Meet Smite’s New Butt-Kicking Warrior Goddess
The third-person multiplayer online battle arena, Smite, today unleashed the newest member of its ever evolving cast of mythological combatants. Bellona, the Roman Goddess of War, enters the fray as the only female warrior along with a number of new changes.
Introduced in today's Battle Frost patch, Bellona is a physical melee god who changes combat weapons and styles after using an ability. This versatility allows her to play a number of roles, but she excels at shutting down basic attack-oriented gods with her new form of crowd control, Disarm, which prevents targets from using basic attacks for a short time.
Star Wars Rebels: Hera’s Clone Wars Connection Confirmed
Despite Star Wars Rebels being less than a week away from its Season 1 finale, we still know very little about the Ghost crew's backstories. However, in the latest Rebels Recon, Lucasfilm Story Group's Pablo Hidalgo revealed a key bit of info about Hera Syndulla (fast-forward to about the 4:45 mark):
Ever since Hera's name was first announced, everyone assumed she was related to the Twi'lek freedom fighter Cham Syndulla from Star Wars: The Clone Wars, but the creators would never give a specific answer when asked about it. So it's kind of funny then that Hidalgo oh-so casually confirmed here that Hera is in fact Cham's daughter.
The Rock Says Shazam Could Happen Sooner
DC's upcoming Shazam movie may come sooner than its expected 2019 release date, according to Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.
"It may happen a little earlier than what has been predicted," Johnson, who will play the anti-hero Black Adam in the film, said in an interview with MTV. "The script is coming in, it's great. Support from the studio has been great. It's just a great opportunity, especially with Black Adam where you can take a guy who starts off as a bad guy, turns into a anti-hero. We can make him vicious,
a little bit of winking charm."
The Rock, who was cast as Black Adam last September, has previously teased that the anti-hero could someday go up against other DC characters, such as Batman or Superman.
Sony Accidentally Reveals Details on Xperia Z4 Tablet
For a brief while, Sony unveiled its upcoming hi-res Xperia Z4 tablet on the Xperia Lounge App –– on accident.
Although someone quickly pulled the info soon after realizing the mistake, Xperia Blog grabbed a screenshot of the device.
The full specs weren't revealed during the brief lapse, but the screenshot confirms the device will have a 2K display, "the latest ultra fast processor” and “industry leading battery performance." The date of March 3, 2015 was also captured in the screenshot, suggesting Sony may have more concrete news planned for the coming weeks.
Report: Why Players Choose Xbox One or PS4
A new report has revealed the major motivators for last-gen console owners to upgrade to the current generation.
According to Nielsen, most Xbox One owners upgraded from a 360, citing "brand" as the number one reason for the purchase. The PlayStation 4, on the other hand, won over last-gen console owners of all persuasions due to its "better resolution" and Blu-ray player. "Faster processing power" appeared as a reason for owning both consoles.
Most eighth gen console owners — whether it's Xbox One, PS4 4 or Wii U — previously owned a Wii, which is unsurprising considering the Wii's success. Wii U owners gave reasons like "fun factor" and "exclusive games/content" as big motivators for the move to this generation.
PayDay 2 Gets Hotline Miami Themed Content
PayDay 2 players who purchase Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number before or after its March 10th release date will receive Hotline Miami-themed content for Overkill’s first-person heist game.
A regular purchase of the standard edition of Hotline Miami 2 gets you the Hotline Miami Mask Pack, which comes with six masks: Richter the Rat, Jake the Snake, Alex the Swan, Tony the Tiger, Corey the Zebra, and Helmet.
The mask pack also adds 5 gallons of Hype Fuel for PayDay 2’s Hype Train event.
Purchasing the Digital Special Edition of Hotline Miami 2 gets you the Jacket character set, all six masks plus the additional “Richard Returns” mask, a Sociopath perk deck, the Carpenter’s Delight hammer weapon, an SMG called Jacket’s Piece, and 10 gallons of Hype Fuel.
Deals of the Week: $275 Wii U, Xbox One with $50 Gift Card, PSN Discount
$100 Android Tablet That Doesn't Suck
Dell's Venue 8 tablet has garnered surprisingly good reviews all around town. It was consider a value tablet when it debuted at $150, but now Amazon has a few it's selling for $108. Not bad at all for a stock Android tablet with a 1920 x 1200 display.
Limited Edition Call of Duty Xbox One Gets Price Reduction
The limited edition Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Xbox One is cheaper at one UK retailer, and it comes with a free game.
The 1TB Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Xbox One is available at GAME for £300 ($590 AUD, $460 USD). It also comes with a Forza 5 GOTY Edition download code to sweeten the deal. The console has twice the storage capacity of regular Xbox Ones –– which only have 500 GB –– and comes with an exclusive gold and gray controller.
Frozen Fever Gets First Trailer
The first footage of Frozen Fever, the short film continuation of Disney's mega-hit Frozen, was revealed today via a new trailer.
The trailer shows Elsa, Anna, and Olaf, amongst others, preparing for Anna's big birthday celebration. Check it out below:
Directed by Frozen's Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee, the short will feature original songs from "Let it Go" writers Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez.
Frozen Fever will debut in theaters exclusively ahead of Kenneth Branagh's live-action Cinderella on March 13.
Jordan Sirani is a freelance news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @jdsirani.
Call of Champions is a 5 Minute MOBA
Spacetime Studios announced Call of Champions today, a mobile 3v3 MOBA where games last just five minutes.
It’s going to be free-to-play on iOS and Android devices and should launch sometime this year.
The Texas-based Spacetime Studios, composed of former Sony Online vets, describes Call of Champions as a bare bones MOBA streamlined for mobile devices.
According to Spacetime CEO Gary Gattis, “We've distilled the MOBA to its core components by removing things like item shops, minions, and jungles and adding powerups, a five-minute clock, and a full suite of crazy abilities at your fingertips.”
A Call of Champions social hub featuring tools to recruit teammates, plan games, and earn achievements is there to appeal to the more serious, competitive players.