Sunday 29 September 2013

Breaking Bad: "Felina" Review

And that was Breaking Bad.

Yes, the story of Walter White has reached its conclusion... And we're sure you have a lot to say about how it ended! We just finished watching it like you did -- AMC weren't sending out press copies of this one! -- so Seth Amitin's review will be coming later tonight at this same url. In the meantime, we wanted to give you a place to discuss what went down in "Felina." Share your thoughts in the comments.

Full spoilers allowed, so beware those who haven't seen the finale yet!


Source : ign[dot]com

Hugh Jackman Lands Role in Neill Blomkamp's Chappie

Hugh Jackman has confirmed a role in Neill Blomkamp's (District 9, Elysium) next sci-fi feature Chappie, set to film in Johannesburg next year.

"I am doing a role in Neill’s new film, called Chappie, which we shoot in Johannesburg," was all the actor revealed to Screen Daily at the Zurich Film Festival.

Jackman will join other confirmed cast members Sharlto Copley and Ninja and Yolandi Visser of South African rap-rave duo Die Antwoord in Blomkamp's film about "a robot (voiced by Copley) imbued with artificial intelligence who is stolen by two local gangsters (Ninja and Visser) who want to use him for their own nefarious purposes."

The-Wolverine - Copy

Chappie has a planned release date of March 27, 2015.

Lucy O'Brien is Entertainment Editor at IGN AU. Follow her ramblings on IGN or Twitter.


Source : ign[dot]com

Hugh Jackman Lands Role in Neill Blomkamp's Chappie

Hugh Jackman has confirmed a role in Neill Blomkamp's (District 9, Elysium) next sci-fi feature Chappie, set to film in Johannesburg next year.

"I am doing a role in Neill’s new film, called Chappie, which we shoot in Johannesburg," was all the actor revealed to Screen Daily at the Zurich Film Festival.

Jackman will join other confirmed cast members Sharlto Copley and Ninja and Yolandi Visser of South African rap-rave duo Die Antwoord in Blomkamp's film about "a robot (voiced by Copley) imbued with artificial intelligence who is stolen by two local gangsters (Ninja and Visser) who want to use him for their own nefarious purposes."

The-Wolverine - Copy

Chappie has a planned release date of March 27, 2015.

Lucy O'Brien is Entertainment Editor at IGN AU. Follow her ramblings on IGN or Twitter.


Source : ign[dot]com

My Defining Moment as a Football Manager

A month or so back, Sports Interactive’s Football Manager 2013 was the highlight in a SEGA sale and, as an avid fan of the sport (Liverpool, if you’re asking), I made sure to take advantage. Although there are folks obsessive about the insanely deep management sim to a degree that I can’t even conceive (though, I highly recommend reading this piece as one such example, echoing many stories I’ve heard from players about their experiences), the game has been an on/off staple of my life, right from when it was originally known as Championship Manager and was published by Eidos.

Having not played the series for four or five years, I finally found time to start up a game this past week. Opting to manage Liverpool, as I always do, I marvelled at the interface changes made since I last played and then set about deciding how to improve my squad on such a limited budget. It was at this stage I was reminded of the last time I’d ventured into the franchise and was hit with a flashback to one of the most surreal moments that’s ever happened to me since I started gaming. Truth be told, I’m a little surprised I hadn’t thought to write about this before.

FM 3Football Manager 2009 was the exact iteration, which I’d only bought after a two-year hiatus solely on the basis that it was the series’ first game with a 3D match engine. Just a few weeks after its release in November 2008 I was forced to work away from home one weekend, travelling south to the other end of the country by train (I still lived in England at this point). Expecting to have some free time while I was away, I packed my laptop to help alleviate the boredom. With some luck I’d managed to bag myself a table seat after stepping onto the surprisingly quiet train, so wasted no time whipping out my laptop and started to pick up my season from where I left off.

Two stops later and the carriage was steadily getting busier. I remember feeling quite self-conscious that everyone was quietly judging me, and I was getting increasingly worried I’d soon have someone sat next to me, so naturally I thought about packing up. Before I had chance to save and do just that, my second fear came true on the next stop; a guy, roughly my age, got on and took the seat next to me. Part way through a big match (which I seem to think was against Spurs?), I was thinking of ways to hide my screen when my fellow passenger looked over and actually spoke up.

“Is that the new Football Manager?”

“It is,” I nodded politely.

We talked briefly about new features before he explained that back in uni he and his buddies used to buy a crate of beers and play Championship Manager together every few weeks. I’d heard this type of story before from many others, but we shook hands, formally introduced ourselves (his name was Adam I think, a Sheffield United fan and was travelling to see his girlfriend, if anyone cares), and I went back to managing my team. My new friend was looking on, totally absorbed.

FM 2Then he started to offer advice. In between matches he would suggest young players to scout and stars who would fit my team’s play style. During games he’d spot weak points in my formations, suggest substitutions and talk in depth about opposition strategy and my training schedules. Much to my bemusement, he had even taken to cheering my goals. For any other game I’d hate having a backseat gamer like this, but something struck me; he had essentially become my assistant manager.

Just was I was mulling over whether or not it’d be a little weird to say this out loud to my new friend, the whole train journey got a little stranger. At the next stop, just before Leicester, a group of slightly beered-up Leicester City fans got on, apparently travelling to an away game further south. It was standing room only at this point so they were in the aisle right next to my table. It wasn’t long before one of them spotted the game.

“Hey, this lad’s playing Football Manager!”

I sank slightly into my chair, not enjoying being the centre of attention.

Some banter was thrown around on account of who I supported (all good natured of course) before a few of them also took a serious interest in my game. All tried to crowd into an area so they could all see my screen and asked questions about how my season was going, who I’d signed, and if I’d kept “that diving bastard”. They too started to cheer on my Liverpool team.

I’ll be honest with you; I was totally perplexed and felt way out of my social depth. Who could blame me? I started the journey trying to mind my own business, trying to avoid talking to people and play my game in peace, and instead I’d acquired a real-life assistant manager and a vocal fan base in the process. It was surreal but, truth be told, I was kind of loving it.

FM 1As the train fast approached my destination, the Leicester fans were the first to depart, all with a handshake for me after I mentioned that I hoped City won. Adam too left before I hit the outskirts of London, wishing me all the best in my title push after his advice just about kept my Liverpool team in contention around the midway point of the season.

With only one or two stops left myself, I saved my game at the earliest opportunity, closed my laptop and began pondering just what had transpired over the journey.

They always say that the wonderful thing about football is that you can take two people from different walks of life, even different nationalities, put them together on a pitch with a ball and they’ll find a way to communicate. Here, Football Manager – a virtual extension of that sport – was bringing a handful of people together in much the same way. People that under any other circumstances would likely not even have looked each other in the eye. Looking back, that seems pretty amazing.

Despite how accurately developers can mimic sports in the virtual realm these days, even in capturing the pulsating, electrifying ebb and flow of the real thing, it’s still incredibly rare to find a sports game that can provide you with a genuinely important memory that will stay with you forever. Yet the serious, coldly-presented and perhaps even sterile, stat-focused Football Manager unexpectedly left me with a milestone moment that’s as important to me as any other emotional video game payout I’ve experienced in the last decade.

Andy Corrigan is a freelance games journalist based in Australia. You can follow him on IGN here whether you like football or not.


Source : ign[dot]com

Watch The Dark Knight as a SNES Game

Ever wondered what the video game adaptation of the most celebrated Batman movie might look like if it were made back in the heady days of the SNES or Mega Drive? Well wonder no longer, because the good folk at CineFix have 'gamified' The Dark Knight in glorious '8-bit' (well, almost entirely 16-bit) graphical detail.

The three and a half minute video covers all the major plot points of Christopher Nolan's celebrated second Batman flick, complete with a tinny version of Hans Zimmer's score and retro sound effects. Enjoy the video below.

Lucy O'Brien is Entertainment Editor at IGN AU. Follow her ramblings on IGN or Twitter.


Source : ign[dot]com

Breaking Bad: The Many Faces of Heisenberg

Breaking Bad's fan base has always been passionate about the show, but as the series has picked up momentum across its stellar seasons, more and more fans chose to immortalize their love of the show in art form. Hundreds and thousands of tribute pieces have sprung up online, and sites like Heisenberg Chronicles have done an amazing job cataloging all of the amazing stuff out there. While we recommend checking out that site for even more, click on the image slideshow below to see some of our favorites:

"If bad has a name,it must be Heisenberg." Awesome re-imaging of Breaking Bad as an Indiana Jones movie poster. via: tshirtvortex.net

Eric Pletz captures Walter White in close-up. via: pletzart.com

All Good Things Come to an End by Taylor Lindgren. via: taylorlindgrenart.weebly.com

Walter White: The Study of Change by Anna Rettberg. via: arettberg.deviantart.com

Walter White preparing for the cook. Thanks, Mr. Peruca. via: society6.com/artist/mrperuca

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Remember My Name. Piece by Peter Babucs. via: behance.net/heyp

Mr. Lambert, welcome to New Hampshire, by David Saracino. via: davidsaracino.tumblr.com

I'm in the Empire Business. By PJ McQuade. via: postercollective.com

He is back. Walter White by Guillaume Vasseur. via: postercollective.com

The T-shirt that knocks. Piece by Luke Dixon. via: thebearhug.com

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Heisenberg emerging. Piece by Matt Timson. via: matttimson.tumblr.com

The King of Crystals. By Alan Kennedy. via: gremz.deviantart.com

Heavenly glow? By Varis. via: horrible-device.tumblr.com

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Breaking Bad: The Many Faces of Heisenberg
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Have you seen other amazing pieces of Breaking Bad art? Share them in the comments below!

Chris Carle is the Entertainment Editorial Director of IGN.com. He can be found on Twitter and in the aisles of local supermarkets, scoping for Fruit Brute.


Source : ign[dot]com

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 Debuts in First Place

As expected, animated family fare performed best at this weekend's otherwise lukewarm box office. Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 debuted in first place with an estimated $35 million, which was at the low end of industry predictions but still a bit ahead of the original film's opening weekend.

Other new releases didn't fare as well. The Ron Howard-directed racer biopic Rush opened in third place with an estimated $10.3 million, while Joseph Gordon-Leviit's directorial debut Don Jon had to settle for a fifth place bow of $9 million. Another new release, Baggage Claim, debuted in fourth place with $9.3 million.

The concert/horror film Metallica Through the Never opened in limited release with a 13th place showing of $1.7 million.

Here are the weekend estimates via Rentrak:

1. Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 $35 million

2. Prisoners $11.3 million

3. Rush $10.3 million

4. Baggage Claim $9.3 million

5. Don Jon $9 million

6. Insidious Chapter 2 $6.7 million

7. The Family $3.7 million

8. Instructions Not Included $3.4 million

9. We're the Millers $2.9 million

10. Lee Daniels' The Butler $2.4 million

Listen to the latest Keepin' It Reel podcast to learn what our weekend predictions were.


Source : ign[dot]com