Darabont Looks Back on the Making of Shawshank Redemption
Starting in the late ’80s, writer/director Frank Darabont had quite the three-decade run cranking out screenplays, directing movies, and developing television series without much downtime. By his own admission, he didn’t even bother to slow down enough to take in the ones that had crossed over into another level of success.
Case in point: The Shawshank Redemption, which he wrote and directed 25-years ago. At the time of its release in 1994, it was actually a box office disappointment. But it ascended to the level of beloved classic via home video rentals and then seemingly constant basic cable airings, before engendering a die-hard fandom that ranks it up there with the all-time greats.
Samuel L. Jackson Voice Coming to Amazon Alexa, Mother******s
Amazon Alexa will sound a little more furious after Amazon announced a Samuel L. Jackson guest voice pack for its smart AI voice program.
Amazon announced that later this year, there will be a more natural-sounding voice coming to Alexa devices thanks to a new neural text-to-speech software. Utilizing deep learning, Alexa will be able to sound more human and even mimic real human voices starting with Samuel L. Jackson.
Because of the new technology, Jackson won’t just be spitting out pre-recorded lines or phrases. Instead, the AI is mimicking Jackson’s voice. Amazon will offer the Jackson voice pack for a limited-time price of $0.99 for anyone who purchases it this year. There will also be an explicit voice option for Jackson if you’re so inclined.
Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond Announced + First Hands-On Impressions
Medal of Honor is back in a way you probably didn’t expect. Respawn Entertainment, makers of Apex Legends, Titanfall, and the upcoming Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, is turning its attention to one of new-ish parent company EA’s veteran (but dormant) properties. Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond is a World War II first-person shooter, as you’d expect. But what you probably wouldn’t have imagined is that it’s a VR game that’s exclusive to Oculus Rift (it is, in fact, published by Oculus Studios). Its release date, for now, is the very vague “2020.”
The new Medal of Honor takes place over three Acts made up of many missions each, and the Respawn team says the campaign lasts 10-12 hours – a lot by VR standards. I played a training level and a couple of missions. In the former, you’re taught the basics, albeit in VR. Some weapons can be held with two hands, upping their accuracy. And it is pretty neat that you can pull the pin out of a grenade with your teeth by raising the held grenade to your mouth.
How Marvel’s Avengers Could Succeed Where so Many Online Co-op Games Have Failed
After a reveal at E3 earlier this summer that left everyone somewhat confused and conflicted instead of excited, Square Enix and Marvel finally gave us a hands-on look at their upcoming Avengers game at Gamescom 2019.
Now that the veil has been lifted a bit higher, we know a lot more about what it as a whole might look like — and how, in fact, it could seriously make story and character matter to players in an online co-op game.
In so many online games out right now, the story just feels like set dressing for the overall gameplay loop. In Destiny, your Guardian exists, but they don’t really have a tangible presence — you’re just a camera with a gun (or sword), and one of many similar murderdrones at that. Similarly, in Warframe or The Division, the player character is a mute slate, devoid of personality save for emotes and whatever character backstory the player conjures up in their own mind.
Fans Are Upset Over Modern Warfare’s Year-Long PS4 Exclusive Survival Mode
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare's Special Ops Survival Mode will be exclusive to PlayStation 4 players for a year, and fans are not happy.
During Sony's latest State of Play livestream, Activision took the opportunity to reveal a brand new story trailer for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, giving us our first real look at its “ripped from the headlines” campaign. Following this trailer, a screen popped up with the text "Special Ops Survival Mode, play first on PS4" with much smaller text at the bottom that read, "Timed Exclusive Content Until October 1, 2020."
The Top 25 ’90s Movies
It’s Top 25 time, 1990s style... IGN’s readers voted in our poll to determine what the next Top 25 list we would tackle is, and the movies of the ’90s won!
Ah, the 1990s -- what a glorious time to be a movie fan. It was an era when Tarantino was reshaping the indie landscape, Disney animation was in the midst of a renaissance, and Spielberg was churning out classics like a legend... to name just a few of the noteworthy trends of the time.
It was hard to narrow down this list to just 25 entries, but our entertainment staff voted and came up with the following. We considered several factors when putting together this list of the best of the best movies of the 1990s: Did they leave an imprint on the cultural zeitgeist of the time? Did their release affect the course of filmmaking, influencing the industry as a whole? And, of course, did we just like them?
Oculus Link Will Let Quest Play Rift VR Games
Facebook has just announced a way for Oculus Quest VR headsets to run games developed for the more powerful Oculus Rift. It’s called Oculus Link, and it’ll be coming to Quest headsets as an update in November.
Oculus Quest is Facebook’s standalone VR headset which can run VR apps and games without the need of an external PC or camera setup. Meanwhile, the Oculus Rift is a more powerful headset which, thanks to an external PC source, can run higher-resolution games and apps.
With Oculus Link, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg told audiences at its Oculus event that, “Your Quest is basically a Rift now, too.”
Primal Trailer Debut: Nic Cage Battles a Jaguar and a Killer Merc!
Man is perhaps the deadliest predator in Primal, an upcoming action-thriller starring Nicolas Cage as a big game hunter who's pitted against both wild animals on the loose -- including a white jaguar! -- and an escaped killer. Watch our exclusive trailer debut for the film in the player above.
Primal, which debuts in select theaters and On Demand on November 8th via Lionsgate, also stars X-Men movie veterans Famke Janssen and Kevin Durand as well as LaMonica Garrett and The Sopranos' Michael Imperioli.
Here's the official synopsis for Primal:
"When Frank Walsh (Nicolas Cage), a hunter and collector of rare and exotic animals, bags a priceless white jaguar for a zoo, he figures it’ll be smooth sailing to a big payday. But the ship bearing Frank’s precious cargo has two predators caged in its hold: the cat, and a political assassin being extradited to the U.S. After the assassin breaks free – and then frees the jaguar – Frank feverishly stalks the ship’s cramped corridors in hot pursuit of his prey, right up until the thrilling, unpredictable climax."
Stumptown: Cobie Smulders’ Private Eye Has the Superpower of Screwing Up
All September long, IGN is highlighting the best TV coming your way in the 2019-2020 season. Today we're introducing ourselves to the cool, cunning Dex Parios, Private Eye. Played by How I Met Your Mother and the MCU's Cobie Smulders, Dex tracks down crooks and busts open cases on ABC's Stumptown, which premieres Wednesday, September 25. Based on the acclaimed graphic novel by Greg Rucka and Matthew Southworth, Stumptown follows Dex, an ex-solider, as she tries to get out in front of a gambling debt by agreeing to take on tricky P.I. jobs with no formal training. I spoke to Stumptown creator Jason Richman about why Smulders was perfect for the role of Dex and what type of changes he had to make to the source material. Plus, we've got an exclusive first look at the opening scene of the show translated into comic book form, plus a video of the scene itself for comparison.
The Best Amazon Fire Tablet Deals in September 2019
If you're looking for a new tablet at a great price, the Amazon Fire range should definitely be on your radar. Even when they aren't heavily discounted on Prime Day or Black Friday, Amazon Fire tablets present incredible value when it comes to price and usability.
Cheaper than the majority of other mainstream tablets, these devices can perform well while gaming, shopping online, taking photos, and much more. Whether you're after a top of the line device or something very cheap, Amazon Fire tablets are versatile with a wide range of different models to suit everyone.
Friendly reminder that these tablets change in price and go on sale often, so make sure you check back regularly to ensure you're getting the best deal. Without further delay, here are all the best Amazon Fire tablet deals in 2019.