Apex Legends Changes How to Earn Iron Crown Skins After Player Backlash
Respawn Entertainment is changing how legendary skins for the Apex Legends Iron Crown limited time event can be earned, after a massive outcry from players who say the current system is too punishing.
Apex Legends began its latest limited-time event, the Iron Crown, earlier this week. Along with the highly anticipated Solo mode, Iron Crown added a bunch of new legendary skins for each of its heroes. Unfortunately, the only way players can earn these skins are from loot boxes players had to purchase for 700 Apex Coins, or about $7 USD.
Pokemon Producer Junichi Masuda Competes With Psyduck at the World Championships
Long-time Pokemon producer and designer Junichi Masuda competed in the Pokemon Go Invitational, the very first official Pokemon Go tournament ever, at the Pokemon World Championships. Rather than outfit his team with the most powerful, commonly-seen competitive Pokemon, he brought his well-known favorite: Psyduck.
In his first battle against Poké AK, Masuda humorously (and un-strategically) seemed to save all three shields to keep his Psyduck alive as long as possible. Later in the best three out of five match-up, Masuda replaced Psyduck with another odd duck: Ludicolo. Poké AK took the match 3-0, and went on to finish the tournament at second place.
More popular Pokemon at the Pokemon Go Invitational included, for example, Skarmory, Altaria, Defense Deoxys, and Umbreon. Masuda did have an Umbreon, but the casters pointed out that, unfortunately, it lacked the Community Day exclusive move Last Resort, which may have made a difference in its performance.
Halo Infinite Creative Director Leaves 343 Industries
Halo Infinite’s creative director, Tim Longo, has left 343 Industries, Microsoft confirmed. Executive Producer Mary Olson will now lead the Campaign team for Halo Infinite, and 343 studio head Chris Lee remains overall the lead on the game’s overall vision.
Kotaku reported that Longo, who served as creative director on Halo 5, moved to a different role within 343 Industries last week, but left the company completely this week. Microsoft did not provide a reason for Longo’s departure, but wished him well in a statement provided to IGN.
IGN & Cyberpunk 2077 Cosplay Party at Pax West
IGN is proud to partner with CD Projekt Red to host a Cyberpunk 2077 Cosplay party at PAX West on Friday, August 30 at 8:00pm PST.
The party is 21+ and a PAX West badge is not required to attend. Each person can register for themselves at the Eventbrite page for tickets, but additional guests are not allowed without their own RSVP. Registration can be found here and attendees do not need to be cosplay contestants.
Find out all the details for the Cyberpunk Cosplay Contest, which numerous IGN talent will be judging, and have a shot at the $40,000 prize pool. A guide to Cyberpunk 2077 character outfits can be found among the details at the Cyberpunk website.
Mortal Kombat Movie Reboot Casts Its Liu Kang, Raiden, Jax & Mileena
A number of the bestselling video game franchise's classic characters have been cast in New Line Cinema's feature film reboot of Mortal Kombat.
Variety reports that Power Rangers and Black Mirror actor Ludi Lin has been cast as Liu Kang. Lin had recently been up for the role of Marvel's Shang-Chi, but lost out to Simu Liu.
And according to The Hollywood Reporter, MCU veteran Tadanobu Asano -- who played Hogun in the Thor movies -- is in negotiations to play Raiden. the god of thunder and the protector of Earthrealm.
Krypton Cancelled After Season 2, Lobo Spinoff Also Dead
Bad news for fans of the Superman prequel series Krypton. SyFy has canceled the series, along with the planned Lobo spinoff.
Both The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline are reporting the cancellation, which comes just two days after Krypton's Season 2 finale aired. Low ratings appear to be the culprit. As THR notes, average ratings for Season 2 clocked in at a mere 408,000 viewers, a significant drop from Season 1's 1.8 million average.
That's a disappointing turn of events for a series that was initially a strong performer for SyFy. The network announced the Season 2 renewal last May, calling Krypton: Season 1 the most-watched season for any scripted series on Syfy since 2015's Defiance. Unfortunately, that momentum doesn't seem to have carried over to Season 2.
Mindhunter’s Charles Manson Actor Also Played Him in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
The newly released Mindhunter: Season 2 has an unexpected connection to the recent Quentin Tarantino film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Both projects feature actor Damon Herriman playing the role of infamous cult leader Charles Manson.
Herriman spoke about the odd coincidence on an episode of the podcast Back to One (via IndieWire). He said that he filmed his role in Mindhunter before appearing in Tarantino's project. And because the two projects take place several decades apart (Mindhunter in the 1980's and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood in 1969), Herriman said the experience was essentially like playing two different characters.
Netflix’s Haunting of Hill House Extended Director’s Cut Will Only Be Available on Blu-Ray
The Haunting of Hill House is coming to blu-ray, and it’ll be the only place to get an extended, director’s cut of the hit Netflix horror series.
Amblin’s Twitter account announced that the Haunting of Hill House is now available to pre-order online and announced that the home release will be an extended cut of the series. Hill House director Mike Flanagan confirmed the reports of a director’s cut on his own Twitter account.
“Well this news got out there a little earlier than we wanted… but yes, it’s true!” Flanagan wrote. “More details to come, but it was a blast restoring several episodes to their original form.”
Netflix Announces Elvis Animated Spy Series Agent King
On what is the 42nd anniversary of his death, Netflix announced Agent King, a new adult animated comedy series featuring Elvis Presley as a spy.
The late rocker's ex-wife Priscilla Presley will serve as series co-creator and executive producer.
Netflix issued the following plot synopsis for Agent King: “Elvis Presley trades in his white jumpsuit for a jet pack when he is covertly inducted into a secret government spy program to help battle the dark forces that threaten the country he loves — all while holding down his day job as the King Of Rock And Roll."
Official teaser art for Agent King.
Nintendo Announces Indie World Video Showcase for Next Week
Nintendo has announced that it will be livestreaming its Indie World video showcase on August 19 which will feature "roughly 20 minutes of information on indie games coming to #NintendoSwitch!"
Revealed on Twitter, Nintendo's Indie World presentation will take place this Monday at 6am PT/9am ET/2pm BST and, as per usual, no further details were given on what to expect.
