The First Planet from Star Wars 7 Has a Name
J.J. Abrams has revealed the name of the desert-like planet from the next installment of the Star Wars series, Star Wars 7: The Force Awakens.
Originally glimpsed in production photos and thought to be Tatooine, the arid planet was confirmed to be Jakku. The shooting location for the planet was Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.
Though Abrams declined to provide any more information on the planet when asked, he assured us more information is coming soon.
"I promise you you’ll see more today," Abrams said. Star Wars: Episode VII, helmed by J.J. Abrams, is due for a Dec. 18, 2015 release.
Why Star Wars 7 Uses Practical Effects
During today’s Star Wars Celebration, Director J.J. Abrams spoke about the importance of practical effects to the new film, and how it impacted the original Star Wars films as a whole.
“The thing that struck me, that wouldn’t get out of my head, is just how real you knew and felt Star Wars was when you first saw A New Hope. You couldn’t deny it,” Abrams said. “It’s Star Wars. There will be an endless number of effects. We needed a standard. You want it to be legitimate and authentic.”
Tweet Star Wars Hashtags, Get Exclusive Emojis
Star Wars Celebration is in full swing, and during the event's first panel, it has been revealed that if you tweet certain hashtags, you'll be able to score some exclusive emojis themed after Disney's upcoming film Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Those who tweet using the hashtags #stormtrooper, #c3po, or #bb8 will get each of the following emojis, pictured below.
Watch the Star Wars Celebration Stream Right Now
Star Wars Celebration is kicking off in Anaheim now with a panel on Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Watch the stream below.
We'll be bringing you all the breaking news from this panel and the rest of the Star Wars Celebration throughout the weekend, so stay tuned!
You can expand the slideshow above to view images in higher resolution. You can also view much larger images in the Star Wars Screenshot Gallery.
New Look at Jared Leto’s Joker
Jared Leto has once again turned to social media to document his transformation into Suicide Squad's Joker.
ComicBookMovie.com posted Leto's Snapchat photo featuring him with red lips and Joker's signature green hair. Leto bleached his hair just last month for the role, and debuted his green hair last week by posting a photo of him striking The Killing Joke signature pose.
Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture’s Soundtrack Is Mesmerizing
Indie developer The Chinese Room has released a new trailer and music track for its upcoming PlayStation 4-exclusive Everybody's Gone to the Rapture.
The studio has been hard at work on the game's soundtrack, which will play an integral role in the overall experience. You can listen to the debut song, dubbed The Mourning Tree, on the PlayStation Blog.
The Chinese Room promises to announce a release date for Everybody's Gone to the Rapture very soon. Stay tuned to IGN for future updates, and while you patiently wait, read up on the game's emotional approach to storytelling.
Evolve Community Challenge Rewards Free Skins
Evolve players who spend the weekend mowing down monsters with Bucket's sentry guns could help earn themselves and others a free Bucket Predator skin.
If the Evolve community can wrack up 200 million damage using the sentry guns between 12:01 AM ET on Friday, April 17th and 12:01 AM ET on Monday, April 20th, everyone who played the game during that time frame will be rewarded with the skin.
More than 350 million damage earns players the Support Predator skin set in addition to the Bucket Predator, also free. Reward skins will be distributed to players by Thursday, April 23rd. Check out the details on Evolve's website.
More Details On Hollowpoint From Crackdown 2’s Dev
Ruffian Games has unveiled some new details for its upcoming PC and PS4 shooter Hollowpoint.
A post on the PS Blog takes a closer look at the new game from the Crackdown 2 developer. Hollowpoint is a "four player cooperative online game that blends tactical and action packed combat experiences with procedurally built levels and a never ending supply of enemies".
It will contain large 3D cross section environments. Players are constrained to the 2D axis, but can switch to fire into the depth of the scene, creating a "mix of an old school 2D platform shooter and 3D shooting gallery".
Vikings’ Travis Fimmel on His Biggest Battle Yet
Get ready for the explosive end of Vikings Season 3 as Ragnar Lothbrok himself, Travis Fimmel, reveals what is driving him.
Last week’s Vikings saw the inception of the raid on Paris, as Ragnar Lothbrok continues his push into lands unknown. Always driven by ambition, Ragnar now has an additional motivation.
“He’s doing it for Athelstan,” Vikings star Travis Fimmel told IGN prior to the Season 3 premiere. Sitting outside of a tent on the Dublin set of the History Chanel series, we spoke with the actor as stuntmen were lit on fire and tossed into a small man-made river beside the wooden ladders they clung to. The cast and crew were in the middle of production on the raid on Paris, as Fimmel took a moment to reflect on what brought Ragnar to this point and think about where he’s headed.
Shovel Knight, Rusty Join Runbow’s Colorful Cast
Runbow developer 13AM Games has just announced that its upcoming party platformer for Wii U will feature guest appearances from a number of other franchises from Nintendo's catalog of eShop titles.
In addition to Shovel Knight from Yacht Club Games' popular 2D sidescroller, Juan and Tostada from Guacamelee!, Rusty from Steamworld Dig, Swift Thornebrooke from Sportsball, and Scram Kitty from, well, Scram Kitty will all be in Runbow.
13AM Games notes that none of these characters have any special skills, so the main appeal here is the aesthetic novelty. Considering it features up to nine players all playing locally at the same time with a color-shifting mechanic, it's no surprise each character doesn't have its own unique move set.