Yearly Archives: 2020

Xbox Lets You Plan Where to Put Xbox Series X and Series S in Your Home With a Paper Version

If you're still not sure where your Xbox Series X or Xbox Series S are going to fit in your entertainment center, don't worry, Microsoft has you covered. Announced via Twitter, you can now print and assemble your own replica console. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=confirmed-xbox-series-x-games&captions=true"] Available as a free download from the Xbox website, Microsoft is allowing eager players to print out full-scale or 1/3-scale versions of either Xbox Series X or Xbox Series S to "plan how they are going to fit in your lifestyle." Basically, is it going on top of or inside your entertainment center? The paper cutouts are surprisingly detailed, though. Both contain every labeled port for each upcoming console as well as small details such as the fan on top of the Series X and the color-matched Xbox logos on each box. Microsoft included simple instructions for each, indicating all you need is a pair of scissors and some glue to assemble your new (paper) box! Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S preorders begin Tuesday, September 22nd at 11:00 AM ET/8:00 AM PT. You can follow our guide on where to secure your Xbox preorder. Also, be sure to check out 8 new details we learned about the smaller, discless Xbox Series S. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matthew Adler is a Features, News, Previews, and Reviews writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @MatthewAdler and watch him stream on Twitch.

The Last Stand Update Is Left 4 Dead 2’s First Major DLC in Eight Years

Left 4 Dead 2 is getting its first update in 8 years later this month with The Last Stand Update, a new content pack developed by members of the dedicated Left 4 Dead community for the community. IGN got a chance to speak with the team behind the update to find out more about how this community effort became an official update to Left 4 Dead sanctioned by Valve. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/09/03/left-4-dead-2-the-last-stand-update-official-teaser"] The Last Stand update for Left 4 Dead 2 began when the project lead who goes by Rayman1103 in the Left 4 Dead community reached out to Valve’s Kerry Davis back in October 2019 about a potential 10th Anniversary update for Left 4 Dead 2. “[Davis] liked the idea of it and he was going to ask around the office to see if anyone could lend a hand but it turned out everyone was so focused on getting Half-Life: Alyx finished that they couldn’t really do anything on their end,” Rayman tells IGN. But Davis was open to the idea of the community doing something. “I asked him for the source files for the Lighthouse maps from Left 4 Dead 1 and that’s when I started working on getting a team together” for the project. Rayman says that once a team, made up of members from all areas of the Left 4 Dead community from Survival to Workshop developers, got together the project began to take on a life of its own. “What was originally planned was just a port of the Survival Maps from Left 4 Dead 1 over into Left 4 Dead 2, all the missing maps that were never ported over… Just to get whatever was missing and get it into [Left 4 Dead 2]” says Rayman. But The Last Stand update as it will be released next week will include far more. The full update list includes:  
  • The Last Stand campaign
  • 30 brand new achievements
  • 26 new survival maps
  • 4 new scavenge maps
  • 2 new melee weapons
  • Left 4 Dead 1 infected skins with functional gore
  • New and unused survivor voice lines
  • New and improved character animations
  • Reworked gun models and animations
  • PvP enhancements and balance updates
  • Official CSS weapon implementation
  • Brand new mutations Rocketdude and Tank run
  “Originally the Lighthouse campaign was just the one survival map in Left 4 Dead 1, but we felt that if we could turn that into a campaign players might enjoy that more,” said the team's map developer who goes by NF. “So we managed to expand that one Lighthouse map into a full campaign that’s playable from beginning to end.” The map design and campaign design was done completely by The Last Stand update developers, with Valve helping on bug fixes and issues that the developers were unable to implement on their end. For example, there will be a new scoring system at the finale of the new campaign. The campaign design process took four to five iterations before the final design was chosen. “We tried to invoke the original spirit of Left 4 Dead 1 and in that game, it’s more of a darker tone compared to Left 4 Dead 2,” NF says. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/01/17/left-4-dead-3-is-not-in-the-works"] The development team credits its success to the Left 4 Dead community which is still going strong after over a decade. And while Valve says there are no plans for Left 4 Dead 3, the team says “Hopefully, if Valve allows us to make more, the community can look for even more cool things in the future.” The Last Stand update for Left 4 Dead 2 will be released on September 24. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt T.M. Kim is a reporter for IGN.

The Last Stand Update Is Left 4 Dead 2’s First Major DLC in Eight Years

Left 4 Dead 2 is getting its first update in 8 years later this month with The Last Stand Update, a new content pack developed by members of the dedicated Left 4 Dead community for the community. IGN got a chance to speak with the team behind the update to find out more about how this community effort became an official update to Left 4 Dead sanctioned by Valve. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/09/03/left-4-dead-2-the-last-stand-update-official-teaser"] The Last Stand update for Left 4 Dead 2 began when the project lead who goes by Rayman1103 in the Left 4 Dead community reached out to Valve’s Kerry Davis back in October 2019 about a potential 10th Anniversary update for Left 4 Dead 2. “[Davis] liked the idea of it and he was going to ask around the office to see if anyone could lend a hand but it turned out everyone was so focused on getting Half-Life: Alyx finished that they couldn’t really do anything on their end,” Rayman tells IGN. But Davis was open to the idea of the community doing something. “I asked him for the source files for the Lighthouse maps from Left 4 Dead 1 and that’s when I started working on getting a team together” for the project. Rayman says that once a team, made up of members from all areas of the Left 4 Dead community from Survival to Workshop developers, got together the project began to take on a life of its own. “What was originally planned was just a port of the Survival Maps from Left 4 Dead 1 over into Left 4 Dead 2, all the missing maps that were never ported over… Just to get whatever was missing and get it into [Left 4 Dead 2]” says Rayman. But The Last Stand update as it will be released next week will include far more. The full update list includes:  
  • The Last Stand campaign
  • 30 brand new achievements
  • 26 new survival maps
  • 4 new scavenge maps
  • 2 new melee weapons
  • Left 4 Dead 1 infected skins with functional gore
  • New and unused survivor voice lines
  • New and improved character animations
  • Reworked gun models and animations
  • PvP enhancements and balance updates
  • Official CSS weapon implementation
  • Brand new mutations Rocketdude and Tank run
  “Originally the Lighthouse campaign was just the one survival map in Left 4 Dead 1, but we felt that if we could turn that into a campaign players might enjoy that more,” said the team's map developer who goes by NF. “So we managed to expand that one Lighthouse map into a full campaign that’s playable from beginning to end.” The map design and campaign design was done completely by The Last Stand update developers, with Valve helping on bug fixes and issues that the developers were unable to implement on their end. For example, there will be a new scoring system at the finale of the new campaign. The campaign design process took four to five iterations before the final design was chosen. “We tried to invoke the original spirit of Left 4 Dead 1 and in that game, it’s more of a darker tone compared to Left 4 Dead 2,” NF says. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/01/17/left-4-dead-3-is-not-in-the-works"] The development team credits its success to the Left 4 Dead community which is still going strong after over a decade. And while Valve says there are no plans for Left 4 Dead 3, the team says “Hopefully, if Valve allows us to make more, the community can look for even more cool things in the future.” The Last Stand update for Left 4 Dead 2 will be released on September 24. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt T.M. Kim is a reporter for IGN.

13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim Review – Wow, Cool Robot!

Despite what the box and blurbs might tell you, 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim isn't really a game about piloting giant robots. I mean, sure, you do fight off massive swarms of building-sized creatures hellbent on total destruction in an alternate-universe 1980s Japan at some points. But these seemingly model-kit-ready metal combat suits are just a plot device, a cog in the story. In actuality, 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim is a character drama: a twisting, turning sci-fi epic jumping through time and dimensions as it follows the lives of its numerous teen protagonists. Missiles, Gatling guns, and armor-crushing metal fistcuffs are merely a side event to the everyday drama of highschoolers who find themselves unwilling pawns in a bigger game with the fate of the world at stake. And you know what? That's great. Once the narrative of 13 Sentinels sinks its hooks into you, you want nothing more than to go along for the ride up until the very climax.

13 Sentinels is a unique, genre-mixing experiment. It takes elements of point-and-click adventure games, visual novels, real-time strategy games, and tower defense games, mixing them together to create an experience that's quite unlike anything else out there. Things get rolling when young Japanese highschooler Juro Kurabe is called upon to fight a horde of alien invaders in 1985, only for the story to flash back to earlier that year, then over to young soldiers in 1945 wartime-era Japan, then to two schoolgirls witnessing a crisis in the year 2025. You immediately meet a huge cast of characters across different eras, learning that there is one constant: the existence of Sentinels, massive human-piloted robot weapons who exist to protect the world from otherworldly monsters.

No Caption Provided
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The game is split into three parts: a Remembrance mode where you uncover the story piece by piece, a Destruction mode where you use giant Sentinel mechs to protect the city from invasion, and an Analysis mode that collects all of the information and story scenes you have discovered through gameplay. Remembrance is presented as an episodic series where you explore and interact with various environments and characters to advance the plot. Destruction, in contrast, is an overhead-view strategy segment where you use the Sentinels to defend a critical underground access point from invading forces.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim Review – Wow, Cool Robot!

Despite what the box and blurbs might tell you, 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim isn't really a game about piloting giant robots. I mean, sure, you do fight off massive swarms of building-sized creatures hellbent on total destruction in an alternate-universe 1980s Japan at some points. But these seemingly model-kit-ready metal combat suits are just a plot device, a cog in the story. In actuality, 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim is a character drama: a twisting, turning sci-fi epic jumping through time and dimensions as it follows the lives of its numerous teen protagonists. Missiles, Gatling guns, and armor-crushing metal fistcuffs are merely a side event to the everyday drama of highschoolers who find themselves unwilling pawns in a bigger game with the fate of the world at stake. And you know what? That's great. Once the narrative of 13 Sentinels sinks its hooks into you, you want nothing more than to go along for the ride up until the very climax.

13 Sentinels is a unique, genre-mixing experiment. It takes elements of point-and-click adventure games, visual novels, real-time strategy games, and tower defense games, mixing them together to create an experience that's quite unlike anything else out there. Things get rolling when young Japanese highschooler Juro Kurabe is called upon to fight a horde of alien invaders in 1985, only for the story to flash back to earlier that year, then over to young soldiers in 1945 wartime-era Japan, then to two schoolgirls witnessing a crisis in the year 2025. You immediately meet a huge cast of characters across different eras, learning that there is one constant: the existence of Sentinels, massive human-piloted robot weapons who exist to protect the world from otherworldly monsters.

No Caption Provided
Gallery image 1Gallery image 2Gallery image 3Gallery image 4Gallery image 5Gallery image 6Gallery image 7Gallery image 8Gallery image 9Gallery image 10

The game is split into three parts: a Remembrance mode where you uncover the story piece by piece, a Destruction mode where you use giant Sentinel mechs to protect the city from invasion, and an Analysis mode that collects all of the information and story scenes you have discovered through gameplay. Remembrance is presented as an episodic series where you explore and interact with various environments and characters to advance the plot. Destruction, in contrast, is an overhead-view strategy segment where you use the Sentinels to defend a critical underground access point from invading forces.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Ms. Marvel Enlists Bad Boys for Life, Punisher Directors

Marvel's Ms. Marvel has lined up a quartet of directors for the upcoming Disney+ series. The Direct first reported, and The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed, that Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah -- the directing duo behind the blockbuster Bad Boys for Life -- will helm some episodes of the series. Joining them in the directors' bullpen is Meera Menon, a comic book TV series veteran who has directed episodes of Marvel's The Punisher, The Walking Dead, and Titans. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/bad-boys-for-life-review"] The multiple Oscar and Emmy-winning Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, who hails from primarily a documentary background, has also been tapped to direct episodes of the Disney+ series. Other behind the scenes talent on Ms. Marvel include head writer Bisha K. Ali and producer and Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige, who has committed to bringing the character into the big-screen MCU as well. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=marvel-cinematic-universe-every-upcoming-movie-and-tv-show&captions=true"] The series follows Kamala Khan, a Pakistani-American teenager in New Jersey who will be the MCU's first Muslim superhero on screen. Casting for the role is currently underway. Find out everything you need to know about Ms. Marvel here. The MCU has been in the news a lot this week what with rumblings that Black Widow's release may get postponed again, the casting of Jonathan Majors as (presumably) Kang the Conqueror, the reveal of Falcon's new costume, WandaVision confirmed for a late 2020 debut on Disney+, and Tatiana Maslany being cast as She-Hulk.

Ms. Marvel Enlists Bad Boys for Life, Punisher Directors

Marvel's Ms. Marvel has lined up a quartet of directors for the upcoming Disney+ series. The Direct first reported, and The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed, that Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah -- the directing duo behind the blockbuster Bad Boys for Life -- will helm some episodes of the series. Joining them in the directors' bullpen is Meera Menon, a comic book TV series veteran who has directed episodes of Marvel's The Punisher, The Walking Dead, and Titans. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/bad-boys-for-life-review"] The multiple Oscar and Emmy-winning Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, who hails from primarily a documentary background, has also been tapped to direct episodes of the Disney+ series. Other behind the scenes talent on Ms. Marvel include head writer Bisha K. Ali and producer and Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige, who has committed to bringing the character into the big-screen MCU as well. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=marvel-cinematic-universe-every-upcoming-movie-and-tv-show&captions=true"] The series follows Kamala Khan, a Pakistani-American teenager in New Jersey who will be the MCU's first Muslim superhero on screen. Casting for the role is currently underway. Find out everything you need to know about Ms. Marvel here. The MCU has been in the news a lot this week what with rumblings that Black Widow's release may get postponed again, the casting of Jonathan Majors as (presumably) Kang the Conqueror, the reveal of Falcon's new costume, WandaVision confirmed for a late 2020 debut on Disney+, and Tatiana Maslany being cast as She-Hulk.

Cyberpunk 2077’s Story Will Be Shorter Than The Witcher 3’s

CD Projekt Red has said that Cyberpunk 2077's campaign will be shorter than The Witcher 3's because a lot of people didn't end up finishing the whole story. On the post-show of the third Cyberpunk 2077 Night City Wire (as clipped by ResetEra user Saucycarpdog), senior quest designer Patrick K. Mills discussed how the campaign for Cyberpunk 2077 will be slightly shorter than The Witcher 3 because, even though a lot of people got very far in the game, not as many made it all the way to the end. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/09/18/cyberpunk-2077-night-city-wire-episode-3"] "The difference between a completionist run and a main story run... we do know that the main story run in Cyberpunk 2077 is slightly shorter than The Witcher 3 because we got a lot of complaints about Witcher 3’s main story just being too long," Mills said. "Looking at the metrics, you see tremendous numbers of people played through that game really far, but never made it to the end. We want you to see the full story, so we did shorten the main story, but we have lots to do, and in terms of a completionist campaign, I just don’t have that number." According to How Long To Beat, The Witcher 3's main story takes an average of 51.5 hours to complete, while a completionist run can take around 172 hours. While the main campaign may be slightly shorter than The Witcher 3's, Cyberpunk 2077 will be receiving free DLC alongside paid expansions just like the third Witcher game. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=cyberpunk-2077-25-new-night-city-images&captions=true"] Cyberpunk 2077 will be released on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, and Google Stadia on November 19, 2020. It will also be arriving on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X with a free 'more robust' upgrade in 2021. Until then, it will be playable via backward compatibility. For more on Cyberpunk 2077, check out the recently revealed PC specs, new location screenshots and gang images, and read our hands-on preview after playing the game for 4 hours. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/06/25/cyberpunk-2077-hands-on-what-we-think-after-4-hours-in-night-city"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com. Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

Cyberpunk 2077’s Story Will Be Shorter Than The Witcher 3’s

CD Projekt Red has said that Cyberpunk 2077's campaign will be shorter than The Witcher 3's because a lot of people didn't end up finishing the whole story. As spotted by ResetEra user Saucycarpdog on CohhCarnage's Twitch stream, senior quest designer Patrick K. Mills on the post-show of the third Cyberpunk 2077 Night City Wire said that the campaign for Cyberpunk 2077 will be slightly shorter than The Witcher 3 because, even though a lot of people got very far in the game, not as many made it all the way to the end. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/09/18/cyberpunk-2077-night-city-wire-episode-3"] "The difference between a completionist run and a main story run... we do know that the main story run in Cyberpunk 2077 is slightly shorter than The Witcher 3 because we got a lot of complaints about Witcher 3’s main story just being too long," Mills said. "Looking at the metrics, you see tremendous numbers of people played through that game really far, but never made it to the end. We want you to see the full story, so we did shorten the main story, but we have lots to do, and in terms of a completionist campaign, I just don’t have that number." According to How Long To Beat, The Witcher 3's main story takes an average of 51.5 hours to complete, while a completionist run can take around 172 hours. While the main campaign may be slightly shorter than The Witcher 3's, Cyberpunk 2077 will be receiving free DLC alongside paid expansions just like the third Witcher game. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=cyberpunk-2077-25-new-night-city-images&captions=true"] Cyberpunk 2077 will be released on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, and Google Stadia on November 19, 2020. It will also be arriving on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X with a free 'more robust' upgrade in 2021. Until then, it will be playable via backward compatibility. For more on Cyberpunk 2077, check out the recently revealed PC specs, new location screenshots and gang images, and read our hands-on preview after playing the game for 4 hours. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/06/25/cyberpunk-2077-hands-on-what-we-think-after-4-hours-in-night-city"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com. Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

Let’s Talk About the PS5 Pre-order Debacle

Welcome back to Game Scoop!, IGN's weekly video game podcast. This week the Omega Cops -- Daemon Hatfield, Tina Amini, Sam Claiborn, and Justin Davis -- discuss the PlayStation 5 price and release date, Demon's Souls, Spider-Man Miles Morales, Final Fantasy 16, Deathloop, Monster Hunter, Disgaea 6, Spelunky 2, and so much more. The music in this episode is from Spelunky. Watch the video above or hit the link below to your favorite podcast service. Listen on: Apple Podcasts YouTube Spotify Stitcher   Find previous episodes here!