MLB The Show 20 Review – Bases Loaded
MLB The Show 20 suddenly finds itself in an unprecedented position. The COVID-19 coronavirus has disrupted sports across the globe, and baseball is no different, as Opening Day of the 2020 Major League Baseball season was recently postponed for at least the next two months--and even that seems optimistic. It's an unfathomable turn of events, yet it also means Sony San Diego's latest baseball sim is now one of the only ways to experience the 2020 season of America's favorite pastime. It's a good job, then, that MLB 20 maintains the series' consistently high quality. Refinements to fielding and hitting may only be incremental this year, but they add more depth to what is still one of the most compelling sports games on the market, while new additions and modes off the field increase the game's variety as you chart a course towards World Series glory.
Fielding and defense received a lot of love in last year's game, so MLB 20 adds a few more wrinkles without rocking the boat too much. The distinction between Gold Glove caliber outfielders and mere mortals is now slightly more pronounced, particularly when the CPU is in control. The best outfielders in the game are much more dialed in this year, reacting to the ball off the bat with authentic accuracy and a dependable first-step. On the flip side, the square peg you've lodged into the round hole in left field might struggle when it comes to reading the flight of the ball, committing a fair few errors over the course of a season as balls careen off the edge of his glove instead of nesting in its palm.
There's also a new Extreme Catch Indicator that identifies those bloop singles and hard-sinking line drives that are right on the edge of being catchable. If you have a player like Minnesota Twins center fielder Byron Buxton patrolling the outfield, you might take a chance and attempt a risky diving catch on one of these tough-to-reach balls, knowing full well that he's skilled enough to pull off a spectacular grab. With an average defender hustling towards the ball, however, you might prefer to play it safe and get yourself in position to gather the ball after it bounces. Surrendering a single is a much more positive outcome than laying out for a catch and completely missing the ball, resulting in a triple for the fortunate hitter.
Continue Reading at GameSpotValve Will Reveal More About Artifact Overhaul After Half-Life: Alyx Launch
Valve has recently put the Steam page for its Dota 2 card game, Artifact, ‘Under Construction’ and says there will be more news about the digital card game after the launch of Half-Life: Alyx next week.
Even a video game company like Valve makes mistakes. Probably the most public of the company’s errors was the Dota 2-themed card game called Artifact. So much so that even Valve founder Gabe Newell called it a “giant disappointment” when IGN visited Valve headquarters recently.
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But Valve hasn’t given up on Artifact just yet, and there are reports that the changes to the game are so massive the overhaul is internally being called “Artifact 2” according to the latest Edge Magazine.
Artifact was released in 2018, and despite some initial interest the card game’s player count soon cratered. The community criticized Artifact’s monetization model and progression difficulties. Valve soon announced that small updates would not be able to fix the game’s core problems and announced it would be working on large-scale overhauls.
“Artifact represents the largest discrepancy between our expectations for how one of our games would be received and the actual outcome,” Valve wrote in a blog post announcing the re-development.
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While it’s not yet known what steps Valve has taken to fix Artifact and make it more popular with players, but Valve is taking big steps.
For more, check out IGN’s First this month where we previewed the first 4 hours of Half-Life: Alyx, answer your biggest Valve questions, and our exclusive interview with Gabe Newell and Half-Life: Alyx developer Robin Walker.
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Matt Kim is a reporter for IGN.
Our Half-Life: Alyx Review Arrives Monday
Valve's first big VR game, Half-Life: Alyx, will be available for all at 10AM Pacific time on Monday, March 23. If you haven't been keeping track, it's been 13 years since the last actual Half-Life game, Half-Life 2: Episode 2, came out in 2007. So it's kind of a big deal. Make sure to come back on Monday and find out what I think of it!
In the meantime, we've got tons and tons Half-Life: Alyx preview content for you to check out, courtesy of this month's IGN First.
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I, for one, highly recommend watching the Half-Life 2 developers reacting to a speed run of that classic game.
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Dan Stapleton is IGN's Reviews Editor. You can follow him on Twitter to hear gaming rants and lots of random Simpsons references.
Sonic the Hedgehog to Get Early Digital Release Due to Coronavirus
The Sonic the Hedgehog movie is getting an early digital release after many theaters have closed in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Paramount Pictures tweeted that Sonic will be available on-demand starting on March 31. This marks just 46 days since it opened in theaters on February 14.
Sonic the Hedgehog will become available on Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD May 19.
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Sonic the Hedgehog reached $146 million domestically and $306 million worldwide, according to Variety. This officially makes it the highest-grossing video game film in U.S. box office history.
Paramount isn't the first studio to provide an early digital release for their movies with Disney and Pixar making Onward available later tonight in the U.S. Disney also brought Frozen 2 to Disney+ three months early, instead of its original June 26 release.
Earlier this week on Monday, Universal announced that Trolls World Tour will be available on-demand in the U.S. and U.K. on April 10. Trolls World Tour is one of many movies Universal movies hitting on-demand such as The Hunt, The Invisible Man, and Emma.
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If you haven't seen the Sonic the Hedgehog yet, take a look at our review saying it's "A spin dash in the right direction for video game movies."
Be sure to keep safe during the COVID-19 pandemic and understand how to stay healthy with these CDC guidelines.
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Jeffrey Lerman is a Freelance News Writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @Snakester95.
Wonder Woman 1984 Will Still Be Released Theatrically, Not Online
Warner Bros. still intends on releasing Wonder Woman 1984 theatrically and not online, contrary to a report spreading like wildfire across the internet.
The Wrap claims to have heard that the upcoming DC Comics movie sequel, currently slated to open June 5, might forego a traditional theatrical release in favor of a straight-to-digital debut due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) and worldwide closure of theaters.
The site reports that the preliminary discussions happened among the highest levels of Warner Bros.' top brass and that not even director Patty Jenkins and producer Charles Roven were privy to the discussions.
However, in The Wrap's own report, Warner President of Domestic Distribution Jeff Goldstein shot down the notion of a streaming-only release: “We’re looking to release the movie theatrically, that’s our plan."
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Likewise, a source close to the studio confirmed to IGN that Warner Bros. remains fully committed to releasing Wonder Woman 1984 theatrically.
“It’s ludicrous if you consider how big a movie this is,” WW84 producer Charles Roven told The Wrap. “Everybody recognizes that, as interesting as streaming might be, if you want a huge, global worldwide box office, you’ve got to release it in a movie theater.”
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Hollywood has seen nearly every upcoming movie release postponed and production shut down due to COVID-19, with Universal leading the charge this week in releasing a new movie, Trolls World Tour -- once earmarked for theatrical exhibition -- as a digital release instead.
While it's entirely likely that Warners brass have spit-balled such ideas -- these are obviously unprecedented times for the film industry -- our sources were adamant that Wonder Woman 1984 will make its debut as intended in movie theaters.
Call of Duty: Warzone Hits 30 Million Players in Just 10 Days
Call of Duty: Warzone continues to reach a huge number of players, with the free-to-play battle royale hitting 30 million players in its first 10 days of release.
The Call of Duty Twitter account posted the latest number with a picture thanking its 30 million players for being a part of the community. This increase in people playing comes shortly after Warzone hit 6 million players within its first 24 hours available.
While players were able to play solo in Warzone previously by going up against other squads alone, Infinity Ward released a solos mode on Tuesday. This could have played a role in bringing more people to the battle royale, despite the Plunder mode still not being playable alone. By choosing to support cross-platform play between Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC, more people have been able to play together regardless of their platform. Warzone was officially announced earlier this month with a launch coming 24 hours later. This isn't the first time we've seen a quick reveal and release, especially in the battle royale genre - developer Respawn Entertainment released Apex Legends shortly after it was announced and reached 2.5 million players within its first 24 hours. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=call-of-duty-warzone-screenshots&captions=true"] Stay prepared for Warzone whether you're going in alone or with a full squad by using our guides at the Call of Duty: Warzone wiki. If you're looking for a quick guide, take a peek at the best loadouts to get right into the action. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jeffrey Lerman is a Freelance News Writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @Snakester95.Over 30 million of you have dropped in to play #Warzone. Thank you to this amazing community .
Jump in and play for free now. #FreeCallofDuty pic.twitter.com/KFKhb8CNNK — Call of Duty (@CallofDuty) March 20, 2020
Police in Multiple Countries Using Drones to Yell at People Going Outdoors
Police in countries like Spain and China are using drones to stop people from going outside during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Spain's government announced that the country was in a state of emergency Friday, March 13, and the next day, everyone in the country was ordered to remain indoors, as reported by Business Insider. Days later, police were using drones equipped with speakers to yell at people breaking the rules.
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It's very Black Mirror-esque, but it does provide a way for police to ensure people remain indoors without having to risk person-to-person interactions themselves. You can check it out in action in the tweet below from BBC News.
China is doing the same with its own drones, warning residents to stay indoors unless absolutely necessary to leave the quarantine, as reported by Global News. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/02/25/how-coronavirus-is-impacting-the-games-industry"] You can check out China's drones working below.Police in Spain have been using drones to check the streets for anyone ignoring Spanish orders to stay home during the coronavirus outbreak
On Saturday, the country's 47 million citizens were ordered to stay indoors except for necessary tripshttps://t.co/Yqcy5K9OLC pic.twitter.com/jmLlQfQYXc — BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) March 15, 2020
Check out some ways you can help others and stay safe during the COVID-19 pandemic. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Wesley LeBlanc is a freelance news writer and guide maker for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @LeBlancWes.Camera drones are employed in Hangzhou, China to urge elderly residents to stay indoors, amid the novel #coronavirus outbreak. #pneumonia pic.twitter.com/jpT3yvHnip
— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) February 4, 2020
PS5: ‘Majority of the 4,000+ PS4 Titles’ Will be Backwards Compatible, Sony Says
Sony has just updated its verbiage on backwards compatibility for the PS5 in an update on the official PlayStation blog, stating that it now intends to support the "majority of the 4,000+ PS4 titles" with backwards compatibility on the next-gen system. Initially, lead system architect Mark Cerny stated during a presentation earlier this week that "[Sony] recently took a look at the top 100 PS4 titles as ranked by play time, and we're expecting almost all of them to be playable at launch on PS5."
The reason for the delay in support for all PS4 titles is due to the PS5's boosted frequencies which will run PS4 games at higher, more stable framerates and potentially higher resolution. Sony is testing each game on a title-by-title basis to ensure compatibility with the updated architecture and work with the original developers if any adjustments need to be made.
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We already got a glimpse of how the PS5's added power and SSD will improve load times last year featuring Marvel's Spider-Man, and it will be interesting to see just how much better some of the PS4's more demanding titles actually fare.
This updated announcement follows the first real deep-dive look at the architecture of the upcoming PS5 where we learned about what to expect out of the upcoming system's power, graphical capability, and significantly reduced load times thanks to the custom SSDs.
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Cerny also spent a significant portion of time on the 3D audio that will be included in PS5, which will allow for developers to build "new dreams" and immerse players in more meaningful audio due in part to the PS5's custom Tempest audio engine. Cerny even alluded to custom audio designs being developed based on photos and videos of your ears in the future.
There's currently no timetable as to when the remainder of the PS4 library will be playable, but Sony claims to have tested hundreds of titles, and will continue testing thousands more as we move closer to the PS5 launch date.
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Curious to see how the PS5 stacks up to the Xbox Series X in terms of specs? We've also detailed why teraflops aren't necessarily the best indicator of performance between the two systems.
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Matthew Adler is a News and Features writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter and watch him stream on Twitch.
Showtime Offering 30-Day Free Trials to New Customers
Showtime has announced that it is offering 30-day free trials to all new customers.
Any new customer, meaning someone who hasn't had a Showtime subscription before, can sign up for a subscription to the network before May 3 to receive 30 free days with the service. This free trial will be all-access, meaning you can watch all of the network's shows, documentaries, and movies.
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You'll need to sign up online through Showtime's streaming service - just head to Showtime.com to do that. You can also sign up on the official Showtime app, which is available on both Android and iOS devices.
Showtime is home to original TV shows like Shameless, Billions, Ray Donovan, Black Monday, The L Word: Generation Q, and more. Documentaries include The Kingmaker and Pavarotti, and the service comes with dozens of movies ranging from The Terminator to Sin City, as well as newer movies like Green Book and Five Feet Apart.
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The service also includes sports programming, although the extent of that is currently limited as many sports are on a hiatus due to the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak. This includes the NBA, the NHL, and MLB. This 30-day free Showtime trial comes at a good time as movie theaters around the world are closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Theme parks, movie productions, and some of the largest game conferences in the world have been cancelled or shut down for the time being as a result of the virus. Check out some of the ways you can help others and stay safe during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Wesley LeBlanc is a freelance news writer and guide maker for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @LeBlancWes.
Ahsoka Tano Live-Action Spin-Off Series Rumored
UPDATE: The Hollywood Reporter is hearing rumors that Rosario Dawson as Ahsoka in The Mandalorian could be a potential backdoor pilot for an Ahsoka standalone series.
Ahsoka fans may have even more to celebrate.
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It appears Ahsoka Tano will finally be appearing in live-action as SlashFilm reports that Rosario Dawson has been cast as the fan-favorite character in season 2 of The Mandalorian.
Check out our video report on this news below or keep scrolling to read the article.
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SlashFilm confirmed the news from two independent sources, who both confirmed Dawson will play the Togruta that was once a member of the Jedi Order and the padawan of Anakin Skywalker.
Dave Filoni, who is the co-creator of Ahsoka Tano, is a writer, producer, and director on The Mandalorian, and he has teased many times that Ahsoka's journey is far from over.
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This is hardly a surprise casting, as back in 2017, Dawson responded to a fan asking her to appear in a Star Wars movie as Ahsoka by saying "Ummmm... yes please?! #AhsokaLives #AhsokaTano #StarWars."
More recently, Dawson quote tweeted another fan who posted an image of her and Ahsoka side-by-side, saying "Just for reference Ahsoka Tano would be in her early-mid 40s during #TheMandalorian." Dawson responded by saying "Tell 'em! #AhsokaLives."
Ahsoka was one of the main protagonists in Star Wars: The Clone Wars movie and TV series and was created by Filoni and George Lucas. She was voiced by Ashley Eckstein in the series, and even made an appearance in a small cameo in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
Ahsoka also appeared in Star Wars Rebels and, while many thought her fate was sealed after a confrontation with her old master who had since become Darth Vader, the ending of the series gave hope to those who wanted her story to continue.
[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/02/17/star-wars-the-clone-wars-recapped-in-4-minutes"]
Spoilers ahead for Season 1 of The Mandalorian and the ending of Star Wars Rebels.
As for how Ahsoka could fit into the newest season of Disney+'s The Mandalorian, it may somehow be linked to the black-bladed Darksaber that was seen in the possession of Moff Gideon in the finale of The Mandalorian.
The ancient weapon once belonged to Star Wars Rebels' Sabine Wren, who was last seen with Ahsoka before they went off to find Ezra Bridger.
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This news tracks with statements by previous Disney boss Bob Iger, who said that "The priority in the next few years is television, with The Mandalorian Season 2 coming in October and then more coming from The Mandalorian thereafter, including the possibility of infusing it with more characters and the possibility of taking those characters in their own direction in terms of series."
For more on Ahsoka Tano and The Mandalorian, be sure to check out our explainer on beloved once-Jedi and our review of the first season of The Mandalorian.
If you have yet to watch the tale of Ahsoka, be sure to jump on Disney+ and use our handy Star Wars: The Clone Wars chronological episode order guide and witness one of the best Star Wars stories from the galaxy far, far away.
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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 who is stating to the world that Ahsoka Tano is the best character in Star Wars. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.
Ahsoka was one of the main protagonists in Star Wars: The Clone Wars movie and TV series and was created by Filoni and George Lucas. She was voiced by Ashley Eckstein in the series, and even made an appearance in a small cameo in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
Ahsoka also appeared in Star Wars Rebels and, while many thought her fate was sealed after a confrontation with her old master who had since become Darth Vader, the ending of the series gave hope to those who wanted her story to continue.
[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/02/17/star-wars-the-clone-wars-recapped-in-4-minutes"]
Spoilers ahead for Season 1 of The Mandalorian and the ending of Star Wars Rebels.
As for how Ahsoka could fit into the newest season of Disney+'s The Mandalorian, it may somehow be linked to the black-bladed Darksaber that was seen in the possession of Moff Gideon in the finale of The Mandalorian.
The ancient weapon once belonged to Star Wars Rebels' Sabine Wren, who was last seen with Ahsoka before they went off to find Ezra Bridger.
[widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=every-upcoming-star-wars-movie&captions=true"]
This news tracks with statements by previous Disney boss Bob Iger, who said that "The priority in the next few years is television, with The Mandalorian Season 2 coming in October and then more coming from The Mandalorian thereafter, including the possibility of infusing it with more characters and the possibility of taking those characters in their own direction in terms of series."
For more on Ahsoka Tano and The Mandalorian, be sure to check out our explainer on beloved once-Jedi and our review of the first season of The Mandalorian.
If you have yet to watch the tale of Ahsoka, be sure to jump on Disney+ and use our handy Star Wars: The Clone Wars chronological episode order guide and witness one of the best Star Wars stories from the galaxy far, far away.
[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/01/06/star-wars-will-ahsoka-tano-appear-in-the-mandalorian"]
[poilib element="accentDivider"]
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 who is stating to the world that Ahsoka Tano is the best character in Star Wars. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.