Out This Week: The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel
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.
Amplitude Tunnel Mode Unveiled
Harmonix announced today that Amplitude will have a new gameplay mode called FreQ mode. Inspired by Harmonix's first major release, FreQuency, the mode will allow players to skip flat tracks and instead play along tracks "continuously wrapped around tunnels," which makes for trippy gameplay, Harmonix audio lead Pete Maguire says.
The original Amplitude flattened the tracks and moved away from FreQuency's tunnel design, "allowing the player to have a better mental map of the music," with the goal of improved track recognition. In addition to allowing "players to recognize that, in a certain song, the drums were always the leftmost track," flat tracks also let Harmonix explore new world environments.
Lexus Outfits One of Its NX Cars With Wheels Made of Ice
Lexus is used to doing unique things with their vehicles, as shown by the cardboard car they made, but now the carmaker has decided to do something smaller, but still just as impressive: a Lexus car riding on wheels of ice.
The specific car used was the Lexus NX, and its cooler wheels were painstakingly made to resemble the real thing, with each wheel taking four sculptors 36 hours to finish. That's after the three months of research and development, according to Car and Driver, and the five days the wheels and car were frozen in -22° Fahrenheit (-30° Celsius) temperatures.
Survey: Half of America Plays Games, 10% Admit It
The good news in a survey conducted by Pew Research is that more people than ever are gaming; the bad news is only a fraction of them are willing to admit it.
According to the survey entitled Gaming and Gamers, 50% of American men and 48% of women play games, but only 10% self-identify as "gamers."
While the report doesn't directly theorize why such a small portion are willing to consider themselves gamers, it does note that "among the general public, attitudes towards games are complex and often uncertain." The survey shows equal percentages of respondents being diametrically opposed on questions like "are videogames a waste of time?" with 26% saying "true for most games," while 24% say "untrue for most games" and whether “people who play violent video games are more likely to be violent themselves,” with 40% of all adults agreeing with that statement and 53% disagreeing.
250 Legendary Levels Coming to Dying Light
Dying Light is getting some post-game content to help you level up your characters even further.
Upon maxing out one of the three skill trees, you'll get access to Legendary Levels, a new skill tree that comes with 250 perks that increase things like health, stamina, and damage. What's more, every 25 levels you'll also unlock new player emblems, outfits, and weapons.
Legendary Levels we're originally announced as part Dying Light: The Following - Enhanced Edition, but detailed further today in a video you can watch below.
While the new skill tree will come as part of the Dying Light: The Following - Enhanced Edition, owners of the original version will also get them through a free update coming in February 2016.
This Star Wars Character Was Supposed to Die
Note: Star Wars: The Force Awakens spoilers below.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens brings a number of new characters into fold and, according to director J.J. Abrams, one of the film's fresh new faces was originally going to die in the opening act.
The original plan, Abrams revealed in an interview with GQ, was to kill off Oscar Isaac's Poe Dameron after the film's action-packed opening. The director invited Isaac to Paris to pitch him the role, calling the character an "amazing" fighter pilot who battles against the Empire and "opens the whole movie."
8 New U2 Songs Coming to Rock Band 4
Rock Band developer Harmonix is adding more U2 hits to the game's lineup, available tomorrow from the Rock Band Music Store on Xbox One and PlayStation 4.
Two U2 songs, "I Will Follow" and "Cedarwood Road" were included in Rock Band 4's core soundtrack, and coming December 22, eight new songs will join them.
The full "U2 Essentials 01" includes:
- “Sunday Bloody Sunday” - 1983
- “Pride (In The Name Of Love)” - 1984
- “Where The Streets Have No Name” - 1987
- “Desire” - 1988
First Look at Game of Thrones: The Dance of Dragons Animated Feature
The Game of Thrones: Season 5 Blu-ray will include a neat new animated feature for fans looking to learn more about the history of Westeros. Written by Thrones writer Dave Hill and conceived and produced by Lindeman & Associates' Adam Vadnais, The Dance of Dragons details the events of the game-changing Targaryen civil war.
IGN is debuting an exclusive first look at the 20-minute feature. In the below video, viewers can hear Pedro Pascal, who played Oberyn Martell in Season 4, narrate as Prince Aemond and his dragon Vhagar clash with his uncle Prince Daemon and his dragon Caraxes over the lake outside Harrenhal.
The Dance of Dragons was a war of succession over who would inherit the Iron Throne after the death of Viserys I. George R.R. Martin wrote the origins of the event in his novella "The Princess and the Queen," which was released in the anthology Dangerous Women. A complete history of the event is planned for Fire and Blood, Martin's upcoming complete history of House Targaryen.
Game Scoop!: The 15 Worst Games of 2015
Welcome back to Game Scoop!, IGN's weekly video game talk show. It's time to take a look back at the worst games of the year. We'll also try out some new gaming hardware and, yes, play 20 Questions. Watch the video above or download the podcast below.
Download Game Scoop! Episode 371
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Daily Deals: Fallout 4, Star Wars: Battlefront, Wireless Earbuds
- UE ROLL 360 Wireless Bluetooth Speaker $80 - super portable and waterproof, normally $100
- UE BOOM 2 Wireless Bluetooth Speaker $170 - 2nd gen version of one of the best bluetooth speakers around. Big battery life and tons of bass. I have one and I love it. Normally $200.