Shoji Meguro, the Japanese composer best known for his work on the Persona series, has resigned from his position after a 25-year tenure at Atlas. He now plans to develop his own indie games.

“I know this is quite sudden, but I, Shoji Meguro, resigned from Atlus Co., Ltd. at the end of September 2021,” announced Meguro in a short statement posted to his Twitter account. According to the composer, the decision to leave the company has come so that he can focus on his dream of developing indie games.

インディーゲーム作家に俺はなる！
ということで（株）アトラスを退社してインディーゲーム作家の道に進むことになりました！
とは言え（株）アトラスとは今後も良好な関係を続けていきます。
今後とも目黒将司とともにアトラスサウンドチームにもご期待ください。
詳しくはhttps://t.co/0RpRn3n5Td pic.twitter.com/iaiPEQSMIp

— 目黒将司(Shoji Meguro)@MegaRock (@s_megarock) October 27, 2021

“I’ve been creating role-playing games by myself during my spare time for the past five years now," said Meguro elsewhere in the statement. "I applied for a Round 1 Kodansha Game Creators Lab recruitment and was selected as one of the finalists. Then staff from Kodansha was assigned to work with me.”

Despite leaving the company last month, Meguro says that he has maintained a "good" relationship with Atlus. With that in mind, the composer eased fans' concerns in regards to the future of music in Atlas-made games. "I will continue to work with Atlus on game music," Meguro said. "So I hope that those of you who were concerned about the sudden announcement will feel relieved."

Meguro joined Atlus in 1995, helping to craft the soundtrack to the company's 1996 release of Revelations: Persona. Since then, the composer has worked alongside a wealth of other composers to create music for the company. While his work on subsequent entries into the Persona series is likely his most recognized, particularly in the west, Meguro is also known for his work on the Shin Megami Tensei franchise.

In a separate tweet published to Twitter, Meguro delved a little further into the game that he's currently been developing. As per the screenshots below, the game appears to include stealth mechanics and a sci-fi theme. Meguro has said that fans will be able to see more from the game on November 6 when it will be officially revealed at the Indie Live Expo.

11/6（土）16時からのインディーライブエキスポ（https://t.co/VkRESGcQB9）にて開発中のゲームの紹介をしていただけることになりました。（楽曲も提供しました！）
はじめの方で紹介していただけるようなので、ぜひ！アタマっから見てみてください！ pic.twitter.com/TIjI9657g2

— 目黒将司(Shoji Meguro)@MegaRock (@s_megarock) October 27, 2021

Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

Shoji Meguro, the Japanese composer best known for his work on the Persona series, has resigned from his position after a 25-year tenure at Atlas. He now plans to develop his own indie games.

“I know this is quite sudden, but I, Shoji Meguro, resigned from Atlus Co., Ltd. at the end of September 2021,” announced Meguro in a short statement posted to his Twitter account. According to the composer, the decision to leave the company has come so that he can focus on his dream of developing indie games.

インディーゲーム作家に俺はなる！
ということで（株）アトラスを退社してインディーゲーム作家の道に進むことになりました！
とは言え（株）アトラスとは今後も良好な関係を続けていきます。
今後とも目黒将司とともにアトラスサウンドチームにもご期待ください。
詳しくはhttps://t.co/0RpRn3n5Td pic.twitter.com/iaiPEQSMIp

— 目黒将司(Shoji Meguro)@MegaRock (@s_megarock) October 27, 2021

“I’ve been creating role-playing games by myself during my spare time for the past five years now," said Meguro elsewhere in the statement. "I applied for a Round 1 Kodansha Game Creators Lab recruitment and was selected as one of the finalists. Then staff from Kodansha was assigned to work with me.”

Despite leaving the company last month, Meguro says that he has maintained a "good" relationship with Atlus. With that in mind, the composer eased fans' concerns in regards to the future of music in Atlas-made games. "I will continue to work with Atlus on game music," Meguro said. "So I hope that those of you who were concerned about the sudden announcement will feel relieved."

Meguro joined Atlus in 1995, helping to craft the soundtrack to the company's 1996 release of Revelations: Persona. Since then, the composer has worked alongside a wealth of other composers to create music for the company. While his work on subsequent entries into the Persona series is likely his most recognized, particularly in the west, Meguro is also known for his work on the Shin Megami Tensei franchise.

In a separate tweet published to Twitter, Meguro delved a little further into the game that he's currently been developing. As per the screenshots below, the game appears to include stealth mechanics and a sci-fi theme. Meguro has said that fans will be able to see more from the game on November 6 when it will be officially revealed at the Indie Live Expo.

11/6（土）16時からのインディーライブエキスポ（https://t.co/VkRESGcQB9）にて開発中のゲームの紹介をしていただけることになりました。（楽曲も提供しました！）
はじめの方で紹介していただけるようなので、ぜひ！アタマっから見てみてください！ pic.twitter.com/TIjI9657g2

— 目黒将司(Shoji Meguro)@MegaRock (@s_megarock) October 27, 2021

Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

A team of scientists have discovered what appears to be DNA in a dinosaur fossil dating back 125 million years, though some experts have advised caution when reviewing the findings.

Palaeontologist researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences published a paper on Communications Biology detailing the DNA discovery, which was found within a portion of cartilage from a Caudipteryx specimen. This peacock-sized theropod dinosaur inhabited the Jehol Biota – in what is now Liaoning in northeast China – during the Early Cretaceous period.

The team extracted a piece of cartilage from the right femur of the specimen, then, under a microscope, they treated the cells with chemicals called hematoxylin and eosin, which are used to stain and light up different tissue structures. The same staining method was applied to cartilage cells from a chicken to compare results between the two samples.

Both specimens reacted to the dyes in the exact same way, with one dinosaur chondrocyte revealing a nucleus with fossilized threads of chromatin — a complex of DNA and protein. However, Chemistry World says some experts think the staining technique is "not precise enough to indicate whether certain compounds are present."

"We are obviously interested in fossilized cell nuclei because this is where most of the DNA should be if DNA was preserved," Alida Bailleul, corresponding author of the study, said in a press release. "So, we have good preliminary data, very exciting data, but we are just starting to understand cellular biochemistry in very old fossils. At this point, we need to work more."

Bailleul recognizes that the data from this most recent study is just a "starting" point to strengthen their understanding of DNA preservation, with further research needed to support their findings. Whatever comes from any future research, Bailleul says dinosaur cloning will always remain a fantasy, even if they end up having "their entire genome sequenced."

This isn't the first time that scientists have recorded finding biomolecules in ancient dino fossils. Last year, a group from the same academy discovered organic material within 75-million-year-old dinosaur fossils, including cartilage cells, proteins, chromosomes, and DNA. A few years before that, Imperial College London found blood cells in a fossilized dinosaur claw.

Adele Ankers is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.

A team of scientists have discovered what appears to be DNA in a dinosaur fossil dating back 125 million years, though some experts have advised caution when reviewing the findings.

Palaeontologist researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences published a paper on Communications Biology detailing the DNA discovery, which was found within a portion of cartilage from a Caudipteryx specimen. This peacock-sized theropod dinosaur inhabited the Jehol Biota – in what is now Liaoning in northeast China – during the Early Cretaceous period.

The team extracted a piece of cartilage from the right femur of the specimen, then, under a microscope, they treated the cells with chemicals called hematoxylin and eosin, which are used to stain and light up different tissue structures. The same staining method was applied to cartilage cells from a chicken to compare results between the two samples.

Both specimens reacted to the dyes in the exact same way, with one dinosaur chondrocyte revealing a nucleus with fossilized threads of chromatin — a complex of DNA and protein. However, Chemistry World says some experts think the staining technique is "not precise enough to indicate whether certain compounds are present."

"We are obviously interested in fossilized cell nuclei because this is where most of the DNA should be if DNA was preserved," Alida Bailleul, corresponding author of the study, said in a press release. "So, we have good preliminary data, very exciting data, but we are just starting to understand cellular biochemistry in very old fossils. At this point, we need to work more."

Bailleul recognizes that the data from this most recent study is just a "starting" point to strengthen their understanding of DNA preservation, with further research needed to support their findings. Whatever comes from any future research, Bailleul says dinosaur cloning will always remain a fantasy, even if they end up having "their entire genome sequenced."

This isn't the first time that scientists have recorded finding biomolecules in ancient dino fossils. Last year, a group from the same academy discovered organic material within 75-million-year-old dinosaur fossils, including cartilage cells, proteins, chromosomes, and DNA. A few years before that, Imperial College London found blood cells in a fossilized dinosaur claw.

Adele Ankers is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.

An officially licensed Resident Evil board game has crowdfunded over $900,000 after a highly successful start on Kickstarter.

Having launched on October 26, the game's campaign quickly smashed through its initial funding goal of £100,000 - that's around $137,000. With 15 days left of its crowdfunding drive still to go, that target now seems a distant memory. At the time of writing, the co-op horror game has just eclipsed $900,000 and it doesn't look to be slowing down.

Brace yourselves for terror — Resident Evil: The Board Game is live NOW on Kickstarter!https://t.co/rhjCrBwDWq

— Steamforged Games (@SteamforgedLtd) October 26, 2021

Resident Evil: The Board Game is being created by veteran tabletop company Steamforged Games in partnership with Capcom. Steamforged is certainly no stranger to the franchise, having previously worked on board games for Resident Evil 2 & 3. It has also made other tabletop games linked to different video game franchises including Horizon: Zero Dawn and Dark Souls, so it looks like the project is in pretty safe hands.

In its latest pursuit into Capcom's esteemed franchise, the tabletop creator will take players back to where the series began, with the upcoming board game based upon the 2002 remake of the original Resident Evil.

Steamforged says that players will "step into the boots of a S.T.A.R.S member and enter the sinister Spencer Mansion to uncover the horrifying truths within." While exploring the area, players will need to "search for secrets and survivors," navigate an open world "crawling with enemies" and ensure their survival all while the game's danger level rises around them.

When checking out the Kickstarter, fans currently have two different pledge options that they can pay for in order to receive a copy of the game at launch. Starting at £72 (around $100) the game's Bravo Pledge guarantees players a copy of the core Resident Evil board game as well as all of its unlocked goals. A more pricey option also exists in the campaigns Alpha Pledge, which not only guarantees fans access to the core game and unlock goals but also a number of additional expansions and exclusive add-ons.

In other related news, this isn't the first time of late that members of the S.T.A.R.S team have made it back into the public spotlight. Epic Games' Fortnite recently added Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine into the game as part of a collaboration with Capcom to celebrate all things spooky. For more on Resident Evil make sure to check out this article detailing how Resident Evil 7 has become the first game in the series to ship 10 million copies.

Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter

An officially licensed Resident Evil board game has crowdfunded over $900,000 after a highly successful start on Kickstarter.

Having launched on October 26, the game's campaign quickly smashed through its initial funding goal of £100,000 - that's around $137,000. With 15 days left of its crowdfunding drive still to go, that target now seems a distant memory. At the time of writing, the co-op horror game has just eclipsed $900,000 and it doesn't look to be slowing down.

Brace yourselves for terror — Resident Evil: The Board Game is live NOW on Kickstarter!https://t.co/rhjCrBwDWq

— Steamforged Games (@SteamforgedLtd) October 26, 2021

Resident Evil: The Board Game is being created by veteran tabletop company Steamforged Games in partnership with Capcom. Steamforged is certainly no stranger to the franchise, having previously worked on board games for Resident Evil 2 & 3. It has also made other tabletop games linked to different video game franchises including Horizon: Zero Dawn and Dark Souls, so it looks like the project is in pretty safe hands.

In its latest pursuit into Capcom's esteemed franchise, the tabletop creator will take players back to where the series began, with the upcoming board game based upon the 2002 remake of the original Resident Evil.

Steamforged says that players will "step into the boots of a S.T.A.R.S member and enter the sinister Spencer Mansion to uncover the horrifying truths within." While exploring the area, players will need to "search for secrets and survivors," navigate an open world "crawling with enemies" and ensure their survival all while the game's danger level rises around them.

When checking out the Kickstarter, fans currently have two different pledge options that they can pay for in order to receive a copy of the game at launch. Starting at £72 (around $100) the game's Bravo Pledge guarantees players a copy of the core Resident Evil board game as well as all of its unlocked goals. A more pricey option also exists in the campaigns Alpha Pledge, which not only guarantees fans access to the core game and unlock goals but also a number of additional expansions and exclusive add-ons.

In other related news, this isn't the first time of late that members of the S.T.A.R.S team have made it back into the public spotlight. Epic Games' Fortnite recently added Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine into the game as part of a collaboration with Capcom to celebrate all things spooky. For more on Resident Evil make sure to check out this article detailing how Resident Evil 7 has become the first game in the series to ship 10 million copies.

Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter

The first trailer for Lightyear has shown off Disney and Pixar’s ‘real life’ version of Buzz Lightyear, as well as Space Ranger members of Star Command.

The movie, which is set to release summer 2022, follows the journey of Buzz Lightyear (this time voiced by Chris Evans) as he progresses from a test pilot to a full-blown Space Ranger in Star Command. The trailer shows a quick look at that journey, opening on Lightyear testing what looks to be an experimental spaceship. Later we see Buzz on an alien planet, getting caught up in the tentacles of an alien monster, and him approaching a realistic version of his iconic white, green, and purple space armour. There’s also an ominous box opening to reveal red light, but it cuts before we can see what’s inside. Could it be… Emperor Zurg?

If this is all a bit confusing, Pixar’s chief creative officer Pete Docter explained the concept earlier this year, and it’s most definitely not a Toy Story film or prequel. "At first glance you might think, 'Well, this is a Toy Story film’. Well, not so fast,” he said. “See, back when we created the very first Toy Story, we designed Buzz Lightyear with the idea that he was a toy based on some really cool character from an epic, blockbuster film. Well, all these years later we decided it’s time to make that film."

Disney and Pixar previously explored the idea of the ‘real’ Buzz Lightyear in the animated TV show Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, but that and Lightyear seem to share little in common aside from treating Buzz as a real person rather than a toy. Where the TV show was a bright and colourful, very Saturday morning affair with aliens working for Star Command, it appears that Lightyear is more of a ‘realistic’ sci-fi approach.

The new poster for Lightyear shows off the detail going into the artstyle, with a grubby ‘caution’ warning on the red armour segment that, at least in the toy version of Buzz, activates his wings. Here, however, it looks more like a port, perhaps for fuel or oxygen.

Lightyear was announced at Disney’s investor day last year, where it also announced that The Mandalorian would have a spin-off in the form of Star Wars: Ahsoka. We recently learned that Hayden Christensen will appear in that show, and that he'll also be playing Darth Vader in the Obi-Wan Kenobi show.

Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer.

The first trailer for Lightyear has shown off Disney and Pixar’s ‘real life’ version of Buzz Lightyear, as well as Space Ranger members of Star Command.

The movie, which is set to release summer 2022, follows the journey of Buzz Lightyear (this time voiced by Chris Evans) as he progresses from a test pilot to a full-blown Space Ranger in Star Command. The trailer shows a quick look at that journey, opening on Lightyear testing what looks to be an experimental spaceship. Later we see Buzz on an alien planet, getting caught up in the tentacles of an alien monster, and him approaching a realistic version of his iconic white, green, and purple space armour. There’s also an ominous box opening to reveal red light, but it cuts before we can see what’s inside. Could it be… Emperor Zurg?

If this is all a bit confusing, Pixar’s chief creative officer Pete Docter explained the concept earlier this year, and it’s most definitely not a Toy Story film or prequel. "At first glance you might think, 'Well, this is a Toy Story film’. Well, not so fast,” he said. “See, back when we created the very first Toy Story, we designed Buzz Lightyear with the idea that he was a toy based on some really cool character from an epic, blockbuster film. Well, all these years later we decided it’s time to make that film."

Disney and Pixar previously explored the idea of the ‘real’ Buzz Lightyear in the animated TV show Buzz Lightyear of Star Command, but that and Lightyear seem to share little in common aside from treating Buzz as a real person rather than a toy. Where the TV show was a bright and colourful, very Saturday morning affair with aliens working for Star Command, it appears that Lightyear is more of a ‘realistic’ sci-fi approach.

The new poster for Lightyear shows off the detail going into the artstyle, with a grubby ‘caution’ warning on the red armour segment that, at least in the toy version of Buzz, activates his wings. Here, however, it looks more like a port, perhaps for fuel or oxygen.

Lightyear was announced at Disney’s investor day last year, where it also announced that The Mandalorian would have a spin-off in the form of Star Wars: Ahsoka. We recently learned that Hayden Christensen will appear in that show, and that he'll also be playing Darth Vader in the Obi-Wan Kenobi show.

Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer.

Ryan Gosling and director Derek Cianfrance look set to reunite on Universal's upcoming reimagining of the horror classic, Wolfman.

According to Deadline, Cianfrance is currently in talks to join the project and take up the director's seat after The Invisible Man's Leigh Whannell vacated the spot due to scheduling issues. Wolfman would mark the third collaboration between Gosling and Cianfrance, who previously worked together on 2010's Blue Valentine and 2012's The Place Beyond the Pines.

The last film that Cianfrance directed was 2016's The Light Between Oceans, though he has also attracted positive reviews for his more recent work on the HBO miniseries I Know This Much Is True, which is an adaptation of Wally Lamb's novel of the same name. He wrote and directed all six episodes of the Mark Ruffalo-led drama series.

"Horror movies were my first love — my entry into what cinema was capable of narratively, psychologically and aesthetically," Cianfrance said in a statement. "Coupled with the opportunity to collaborate with Ryan again, this is truly a dream come true. I'm thrilled and inspired to work with the good folks at Blumhouse and Universal to bring this monster back to life in our collective unconscious."

Gosling will serve as a producer on Wolfman, along with Jason Blum and Ken Kao. Cianfrance is said to be penning the movie's script, which is "inspired by" the 1941 Universal Monsters classic The Wolf Man starring Lon Chaney Jr. At this stage, however, it remains unclear exactly how the story will transform for the big-screen reboot.

Universal's first attempt at launching its very own Monsterverse (dubbed "The Dark Universe") didn't go according to plan after 2017's The Mummy starring Tom Cruise failed to make a lasting impact at the box office. However, the studio later found success with The Invisible Man starring Elizabeth Moss, which earned $98.3 million on a budget of only $7 million.

Universal is now focused on building out its monster portfolio with even more high-profile titles, many of which are already in development. Amongst those projects, there is a monster movie centered around the Dracula-adjacent character Renfield, a James Wan-produced Van Helsing movie, and an adaptation of The Thing in collaboration Blumhouse Productions.

Adele Ankers is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.

Samsung has announced that it is developing a new cloud gaming platform for its Smart TVs.

Revealed as part of Samsung’s SDC21 keynote presentation, the platform will work on Samsung Smart TVs powered by Tizen, a Linux-based operating system that currently supports over 200 million Samsung devices.

The new platform was only quickly mentioned as part of the presentation, and so very little is known about it currently. “To diversify your game selection on Samsung Smart TVs, we are developing a new Cloud Game Platform,” said Yongjae Kim, Samsung’s Senior Vice President of Visual Display Software R&D. “This means that soon you will be able to enjoy games without purchasing high-end hardware, and developers can easily apply Samsung Smart TV’s seamless, immersive experience to new games.”

No examples of game developers were provided, but the mention of the platform being an alternative to “high-end hardware” suggests that it is more in the realm of Stadia-style game offerings rather than Android game ports.

This won’t be the first time that Samsung has attempted cloud gaming; back in 2012 it worked with Gaikai to create Samsung Cloud Gaming for its earlier generations of Smart TVs, with advertisements featuring Darksiders 2. For reference, Gaikai is the service that powers PlayStation Now, and is now owned by Sony.

With its new platform, Samsung will enter the increasingly competitive world of cloud gaming. GeForce Now has a new subscription tier that offers the power of an RTX 3080, which truly is “high-end hardware”. Xbox is moving beyond consoles and will soon be built into TVs and streaming sticks as support for its cloud gaming option grows. Meanwhile, Google’s Stadia may be down but it’s not out, and now offers its technology as a white label product for other companies to use, including AT&T.

Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer.