Alien: Blackout Is Fun AND Microtransaction-Free
On the news that the next video game set in the Alien universe was to be on mobile devices, there was some understandable vocal disappointment. We haven’t had an Alien game since 2014’s (divisive) Alien: Isolation, and that game was good enough to leave fans hungry for more of that idiosyncratic cat-and-mouse tension. The good news is, then, that Alien: Blackout is going all in on delivering that tension; albeit on smaller platforms and on a smaller scale.
Set between Alien: Isolation and 1986’s Aliens – it’s not a direct sequel to Isolation but it does take place some time after it – FoxNext and D3 Go!’s Alien: Blackout sees Amanda Ripley on a broken space station, once again isolated, with a stalking xenomorph on board. A small crew of four with a broken ship stumble across the station, and essentially it’s up to Amanda to keep them and herself alive, from the confines of a security terminal with a limited power supply, across seven levels. She’s also doing it all against an eight-minute timer; once the clock runs out, so does your power. Blackout.
Kingdom Hearts 3 Update Schedule Revealed, Includes Hidden Endings
The first updates planned after the launch of Kingdom Hearts III have been revealed and they include the game's epilogue and another "secret" video.
Revealed by Kingdom Hearts Twitter, Update 1.01 will arrive when Kingdom Hearts III launches on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on January 29, 2019, and will include "several data fixes" and the Memory Archive.
The Memory Archive will be added to the game's title menu and will be a "digest of the #KingdomHearts story in the series up to this point."
On Wednesday, January 30, the Epilogue will be added to KHIII and will be able to be viewed after players have completed the main story.
Check Out the Mortal Kombat 11 Cover Art
Series co-creator Ed Boon has revealed the official cover art for Mortal Kombat 11.
The iconic fighter Scorpion is the lone cover star for the second consecutive Mortal Kombat game, after appearing front and center on the cover of 2015's Mortal Kombat X. Boon revealed the new art, which you can also see below, on Twitter.
Official Mortal Kombat 11 cover art via Ed Boon on Twitter
Charlie Brooker Says There’s Not a Black Mirror Universe – It’s a Black Mirror Multiverse
Since its third series debuted on Netflix, Black Mirror creators Charlie Brooker and Annabel Jones have seemingly become more and more interested in tying their episodes together, dropping references from one story into another - sometimes multiple others.
Interactive episode Bandersnatch is no different, with dozens of Easter Eggs littered across its many branches. I got the chance to chat to Brooker and Jones this week, and posed a question I’ve heard more and more recently: is there a Black Mirror Universe?
Instead, Brooker broadens that idea out a bit further: “We have a shared Black Mirror multiverse, is now what I'm saying, in which we can do whatever the bloody hell we feel like. It's kind of like the Spider-Man movie that came out recently, the Spider-Verse.”
UK Daily Deals: £300 off Dell Laptops and Desktops, 40% off Dell Monitors, 14% off Alienware Gaming Systems
If you buy something through this post, IGN may get a share of the sale. For more, read our Terms of Use.
Like me on Facebook and follow me on Twitter for the latest deals.
Looking to get a TV for your gaming? Find the best 4K TVs for Gaming here.
Star Trek 4 Reportedly Cancelled
The troubled Star Trek 4 has reportedly been cancelled after its director left to direct a Game of Thrones prequel pilot.
According to Deadline, the in-development follow-up to Star Trek Beyond has apparently been shelved following SJ Clarkson's decision to join HBO's new GoT series.
Back in August, the project was said to be in trouble after Chris Pine and Chris Hemsworth refused pay cuts. At the time, Paramount insisted that the project was not on hold, but the additional loss of a director may have been the last straw.
Is Nintendo Done With Consoles? (We Don’t Think So) – NVC Ep 439
Weeeeeelcooooome to Nintendo Voice Chat Episode 439. Nintendo surprised us with a few cool announcements on Twitter, and then there were some interesting -- and to fans -- potentially alarming comments Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa made in an interview with Japanese business publication Nikkei.
On this week's show, Peer Schneider, Zachary Ryan, Brian Altano, and Casey DeFreitas put the latest Nintendo news in context and ask themselves the question: "Is Nintendo Done With Consoles?"
Population: One Isn’t Quite ‘Fortnite VR’ But It’s Pretty Convincing
At CES 2019, HTC was showing off a Battle Royale FPS named Population: One by developer Big Box VR. It offers a lot of the same features found in Fortnite and PUBG, but in a wild VR sandbox. I got some hands-on time with it, which is still in beta, and overall I had a blast.
Population: One can be played in both single-player against bots, or multiplayer in teams on either HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, or Windows Mixed Reality. The essential design of the game is similar to Fortnite in that you have to eliminate the other teams' players using a variety of weaponry, and as the game goes on the safe area continually shrinks until there's a winner. The Fortnite connection really comes through in the game's building mechanic, which lets you erect walls pretty much anywhere, which you can then climb, run across, or hide behind for cover.
The Game Industry Reacts to the Bungie-Activision Breakup
Today's industry-shaking news that prominent game developer Bungie and titanic publisher Activision were ending their planned 10-year agreement roughly halfway in – with Bungie retaining the Destiny IP and planning to continue supporting and self-publishing the popular game – sent shockwaves throughout the gaming community.
Reactions were swift and fairly universal in their enthusiasm and support for the one-time Halo developer. We've rounded up a handful of them below:
Phil Spencer, Head of Xbox
Arrow Switches Time Slots, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow Gets CW Premiere Date
The CW’s spring premiere dates have been released, and we have updates on when Arrow and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow will be airing.
Per E News, Legends of Tomorrow will be swapping time slots with Arrow and will have its midseason premiere on Monday, April 1 at 8pm. Meanwhile, Arrow will begin airing on Mondays at at 9pm following this.
Other CW show dates were announced, including Jane the Virgin’s final season premiering on Wednesday, March 27 at 9pm, iZombie’s final season premiering on Thursday, May 2 at 8pm, the In the Dark series is premiering on Thursday, April 4 at 9pm and The 100 returns on Tuesday, April 30 at 9pm.