looks awesome", said Reddit user xg4m3CYT. "The game came out of nowhere, is made by an indie studio, and completely swiped the floor with most of the announced AAA games." For a measure of quite how well this is going down, the gameplay - which was uploaded today - has already had over 4.6 million views on Chinese video streaming website BiliBili alone. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=black-myth-wukong-11-screenshots&captions=true"] No release date's been given, and with good reason - Game Science explains that the team is currently very small, and is using the early announcement to attract new talent to the studio to help build the final version. An FAQ on the game's website explains that "it shouldn't take 500 years", but that the game will only be released when the studio is satisfied by the end product. It seems likely, then, that this will be a game aiming for next-gen platforms. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News, and that little bit of gameplay where this started to look like next-gen Dynasty Warriors made him yelp. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Black Myth: Wukong - an action-RPG based on classic Chinese tale Journey to the West - has been announced for consoles and PC alongside an impressive 13 minute gameplay video. That video is getting some sections of the internet very excited indeed. Developed by Game Science, Black Myth appears to be taking soulslike approach to gameplay, but with a vibrant environmental art style (created in Unreal Engine 4), and a neat stealth mechanic in which you turn into a cicada to avoid bigger threats. You can check out 13 minutes of pre-alpha gameplay below, including exploration, combat, stealth, boss battles, a montage of different environments, and a giant battle thrown in for good measure: [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/08/20/black-myth-wu-kong-official-13-minutes-gameplay-trailer"] It's safe to say the first impressions have been very good, with the gameplay flying up the r/games subreddit, and comments almost universally positive. "This looks awesome", said Reddit user xg4m3CYT. "The game came out of nowhere, is made by an indie studio, and completely swiped the floor with most of the announced AAA games." For a measure of quite how well this is going down, the gameplay - which was uploaded today - has already had over 4.6 million views on Chinese video streaming website BiliBili alone. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=black-myth-wukong-11-screenshots&captions=true"] No release date's been given, and with good reason - Game Science explains that the team is currently very small, and is using the early announcement to attract new talent to the studio to help build the final version. An FAQ on the game's website explains that "it shouldn't take 500 years", but that the game will only be released when the studio is satisfied by the end product. It seems likely, then, that this will be a game aiming for next-gen platforms. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News, and that little bit of gameplay where this started to look like next-gen Dynasty Warriors made him yelp. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Just in time for the debut of the new movie, the Eternals will be back at the forefront of Marvel's comic book universe. The publisher has just revealed a new ongoing Eternals series set to kick off in November 2020. Eternals boasts quite an impressive creative team. Writer Kieron Gillen (Star Wars: Darth Vader, Journey Into Mystery) is returning to Marvel to helm the series alongside Secret Wars and King Thor artist Esad Ribic and The Mighty Thor colorist Matthew Wilson. Marvel hasn't revealed much about the plot of the new series beyond the tagline "Never Die. Never Win." That may be a reference to both the Eternals' immortality and their seemingly never-ending conflict with the Deviants. Most likely the series will deal with the fallout of 2018's The Avengers #4, which showed Ikaris and his people seemingly killing themselves after learning the truth about their own origins. Ribic's cover to Eternals #1 depicts the evolution of man culminating with the birth of Ikaris. Interestingly, the Eternals and Deviants have always been depicted as separate races from humanity, but this image could imply the Eternals are more fundamentally linked to mankind than they ever realized. "I said if I was ever to do a book again at Marvel, it would have to be something I've never done before. This is exactly that," said Gillen in Marvel's press release. "This is me teaming up with literally my favourite artist of the epic, taking one of those lightning-storm Kirby visions and re-making it to be as new as the day it was forged.” [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=who-are-the-villains-kro-and-arishem-the-judge-from-marvels-eternals&captions=true"] Gillen continued, “While Esad makes whole worlds on the page, I'm applying all the skills I've developed when I was away. It's a lot. It's everything. There's enough scale packed in here that I believe that when you look at the comic, you'll see the pages slightly bulge. Essentially 'Eternal' has to mean 'never going out of style' which means we're aiming for 'Instant classic.' Also - fight scenes, horror, human drama, emotions, explosions. Comics!" Eternals #1 will be released in November 2020, while the movie Marvel's The Eternals is currently scheduled for release on February 12, 2021. You can head over to Marvel.com to check out a new video teaser for the comic that shows off more of Ribic's art and character designs. For now, be sure to check out our Eternals Explained and Deviants Explained features, as well as our breakdown of the movie's two villains, Kro and Arishem the Judge. Then learn how the movie could potentially set the stage for the X-Men in the MCU. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/08/08/marvels-eternals-movie-villains-the-deviants-explained"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.

Just in time for the debut of the new movie, the Eternals will be back at the forefront of Marvel's comic book universe. The publisher has just revealed a new ongoing Eternals series set to kick off in November 2020. Eternals boasts quite an impressive creative team. Writer Kieron Gillen (Star Wars: Darth Vader, Journey Into Mystery) is returning to Marvel to helm the series alongside Secret Wars and King Thor artist Esad Ribic and The Mighty Thor colorist Matthew Wilson. Marvel hasn't revealed much about the plot of the new series beyond the tagline "Never Die. Never Win." That may be a reference to both the Eternals' immortality and their seemingly never-ending conflict with the Deviants. Most likely the series will deal with the fallout of 2018's The Avengers #4, which showed Ikaris and his people seemingly killing themselves after learning the truth about their own origins. Ribic's cover to Eternals #1 depicts the evolution of man culminating with the birth of Ikaris. Interestingly, the Eternals and Deviants have always been depicted as separate races from humanity, but this image could imply the Eternals are more fundamentally linked to mankind than they ever realized. "I said if I was ever to do a book again at Marvel, it would have to be something I've never done before. This is exactly that," said Gillen in Marvel's press release. "This is me teaming up with literally my favourite artist of the epic, taking one of those lightning-storm Kirby visions and re-making it to be as new as the day it was forged.” [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=who-are-the-villains-kro-and-arishem-the-judge-from-marvels-eternals&captions=true"] Gillen continued, “While Esad makes whole worlds on the page, I'm applying all the skills I've developed when I was away. It's a lot. It's everything. There's enough scale packed in here that I believe that when you look at the comic, you'll see the pages slightly bulge. Essentially 'Eternal' has to mean 'never going out of style' which means we're aiming for 'Instant classic.' Also - fight scenes, horror, human drama, emotions, explosions. Comics!" Eternals #1 will be released in November 2020, while the movie Marvel's The Eternals is currently scheduled for release on February 12, 2021. You can head over to Marvel.com to check out a new video teaser for the comic that shows off more of Ribic's art and character designs. For now, be sure to check out our Eternals Explained and Deviants Explained features, as well as our breakdown of the movie's two villains, Kro and Arishem the Judge. Then learn how the movie could potentially set the stage for the X-Men in the MCU. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/08/08/marvels-eternals-movie-villains-the-deviants-explained"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.

Halo Infinite's developer 343 Industries has shot down some of the claims of a report that surfaced earlier alleging development woes for the now-delayed next Halo entry. In a statement provided to IGN by a 343 Industries spokesperson, the Halo Infinite developer refuted the claim in a report that the Halo TV show in the works at Showtime distracted the developer's leadership and had a major impact on Infinite's development. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/08/11/halo-infinite-delayed-to-2021"] The spokesperson labeled Infinite and the TV show as "completely independent projects" whose development did not impact one another or prove a "distraction," as the original reports sources claimed. "343 Industries has a devoted transmedia team that is working with Showtime on the creation and production of the Halo TV show. This group is separate from the Halo Infinite development team. These are two completely independent projects with dedicated teams and leadership that do not impact one another," the spokesperson said in a statement to IGN. A source speaking anonymously to Thurott for the original report claimed the show was "taking their priority instead of focusing on making sure development progress is on the right path to reaching its targeted deadline." While 343's response rebukes this claim, the spokesperson did not speak to the report's claim that "a significant portion of the game is being outsourced to third-party contractors," which the report described as a source of some of Halo Infinite's alleged development problems. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="legacyId=20098018&captions=true"] Halo Infinite had its first proper unveiling at E3 2019, with an extended cutscene teasing Master Chief's next adventure. But after a recent gameplay showcase that was met with some blowback by viewers for perceived technical limitations, 343 and Xbox announced Halo Infinite would be delayed into 2021 and miss the Xbox Series X launch. For more on Halo Infinite, check out this episode of Next-Gen Console Watch 2020 where the team dig into the Halo Infinite delay, wondering how the Xbox Series X can compete without its flagship launch exclusive. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jonathon Dornbush is IGN's Senior News Editor and host of Podcast Beyond!.

The spread of COVID-19 has forced numerous physical gaming events like E3 and PAX, as well as esports tournaments like Overwatch League, to go entirely virtual. While larger companies adapted quickly, smaller games businesses don’t necessarily have the resources to pivot as rapidly. However, this hasn’t stopped the movement of hosting gaming events in virtual spaces and making the content available for everyone. Still, many have made the effort to offer their virtual spaces to as many as possible, including The Game Gym – a community esports team and training center. The Game Gym’s Josh Hafkin and Evan Shubin spoke to IGN about how they’ve reacted to the pandemic and adjusted their locally owned and operated business to fit the current times. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=every-delayed-movie-due-to-coronavirus-so-far&captions=true"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] The Game Gym is located in Rockville, Maryland. Josh Hafkin, the founder and CEO, grew up playing both games and sports equally. He had the idea to form The Game Gym to fuse his love of sports and gaming when esports started to take off. Hafkin wanted to help create a place that serves as a community center to connect parents and their kids through an understanding of what gaming is, as well as a dojo that educates kids on cyberbullying, health and nutrition, and video game development. The Game Gym offers memberships for kids that teaches them to make healthy lifestyle choices by balancing gaming with other activities, provide insight on game design, and much more. Hafkin realized how few local opportunities there were at the community level for kids to get involved in esports and esports training in general and he wanted to bridge that gap. His sports experience gave him confidence in serving as a knowledgable coach to kids who were interested in learning more about gaming opportunities and how to improve their own skills. Since The Game Gym operates as a local club where kids and their families can come by in person and participate in numerous activities, including in-house tournaments, gaming in their private training rooms, and sitting in on presentations from guest gaming industry professionals – the impact of COVID-19 has caused some major changes to its community. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/03/11/e3-officially-canceled-over-coronavirus-concerns-ign-news"] Usually the memberships offered at The Game Gym included unlimited Gym access during open hours and access to classes and gaming tournaments that could be hosted in-house. Now, the staff has created a new system of online camp classes to supplement what would’ve been the summer camp program. Even with the unexpected hurdle of adjusting to stay-at-home life, The Game Gym has planned an entire special weekend of content to celebrate esports and the gaming community. This event, The DMV’s End of Summer Bash, goes live on August 21 and will run until August 23. The event will have educational and entertainment panels throughout the weekend and host different gaming tournaments. The goal is to raise $25,000 for Extra Life, which supports the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. Evan Shubin, the chief operating officer of The Game Gym, told IGN he’d first been a part of The Game Gym as a customer when his two sons introduced him to the world of gaming. About four years ago, Shubin believed gaming was a “waste of time” and got in the way of his children's schoolwork. But when his son, Samuel, advocated for the game League of Legends and explained how its strategy-based gameplay actually taught him skills, Shubin realized there was a lot of technique and leadership involved – which was first step for him to realize gaming could offer much more than he thought. Shubin saw how big gaming could be for his son’s future when Ohio State introduced an esports program and its own arena, so he jumped on board with Hafkin to help operate The Game Gym’s vision. When asked about his experience educating parents on the topic of gaming and the possibilities of gaming extending beyond just a hobby and becoming a career, Hafkin said he acts as a translator between the kid and their parents. He helps bridge the gap between the two to help understand the different worlds. “A part of the issue that we’ve discovered is that the reason why we have so many issues is that no one is guiding our kids through their gaming process,” Hafkin said. “There are no coaches. Like, imagine if we taught football the way we teach gaming, which is essentially like watch a YouTube video then go do it.” Hafkin wants to foster coaching and help kids to game better and smarter while also helping parents understand the importance of being there to guide the process and encourage them. The End of Summer Game Bash is a free event that anyone can watch on The Game Gym’s Twitch channel, and it will include interview panels, presentations from esports players and team managers, and entertainment panels from content creators. Anyone is able to enter the tournaments – they are not closed off to non-Game Gym members. Donations can be made during the livestream to directly fund Extra Life, and the fees required to enter the tournaments will all go toward the charity fundraising goal. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Stella Chung is a video producer at IGN. Author’s note: Stella Chung will be involved in a panel for The Game Gym’s End of Summer Bash, live on the show on Saturday August 22 at 11:15 am ET/8:15 am PT. The event runs from August 21-23 and will have tournaments running for various games each evening that those interested can sign up for at the official website.