Get a Look at LA’s New Harry Potter Theme Park Experience
Making its official grand opening in early April, the new Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Hollywood has been long-awaited by the legion of Potter fans, following the hugely successful Wizarding Worlds in Universal's Orlando and Osaka, Japan locations.
I got a look at what to expect from the new Wizarding World this week, including several interesting tweaks and changes from some of the specifics at the Orlando location.
You'll notice crowds in some of the following photos, as guests at Universal Studios Hollywood these days are sometimes lucky enough to be at the park during one of the times the Wizarding World is temporarily open early for what is referred to as a technical rehearsal - which operate sporadically for limited periods of time, as the official opening day approaches.
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt’s Season 2 Teaser
Netflix released the new teaser trailer today for the upcoming second season of its acclaimed comedy series Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.
Co-created by Tina Fey, the show -- which we named one of the Top 10 Netflix series of all time -- stars Ellie Kemper as the wide-eyed title character who is rescued after 15 years of living with a religious cult and reintroduced into the outside world.
Check out the teaser trailer for Season 2 below:
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Season 2 premieres Friday, April 15, at 12:01am PT. The show was also recently renewed for a third season.
Fire Emblem Fates Creators On Making Tough Choices
This week, Fire Emblem Fates: Birthright and Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest usher in the latest chapter in Nintendo's turn-based strategy series. But for its big sequel to 2013's excellent Fire Emblem: Awakening, developer Intelligent Systems decided to try its hand at a new multi-angled story that revolves around two kingdoms at war.
IGN spoke with producer Masahiro Higuchi and director Kouhei Maeda -- both work for developer Intelligent Systems -- as well as Nintendo-side director Genki Yokota to learn more about the making of Fire Emblem Fates.
Fire Emblem Fates focuses its campaign into two distinct paths right from the start. The first six chapters of Birthright and Conquest feature the same content, until the fateful choice where you have to decide which kingdom (Hoshido or Nohr) you will fight for. We asked the developers to tell us which path they chose their first time through the campaign.
The Stand Movie Officially on Hold
The long-gestating, big screen version of Stephen King's novel The Stand is officially on hold, according to its producer. This comes on the heels of the news that its writer-director, Josh Boone, would film a different Stephen King adaptation, Revival, instead.
"Right now it’s just in a holding pattern trying to figure out how to best make the movie because we’ve toyed with breaking it up into multiple movies, making it into one, making it into two," Roy Lee told Collider.
Fallout 4 Director Talks Hype and Announcing Too Soon
Bethesda Game Studios creative director Todd Howard hopes the short time between the announcement of Fallout 4 and its release date inspires the rest of the industry to follow suit.
Fallout 4 was announced at E3 2015, just five months before its eventual November release, a big change compared to the multi-year wait for some other AAA games.
“I would like that to become the norm,” Howard told IGN at DICE in Las Vegas. “I hope that the way we did it with Fallout changes how a lot of people do it, and how successful it was doing it that way. I think a lot of people are going to start doing that. That’s my hope. As a gamer, too, I want a period of time to be excited, and I don’t want that to go away. Sometimes they announce, I get so excited, ‘I want to buy this right now!’ And then, I’ve gotta wait.”
It Movie Likely to Shoot Late 2016, Targets R Rating
Producer Roy Lee says his long-gestating film adaptation of Stephen King's It will, if all goes according to plan, go before cameras this year.
"It will hopefully be shooting later this year. We just got the California tax credit," Lee told Collider. "Gary Doberman wrote the most recent draft working with Andy Muscetti, so it’s being envisioned as two movies."
Muscetti (Mama) will direct the film, which Lee says will carry an R-rating. A final draft is close to being turned in. The plan remains to produce a two-film adaptation of the King novel. According to Lee:
"We’re taking it and making the movie from the point of view of the kids, and then making another movie from the point of view of the adults, that could potentially then be cut together like the novel. But it’s gonna be a really fun way of making this movie."
Game Scoop!: The Fallout from Fallout 4’s Season Pass
Welcome back to Game Scoop!, IGN's weekly video game talk show. This week we're discussing Fallout 4, Fire Emblem: Fates, underrated games, and more. Watch the video above or download the podcast below.
Download Game Scoop! Episode 378
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Deadpool vs. Gambit Series Announced
Marvel Comics has announced its Deadpool vs. Gambit miniseries at the ComicsPRO retailer summit today. According to ComicBook.com, the series will tell the tale of Wade Wilson and Remy LeBeau's "secret, shared history."
Cover #1 by Kevin Wada, via ComicBook.com / Marvel Entertainment
Ben Acker and Ben Blacker (Thunderbolts) will pen the miniseries, with art by Danilo Beyruth (Gwenpool). Artist Kevin Wada (She-Hulk) will provide the covers. Marvel hasn't announced much on the comic's plot, though its been said Deadpool and Gambit have known each other for a while now. Apparently, the two spent time working together as conmen, for "just long enough to stab each other in the back."
Stan Lee Announces His Final Canadian Convention Appearance
Stan Lee's last Canadian convention appearance will be at Fan Expo Canada in Toronto, the Marvel Comics legend has announced. In an interview with the Toronto Sun, the X-Men creator said he's in good health, but doesn't know how much longer he'll be able to attend conventions. He is 93 years old, after all.
And rest assured, Canadian fans—when asked if Canada did something to upset him, Lee said that's not the case. "I want to make it dramatic and not just another visit," Lee said. "If it's my last one, it means something."
Lee said he's not slowing down, but simply "can't run the marathon and win the way
BioWare: Would You Play ‘Dragon Age Tactics’?
BioWare would like to know if you want a tactical Dragon Age game. Dragon Age Executive Producer Mark Darrah asked fans directly via Twitter, polling players on whether or not they'd play a "Dragon Age Tactics" game.
Darrah then clarified, saying that "tactics" referred to games like XCOM and Fire Emblem. Both of which have had new entries in their respective series very recently. By contrast, the last full Dragon Age release was Dragon Age: Inquisition in 2014.
About one hour after posting the poll the results were overwhelmingly "Yes!" Only a very few have so far said they'd only like to see such a game on mobile and handhelds, while slightly more want it to remain exclusive to PC.