Unity Partners with IBM to Bring Watson AI to Games
Game engine developer Unity has teamed up with IBM to bring their powerful Watson AI to games.
The collaboration was revealed in a post on the Unity3D blog, which includes a number of examples and resources for prospective developers.
The 'IBM Watson Unity SDK' has been added to the Unity asset store, allowing developers to integrate the cloud-based artificial intelligence into their games.
Unity's Nathan Ventura believes the partnership will help to build "the future of enterprise AR and VR."
"This partnership exemplifies IBM and Unity’s commitment to accelerating the enterprise developer journey and equipping them with the tools and resources they need to build powerful new AR and VR apps."
Everything We Know About Nintendo’s Paid Online Subscription Service
The following article was originally published in May. It's since been updated with new information following September 13's Nintendo Direct.
Nintendo first announced a paid online service for Switch in January 2017. Guess what? It’s still not here. But the service is slowly coming into view as Nintendo continues sprinkling out the details. To cut through the weeds, let’s take a look at everything we know about Nintendo's paid online service.
It’s Called Nintendo Switch Online
The name isn’t as flashy as Xbox Live Gold or PlayStation Plus, but Nintendo Switch Online gets the job done.
Far Cry 5: Boomer Is A Good Boy – IGN First
Our IGN First game for February is none other than Far Cry 5, the highly anticipated open-world chaos shooter, developed by the Far Cry 3 team. As you may already know, this Far Cry is set in Montana, where a small-town cult clashes with the law and you're thrust straight into the middle of the action.
We've already looked into the different ways to play, what's new in Far Cry 5, and the charismatic villain John Seed, but today we're taking a closer look at a friend of yours, Boomer, the trusty canine companion and how he came to life.
9 Things We Learned on the Set of A Wrinkle in Time
Last year, I was among the press invited to visit the Los Angeles set of A Wrinkle in Time, the film version of the beloved children’s book by Madeleine L’Engle. The Ava DuVernay-directed film, which opens March 9, is the story of young Meg Murray (Storm Reid) who goes on a magical journey to rescue her father, with help from some supernatural beings along the way.
The book has pretty heavy themes about the concept of goodness vs. evil, and what we can do to change the world. There is also, however, a simple story of love and friendship at its core. We observed a scene being filmed between Reid and Levi Miller, who plays Calvin, where they share their first kiss. The scene was very short, but it gave us a good look at both the poise of two young actors and the way the kids got to joke around between takes. Oprah Winfrey, who plays Mrs. Which, told us that the other actors loved the days they were on set with the kids because they “pumpkin” early, meaning that everyone got to end the day when the kids were legally required to.
Diablo Creator on Difficulty Bringing Diablo 2 to Modern PCs
David Brevik, the co-founder of Blizzard North and creator of Diablo, recently shared his thoughts on the potential of Diablo II coming to modern PCs and the challenges involved in making that happen.
"I can say from a technical standpoint it's gonna be extremely difficult," Brevik said on the latest episode of our monthly interview show IGN Unfiltered. "You will not be able to capture it exactly the way it was, and the number one reason is because of the shape of the screen."
Brevik went on to explain that because the screens during the time of Diablo II's release were 800x600 resolution in a 4:3 aspect ratio—which is much different in shape than the 16:9 and 16:10 aspect ratio screens we have today—many of the programming tricks they used when developing Diablo II would no longer work.
New Art Book Celebrates 30 Years of Street Fighter
Kadokawa Corporation will release Street Fighter Memorial Archive: Beyond the World in Japan on March 24, to mark the 30th anniversary of the Street Fighter series. It will be priced at ¥3,900 (about $36, not including tax).
The book is currently available for pre-order on Amazon Japan.
Trailblazers Is WipeOut Meets Splatoon
Supergonk games, a studio made up of talent from studios like Codemasters, Bizarre Creations and Lionhead, announced Trailblazers, its co-op, arcade-style racer to be published by Rising Star Games.
The game features fully designed tracks, but they dynamically change with the co-op twist in the game's paint mechanic.
Similar to the playfields of Splatoon, laying down paint gives your team the advantage during races. You lay down your color, and the strips become boostable sections of the track. Strategic paint application adds a new wrinkle to the arcade-style racing formula.
Races are against the CPU, against up to 6 players online, or split-screen and 4-player local play with extra CPU or online racers.
PUBG Reveals Two New Cosmetic Crates Going Live Tomorrow
PUBG is getting '70s and '80s-inspired outfits in its new cosmetic crates, going live on February 22.
The new crates, called Fever and Militia, were announced today. The Fever crate's retro fashion items can be unlocked with Early Bird keys and purchased with BP.
The Militia crate contains "the Erangel resistance force outfit and Miramar frontiersman outfit," and is dropped randomly. And what's more, it's free.
As with the Gamesom Invitational Crate, it's possible to get the entire set of outfits in the Fever crate - if you're lucky.
Get a First Look at Netflix’s Lost in Space Reboot
Netflix's reboot of Lost in Space will launch on April 13 on Earth, the streaming network has announced -- although in a typically Netflix twist, the company has apparently already made the series premiere available in space. According to a press release, Netflix gave NASA early access to the pilot episode, which was "transmitted 12 days ago to the International Space Station for astronauts to view during their leisure time."
Us earthbound viewers will have to wait a little longer, but Netflix did soften the blow with eight first look photos from the new show, which stars Black Sails alum Toby Stephens as patriarch John Robinson, Deadwood favorite Molly Parker as his wife Maureen, Taylor Russell as eldest daughter Judy, Mina Sundwall as middle child Penny, and Max Jenkins as Will (as in "Danger!").
Monkey Island Co-Creator to Receive BAFTA’s Highest Accolade
Tim Schafer will receive the BAFTA Fellowship in April.
The Fellowship is the highest accolade from BAFTA and recognises "an outstanding and exceptional contribution to film, games or television," by an individual. Previous recipients from the industry include Shigeru Miyamoto, John Carmack, Gabe Newell, and Peter Molyneux.
“I am surprised, humbled, and honored to be receiving the BAFTA Fellowship this year," said Schafer. "BAFTA's long-standing support of video games and championing of creativity and strong storytelling in that medium, have had an extremely positive impact and I'm very grateful to be recognized by them with this Fellowship.”
Schafer is best known for his work at LucasArts, where he worked on the Monkey Island series with Ron Gilbert and Dave Grossman. Day of the Tentacle and Grim Fandango were among his other contributions to the studio's impressive lineup.