Sunday 30 June 2013

D4: Xbox One’s Most Enigmatic Exclusive

One of the most enigmatic Xbox One exclusives announced to date would have to be D4, or Dark Dreams Don’t Die, to give the game its full title. In development by cult Japanese game designer Hidetaka “Swery” Suehiro and his team at Access Games, D4 is a murder mystery with an intriguing hook: its detective lead David has lost his memory, but is able to dive into the past to solve crimes. Specifically, his wife’s murder.

Of course, given this is a game from Swery, the real hook is likely to be just how strange and offbeat everything is, and D4’s initial reveal certainly doesn’t disappoint on that basis. David refers to his wife as ‘little Peggy,’ and interactions between characters are deliberately weird, with bizarre facial expressions and glances held for uncomfortably long moments.

“Deadly Premonition… was a little bit weird,” Swery tells us, “and this one’s also a little bit weird.”

The best way to think about D4 – from the little we’ve seen – is that it’s going to play something like a modern point and click adventure. Think Telltale’s The Walking Dead series and you’d be on the right track. Within the demo’s passenger jet setting, for instance, players are able to investigate the world in a number of ways, bringing up information about people and objects, and choosing their responses when in conversation. Action sequences are choreographed, but will play out with a few different variations based on how well players follow the on-screen cues.

In general it seems like a good direction for Access to go in, as it lets Swery put characters and story on centre stage and avoid the stuff that – traditionally – he hasn’t been as strong at. Y’know, like good controls.

David.

Only this time, David won. Hopefully.

On that subject, D4 is designed from the ground up for the next generation of Kinect. Players mimic on-screen gestures during action sequences and can simply speak their chosen option during conversations. How seamlessly this works remains to be seen; we’ve only been privy to a video of the game in action to date and haven’t been able to go hands-on. Swery explicitly made the point, however, that D4 is designed to be played sitting down. He also said that the Xbox One controller would be supported for players that aren’t interested in using Kinect.

D4 will be episodic in structure, with David’s quest to solve his wife’s murder as the overarching story arc. It's also a digital-only title, and at this stage the team is planning on releasing it episode by episode. At least, that's “our thought at this point,” according to Swery. The episodic structure should work well given David’s memory-hopping ability. It's likely that each episode will take place within a different memory, with its own set of self-contained objectives, as well as an important tie-in to the main story.

So exactly how does this time-jumping work? Well, in order to jump into the past, David has to touch mementos that are connected to memories he wants to investigate. “The day little Peggy died,” he tells the player, “I managed to survive, through some miracle. In exchange for my memories, I got this skill. This has to be some kind of revelation, but I plan to use this skill to find a memento that can take me back to that day, so I can save my wife.”

Whether he can save his wife is something of a mystery. “It’s a bit complicated, but he actually understands that he can’t change the past…” Swery tells us. Surely the act of travelling into the past changes it, we point out. “I can’t give you many details just yet, but I think that being in the past was meant to be that way.”

D4-A

Zapatero. Exactly how far back did David go?

It’s intriguing stuff, and deliberately multi-layered. No surprise, really; even the name is symbolic in more ways than one. In addition to Dark Dreams Don’t Die, it “also comes from the fact that the main character’s special skill is to go back into the past, so it’s the fourth dimension…" says Swery. "Also, in the game, ‘D’, the initial, is going to be a key word, and it’s going to have lots of important meanings.”

For the moment though, all we have to go on is the demo reel's short, densely-packed sequence. We meet a stewardess that looks exactly like David’s dead wife (to the extent that the gum bubble he’s blowing when he bumps into her pops and he just leaves it there, a pink mask across his astonished face), who alludes to being on the same “side” as him. We meet a scarred bald man who demands to know how David got on the plane. The pair have a history, evidently: “this time I’m interested in him, not you,” David says, motioning towards his target, a psychopath named Antonio Penny Zapatero, who he's convinced is harbouring evidence he needs.

Aforementioned stewardess.

Little Peggy?

Throughout these conversational vignettes the screen regularly splits into two or three frames, showing various elements of the scene from different angles. It complements D4’s cel-shaded visual style nicely, underlining a graphic novel flavour.

The climax of the sequence we’re shown is a raucous, entertaining and creative fight between David and Zapatero. They struggle up and down the aisle, with the game moving in and out of slow motion. David screams into a megaphone in Zapatero’s face and the cord from an air mask is used as an impromptu garrotte. There’s also a delightful move mid-way through the battle where our hero is pushed back into a stewardess. Players who nail the timing on the input see him turn smoothly and grasp her hands as if she were a dancing partner, pirouetting on the spot to get past. It all ends with Zapatero disappearing amidst a blinding flash of light.

D4-B

The fashion police collar another offender.

A small slice, then, and we’ve certainly come away with more questions than answers. It’s going to be interesting to see just what Swery has in store, given how much of an unknown this is. In fact, when we asked him whether there was a direct source of inspiration for D4 – akin to Twin Peaks’ influence on Deadly Premonition – he just laughed and told us – in English – “I have no idea.” Swery, unplugged. Bring it on.

Cam Shea is the Senior Editor at IGN Australia. Click these links and hit follow so we can be friends! Twitter | IGN | Facebook


Source : ign[dot]com

It’s All in Your Head: Gaming and the Brain

We’ve all been gripped by such mischief at one time or another - most likely at Christmas, when spirits are high, or some other holiday when the clan converges: the irresistible urge to fire up the gaming rig and, after she’s had a few egg nogs … Blow. Grandma’s. Mind.

But with what? Delightful cartoon worlds? Dashing hot laps in a Maserati? Of course not. She’s frail, hunched, rheumy-eyed. She wears compression socks, for god’s sake. Naturally, we choose a bit of the old ultra-violence. Zombies are good. Gods of war. The type of space where no one can hear you scream. Odds on, Gran’ll peer into the television screen wearing a puckered gape (quad comedy multiplier for denture detachment), before slowly leaning back in her chair as if sensing a great disturbance in the force, and with reluctant diplomacy, not wishing to crush your spirits, say something like, “Goodness ... I can see that it involves quite a measure of ... hand-eye coordination.”

Hand-eye coordination! What a dusty old phrase. Not that it’s no longer relevant - quite the opposite - it’s so commonplace as to be invisible. Modern life demands it. No surprise: the Twentieth Century was a veritable hothouse of H.E.C. There was the mass production of the motor vehicle (and therefore drivers), improvements in manufacturing and synthetic compounds, which brought games and amusements into the backyard and home. Global warfare. The explosion of sport and music as activities for all, not just the wealthy. And then gaming. And what a breed of hand-eye adepts it discovered. But when it came down to putting your initials at the top of the leaderboard, what separated the wheat from the chaff? Was it practice, or something that couldn’t be taught? And in either case, what mechanisms lay behind it?

Hand-eye coordination: you're doing it wrong.

Hand-eye coordination: you're doing it wrong.

Reflexes

Of course, H.E.C. is the dynamic relationship between movement and vision: vision informing movement which feeds back into vision - a process which involves almost all of the brain and central nervous system, so describing it in depth would take all day. Suffice it to say, given that it’s been such an integral part of our survival since day dot, it’s no surprise that it’s neurologically intensive. But when it comes to gaming, are there any areas that can be singled out?

Perhaps the most relevant research indicates that a structure that hums away right between the ears, known as the basal ganglia, holds one of the keys to gaming performance—more specifically a subsection called the dorsal striatum.

The interesting thing - and the most disheartening for the fan of twitch shooters and the like - is that the activity in this area of the brain is the greatest predictor of improvement in skill, and that level is something you’re born with. If you’ve poured hours into the latest Call of Duty, only to get owned by that novice friend with the seemingly supernatural ability to frag you, you’ll relate. Just like a mesomorph (a person with a naturally muscular build) and ectomorph (a naturally lean build) starting a weight-training program at the same time, the chunkier guy is going to make far greater gains over the same period. Of course, the human body is an amazingly malleable thing—who hasn’t seen a photo of a 150 pound weakling transformed into a flexing mass of veiny bulk? It’s just that the average person isn’t going to put in hours at the gym for years on end, and nor is the average gamer going to go blind trying to match it with the lords of twitch town.

Twitch Town, population your dead corpse.

Twitch Town, population: your dead corpse.

Memory

Fortunately, gaming involves far more than freakish coordination and lightning reflexes. Take an FPS map, for instance. Knowing where the spawn points are, ammo dumps, and the sniping sweet spots, has nothing to do with inherent ability - such things must be learned.

The particular aspect of memory most related to gaming is called spatial memory. The part of the brain responsible for this capacity is known as the hippocampus, a worm-like band which wraps around the brain’s core.

The hippocampus allows us to recall the layout (up, down, left, right) and landmarks (where to go up, down, left, right) of an environment. It’s also the structure which allows us to mentally picture a learned environment, and therefore plan our route ahead of time (while running from the cops in Grand Theft Auto, for instance).

People with injuries to the hippocampus have severe difficulties learning video game maps, though their abilities can be significantly improved with gaming “therapy.” By the same token, it has been found that the hippocampi of people with spatially intense jobs, such as taxi drivers in big cities, actually grow to accommodate the vast amounts of information.

The implications for gamers are clear - exercise your hippocampus! You might not have the best H.E.C. in the world, but you can more than compensate with superior tactics.

Statue of Liberty? Never heard of it.

Statue of Liberty? Never heard of it.

Mental Acuity

As everyone knows, the brain isn’t a machine, and making use of our faculties isn’t like flipping a switch. So when you really need to bring your A-game, what can give you the boost you need?

Tiredness is a major contributor to cognitive impairment. Everyone can remember playing a new game well into the wee small hours, until the burning desire to progress is thwarted by numb fingers and a blank mind. All that we’ve learned over the past eight hours seems to have evaporated, our minds wander hopelessly, and our carefully honed reflexes have become sloth-like and misguided. Curiously, science hasn’t yet determined the biological basis for sleep. “Because we get tired,” doesn’t cut it. The question of why we get tired still hasn’t been answered. At any rate, tiredness is the scourge of any determined gamer, so what can be done?

A forty minute nap can boost performance by a third, and double alertness. If that’s not an option, old faithful (caffeine) might be needed. Does caffeine do anything beyond making you feel more alert, though? And if so, what kind of dose is required for a boost?

The general consensus is that coffee stimulates all areas of the nervous system, ensuring improvements to reflexes and H.E.C. But research has also shown that while it can speed up simple problem solving, it can actually cause you to do worse at complex tasks. So, Pac-Man yes, Civilization no.

Caffeine obviously has a dark side too.

Caffeine obviously has a dark side too.

Perhaps surprisingly, physical exercise - not just of the fingers and eyeballs, but the other six hundred and fifty odd muscles too - can be a great kick-starter of the major cognitive systems. Running, cycling, lifting weights. Fresh air, Lycra and sweat. Sedentary people who begin an exercise program experience significant growth in the aforementioned hippocampus, as well as other structures of the brain related to information processing. But if you’re already pretty fit, what else can you do?

Perhaps it’s time to look into the world of nootropics. Derived from the Ancient Greek words nous (mental activity) and trepein (to bend) - therefore, mind-benders - these substances engage with the chemical pathways of the brain to help overclock it. Legally.

The level of acetylcholine in the brain, for instance, has a significant relationship to attention and memory. So, just like A Clockwork Orange’s moloko vellocet, it might be just the thing to sharpen you up. Look out for foods rich in its primary component, choline, such as beef liver, eggs, cod, chicken, quinoa, and nuts, and let your body do the rest. A little sugar boost can assist the process, so don’t feel too guilty about chasing the cod down with some Junior Mints. Your significant other will thank you for it.

Just be careful where you put it.

Just be careful where you put it.

The Takeaway

The parts of the brain related to gaming are among the first structures to have formed in the development of Homo Sapiens. Given that many of our favoured past-times, as a species, involve lashings of the primal, it’s not surprising that we love to exercise them in the virtual world. So, what have we learned about squeezing the most out of our CPUs?

Twitch reflexes are pretty much innate, and while they can be improved, have more to do with individual variation. Spatial memory used in remembering maps can be greatly improved by anyone. Physical fitness is a wonderful boost to mental capacities, while the fit and active might wish to look into foods rich in the fundamental fuel of synaptic activity - choline. And finally, coffee can be relied upon to enhance reflexes and simple problem solving, but can actually hamper more complex strategizing. To get back to your best, you’ll need some good old-fashioned shuteye.

Daniel Clark is an Australian freelance gaming journalist and writer. Why not follow him on IGN and join the IGN Australia Facebook community?


Source : ign[dot]com

BioShock Infinite DLC Reveal Coming in Late July

Irrational Games has confirmed to IGN that new BioShock Infinite downloadable content will be revealed in late July.

The content will mark the first expansion to be released as part of the BioShock Infinite season pass, which was available at launch and will include three pieces of DLC overall.

Last week, Irrational head Ken Levine said the studio is still working on the content, noting that they “have been since the game shipped.” Levine said “things are going well,” but asked fans to understand that “game development takes time.”

Thus far, the only additional content released for BioShock Infinite includes bonuses offered in the game’s special editions and as pre-order incentives. That content was bundled into the Columbia’s Finest pack last week and is available for $5 on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.

For more on BioShock Infinite, check out our wiki and be sure to check back to IGN in late July for the first details about DLC.

Andrew Goldfarb is IGN’s news editor. Keep up with pictures of the latest food he’s been eating by following @garfep on Twitter or garfep on IGN.


Source : ign[dot]com

BioShock Infinite DLC Reveal Coming in Late July

Irrational Games has confirmed to IGN that new BioShock Infinite downloadable content will be revealed in late July.

The content will mark the first expansion to be released as part of the BioShock Infinite season pass, which was available at launch and will include three pieces of DLC overall.

Last week, Irrational head Ken Levine said the studio is still working on the content, noting that they “have been since the game shipped.” Levine said “things are going well,” but asked fans to understand that “game development takes time.”

Thus far, the only additional content released for BioShock Infinite includes bonuses offered in the game’s special editions and as pre-order incentives. That content was bundled into the Columbia’s Finest pack last week and is available for $5 on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.

For more on BioShock Infinite, check out our wiki and be sure to check back to IGN in late July for the first details about DLC.

Andrew Goldfarb is IGN’s news editor. Keep up with pictures of the latest food he’s been eating by following @garfep on Twitter or garfep on IGN.


Source : ign[dot]com

Monsters University Holds Off The Heat at the Box Office

Pixar's Monsters University remained the No. 1 movie this weekend, staving off competition from newcomers The Heat and White House Down.

Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy's R-rated buddy cop comedy had a healthy second place debut with $40 million, but director Roland Emmerich's White House Down bowed with a disappointing fourth place showing of $25.7 million.

It appears White House Down really was hurt in the public's eyes by its similarly-themed Olympus Has Fallen, which opened this past spring to $30+ million and ended up earning $160.9 million worldwide.

Here are the weekend's domestic box office estimates via Rentrak:

1. Monsters University $46.2 million

2. The Heat $40 million

3. World War Z $29.8 million

4. White House Down $25.7 million

5. Man of Steel $20.8 million

6. This is The End $8.7 million

7. Now You See Me $5.5 million

8. Fast & Furious 6 $2.4 million

9. Star Trek Into Darkness $2 million

10. The Internship $1.4 million


Source : ign[dot]com

Monsters University Holds Off The Heat at the Box Office

Pixar's Monsters University remained the No. 1 movie this weekend, staving off competition from newcomers The Heat and White House Down.

Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy's R-rated buddy cop comedy had a healthy second place debut with $40 million, but director Roland Emmerich's White House Down bowed with a disappointing fourth place showing of $25.7 million.

It appears White House Down really was hurt in the public's eyes by its similarly-themed Olympus Has Fallen, which opened this past spring to $30+ million and ended up earning $160.9 million worldwide.

Here are the weekend's domestic box office estimates via Rentrak:

1. Monsters University $46.2 million

2. The Heat $40 million

3. World War Z $29.8 million

4. White House Down $25.7 million

5. Man of Steel $20.8 million

6. This is The End $8.7 million

7. Now You See Me $5.5 million

8. Fast & Furious 6 $2.4 million

9. Star Trek Into Darkness $2 million

10. The Internship $1.4 million


Source : ign[dot]com

Saturday 29 June 2013

AMC to Host The Walking Dead: Preview Weekend

Beginning Thursday, July 4th at 1pm ET/PT, AMC will be hosting The Walking Dead: Season 4 Preview Weekend, a marathon event hosted by filmmaker and Comic Book Men EP Kevin Smith from the Atlanta-based set where the cast are currently shooting.

The Walking Dead: AMC CEO Sees No End in Sight

During the marathon, Smith will speak with the cast and crew, sharing behind-the-scenes footage from the highly anticipated fourth season. The first season of TWD will air twice on July 4, featuring marathons of both the original and special black-and-white editions. This will be followed by Season 2 on Friday, and Season 3 on both Saturday and Sunday. Each day of this four-day event begins at 1pm.  (Side Note: The black-and-white editions only apply to Season 1 on July 4.)

As for The Walking Dead: Season 4, new episodes will begin airing in October.

Max Nicholson is a writer for IGN, and he desperately seeks your approval. Show him some love by following @Max_Nicholson on Twitter, or MaxNicholson on IGN.


Source : ign[dot]com

Friday 28 June 2013

AMC to Host The Walking Dead: Preview Weekend

Beginning Thursday, July 4th at 1pm ET/PT, AMC will be hosting The Walking Dead: Season 4 Preview Weekend, a marathon event hosted by filmmaker and Comic Book Men EP Kevin Smith from the Atlanta-based set where the cast are currently shooting.

The Walking Dead: AMC CEO Sees No End in Sight

During the marathon, Smith will speak with the cast and crew, sharing behind-the-scenes footage from the highly anticipated fourth season. The first season of TWD will air twice on July 4, featuring marathons of both the original and special black-and-white editions. This will be followed by Season 2 on Friday, and Season 3 on both Saturday and Sunday. Each day of this four-day event begins at 1pm.  (Side Note: The black-and-white editions only apply to Season 1 on July 4.)

As for The Walking Dead: Season 4, new episodes will begin airing in October.

Max Nicholson is a writer for IGN, and he desperately seeks your approval. Show him some love by following @Max_Nicholson on Twitter, or MaxNicholson on IGN.


Source : ign[dot]com

AMC to Host The Walking Dead: Preview Weekend

Beginning Thursday, July 4th at 1pm ET/PT, AMC will be hosting The Walking Dead: Season 4 Preview Weekend, a marathon event hosted by filmmaker and Comic Book Men EP Kevin Smith from the Atlanta-based set where the cast are currently shooting.

The Walking Dead: AMC CEO Sees No End in Sight

During the marathon, Smith will speak with the cast and crew, sharing behind-the-scenes footage from the highly anticipated fourth season. The first season of TWD will air twice on July 4, featuring marathons of both the original and special black-and-white editions. This will be followed by Season 2 on Friday, and Season 3 on both Saturday and Sunday. Each day of this four-day event begins at 1pm.  (Side Note: The black-and-white editions only apply to Season 1 on July 4.)

As for The Walking Dead: Season 4, new episodes will begin airing in October.

Max Nicholson is a writer for IGN, and he desperately seeks your approval. Show him some love by following @Max_Nicholson on Twitter, or MaxNicholson on IGN.


Source : ign[dot]com

Daily Fix Headlines for June 28, 2013

In today’s headlines, Microsoft might soon be making new friends in the indie dev world and an Xbox executive speaks out about the insignificance of specs. Un-Microsoft related, we also have some new insight on the upcoming The Last of Us DLC. Sweet! Finally, Friday is always a big day for us but more so for you as we announce (as we do every Friday) our giveaway! Just watch today’s episode.

Here are the stories we covered:

Xbox executive Albert Penello has a few things to say about how we, the consumers, compare consoles.

Microsoft has reportedly stopped charging developers to update their Xbox 360 games, according to a number of sources. What does this mean for indie developers and the future of their games?

The Last of Us directors give us a few hints on what to expect in their upcoming add-on. Check out today's Fix for more.

Naomi Kyle is IGN's news host and on-camera personality. You can find her every day on The Daily Fix, kicking ass and taking names. You can follow her on Twitter @NaomiKyle.


Source : ign[dot]com

Daily Fix Headlines for June 28, 2013

In today’s headlines, Microsoft might soon be making new friends in the indie dev world and an Xbox executive speaks out about the insignificance of specs. Un-Microsoft related, we also have some new insight on the upcoming The Last of Us DLC. Sweet! Finally, Friday is always a big day for us, but more so for you as we announce (as we do every Friday) our giveaway! Just watch today’s episode.

Here are the stories we covered:

Xbox executive Albert Penello has a few things to say about how we, the consumers, compare consoles.

Microsoft has reportedly stopped charging developers to update their Xbox 360 games, according to a number of sources. What does this mean for indie developers and the future of their games?

The Last of Us directors give us a few hints on what to expect in their upcoming add-on. Check out today's Fix for more.

Naomi Kyle is IGN's news host and on-camera personality. You can find her every day on The Daily Fix, kicking ass and taking names. You can follow her on Twitter @NaomiKyle.


Source : ign[dot]com

Strike Back: Season 3 Trailer

Strike Back returns to Cinemax on August 9 for Season 3 (or Season 4 for those who go by the original incarnation of the show) and we've got the new trailer for you.

In Strike Back: Season 3, stealth counterterrorism unit Section 20 pursues a deadly terrorist network from Colombia to Lebanon to Eastern Europe, uncovering deadly plots that threaten the West. The team tracks the elusive terrorist al-Zuhari and his well-financed drug cartel partners as they target European and American interests, both at home and abroad, including Section 20 itself. As they often must do, the Section 20 team is forced to resort to extraordinary measures to protect the greater good, making some members question their future with the unit.

Check out the trailer below!


Source : ign[dot]com

Johnny Depp's Top 10 Movies

Johnny Depp is undoubtedly one of the biggest stars in Hollywood today. He first broke onto the scene when he starred in the 21 Jump Street TV series and played bit parts in movies like Platoon and Nightmare on Elm Street. We knew from the moment we saw Depp's death scene in Elm Street that he was destined for greatness:

And he hasn't disappointed. Depp's career has been nothing if not eclectic. He quickly veered away from pretty-boy roles to tackle more challenging fare in the '90s - Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. And his superstar status was finally cemented after several Pirates of the Caribbean movies.

Disney is clearly hoping that Depp's turn as Tonto in the big-budget remake of The Lone Ranger will spark a new multi-billion dollar franchise. We'll find out when that movie hits theaters next week. But for now, we figured it was a perfect time to take a look at Depp's colorful career and select his ten best movies. Read our list and let us know your favorite Depp roles in the comments section below. And check out last year's look back at the many collaborations between Depp and director Tim Burton.

10

Cry Baby

Released 1990

Despite his early controversial fare, director John Waters attracted mainstream interest with the original Hairspray in 1989. For his studio-backed follow-up, Waters again chose to craft a musical set in mid-century Baltimore. But Cry-Baby was a more personal reflection on Waters' own experiences growing up in a city divided by racial and class tensions. Depp played Wade "Cry-Baby" Walker, leader of a gang of juvenile delinquents known as Drapes.

Cry-Baby was Depp's first feature-film starring role in the wake of 21 Jump Street. Though he didn't actually sing on the soundtrack and had no dance experience prior to the movie, he was utterly convincing as the charismatic leader of the Drapes. It was as if a young Elvis or James Dean had returned to the screen.

9

Dead Man

Released 1995

Dead Man is viewed by many as one of the quintessential examples of the post-modern Western (No Country For Old Men being another). But director Jim Jarmusch describes this film as a "psychedelic Western." It certainly stands out from the pack, thanks to its black-and-white filming approach, its electric guitar-infused, Neil Young-composed score, and Jarmusch's own distinct directorial style.

However you choose to describe it, Dead Man stars Depp as Billy Blake, an accountant who sets out for the remote town of Machine, only to be turned away from his would-be employer, blamed for a double-murder, and hounded by a trio of bounty hunters. Blake's only ally is an American Indian named Nobody who, despite his hatred of most white men, is convinced that Blake is the reincarnation of his favorite poet, William Blake.

Dead Man is one of the more unusual Westerns movie lovers are likely to come across, and that's a big part of its charm. Sleepy Hollow fans can look to Depp's performance here as a precursor to his meek, bumbling take on Ichabod Crane several years later.

Depp was no stranger to playing kooky characters by the time he joined Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, nor was portraying real-life celebrities outside of his comfort zone. Both roles collided as Depp took on the role of Hunter Thompson, recreational drug enthusiast and pioneer in the field of gonzo journalism. Fear and Loathing is based on Thompson's semi-autobiographical book of the same name, chronicling journalist Raoul Duke's misadventures while covering a story in Las Vegas alongside his lawyer, Dr. Gonzo (played by Benicio del Toro).

This is the sort of film that lives or dies on the strength of the lead actor's performance. Luckily, Depp spent a good deal of time hanging out with Thompson before the shoot, honing in on the writer's bizarre mannerisms and speech patterns. Whether critics praised Terry Gilliam's film for capably bringing Thompson's exploration of America's dark and surreal side to life or simply bombarding the viewer with one inane situation after another, no one seemed to complain about the strength of Depp's performance.

Depp even reprised the role (sort of) when he starred in The Rum Diary, another adaptation of a Thompson book.

Pirates of the Caribbean had every reason to be a massive failure for Disney. It was based on a theme park attraction, and that formula had already fizzled thanks to Haunted Mansion and The Country Bears. And the failure of 1995's Escape From Cutthroat Island suggested that audiences just weren't interested in pirate-themed movies anymore. Instead, Pirates proved to be one of the most successful films of 2003 and spawned a mammoth new franchise for Disney.

Part of the success was due to Gore Verbinski, whose whip-smart directorial style delivered a fun, attractive, engaging pirate adventure. But much of the franchise's continued success rests squarely on Depp's shoulders. Depp took what was originally written as a fairly standard pirate anti-hero role and gave it new life. His Captain Jack Sparrow is as spastic as he is charming. He's a pirate of impeccable comic timing, countless strange mannerisms and personality quirks, and sometimes ambiguous sexual orientation. Disney execs were reportedly flabbergasted by early footage of Depp sauntering his way across the Caribbean, but audiences adored Sparrow.

The Pirates franchise has seen a steady decline in quality with each new film, but as long as Depp is still willing to don the buccaneer boots and makeup, we expect the money will keep rolling in.

It's not uncommon to see a new Hollywood take on the classic Peter Pan story every few years. Finding Neverland offered a nice change of pace in that, rather than rehashing the same old tale or offering a sequel, it focused on the real-world inspiration for Pan, Captain Hook, and Neverland. Depp starred as playwright J.M. Barrie, a man who found inspiration for his career-defining story from a widow (Kate Winslet) and her four children (including a pre-Bates Motel Freddie Highmore).

Finding Neverland was also a nice change of pace in terms of Depp's performance. After chewing every scrap of scenery in Pirates of the Caribbean, Finding Neverland allowed the actor to focus on a more subdued, understated role. Depp showed a willingness to step back and allow Winslet and Highmore to show their dramatic chops. But "understated" hardly means "boring." Depp expertly conveyed the good-natured charm and dreamy disposition of Barrie. The movie might not have offered the most historically accurate depiction of Barrie's life, but it was a thematically rich story that celebrated the joy of never having to truly grow up.


Source : ign[dot]com

PS3’s Instant Game Collection: One Year, 64 Free Games

Today, Sony revealed that – in the first year of the PS+ Instant Game Collection – 64 individual games were offered free of charge to subscribers.

Print

The free games offered through the first year are as follows:

  • Anomaly Warzone Earth (PSN)
  • BioShock 2 (PS3)
  • BlazBlue: Continuum Shift Extend (PS Vita)
  • BloodRayne Betrayal (PSN)
  • Borderlands (PS3)
  • Choplifter HD (PSN)
  • Chronovolt (PS Vita)
  • Closure (PSN)
  • Darksiders (PS3)
  • Demon’s Souls (PS3)
  • Disgaea 3: Absence of Detention (PS Vita)
  • Double Dragon Neon (PSN)
  • Dungeon Defenders (PSN)
  • Final Fantasy Tactics: War of the Lions (PSP)
  • Foosball 2012 (PSN/PS Vita)
  • Germinator (PS Vita)
  • Gotham City Imposters (PSN)
  • Gravity Rush (PS Vita)
  • Guardians of Middle-Earth (PSN)
  • Hard Corps: Uprising (PSN)
  • Infamous 2 (PS3)
  • Jet Set Radio (PSN)
  • Joe Danger 2: The Movie (PSN)
  • Just Cause 2 (PS3)
  • King of Fighters XIII (PS3)
  • Knytt Underground (PSN/PS Vita)
  • Labyrinth Legends (PSN)
  • Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light (PSN)
  • LittleBigPlanet 2 (PS3)
  • Malicious (PSN)
  • Mega Man 9 (PSN)
  • Mega Man 10 (PSN)
  • Mega Man: Maverick Hunter X (PSP)
  • NBA Jam: On Fire Edition (PSN)
  • NFL Blitz (PSN)
  • Ninja Gaiden Sigma Plus (PS Vita)
  • Outland (PSN)
  • Pac-Man CE DX (PSN)
  • PayDay: The Heist (PSN)
  • Pinball Arcade (PSN/PS Vita)
  • Plants vs. Zombies (PS Vita)
  • Quantum Conundrum (PSN)
  • Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One (PS3)
  • Renegade Ops (PSN)
  • Resident Evil 5 (PS3)
  • Retro City Rampage (PSN/PS Vita)
  • Rochard (PSN)
  • Saints Row 2 (PS3)
  • Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game (PSN)
  • Sideway: New York (PSN)
  • Sleeping Dogs (PS3)
  • Spec Ops: The Line (PS3)
  • Super Street Fighter IV (PS3)
  • Tales From Space: Mutant Blobs Attack (PS Vita)
  • The Cave (PSN)
  • The Walking Dead: The Game (PSN)
  • Tekken 6 (PSP)
  • Uncharted: Golden Abyss (PS Vita)
  • Vanquish (PS3)
  • Virtual Fighter 5: Final Showdown (PSN)
  • Warhammer 40k: Space Marine (PS3)
  • WipeOut 2048 (PSN/PS Vita)
  • Zombie Apocalypse: Never Die Alone (PSN)
  • Zombie Tycoon II: Brainhov’s Revenge (PSN/PS Vita)

By our math, the Instant Game Collection over the last year has provided subscribers with $1,043 in free games, more than 20 times the cost of a subscription for that year. Pretty impressive.

Which free games did you download? Or did you download ‘em all?

Colin Moriarty is IGN’s Senior Editor. You can follow him on Twitter and IGN and learn just how sad the life of a New York Islanders and New York Jets fan can be.


Source : ign[dot]com

Dexter's Top 10 Foes

The end is near!

Dexter's final season kicks off this Sunday, June 30th, on Showtime, and features recurring guest stars Charlotte Rampling and Sean Patrick Flanery in notable new roles.

Now with some seasons in the past, Showtime has come right out and told us who the "big bad" will be. We knew it would be Jimmy Smits in Season 3, and John Lithgow in Season 4. Then they played it closer to the vest in Season 5, and tried to trick us a wee bit in Season 6 by telling us that Edward James Olmos was the villain. In Season 7 we were told there'd be no "big bad," even though Ray Stevenson's Isaak wound up surpassing our expectations. Now we're back to keeping secrets. But it's the final run, so just knowing that Dexter's story is coming to an end is probably bigger than any one villain.

So here we're going to look back at Dexter's top foes so far. His best adversaries. Not all are villains; just people who threatened Dexter's carefully constructed world. One way or the other, they were all serious obstacles. This is distinctly different than the Dexter: Top 10 Kills list I did a few years back (and will be updating at some point), especially since Dexter's not always the one who kills off his own enemies.

Take a look at Dexter's most formidable foils. All of them, intentionally or not, have threatened to bring Dexter down - through murder, the law, or... marriage. And while Dexter's had a bunch of psychos try to kill him over the years (Boyd Fowler, Ray Speltzer, The Skinner, etc), you'll see that the best ones where those who had unconventional and complicated relationships with him.

Honorable Mention - Rita Morgan (née Bennett, Brandon)

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"I knew you were trouble when you walked innn..."

Oh, Rita. An earlier example of the many unjustly maligned wives of "Golden Era TV" anti-heroes, which would also later include the likes of Breaking Bad's Skyler and Boardwalk Empire's Margaret. Women who are perfectly right and reasonable to want more from their husbands, and to not want their lives to sink into the depths of crime and murder, but whose very existence opposes the entire premise of the show. Dexter spent four years of the series trying to hide his true, dark nature from Rita; sneaking out to kill and almost getting caught numerous times. She didn't mean to cause him so much distress, but there were several moments when the strain of his relationship with her took him to a breaking point.

Dishonorable Mention - Travis Marshall (Doomsday Killer)

Episode 603

"You guys know where I can get one of those gold necklaces with a 'T" on it?"

Acting as the start-to-finish villain in the worst season of Dexter, Travis Marshall was frustrating in both design and execution. Not only were many viewers able to figure out the big twist (which took nine episodes to drop- i.e. eight more than some fans needed), but Travis' shift from innocent, reluctant student to all-in maniac -- once he learned that he was the horrible killer all along! -- made no sense.

10

Hannah McKay

Yvonne-Strahovski

humana humana...

Hannah "Pretty Poison" McKay represented the best of both worlds for Dexter; a gorgeous domesticated suicide blonde like Rita and a murdering/serial killer-accepting hellcat like Lila. Unfortunately, she also complicated Dexter's life, as all his attempts at close, personal relationships do. First, she was his target, but her "come hither" curves were too much to resist and he decided to spare her. Then, in order to simplify their life together, Hannah tried to snuff out Deb, leading Dexter to make a hard choice and call the cops on her.

As it stands, Hannah is still out there and she knows all about Dexter's true nature. Yvonne Strahovski is due back this summer as Hannah and we'll just have to see where Dexter stands now - given the fallout from the end of Season 7 with Deb and LaGuerta. Also, how much of a grudge does Hannah still hold?

9

Frank Lundy

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FBI Profiler Frank Lundy was another one of Dexter's adversaries who never knew he was one of Dexter's adversaries. When he arrived on the scene in Season 2, after the discovery of Dexter's body drop, Dexter spent countless hours trying to out-maneuver him so as to not be revealed as the Bay Harbor Butcher. There were also definite moments between the two of them when it felt like Lundy knew more about Dexter's dark heart than he was letting on. Little passive-agressive jabs.

Fortunately, Deb swooped in and Dexter was saved. No, she didn't help Dexter throw Lundy off his scent (well, sort of), but she did start having sex with Lundy, thereby making Lundy blind to the semi-obvious creepy crimes being committed by her brother.

8

Lila West

tumblr_mnpjdfW4Gd1s212b3o1_500

Some women just want to watch the loft burn.

Dexter learned the hard way that chicks who can burn it down in the sack will probably also burn it down...in real life. As in, set fire to everything you love. Yup, Lilas be crazy.

Part of Dexter's psychological recovery process, after killing his brother at the end of Season 1, involved kill-impotence followed by a reinvigorating sexual relationship with a woman who was attracted to, and did her best to amplify, Dexter's darkness. Some fans might not have been crazy about the way Lila met her end (or how she all-too-conveniently killed Doakes), but her stealthy, seductive madness was enough to send Dexter running back to Rita and commit to forming a new family. So, you know, she must have terrified him to the core.

Pardon her t**s, indeed.

7

Jordan Chase

dexter-jordan-chase

"Thank you for sharing that dream about your penis-shaped algebra teacher, Dexter."

Ostensibly, motivational speaker/rape-enabler Jordan Chase (Elementary's Jonny Lee Miller) was really Lumen's foe. But through Dexter's aid -- and his thinking that if he could help her end him, he himself could heal -- Dexter decided to use the tactic he used on Trinity and go undercover, trying to be Chase's friend.

And it was there that Chase became more than just a target; seeing Dexter as a shattered man who he could help piece back together through his new-age "Take It" speaking tour package. In fact, during the scene when Chase brought Dexter up on stage, he surprisingly broke Dexter down psychologically, leaving Dexter a bit of a mess afterward. And yes, as with Trinity, Chase figured out Dexter's ulterior motives before Dexter could successfully get the drop on him. So let's hope this marks the last time Dexter feels the need to cozy-up to a killer.

Surprise, Motherf***er! and more on Page 2...


Source : ign[dot]com

Tech Fetish Podcast: E3 / WWDC Recap!

After a several week hiatus, the Tech Fetish podcast returns to recap the big news from E3 and Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference, as well as rumors of a new Google-produced Android games console. Hosts Scott Lowe, Marc Ryan Sallee, and Mitch Dyer discuss the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One hardware, pricing, and accessories, followed by a comprehensive recap of Apple's new products, like iOS 7, OS X 10.9 Mavericks, new MacBooks, and the Mac Pro. Tune in for these stories and more!

Click to download this week's podcast. (Must Right Click to Save)

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Email us questions, feedback and topic suggestions!


Source : ign[dot]com

Jacob's Ladder Getting a Remake

Mickey Liddell's LD Entertainment is financing a remake of Jacob's Ladder, based on the 1990 thriller/horror film starring Tim Robbins.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Jeff Buhler (The Midnight Meat Train) is penning a screenplay and working from an earlier draft written by Jake Wade Wall, who wrote the 2006 remake of When a Stranger Calls. Michael Gaeta and Alison Rosenzweig will produce and are currently looking for a director.

"The producers are looking to make something more akin to an homage and not mimic the original," says the trade. "The plan is to contemporize the story with new situations and characters but still maintain a story that examines issues and poses existential questions."

The original film centered on a Vietnam veteran, Jacob Singer, who after returning from the war experiences flashbacks and hallucinations that continue to haunt him and warp his sense of reality.

Max Nicholson is a writer for IGN, and he desperately seeks your approval. Show him some love by following @Max_Nicholson on Twitter, or MaxNicholson on IGN.


Source : ign[dot]com

Red Lanterns #21: Guy Gardner, Turncoat?

The last of our Green Lantern Month features, we're going behind-the-scenes of Red Lanterns #21 with writer Charles Soule and artist Alessandro Vitti, as they discuss Guy Gardner's defection to the Reds, the future of the rage-spewing Corps, and more.

Read Our Review of Red Lanterns #21

IGN Comics: Alessandro, you get to kick off the book with some pretty gruesome imagery. Do you like that aspect of the title? Whose visual design do you enjoy the most?

Alessandro Vitti: Sure, it was a big surprise for me to start this way. But being a reader of the series, I was ready to see these scenes. For me, it is interesting to see the superheroes in these situations. Graphically, this is a good workout. I love Bleez for the sensuality. I like to draw Atrocitus and I’m also a big fan of Guy Gardner. Having Guy on these pages is great for me.

RL21_1

IGN: How would you define the relationship between Hal and Guy?

Charles Soule: Tumultuous. They've been through the trenches together, and have a lot of respect for one another, but that doesn't mean they always like each other all that much. I think they're highly competitive -- it's almost a sort of sibling rivalry. Guy has always felt a bit like he's in Hal's shadow, despite his utter confidence that he's the best Green Lantern to ever wear a ring. Those dynamics will play out in the book in a variety of ways in upcoming issues.

RL21_2

IGN: I thought the bar scene was great fun. Can you expand on the connection between the michelada and Guy going to the Red Lanterns?

RL21_3Soule: Not yet! I want to leave that for a surprise a bit further down the road. Attentive readers might find a few clues scattered here or there, though. I liked that scene a lot too -- I think Lantern Swixxle will be the breakout new character of 2013.

IGN: [laughs] Oh man, Swixxle was great. Alessandro, you have a wide range of scenes to depict in this issue, from the action on Ysmault to the more casual conversation scenes back on Oa. Is either one more appealing and/or challenging to you as an artist?

Vitti: It’s like a film the way it alternates between different sequences. Or maybe it's closer to a television series. I use several changes to mark the time, slide and tell several things at the same time. I really like this. It enriches me a lot and allows me to get to know more about the world of the Lanterns.

IGN: The Red Lanterns seem to make a big deal out of what Rankorr can do, at least before Guy shows up. Is that a conflict that will continue on in the issues to come?

RL21_4Soule: Yes. One of the things I wanted to do was suggest that each Red has a slightly different approach to his or her powers. That makes it easier to distinguish them, for one thing, but it also helps to drive conflict within the group, which is important. Rankorr’s going to be the only one who can make red energy constructs for a while, which is a cool way to help him break out from the pack.

IGN: Is internal strife going to play a role in general, or will there be external factors that are threatening the Red Lanterns? Aside from the Green Lanterns, I mean.

Soule: Internal strife will be all over the book, but that's not all of it. They certainly face some cool bad guys that have nothing to do with the Lantern Corps at all. It's a sci-fi book, after all, which means we can go anywhere and do almost anything!

IGN: Guy’s internal monologue was interesting, as it suggests that maybe his going to the Reds isn’t as simple as wanting to help the Corps? Does he view himself as a failure?

Soule: Failure might be a strong word. I think he feels that he hasn’t been able to carve out an identity within the Greens, and that’s partly because of the way the Green Lantern Corps has traditionally worked. He’s thinking he might be better off on a different path – and the Reds are, in a way, easy and “fun.” They offer certain freedoms he’d never have as a Green, and he finds that appealing. The monologue at the end is mostly about Guy convincing himself that he’s making the right decision – but it won’t be quite that simple.

RL21_5

IGN: Any hints as to what’s next for Atrocitus?

Soule: Did you miss the part where he died? I can safely say that, as this is comics, he'll be dead at least until the next issue.

Joey is a Senior Editor at IGN and a comic book creator. Follow Joey on Twitter @JoeyEsposito, or find him on IGN at Joey-IGN. He's finally seen Man of Steel. So, um, now what?


Source : ign[dot]com

Nightmare Before Christmas Celebrates 20 Years on Blu-ray

Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year with all-new 3D Blu-ray and standard Blu-ray Combo Packs.

Unfortunately, current details on the new set are slim, and special features have yet to be announced. The film has already been released on Blu-ray several times before, so it will be interesting to find out what's in store for this latest entry.

For now, all we know is that The Nightmare Before Christmas: The 20th Anniversary Edition is scheduled to hit stores on September 10, 2013, and is currently available for pre-order on Amazon. Stay tuned for more info in the coming months.

Max Nicholson is a writer for IGN, and he desperately seeks your approval. Show him some love by following @Max_Nicholson on Twitter, or MaxNicholson on IGN.


Source : ign[dot]com

How Need for Speed Rivals Competes With Other Next-Gen Racers

It’s a big year for racing games. At this year’s E3, every single press conference featured at least one driving game, and many seem to be boasting similar next-gen features. In a crowded category including Gran Turismo 6, Forza Motorsport 5, DriveClub and The Crew, EA showed off Need for Speed Rivals, the latest entry in the long-running series and the first title from EA's Ghost studio in Gothenburg.

In an interview with IGN, EA Labels president Frank Gibeau explained why he thinks Rivals stands out from the pack, plus commented on whether he thinks Need for Speed will continue to be an annualized franchise.

A lot of the driving games we go up against are simulations. The way that we think about it internally is, that’s like going to the symphony. Ours is about going to a Jay-Z show.

“I think we do a really good job capturing the feel of driving and getting the chase-or-be-chased feature,” Gibeau told IGN about Need for Speed. “A lot of the driving games we go up against are simulations. The way that we think about it internally is, that’s like going to the symphony. Ours is about going to a Jay-Z show. It’s rock and roll. It’s in your face. It’s a lot more about the visceral feel of driving through a billboard, doing a jump, but doing it in an authentic car, a car that looks and feels like a 911 should drive. We like to tell the stories of cops and racers. We like to tell stories in an open world. We think that the racing category, it used to be like 20 percent of the business back on the PS2. Now it’s single digits as far as a percentage of the overall business. We think that there’s a lot of innovation required to continue to keep driving as a category expanding. We think it’s the open world approach. We think it’s the competition approach. We think it’s the multiplayer approach.”

“Unfortunately, racing games got to a point where you’d have 16 people ready to go, and after the first lap, 15 people didn’t care anymore,” he continued. “They’d crashed or they were far behind. It was like an F1 race with Michael Schumacher. There’s just no point. We think that having an open world where you can mingle racing, have quests and adventures to go jump through stuff and do different things, that’s the way to start re-broadening the racing category and bringing in a larger audience. We saw a lot of good feedback in that respect on Most Wanted. If you look at Rivals this year, it builds on the open world. It’s more of a country open world, as opposed to an urban open world, but we’ll look at how we create the experiences in a much more open world. It’s competition-based, but authentic to the cars. We like that idea.”

Gibeau believes that Need for Speed is a franchise that has a lot of room to grow, and while thus far the returns have made it worth annualizing the franchise, there’s no guarantee that will continue.

We think that there’s a lot of innovation required to continue to keep driving as a category expanding.

“We take Need for Speed one at a time,” Gibeau said. “We’re going to see how Rivals does this fall. We’re very pleased with it. We think it looks great. It plays extremely sharp this early in development. We have a lot of cool features in terms of how you mingle single-player and multiplayer. We’re confident. There’s a lot of driving games out there this fall. There’s a lot of competition in the segment. But Need for Speed, I think, is now in its 15th year? Its 17th year? It’s still going strong. It’s still selling multiple millions of copies. It’s got great opportunities on the PC and mobile devices. The Need for Speed brand is reaching some of the largest audiences it’s ever reached in its history. We’re continuing to find ways to tell new stories and innovate. But if you look at Need for Speed this year, we’re going to learn from it, and we’ll come back with a future announcement of what we’re going to do next.”

Gibeau also commented on the upcoming Need for Speed film and its presence at EA’s E3 conference.

“For us, what’s important is to get to a movie that’s high-quality, and that reflects the world,” Gibeau said. “We don’t make that much money on the movies, so it’s not at all a monetary thing. It’s helping to build the brands and bring the experience to a larger audience. We always think about, in the case of Need for Speed, let’s get a great actor. Let’s get a director in Scott Waugh who knows how to do action and can deliver on the authenticity of driving.”

“From our perspective, whenever we partner on something like a Mass Effect or a Need for Speed – we have Mass Effect at Legendary Pictures – we go with the best,” he continued. “We try to create experiences that are authentic to the game world, but do tell different stories. It’s a linear experience, it’s a theatrical experience, but we don’t want to compromise on our philosophy. We want to deliver a high-quality movie.”

Need for Speed Rivals will be in stores this November, while the Need for Speed film hits theaters in February 2014. For much more on Rivals, be sure to read our hands-on impressions.

Andrew Goldfarb is IGN’s news editor. Keep up with pictures of the latest food he’s been eating by following @garfep on Twitter or garfep on IGN.


Source : ign[dot]com

Netflix Wants 'Max' to Host Your Movie Viewing on PS3

PlayStation 3 users watch a lot of Netflix. Last year, the company announced Sony's console received more living room-based Netflix than any other device. So, it stands to reason Netflix would roll out its latest concept to PlayStation 3 first. Max, as he's called, is little bit game show host and a whole lot of program guide.

The video released by Netflix on Friday afternoon shows a system closely resembling the lighthearted, graphics-heavy tone of You Don't Know Jack. After starting Max up, the faceless voice will offer a number of ways to personalize your Netflix viewing experience and find something great to watch. For example, Max may ask you to pick between two genres--based on your viewing preferences--or offer up a surprise, mystery selection he thinks you might like.

All in all, the system looks like a fun way to interact with Netflix, as opposed to just shuffling though a queue. The service is available on PS3 starting today, but only in the US.

Matt Clark is a freelance writer covering the world of videogames, tech, and popular culture. Follow him on Twitter @ClarkMatt and MyIGN at Matt_Clark.


Source : ign[dot]com

The Importance of New Franchises and Studios

Sequels are everywhere these days. Some franchises are becoming bigger than ever before, growing exponentially with each new installment. Still, as we approach a new generation, publishers are investing more than ever in launching new series alongside their existing franchises, pushing original brands that they hope can thrive on new systems.

In separate interviews at E3, IGN spoke with Ubisoft, EA and Bethesda about the risks and rewards of launching new intellectual property and why it remains an important part of their businesses.

“More than any other first party or publisher that I’ve seen, we’re bringing more new IP to the market,” Ubisoft senior VP of sales and marketing Tony Key told IGN. “[CEO] Yves Guillemot has always believed that new IP was how we were going to make it – continuing to build more brands and cultivating the ones we have. We can only go as fast as the resources provide. We found the resources for The Division. We found the resources for The Crew. We found the resources for Watch Dogs. That’s not easy. It’s one of the reasons why so little new IP comes along. You have to have really good people to build a new IP. The risks are so high. The games cost a lot to make. They cost a lot to market.”

You have to have really good people to build a new IP. The risks are so high. The games cost a lot to make. They cost a lot to market.

“In this blockbuster world of ours, to feel confident in a team that's building this thing, that they can provide that. There are only so many talented people lying around,” Key continued. “We’re constantly trying to find more and more talented people who want to come to Ubisoft to work on our established brands, but also to build new IP. For us, we consider it the lifeblood of our company, to continue to be able to build new IP and bring new brands to the market. That’s clear.”

“That’s one of the huge pulls to launch new IP. You get a whole refresh,” EA Labels president Frank Gibeau explained. “You get new technology that allows you to do new things. It’s really hard to launch new IP in the last three years of a platform. As I looked at the marketplace and as we thought about our strategy, we held a lot of our new IP development for the transition because we knew it was coming. We knew what it was roughly capable of. Things like Mirror’s Edge, going out and doing the Battlefront deal, doing the UFC deal, Titanfall. Frankly, there’s probably anywhere between four and six additional IPs that we’re working on that are unannounced, that are completely original. The best time to launch those is in the first few years of a platform cycle, so that you can come out with multiple versions of it over the life cycle of PS4 and Xbox One.”

“We’ve always done that as a company,” Gibeau continued. “New IP is the lifeblood of any studio. The moment you stop developing new IP, a lot of your best people are on to other things. Having said that, we do see incredible innovation inside of our franchises, around Battlefield and FIFA. Every year we try new things there. EA has a blended strategy, where we have proven franchises that we innovate and continue to expand with. Then we bring in new IP to help get into new genres that we’re potentially not represented well in, or try new things like Garden Warfare. That was just something we experimented with. It was really fun as a prototype. We decided to make it into a full product.”

Part of taking a risk on new brands often means starting with entirely new studios. Bethesda vice president of PR and marketing Pete Hines explained to us that the passion behind a new studio is part of what can let new franchises thrive. This year, Bethesda announced Wolfenstein: The New Order from Machine Games and The Evil Within from Tango Gameworks. This will be the first game for both studios.

New IP is the lifeblood of any studio. The moment you stop developing new IP, a lot of your best people are on to other things.

“If you look at the last big thing we did, Dishonored, the fun of it was talking guys like Raph and Harvey and their team at Arkane, with all of them chomping at the bit,” Hines said. “That’s maybe not a thing that most publishers would embrace, because clearly most publishers that are doing these kinds of games are moving towards really heavy action. We’re going the other way. These guys get excited about it. ‘Bethesda is going to take a chance on me doing this thing that nobody else would let me do.’ And they know it, because they’ve worked with other publishers. There is a benefit to that. Jens at Machine Games has a really funny way of putting it, based on past experiences and how that’s very different. There is just a bit of feeling untethered.”

“There’s benefit to how we publish games as opposed to other folks,” Hines continued. “When Machine Games has a build of Wolfenstein, we have points along the way where they share a build, and it’s not just me and them who are playing it. They share it with the guys at Bethesda Game Studios, or at id, or at Tango, or at Arkane, who will play it. The level designers and artists and stuff at these other studios will play it and give them feedback. It’s helpful. I don’t know of other publishers that let all of their studios see all of the other stuff – and not just see it, but play it and say what they think. That collaboration, on the surface it sounds pretty powerful, but for these guys I think it’s really meaningful that somebody else who does what they do is giving them feedback.”

Hines believes that this kind of collaboration can help a new studio along, and also helps Bethesda be more confident in new brands.

“That kind of feedback is really helpful for guys like Tango and Machine Games. They have a little bit of a safety net along the way, to kind of sanity-check what they’re doing,” he said. “We publish from a developer’s standpoint – understanding the process, how it works, where it can go sideways, how to do it better. It’s that collaboration thing. Feedback is really important, and not just focus-testing and bringing in gamers.”

We’re going to continue to pick and choose where we want to place our bets.

“We’re constantly talking with other developers, but it always has to be the right fit,” Hines said. “Who are you, what have you done, what are you trying to do now, and how does it sync up with us? We don’t have a process like ‘well, what are our 15 titles for this year? What’s our Q2 shooter?’ Because we’re smaller, we just do fewer titles and go big on all of them, rather than deciding to go big on a lot, but [saying] ‘half of them are going to fail, and the ones that succeed will pay for the ones that fail.’ We’re not built that way. We’re never going to get to 20 games a year.”

“We’re going to continue to pick and choose where we want to place our bets,” Hines added. “What’s the game and the idea and the team where we say, ‘we believe in those guys. We think they have the chops to do it. We think we can make that a success and sell everybody else on the idea that what they’re making is great.’ If that ends up being somebody external, great, but we’re not in a rush, like, ‘quick, we have to sign three more titles for next year.’ That’s not how we’re structured and it’s not our focus.”

Andrew Goldfarb is IGN’s news editor. Keep up with pictures of the latest food he’s been eating by following @garfep on Twitter or garfep on IGN.


Source : ign[dot]com