Cliff Bleszinski, lead designer on the first three Gears of Wars games, revealed that he almost made an Aliens first-person shooter a couple of years ago that would have had a grown-up Newt as the main character.

Bleszinski shared the news on Twitter, saying that he was in talks to make an Aliens FPS with Fox, who own the Aliens franchise, but when the film company and game publisher was bought by Disney the game was "lost in the shuffle."

Ripley would be alive and be your "Cortana/Anya." You'd play as grown Newt. On Earth. Weyland-Yutani are weaponizing the aliens in a Black Mesa style facility and, of course, all hell breaks loose.

Your robotic pal i.e. Bishop? A new one named "Casey" after her doll in Aliens. — Cliff Bleszinski (@therealcliffyb) February 10, 2020

 

You would have played as Newt, the young girl from the 1986 film, on Earth after xenomorphs break out of a Weyland-Yutani facility that was trying to weaponize the deadly aliens.

To make this happen, all of the canon after the second Aliens film would have been ignored, as Newt dies in transit between the second and third film. Ellen Ripley would have been alive and acted as your Cortana-style guide throughout the game.

[widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=every-xenomorph-and-alien-from-the-alien-movies&captions=true"]

Newt would also have had a robotic pal, similar to Bishop from the film, but would have been called Casey after the doll Newt has in Aliens.

This Aliens game would have been made by the studio that Bleszinski founded in 2014, Boss Key Productions, which closed down in 2018 due to poor sales of its games. Boss Key only made two games, LawBreakers and Radical Heights, both of which were online shooters.

Bleszinski's Aliens game isn't the only one that's known to have been lost. Last year, Chris Avellone talked about Aliens: Crucible, an RPG that was prototyped by The Outer Worlds developer Obsidian before being cancelled.

[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2018/01/21/what-does-your-dream-alien-game-look-like"]

In better news, the Aliens shooter that's being made by Cold Iron Studios, is still thought to be in active development. Fingers crossed it comes out one day.

There's also Alien: Isolation, which has recently come to Nintendo Switch, and Alien: Blackout, which launched for smartphones in 2019, so you can play those if you need an Aliens game fix.

[poilib element="accentDivider"]

Chris Priestman is a freelancer who writes news for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

Warner Bros. has changed the title of their latest DC movie: “Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)” is now called “Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey.” The title change is already reflected on movie ticketing sites across the web. While Warner didn’t release a statement about why they made the change, it’s presumably part of a strategy to help the film perform better at the box office after it had the lowest opening weekend for any DCEU movie to date. IGN reached out to WB for comment and will update this story with any information we learn. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=birds-of-prey-comparing-the-characters-looks-through-the-years&captions=true"] Harley Quinn is immensely popular compared to the likes of Huntress, Renee Montoya, and Black Canary, so it makes sense why Warner Bros. would pivot in an attempt to cash in on the character’s name recognition. Instead of burying her name at the end of an obscenely long title, causing many people to not even include her name when referring to the movie, it has now been moved to the front. The absurd original title was very much in-character for Harley Quinn, but it seems the studio wants to eschew that in favor of being crystal clear with viewers. Not to mention, Harley Quinn is the star of the film, with the Birds of Prey acting as supporting characters in her wild and zany narrative, so this new title better reflects that. For more on Birds of Prey... er... Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey, check out why star Margot Robbie decided to not include Joker in the film, what you need to know about the closing credits scene, and if you haven't already, be sure to read our review of the movie. To see Harley in action, watch this clip from the movie showing Black Mask interrogating Harley Quinn: [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/01/30/birds-of-prey-you-lost-something-right-clip"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Joshua is Senior Features Editor at IGN. If Pokemon, Green Lantern, or Game of Thrones are frequently used words in your vocabulary, you’ll want to follow him on Twitter @JoshuaYehl and IGN.

Warner Bros. has changed the title of their latest DC movie: “Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)” is now called “Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey.” The title change is already reflected on movie ticketing sites across the web. Update: A Warner Bros. spokesperson told IGN that the official title remains the same, and this new title is only being used by ticket sites to help search expansion. The original had "Harley Quinn" at the end of a very long title, so this new title is designed to help people better find the movie when searching for "Harley Quinn." The original story continues below. While Warner didn’t release a statement about why they made the change, it’s presumably part of a strategy to help the film perform better at the box office after it had the lowest opening weekend for any DCEU movie to date. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=birds-of-prey-comparing-the-characters-looks-through-the-years&captions=true"] Harley Quinn is immensely popular compared to the likes of Huntress, Renee Montoya, and Black Canary, so it makes sense why Warner Bros. would pivot in an attempt to cash in on the character’s name recognition. Instead of burying her name at the end of an obscenely long title, causing many people to not even include her name when referring to the movie, it has now been moved to the front. The absurd original title was very much in-character for Harley Quinn, but it seems the studio wants to eschew that in favor of being crystal clear with viewers. Not to mention, Harley Quinn is the star of the film, with the Birds of Prey acting as supporting characters in her wild and zany narrative, so this new title better reflects that. For more on Birds of Prey... er... Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey, check out why star Margot Robbie decided to not include Joker in the film, what you need to know about the closing credits scene, and if you haven't already, be sure to read our review of the movie. To see Harley in action, watch this clip from the movie showing Black Mask interrogating Harley Quinn: [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/01/30/birds-of-prey-you-lost-something-right-clip"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Joshua is Senior Features Editor at IGN. If Pokemon, Green Lantern, or Game of Thrones are frequently used words in your vocabulary, you’ll want to follow him on Twitter @JoshuaYehl and IGN.

Sony has submitted a patent for an AI that may be able to help players stuck in a game by pointing them towards items or weapons that may help them overcome their obstacle. This can either be an in-game item or if need be, an item available for purchase. In a patent filing for something called the “In-Game Resource Surfacing Platform,” Sony describes a scenario in which a player is stuck in a video game that they may need help to overcome. “Many video-games have hundred of thousands of individual items for users to earn, find, or purchase and use within the video game,” it says in the patent description. The AI tool that Sony is hoping to patent would help search and identify “in-game resources that assist a player based on contextual data and data from a community of similar players.” [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=igns-top-25-playstation-4-games&captions=true"] Sony lays out three variations of this tool. One is where the AI identifies the “current state” the player is in while in a game and cross-references it with other players who’ve successfully moved past that point. “[T]he method provides an operation for selecting a resource that is usable by the player to complete the objective based on the one or more resources utilized by respective other players during said successful attempt of completing the objective[.]” [caption id="attachment_2300616" align="alignnone" width="720"] This figure illustrates how Sony's tool might suggest microtransactions to help the player get through a difficult section of a game.[/caption] Meaning the AI will find out how other players completed the obstacle and point the stuck players towards that solution. The AI tool may also point players towards an item in a store, in-game or online, that can help complete the objective or even advance the game to a point past the obstacle (a skip, maybe?). The use of AI during a game session is not new. Ubisoft has rolled out an AI service called Sam which can track progression in games, or check in-game stats. Google Stadia has also promised a feature in the future where players may be able to directly interact with Google Assistant for in-game help. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/02/07/next-gen-console-watch-how-powerful-ps5-xbox-series-x-may-be"] Sony’s patent seems at first more localized towards getting players past a certain obstacle, either through in-game or purchasable methods. But there’s a chance the service could expand to provide deeper help. Though there’s always the IGN Wiki guides if you need a leg-up on how to get past certain game obstacles. The patent was filed last year and published recently. There’s been no public announcement of a new AI tool for Sony games, so this may be a next-gen feature for the PlayStation 5. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Kim is a reporter for IGN. You can reach him on Twitter.

Sony has submitted a patent for an AI that may be able to help players stuck in a game by pointing them towards items or weapons that may help them overcome their obstacle. This can either be an in-game item or if need be, an item available for purchase. In a patent filing for something called the “In-Game Resource Surfacing Platform,” Sony describes a scenario in which a player is stuck in a video game that they may need help to overcome. “Many video-games have hundred of thousands of individual items for users to earn, find, or purchase and use within the video game,” it says in the patent description. The AI tool that Sony is hoping to patent would help search and identify “in-game resources that assist a player based on contextual data and data from a community of similar players.” [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=igns-top-25-playstation-4-games&captions=true"] Sony lays out three variations of this tool. One is where the AI identifies the “current state” the player is in while in a game and cross-references it with other players who’ve successfully moved past that point. “[T]he method provides an operation for selecting a resource that is usable by the player to complete the objective based on the one or more resources utilized by respective other players during said successful attempt of completing the objective[.]” [caption id="attachment_2300616" align="alignnone" width="720"] This figure illustrates how Sony's tool might suggest microtransactions to help the player get through a difficult section of a game.[/caption] Meaning the AI will find out how other players completed the obstacle and point the stuck players towards that solution. The AI tool may also point players towards an item in a store, in-game or online, that can help complete the objective or even advance the game to a point past the obstacle (a skip, maybe?). The use of AI during a game session is not new. Ubisoft has rolled out an AI service called Sam which can track progression in games, or check in-game stats. Google Stadia has also promised a feature in the future where players may be able to directly interact with Google Assistant for in-game help. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/02/07/next-gen-console-watch-how-powerful-ps5-xbox-series-x-may-be"] Sony’s patent seems at first more localized towards getting players past a certain obstacle, either through in-game or purchasable methods. But there’s a chance the service could expand to provide deeper help. Though there’s always the IGN Wiki guides if you need a leg-up on how to get past certain game obstacles. The patent was filed last year and published recently. There’s been no public announcement of a new AI tool for Sony games, so this may be a next-gen feature for the PlayStation 5. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Kim is a reporter for IGN. You can reach him on Twitter.

The 2020 Academy Awards paid tribute to the many actors, filmmakers and other Hollywood icons who passed away in the Oscars "In Memoriam" segment. And as is too often the case, the segment is drawing complaints from viewers noticing several key names were omitted from the list. As The Hollywood Reporter notes, this year's notable omissions include Beverly Hills, 90210 and Riverdale star Luke Perry, The Devil's Rejects star Sid Haig, and Disney Channel star Cameron Boyce. The In Memoriam segment featured an emotionally charged rendition of The Beatles' "Yesterday" performed by Billie Eilish. Several recently passed celebrities were featured in the montage, including NBA star and Oscar winner Kobe Bryant and Golden Age Hollywood icon Kirk Douglas. Douglas' was the last name to appear in the montage, having passed on February 5. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/03/04/luke-perry-star-of-90210-and-riverdale-dies-at-52"] Perry's absence is especially surprising given his sudden, unexpected death at the relatively young age of 52 and the fact that he appears in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, one of this year's Best Picture nominees. Similarly, Boyce's absence is odd given his career was cut short at the shockingly young age of 20. Horror magazine Fangoria called out Haig's absence after the segment ended, tweeting "... and, In Memoriam, Sid Haig. #Oscars." Other notable omissions include actor Rene Auberjonois (Star Trek: Deep Space 9), actor Tim Conway (The Carol Burnett Show), director Larry Cohen (It's Alive), actress Denise Nickerson (Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory), actor Jan-Michael Vincent (Airwolf) and actor Orson Bean (1977's The Hobbit). Most of these omissions are included in a more comprehensive online tribute, though Bean (who very recently died in a car crash on February 7), hasn't yet been added. As mentioned, this is hardly a new problem for the Oscars. 2018's In Memoriam segment was especially criticized, as it omitted TV's Batman, Adam West, and Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Poltergeist director Tobe Hooper. Nor is this problem unique to the Oscars. The latest Primetime Emmys drew criticism when the late Andre Previn was memorialized with a photo of the still very much alive Leonard Slatkin. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=best-reviewed-movies-of-2019&captions=true"] Click here for the full list of winners at the 2020 Academy Awards. [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.

The 2020 Academy Awards paid tribute to the many actors, filmmakers and other Hollywood icons who passed away in the Oscars "In Memoriam" segment. And as is too often the case, the segment is drawing complaints from viewers noticing several key names were omitted from the list. As The Hollywood Reporter notes, this year's notable omissions include Beverly Hills, 90210 and Riverdale star Luke Perry, The Devil's Rejects star Sid Haig, and Disney Channel star Cameron Boyce. The In Memoriam segment featured an emotionally charged rendition of The Beatles' "Yesterday" performed by Billie Eilish. Several recently passed celebrities were featured in the montage, including NBA star and Oscar winner Kobe Bryant and Golden Age Hollywood icon Kirk Douglas. Douglas' was the last name to appear in the montage, having passed on February 5. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/03/04/luke-perry-star-of-90210-and-riverdale-dies-at-52"] Perry's absence is especially surprising given his sudden, unexpected death at the relatively young age of 52 and the fact that he appears in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, one of this year's Best Picture nominees. Similarly, Boyce's absence is odd given his career was cut short at the shockingly young age of 20. Horror magazine Fangoria called out Haig's absence after the segment ended, tweeting "... and, In Memoriam, Sid Haig. #Oscars." Other notable omissions include actor Rene Auberjonois (Star Trek: Deep Space 9), actor Tim Conway (The Carol Burnett Show), director Larry Cohen (It's Alive), actress Denise Nickerson (Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory), actor Jan-Michael Vincent (Airwolf) and actor Orson Bean (1977's The Hobbit). Most of these omissions are included in a more comprehensive online tribute, though Bean (who very recently died in a car crash on February 7), hasn't yet been added. As mentioned, this is hardly a new problem for the Oscars. 2018's In Memoriam segment was especially criticized, as it omitted TV's Batman, Adam West, and Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Poltergeist director Tobe Hooper. Nor is this problem unique to the Oscars. The latest Primetime Emmys drew criticism when the late Andre Previn was memorialized with a photo of the still very much alive Leonard Slatkin. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=best-reviewed-movies-of-2019&captions=true"] Click here for the full list of winners at the 2020 Academy Awards. [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.

BioWare general manager Casey Hudson announced in a new blog post that the developers at BioWare will be redesigning Anthem that will reinvent “the core gameplay loop.” The effort is meant to be a larger overhaul Anthem instead of just a series of updates and expansions. In an official BioWare blog post, Hudson thanked readers for one year of Anthem a game he says “represented a big leap into new territory for us as a studio.” Hudson acknowledged that since launch there have been critical feedback from fans saying Anthem “needs a more satisfying loot experience, better long-term progression, and a more fulfilling end game.” [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=every-ign-bioware-game-review&captions=true"] “Over the coming months, we will be focusing on a longer-term redesign of the experience, specifically working to reinvent the core gameplay loop with clear goals, motivating challenges and progression with meaningful rewards — while preserving the fun of flying and fighting in a vast science-fantasy setting.” To do this, Hudson says the developers at BioWare will be “doing something we’d like to have done more of the first time around — giving a focused team the time to test and iterate, focusing on gameplay first.” This is a rare admission that during the initial development of Anthem, the team wasn’t able to test and iterate features as much as they would have liked. Which would explain some of the criticisms that Anthem’s loot and progression felt shallow and undercooked. By the description, Anthem’s new development plans sound a lot like Final Fantasy 14: A Realm Reborn, a game with similar launch issues that was reworked into something almost like an entirely new game. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/02/21/anthem-review"] Anthem was released almost one year ago and the response was fairly tepid. Although many praised the core flight mechanic of the game, Anthem was unable to provide a satisfying games-as-service experience, and instead issuing several post-launch fixes and updates. The rollout for the big Cataclysm event also faced several delays. Hudson didn’t announce when the relaunch of Anthem will drop, but in the meantime, Anthem will still be supported with events, store refreshes, and past seasonal content. Check out IGN’s Anthem wiki for more of our coverage, including walkthroughs, tips, and more. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Kim is a reporter for IGN. You can reach him on Twitter.

BioWare general manager Casey Hudson announced in a new blog post that the developers at BioWare will be redesigning Anthem that will reinvent “the core gameplay loop.” The effort is meant to be a larger overhaul Anthem instead of just a series of updates and expansions. In an official BioWare blog post, Hudson thanked readers for one year of Anthem a game he says “represented a big leap into new territory for us as a studio.” Hudson acknowledged that since launch there have been critical feedback from fans saying Anthem “needs a more satisfying loot experience, better long-term progression, and a more fulfilling end game.” [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=every-ign-bioware-game-review&captions=true"] “Over the coming months, we will be focusing on a longer-term redesign of the experience, specifically working to reinvent the core gameplay loop with clear goals, motivating challenges and progression with meaningful rewards — while preserving the fun of flying and fighting in a vast science-fantasy setting.” To do this, Hudson says the developers at BioWare will be “doing something we’d like to have done more of the first time around — giving a focused team the time to test and iterate, focusing on gameplay first.” This is a rare admission that during the initial development of Anthem, the team wasn’t able to test and iterate features as much as they would have liked. Which would explain some of the criticisms that Anthem’s loot and progression felt shallow and undercooked. By the description, Anthem’s new development plans sound a lot like Final Fantasy 14: A Realm Reborn, a game with similar launch issues that was reworked into something almost like an entirely new game. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/02/21/anthem-review"] Anthem was released almost one year ago and the response was fairly tepid. Although many praised the core flight mechanic of the game, Anthem was unable to provide a satisfying games-as-service experience, and instead issuing several post-launch fixes and updates. The rollout for the big Cataclysm event also faced several delays. Hudson didn’t announce when the relaunch of Anthem will drop, but in the meantime, Anthem will still be supported with events, store refreshes, and past seasonal content. Check out IGN’s Anthem wiki for more of our coverage, including walkthroughs, tips, and more. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Kim is a reporter for IGN. You can reach him on Twitter.

Netflix has renewed Sex Education for a third season. The British comedy drama, starring Gillian Anderson, Asa Butterfield, Emma Mackey, and Ncuti Gatwa, deals with the intertwined lives of several high school students. The first season saw Butterfield's character, Otis, sneakily set up a sex clinic at school, providing advice he learns via his mother (Anderson) who works as a sex therapist. Season 2 evolved the show into a more character-led story, largely abandoning the 'case of the week' style. Season 3 looks likely to continue that trend. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=sex-education-season-2-gallery&captions=true"] Netflix's short renewal announcement states that the season goes into production this year. No release date has been set, but both season 1 and 2 aired in January in 2019 and 2020 respectively. Our review of Sex Education Season 2 said the show "stands tall with bright characters, fun performances, and an unequaled candidness about sex." Naturally, we're more than happy to see a third season. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/12/22/new-to-netflix-for-january-2020"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer. You can follow him on Twitter.