Out This Week: Splatoon 2, Gigantic, Lone Echo
With so many new games and movies coming out, it can be hard to keep up. Lucky for you, IGN is here to help with a weekly round-up of the biggest releases each and every week. Check out the latest releases for this week, and be sure to come back next Monday for a new update.
Note: The prices and deals compiled below are accurate at the time we published this story, but all are subject to change.
Smash Bros. Mod Team Reveals Its Own Fighting Game
Wavedash Games, a studio made up of some of the people behind the Super Smash Bros. Brawl Project M mod, is working on its own familiar fighting game.
Revealed at EVO 2017, Icons: Combat Arena is a 3D platform-based fighter which looks quite similar to to the Smash Bros. titles. Players can fight off stages and then charge back on, wavedash, and even edge hang.
Combat Arena's characters also offer similar movesets to popular Smash Bros. fighters. Check out the gameplay reveal trailer below.
Icons: Combat Arena is a free-to-play game. with an open beta being planned for launch on Steam sometime this fall. The game won't feature any Nintendo branding or characters whatsoever.
Tekken 7 Adding Fatal Fury’s Geese as Next DLC Character
Tekken 7's next DLC character is Fatal Fury's Geese Howard.
The character will be available for purchase sometime this winter as part of Tekken 7's second batch of add-on content. Pricing is not known yet.
Geese Howard first made his debut in the 1991 SNK classic Fatal Fury: King of Fighters. You can check out gameplay footage of the fighter below, where Geese reveals he has a particular problem with one of Tekken's longest-running characters, Heihachi Mishima.
Tekken 7's next upcoming DLC, arriving this August, is the classic Tekken Bowl mode along with a new Costume Pack.
World of Warcraft Chronicle Vol 3 Coming 2018
Dark Horse and Blizzard Entertainment have announced the third installment in the World of Warcraft Chronicle book series, due to go on sale March 27, 2018.
World of Warcraft Chronicle: Volume III features artwork from Peter Lee, Roman Kenney, Stanton Feng and Joseph Lacroix, while writing duties have been tackled by Chris Metzen, Matt Burns, and Robert Brooks. The third volume of World of Warcraft Chronicle will focus on the events "that shaped the modern history of Azeroth and delves into the backstories of Arthas Menethil, Illidan Stormrage, Jaina Proudmoore, and other iconic World of Warcraft characters."
World of Warcraft Chronicle: Volume III will go on sale March 27, 2018 for USD$39.99. Check out its cover art below.
Pokemon Minecraft Mod Shut Down
Pixelmon, the Pokemon mod for Minecraft, is ending development after a request from The Pokemon Company.
In a forum post titled "It's Been A Gréat Ride," the Pixelmon development team bid its players a fond farewell.
"We have had a great time making this mod and creating such a wonderful community but after a request from the Pokémon company we will be shutting our doors," reads the post. "I'm sorry for the disappointment this will cause but let's remember all the great times we had playing Pixelmon, discussing Pokémon, making awesome things inside this mod and everything else that we've done."
Daily Deals: Nintendo Switch With Cars 3: Driven to Win for Under £300
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Buy a Nintendo Switch From Argos and Get Cars 3: Driven to Win for Under £300
Argos have released this incredible Nintendo Switch bundle where you can get Cars 3 for just £20 when you buy the console. You will be saving £45 on this deal (Amazon.co.uk have Cars 3: Driven to Win up for £64.99).
Street Fighter 5’s Next Character Is a Final Fight Crossover
Muscle man Abigail from Final Fight is stomping his way into Street Fighter V next week on July 25.
As you can see in the trailer below, he's a very big man indeed, and looks as though he'll be slow moving and heavy hitting.
In Final Fight, Abigail was a member of the Mad Gear Gang, and he ran a scrap metal yard in the Metro City Bay Area. The stage outside his garage will be released as a stage on July 25 as well.
His normal costume has him wearing a tank top with tires around his arms acting as sweatbands. His Battle Costume changes his hair considerably to red dreadlocks, and he wears tires and chains instead. Meanwhile on his Story Costume he'll be wearing the level 3 helmet from PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (but not really).
Street Fighter EX Dev’s April Fools Fighting Game Is Real
On April Fools Day this year, Street Fighter EX series developer Arika announced a new fighting game. The joke, however, was on those who thought it was a joke - the game's actually real, and will include long-lost characters from the EX series in its roster.
At EVO 2017 last night, Arika showed off a new trailer for what it's currently only calling "The Mysterious Fighting Game". The trailer featured featuring the three previously revealed characters - Garuda, Hokuto and Kairi - but added a new character, Shirasa, and two returning EX characters, Darun Mister and fan favourite, Skullomania:
The game is in development for PS4, and Arika promises a "limited time beta/server test" on PS4 at the end of 2017. The trailer suggests an April 1 release in 2018, and says the game will release simultaneously in North america, Europe and Japan.
BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle Announced
Arc System Works has announced BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle, a new crossover fighting game that will combine characters from a trio of games developed and/or published by Arc System Works plus the the 3D animated series RWBY from Rooster Teeth Productions.
BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle was revealed with a trailer following the final of Evo 2017’s BlazBlue Central Fiction tournament.
The game will feature Yu from Persona 4 Ultimate Arena, Ragna the Bloodedge from BlazBlue, Hyde from Under Night In-Birth, and Ruby Rose from Rooster Teeth’s RWBY. Arc System Works promises there are more reveals to come.
BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle will be available "on console" in 2018. No further details were specified.
Game of Thrones: Why Walder Frey Was the Cold Open
Full spoilers for Game of Thrones' Season 7 premiere, "Dragonstone," continue below.
"The cold open wasn't initially the cold open," explained co-showrunner Dan Weiss. "We had organized the episode a bit differently. But when we saw David Bradley's performance, and seeing the subtle move that he made to not quite be Walder Frey but to start as Walder Frey and end as Arya Stark, that made us realize that this was the best way to open the episode of this season."
In the cold open, Arya disguises herself as Walder Frey, summons all the Freys to a new feast, and then proceeds to poison and kill them all, wiping out all of the Freys.