Yearly Archives: 2020

Our Beyond Good and Evil 2 News Roundup

While not much information is available for Beyond Good and Evil 2 yet, this article will serve as a hub that will be updated as more news comes out. Beyond Good and Evil 2 has been anticipated by fans since the first game released in 2003. After several delays, Ubisoft finally confirmed the prequel was in development at E3 2017. Creator Michel Ancel revealed a month later that technical issues contributed to the announcement delays and the team wanted BGE2 to have planet exploration, space, travel, and cities — all features they wanted for the original. Since then, Ubisoft has slowly revealed more details about Beyond Good and Evil 2. Characters Jade and Pey'j are confirmed to return as well as fan-favorite, the Mammago. There is still plenty we don't know, however, so while we wait to hear more, here's a roundup of what we know so far about Beyond Good and Evil 2. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2017/06/12/beyond-good-and-evil-2-cinematic-reveal-trailer-e3-2017-ubisoft-conference"]

What is the Beyond Good and Evil 2 Release Date?

An official Beyond Good and Evil 2 release date has not been announced by Ubisoft and it seems it will be some time until it arrives. Beyond Good and Evil 2 was not present at E3 2019, and during the Q3 FY2020 investors call, Ubisoft announced that it would be releasing five AAA games by early 2021, but confirmed Beyond Good and Evil 2 was not one of them.

What Does Beyond Good and Evil 2 Gameplay Look Like?

Beyond Good and Evil 2 is an action-adventure role-playing game where players will create a customizable character, either human or hybrid, with their own unique story and low social stature. With only a sword, gun, and a jetpack as basic equipment, players will traverse the open world — either by foot, in vehicles, or ships in space — and assemble a ragtag crew in a fight for freedom. As a "massive, seamless online environment", Beyond Good and Evil 2 gameplay will offer both a single-player and co-op experience where players can participate in shared world events. Players are not tethered to each other, however, and can play together or part ways at any time. Parts of the Good and Evil 2 experience can be created by fans. Developers have announced that it is partnering with the Space Monkey Program to collaborate on art and music that will appear in the game. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2018/12/10/beyond-good-and-evil-2-gameplay-update-augments-vehicles-co-op"]

What Is Beyond Good and Evil 2's Story?

Beyond Good and Evil takes place in a multicultural world in a far-off solar system called "System 3". Set sometime in the 24th Century, players will play as space pirates attempting to take back control from evil corporations that have taken over. The main storyline appears to be centered around a new character named Dakini, a captain of a ship called the Gada. She goes missing while searching for Moksha's Gate and a new captain, Shani, along with some of her crew have set out to uncover the mystery. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=beyond-good-evil-2-location-art&captions=true"] For a deeper dive into the game's story, be sure to check out our list of five interesting details from the sequel and our in-depth look at how developers are promising a planet-sized RPG.

Characters

The E3 2018 trailer seems to show Jade, the main protagonist of the original game, as one of the main antagonists in Beyond Good and Evil 2. The upcoming title will feature a younger version of Jade and will explore her past as a pirate hunter. The trailer also reveals characters Pey'j and the Rhino-hybrid Mammagos will be returning in the prequel. Some other characters in Beyond Good and Evil 2 include:
  • Shani - Ship mechanic
  • Callum - Chief Engineer
  • Uma - Chief Medical Officer
  • Knox - Chief spy
  • Dakini - Gada crew captain
  • Zhou Yuzhu - Crime boss and collector
  • Li Daiyu - Madam running Zhou's backrooms
IGN sat down with the team at Ubisoft Montpellier to get a better idea of all of the old and new characters confirmed in the E3 2018 trailer, which you can watch below. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2018/06/11/beyond-good-and-evil-2-trailer-breakdown-with-ubisoft-montpellier-e3-2018"]

When is the Beyond Good and Evil 2 Beta?

There are no definitive dates set for the Beyond Good and Evil 2 beta thus far. In 2018, Beyond Good and Evil creator Michel Ancel shared Ubisoft was aiming for a playable beta by the end of 2019. However, four months into 2020, there is still no word from Ubisoft or Ancel on when players can expect a beta. A Beyond Good and Evil 2 beta signup page does exist and states, "We have not defined what gaming platforms BGE2 will release on and aren't ready for a beta phase." The silver lining is that it sounds like Ubisoft is planning on having a beta at some point, we just aren't sure when. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Andrew Smith is a freelance contributor with IGN. Follow him on Twitter @_andrewtsmith.

Sailor Moon: How to Watch the First 3 Seasons for Free

The official Sailor Moon YouTube channel will stream the franchise's first three anime seasons from the 1990s -- Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon R, and Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon S -- for free starting this Friday, April 24, with ten episodes from the show added each week between now and July. The move is reportedly to promote the forthcoming release of the two-part Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Eternal The Movie, the first part of which opens in Japan this September. "Ten episodes from a total of the 127 episodes from the three series will be added each week," according to Crunchyroll. These three seasons are said to have been selected because Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Eternal The Movie is "based on the fourth 'Dead Moon' arc of Naoko Takeuchi's original Sailor Moon manga, which was adapted into the fourth TV anime series Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon SuperS (34 episodes/1995-1996)." No word yet on if the episodes will be subbed or dubbed. The streaming schedule can be found below:
  • April 24-30, 2020: "Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon" (1st to 10th episodes)
  • May 1-7: "Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon" (11th to 20th episodes)
  • May 8-14: "Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon" (21st to 30th episodes)
  • May 15-21: "Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon" (31st to 40th episodes)
  • May 22-28: "Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon" (41st to 46th episodes) / "Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon R" (1st to 4th episodes)
  • May 29 - June 4: "Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon R" (5th to 14th episodes)
  • June 5-11: "Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon R" (15th to 24th episodes)
  • June 12-18: "Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon R" (25th to 34th episodes)
  • June 19-25: "Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon R" (35th to 43rd episodes) / "Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon S" (1st episode)
  • June 26 - July 2: "Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon S" (2nd to 11th episodes)
  • July 3-9: "Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon S" (12th to 21st episodes)
  • July 10-16: "Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon S" (22nd to 31st episodes)
  • July 17-23: "Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon S" (32nd to 38th episodes)
Find out where we ranked Sailor Moon on our list of the Top 25 anime of all time by scrolling through the slideshow below: [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=top-25-best-anime-series-of-all-time&captions=true"]

Westworld Renewed for Season 4

Westworld has been renewed for a fourth season, HBO announced Wednesday. Casey Bloys, president, HBO Programming, said in a statement:

"From the western theme park to the technocratic metropolis of the near future, we’ve thoroughly enjoyed every twist and turn from the minds of master storytellers Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy.

We can’t wait to see where their inspired vision takes us next.”

The Emmy-winning sci-fi series returned for Season 3 on March 15. For our spoiler-ish coverage, dive into our explainer on Westworld Season 3, our comprehensive Season 3 recaps and reviews to exclusive interviews and trailers, breakdowns of new cast and characters like Aaron Paul's Caleb (and theories on questions like who is Charlotte Hale) to our Easter eggs and post-credits scenes explained. [ignvideo width=610 height=374 url=https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/04/13/whos-the-real-villain-of-westworld-season-3]

Trials Of Mana Review – Mana Enough

Trials of Mana is not a bold reinvention. While it has been given a graphical overhaul and added systems that help flesh out and modernize the combat systems, this remake of a once-obscure RPG is very much rooted in its own history. And by some combination of that history and the modern enhancements, it has a bundle of great ideas that are often hampered by others that are obtuse or confusing.

From the start, Trials of Mana distinguishes itself from other traditional Japanese RPGs by presenting a pool of heroes. The very first thing you do is select three of the six characters to be your party--a swordsman, thief, healer, berserker, offensive magic user, and support/ranged magic user are available--and that decision will last throughout the game. You can swap between any of the characters in the heat of battle, while the other two will manage on their own with some simple preset behaviors, but your primary character is treated as the game's protagonist during major story moments.

It's an inventive idea that adds a layer of personalization and a criss-crossing narrative. The stakes of the overall story remain the same, but by presenting you with a selection of six different prologues, you get to see the various motivations that led your custom-built party to be thrown into this grand adventure. The other characters that you left unchosen appear in brief cameos, and it's implied that their own quest is still happening just off-camera as they go it alone.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Trials Of Mana Review – Mana Enough

Trials of Mana is not a bold reinvention. While it has been given a graphical overhaul and added systems that help flesh out and modernize the combat systems, this remake of a once-obscure RPG is very much rooted in its own history. And by some combination of that history and the modern enhancements, it has a bundle of great ideas that are often hampered by others that are obtuse or confusing.

From the start, Trials of Mana distinguishes itself from other traditional Japanese RPGs by presenting a pool of heroes. The very first thing you do is select three of the six characters to be your party--a swordsman, thief, healer, berserker, offensive magic user, and support/ranged magic user are available--and that decision will last throughout the game. You can swap between any of the characters in the heat of battle, while the other two will manage on their own with some simple preset behaviors, but your primary character is treated as the game's protagonist during major story moments.

It's an inventive idea that adds a layer of personalization and a criss-crossing narrative. The stakes of the overall story remain the same, but by presenting you with a selection of six different prologues, you get to see the various motivations that led your custom-built party to be thrown into this grand adventure. The other characters that you left unchosen appear in brief cameos, and it's implied that their own quest is still happening just off-camera as they go it alone.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

60 Years Later, Jane Goodall Continues Fight for Chimpanzees and the Planet

Dr. Jane Goodall is spending her days like most of the world right now: isolating at home. Despite usually traveling 300 days out of the year at the age of 86, Dr. Goodall is now becoming comfortable with being grounded at home – connecting with people online, preparing a “Jane” podcast, and continuing to spread her message of conservation to the world, including through a new documentary, Jane Goodall: The Hope.

The new documentary from National Geographic premieres today, on Earth Day and celebrates her legacy and 60 years of combined research and advocacy work with chimpanzees in Tanzania, along with how she spends her time now – outside of the forests. Dr. Goodall spoke with IGN about what has changed in her work over the past 60 years, our current global pandemic, and why she still has hope for future generations.

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Jane Goodall: From Scientist to Conservationist

Dr. Goodall is largely known for her studies on chimpanzees in the wild – specifically her research on chimpanzees' ability to create and use tools – which she began in 1960 at Gombe Stream National Park in Tanzania. Her shift from chimpanzee research to wider conservation efforts came later, following a conference she helped put together at the Academy of Sciences in Chicago in 1986.

"When I began it was just me out there, but by '86, there were six other field sites. And at that meeting, it was mostly to talk about chimp behavior and how it differed from one environment to another," Dr. Goodall said. "But we had a session on conservation that was an absolute shock. Everywhere in Africa where people were, the forests were going, the chimp numbers were decreasing, and the bushmeat situation was opening up, and foreign logging companies were destroying forests and building roads and mining for gas, oil, and minerals, and with human populations growing, it was a grim picture."

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="624"] Photo credit: National Geographic Creative/ Hugo van Lawick[/caption]

"So I went to that conference and had my Ph.D. by then, and I was, you know, thinking I could go to Gombe and study the chimps forever. And I left as an advocate. I didn't make the decision. It was just something that happened.”

Focusing on her advocacy work over the past four decades, Dr. Goodall no longer spends her time studying chimps in the wild, as she says her job now is to help others see the importance of environmental and wildlife conservation.

"I’ve been going back twice a year for short visits (to Tanzania) and I will resume doing that. But it won’t be a longer one, because I know that’s not my job anymore,” Dr. Goodall explained. “What I’m doing now is my job, trying to wake people up to the fact that if we go on putting economic development over protecting the environment, that’s destroying humans’ future. We will become extinct if the globe continues heating up."

Jane on Working With the ‘Bad Guys’

In the documentary, Dr. Goodall explains why she made the controversial decision to work with the oil company, Conoco, in the late '80s to get a sanctuary built for chimpanzees in the Republic of the Congo. She was told it would "contaminate her image," but she didn't let that affect her decision.

“I started thinking about it very carefully when Conoco wanted to help. And I thought: I fly out on planes, I drive around in cars, I use electricity. And if I say I refuse to take money from a company that – at that time Conoco was way, way, way, greener than any other oil company, which is why in the end they let DuPont buy them because they couldn’t survive,” Dr. Goodall told IGN. “But, you know, if you work with a company that’s really putting a lot of money into alternative energy and posing the least harm to the environment, then how hypocritical to use their products, pay them money, but not let them pay any money to you. Because a few people will say, 'How dare you take money from them, you’re condoning their practices.' But we're not; we're helping them to get greener, quicker."

[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/04/17/jane-goodall-the-hope-trailer"]

The Global Pandemic and Our Planet

With COVID-19 affecting the globe, including in less pollution as more countries have adopted shelter-in-place rules, Dr. Goodall hopes the awareness for wildlife and the planet will last but thinks more people may realize the negative outcome of humans coming in too close of contact with animals in certain situations.

"I fear that when the restrictions are lifted, it’ll be business as usual, plus to make up for lost time," Dr. Goodall said. "We see the result of less pollution, wildlife is coming into city centers because it’s deserted, but I’d love to think it could last. It will wake some more people up. They might fight harder to reduce emissions and reduce pollution.

"But I think the real silver lining is more people will be understanding and will have to realize this pandemic is our fault, it’s been predicted, and it’s because we’re destroying the environment. Animals and people are getting in closer contacts, and factory farms and the meat market in China and Africa are really creating the conditions for viruses to jump from an animal to us. We’ve had these zoonosis' before, with SARS, and MERS, and Swine Flu and all these other things. But we’re not learning from it and maybe this time we will,” Dr. Goodall said.

The Jane Goodall Institute, a non-profit founded in 1977 by Dr. Goodall, has programs in Africa looking after chimpanzees, in which, Dr. Goodall said she hopes they will have enough resources to keep the chimps protected from COVID-19, as they are able to contract the disease.

"We have got to desperately try and protect the chimps in Gombe, these famous chimps we’ve been studying for 60 years. And to do that, we have to get protective masks – and the staff in Gombe is being reduced to just two."

Jane Goodall: The Hope, 60 Years Later

Dr. Goodall never imagined her life would take her where it has but says she's proud of the work that has been accomplished over the past decades by so many people. The Jane Goodall Institute has programs to expand conservation efforts globally, including the Roots & Shoots organization that began in 1991 and is now in 65 countries, which encourages youth from kindergarten to university levels to work on projects involving people, animals, and the environment.

"It makes me feel very proud of all the amazing people who have been doing the research all these years," Dr. Goodall said. "The wonderful Tanzanian field staff, the students, the fact that we’ve expanded to include 104 villages around Gombe national park, including their lives in the way they wanted.”

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="624"] Photo Credit: National Geographic/Bill Wallauer[/caption]

"And growing Roots & Shoots around the world. Hundreds of thousands of young people have gone through that program, and they retain the values, I think because we don't tell them what to do, we just say you have to choose three projects – roll up your sleeves and get out there and take action. So they’re empowered."

It's programs like these that keep giving Dr. Goodall hope. "Everywhere I go, there are these groups of young people from kindergarten to university, and they are so excited to tell me what they’ve been doing to make the world better," Dr. Goodall said.

"For the rest of my life, I’ll go on growing Roots & Shoots, fighting for better conditions for chimps and other creatures in research. Trying to make this a better world."

Jane Goodall: The Hope premieres on April 22 on National Geographic channel. The film picks up following the 2017 documentary, Jane, which focused primarily on found footage from the National Geographic archives that was thought to be lost, of Goodall and her then photographer/filmmaker, and later husband, Hugo Van Lawick and their time in Gombe as she studied chimp behavior in the wild.

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Jessie Wade is Homepage Editor at IGN and the science-environment-wildlife lady. Follow her on twitter @jessieannwade for science, games, and movie goodness.

Microsoft Flight Simulator Has a Massive 150GB Install

Microsoft has revealed the PC system requirements for Flight Simulator, and it requires a huge 150GB of harddrive space. While install sizes have been steadily increasing over the years, this places Microsoft Flight Simulator among the very largest on PC. For comparison, this is the same size as Red Dead Redemption 2’s PC port, although still under Modern Warfare’s colossal 175GB install. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/11/14/microsoft-flight-simulator-9-beautiful-cities-in-4k60-x019"] It means, then, that Microsoft Flight Simulator is packing as much data as the intricately detailed world Rockstar created for Red Dead Redemption, and the huge resolution textures used for Modern Warfare’s painstaking reproduced weapons. In some respects that’s not wholly surprising considering the game features the entire planet and its 40,000 real-world airports, and depicts most parts of the world in 3D photorealism. That world is drawn from Bing map data, of which it has access to two petabytes (two million gigabytes) of, streaming via an internet connection. So even that 150GB isn’t all the data that Microsoft Flight Simulator uses to create its world, weather, and flight mechanics. In addition to hard drive space the system requirements also request a minimum of 5 mbps of bandwidth (50 mbps ideally), indicating that data streaming is a vital part of the game. As for your GPU, Microsoft asks that you ideally have the expensive Radeon VII or Nvidia RTX 2080 cards, but recommends the older Radeon RX 590 or Nvidia GTX 970. If your machine is feeling its age, though, the minimum specs also support the Radeon RX 570 and Nvidia GTX 770. 8GB of RAM is the minimum requirement, but the ideal spec asks for 32GB. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=microsoft-flight-simulator-airports&captions=true"] Recommended processors are the Ryzen 5 1500X and Intel i5-8400, but the more recent Ryzen 7 Pro 2700X and Intel i7-9800X are suggested for ideal specification. Minimum specs call for the Ryzen 3 1200 or Intel i5-4460. Microsoft has only confirmed the install size for the PC version of Flight Simulator. It remains to be seen if the Xbox version will also demand 150GB of space. For more, check out our hands-on preview of Microsoft Flight Simulator, and how it deals with the areas of the world that governments don’t want you to see.

Far Cry: Vaas Actor Hints at a Return to the Iconic Role

Michael Mando, the actor behind iconic Far Cry 3 villain, Vaas, has hinted towards him playing the role again. In a Reddit AMA, the Better Call Saul and Orphan Black actor was asked if he was still recognised as Vaas. His reply seems to imply that he'll be recognised more in future: "Thank you so much! Vaas is my spirit animal - having co-created that character is something that will always be dear to me. I still get recognized as Vaas, and I still feel the outpouring of love for that character - makes me very happy. Who knows... maybe I will reprise the role very soon? :p Thank you for watching xo" [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2018/02/02/far-cry-3-classic-edition-trailer"] While not a confirmation by any means, the "very soon" in particular is oddly specific language. If Mando was to reprise the Vaas role, it's not clear what form that would take - as recently as last year, Ubisoft was planning a Far Cry TV show, although that was reported to be an animated Blood Dragon spin-off. If this was a game-focused role, it leaves us with some interesting possibilities. Famously, Vaas is killed halfway through the course of Far Cry 3, meaning any new role for Mando would likely be in a remake of the game (although this feels unlikely given the current-gen re-release Far Cry 3 got in 2018), or a prequel. That said, Far Cry isn't exactly afraid to get weird with it when it wants to - undead Vaas, anyone? [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/02/14/far-cry-new-dawn-review"] We awarded the original Far Cry 3 release a 9/10 review, with a lot of praise centred on the manic, unpredictable performance that created Vaas - in fact we said the game's "fantastic performances are among the best acting in video games". We certainly wouldn't complain about another opportunity to be frightened by Vaas. We've heard nothing about a new Far Cry game since the release of Far Cry: New Dawn but, with Ubisoft planning to release 5 AAA games by early 2021, it feels likely that we'll see one pop up sooner or later. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News, and he still doesn't know the definition of insanity. Follow him on Twitter.

CoD: Warzone Cheaters Are Being Matched Up Together as Punishment

Players who are suspected of cheating in Call of Duty: Warzone will now be forced into the same matches as punishment. The news was revealed by Call of Duty: Modern Warfare developer Infinity Ward on Twitter, which gave fans an update about its plans for fixing the influx of cheaters into the game's battle royale mode, Warzone. Starting this week, the matchmaking system will check and match suspected cheaters into the same lobbies so they can duke it out. May the best aimbot win! [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/03/23/call-of-duty-warzone-review"] Additional measures to support this change to the matchmaking system include notifying players when a cheating report results in a successful ban and "increased resources across backend tech, studio, and enforcement teams." As well as a set of dedicated security updates, Infinity Ward notes in the statement that there are still some new anti-cheat features on their way to Warzone. Namely, Report-A-Player functionality is coming to Killcam and Spectate modes, meaning players can catch hackers in the act with increased efficiency. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/03/11/call-of-duty-warzone-isnt-just-a-battle-royal"] This follows a report from last week that found Warzone console players were going to great lengths to opt-out of crossplay altogether to get away from the abundance of cheaters running riot in the PC version of the game. Back in early April, Activision banned over 50,000 Call of Duty: Warzone cheaters, though this clearly hasn't squashed the issue altogether. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

Xbox Series X Logo Seemingly Revealed

Microsoft has trademarked what seems to be the logo for Xbox Series X. Filed on April 16, the treatment follows a similar style to the Xbox One X and S logos. The X, in particular, differs from the title treatments we've seen for the upcoming console previously. You can see it below: EWMaRp7UEAAAIPq Whether this is Microsoft getting its legal ducks in a row, or a sign that it's about to reveal more about the console is unknown. What we do know is that Microsoft wants to be able to print this logo on a lot of things - the trademark listing includes not just game consoles, but bags, jewelery, posters, trading cards and, er, "fire extinguishing apparatus". Some have been quick to point out that a trademark for 'Series X' by itself - rather than the full 'Xbox Series X' - leaves open the possibility that we'll see multiple versions of Xbox, necessitating logos to distinguish between them. That's fuelled somewhat by rumours that there will be two next-gen Xbox consoles - the Series X, and a less powerful, digital-only console apparently codenamed Lockhart. However, Microsoft has made no similar public filings for any other potential console names in recent weeks. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/04/07/the-technology-behind-xbox-series-x"] For more on Xbox Series X, make sure to check out its full specs, how it compares with PS5, and our best guess at its price. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News, and he would probably buy a Series X fire extinguisher. Stylish and safe! Follow him on Twitter.