Win a Chance to Get Your Defiance Game Character Into the Show

Trion Worlds has announced the Defiance Most Wanted contest, a chance to get your in-game character into the SyFy television series.

Beginning today and running until 11:59 p.m. PDT on May 12th, fans will be able to register for the contest, which they can win by completing two new Most Wanted pursuits. The winner “will have artists from the Defiance series render their character’s likeness into a special place in an upcoming episode.”

Both Most Wanted pursuits are available in the Goals section of the GO menu. The first, Rogue’s Gallery, “tasks you with eliminating various mutants, raiders, 99ers, and more,” while a second pursuit called Competitor “pits you against other ark hunters in team-based PvP and Shadow War modes.” According to Trion, “the ark hunter earning the most ark salvage per hour (excluding ark salvage earned from the Salvage Matrix) during their time played over the course of the contest will win.”

This is the first of several “transmedia events” that will bridge the world of the game with the SyFy television show. Trion notes that these events “will continually introduce new missions, pursuits and storylines that connect the two media worlds,” much like how Nolan and Irisa made an appearance early in the game. More information on the Most Wanted contest (plus the ability to register) is available on Defiance’s official site.

Defiance hit Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC earlier this month. For more, read our review.

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

Sony's Ultra-Thin Xperia Tablet Z Available for Pre-order

Sony's ultra-thin, dustproof, and water-resistant Xperia Tablet Z is now up for the pre-order with shipments scheduled for May 24th, CNET reports. Featuring a super slim, 0.27 inch profile, Sony boasts that the Xperia Tablet Z is the thinnest 10.1-inch tablet on the market, and is even thinner than Apple's iPad mini.

The Xperia Tablet Z is equipped with a 1920 x 1200 resolution display, a 1.5GHz quad-core APQ8064 processor, 2GB of RAM, and NFC capabilities. While the act of taking photos using a tablet may be questionable, Sony has loaded the device with an 8.1-megapixel Exmor R rear camera to accompany the 2-megapixel shooter up front. The tablet will ship with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and, like other Xperia devices, is PlayStation Certified.

The 16GB Xperia Tablet Z will be available in black for $499.99, and those looking for more on-board storage can pick up the 32GB version in either black or white. Sony will also throw in a free charging cradle with pre-orders.

Justin is all about his family and his gadgets. Follow him on MyIGN or on Twitter at @ItsTheLingo.

Source : ign[dot]com

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance Blade Wolf DLC Detailed

Konami has announced the third DLC pack for Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, called Blade Wolf, will be available for Xbox 360 on May 14 and PlayStation 3 on May 15 for €6.99 / 560 MS points.

The pack focuses on the wise-crackin' robot dog Raiden teams up with, LQ-84i, and will offer gamers a chance to experience a playable side-story from his point of view.

In terms of story, Blade Wolf will apparently expand upon the origins on LQ-84i, exploring just what happened prior to his battle and eventual partnership with Raiden. Fresh weapons and abilities will be available, and a new boss will also be added to the game.

What do you reckon? Does this make you want to jump back into Platinum's latest release? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Luke Karmali is IGN's UK Junior Editor. You too can revel in mediocrity by following him on IGN and on Twitter.

Source : ign[dot]com

Watch Dogs Getting PlayStation Exclusive Content

Ubisoft has confirmed that the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 versions of Watch Dogs will receive 60 minutes of exclusive content.

While it's been rumoured that the PlayStation 3 edition of the game would get exclusive missions for some time, confirmation came yesterday when updated box art for the title was unveiled along with a release date.

Now, Ubisoft has explained that the same content will be available on Sony's next-gen console as well. A statement provided to IGN reads, "We can confirm that customers who will purchase Watch Dogs on PlayStation 3 or PlayStation 4 will be able to download 60 minutes of additional gameplay via the PlayStation Network after the game's launch. As of now, we have no more details to share."

It's not the most shocking development; Ubisoft has a history of providing Sony platforms with exclusive content. Assassin's Creed III had Benedict Arnold DLC, while Far Cry 3 got additional co-op content.

What's less clear right now is how the 60 minutes of exclusive content mentioned here will tie in with the 60 minutes of exclusive content announced yesterday as coming with the various Collector's Editions. Will you get two hours of bonus content if you buy a PS3 Collector's Edition, for example? We've reached out to Ubisoft for clarification and will update the story when we hear back.

Thanks, Eurogamer.

Luke Karmali is IGN's UK Junior Editor. You too can revel in mediocrity by following him on IGN and on Twitter.

Source : ign[dot]com

DUST 514: Almost One Year On

At EVE Fanfest in Iceland last year, Dust 514 was introduced to the world with a spectacular set-piece: a squadron of mercenaries playing on PS3 calling in a real-time orbital strike from a player piloting a spaceship in EVE. It was an impressive and easy-to-understand symbol for the wider integration of this new multiplayer FPS into a persistent, ever-changing world that is already home to several hundred thousand players and their Internet spaceships.

Since beta testing began almost a year ago, though, things haven’t been so clear, and those grand co-operative moments have only just started materialising in-game. Integrating something like Dust into the EVE universe without messing up the economy or the game has been a long process, and it’s still not done. “We’ve set in place all these knobs and levers and we slowly keep turning them on to see how it all goes,” says CCP’s Brandon Laurino, who is in charge of Dust 514 at the developer’s Shanghai studio. “It’s much harder to unspool things that happen in the EVE universe than in other games.”

At PAX this year, attendees took part in the largest EVE/Dust 514 crossover battle so far: the battle for Caldari Prime, which culminated in a Titan (EVE’s biggest and most impressive kind of spaceship) crashing into the planet’s surface. It will now stay there forever, a permanent part of the map. This is the kind of cross-universe event that CCP hopes will draw Dust players into EVE’s persistent world and make them part of the lore; right now the developer is having to engineer these battles, but as Dust 514 is integrated further into the EVE universe it will start happening organically as players fight over territory.

Dust 514’s protracted beta period has aroused concern from some, but it’s taking a major step forward soon with the Uprising update, which brings it much, much closer to a finished product. The visuals alone are a huge step up from the basic environments of the current beta version; now planets actually look different from each other, with foliage and other environmental features that bring the maps up-to-date visually with something like Halo. Better lighting effects show off those deep-space sunsets, and overall things have been brought up to the high visual standard that you’d now expect from a current-generation shooter.

“

The Uprising update brings it much closer to a finished product.

Character progression has also been made easier to understand, with a node-based skill tree that makes it easier to see the direction that your choices are taking you. It will be easier to get into at the beginning and much deeper at the end, Brandon claims, with more specialised roles and classes. And the front-end has been tightened up – it will take around 90 seconds to get into a game, where previously it was 4 and a half minutes. It’s difficult to get a feel for how all of this changes the flow of the actual game from a quick half-hour’s play. Over that time, it was the huge graphical update that made the strongest impression.

Uprising also introduces a substantial number of new weapons, vehicles and dropsuits – like the Fighter  (a jet), a single-rider bike, and the Flaylock pistol (a pistol that shoots missiles) – but it’s the customisation features that have expanded the most. This is where CCP is making money from Dust 514, currently. “We’ve followed best practice for a free-to-play game,” Brandon maintains. “In terms of gear there’s nothing you can buy that there’s no free equivalent of. It’s always important that I remind everybody of that.”

Right now Dust makes most of its money from skill-point boosters that give you increased experience for a period of time, and vanity items – but CCP has more features planned post-launch. “There are more monetisation features that we want to add – nothing pay to win, but things that we think people will find cool,” says Brandon citing the example of passive skilling on multiple characters. As with EVE, CCP is open to changing things that don’t work. One item that used to cost money has been removed, based on player feedback: the Universal Voice Transmitter is gone, so now universal voice chat across both Dust and Eve is completely free.

Planetary conquest is the most major aspect of the Uprising expansion. The EVE star-map – containing all its many hundreds of systems – has been flattened into a 2D plane to make is easier to navigate with a control pad, and you can see which planets in which individual system belong to whom. Dominating planets will benefit groups of players (corporations) and alliances in both Dust and EVE.

“

It's still not easy to understand unless you're already pretty far down the rabbit hole.

Essentially, so far Dust 514 has only been operating in the EVE world’s safest and most predictable area: High-Sec, a high-security area in which CCP largely calls the shots. Planetary conquest sees it expand to Low-Sec, where things are more player-driven. Playing on planets in High-Sec, you can rely on matchmaking and developer balancing to make sure that fights are fair; in Low-Sec, that’s less of a factor, so if an alliance goes for a planet with a huge team of Dust mercenaries backed up by a fleet of ships, the battle may be realistically one-sided. Eventually, sometime post-launch, the game will expand to Null-Sec, the wild-west frontier of New Eden. What happens then is difficult to predict even for CCP.

I’m not going to pretend that I fully understand all of this as a non-EVE player, because Dust 514 is still incredibly complicated. Even the flattened system map makes no sense if you’re not versed in EVE, a universe with terrifically memorable system names like 2EV-BA, GA57-8 and Y-LRWI. CCP is still hoping that Dust players will get drawn into the wormhole that is the wider EVE community, but right now it’s not easy to understand how and why what you’re doing is important, and whom it’s affecting, unless you’re already pretty far down the rabbit hole.

In short, despite following Dust 514 from since it was announced, there are some things I still don’t quite get, which means that CCP still has a lot of explaining to do if it’s to reach the wider audience that it’s aiming for. But Brandon claims that Dust has already gotten a significant number of people into EVE in a big way. “We’ve had millions of people through the door and we’ve captured a really engaged section of them – some of these guys were not EVE guys before,” he says. “Some people play upwards of six hours a day every day of the month. We’re seeing a non-trivial group of people playing that much.”

“

Even when we take off the beta tag the launches don’t stop.

Uprising goes live May 6th, and Dust 514’s freshly-announced release date is May 14th, which gives CCP only a few days to check it’s working before whipping that Beta tag off. But Laurino is keen to stress that this is far from the last update that will be made. “Even when we take off the beta tag the launches don’t stop. We’ll launch significant updates indefinitely… It’s an on-going service that will keep getting better and better.”

It’s a philosophy that goes against the industry standard of annualising shooters. As Dust 514 makes incremental improvements, it will always do so for free, and it will never be finished. This makes the whole concept of a launch somewhat nebulous – really, May’s launch is symbolic of the fact that Dust 514 has gotten to a stage where CCP is proud of it. It’s still not quite in line with the vision we were shown last year, but that day isn’t far off.

Keza MacDonald is in charge of IGN's games coverage in the UK and despite being endlessly fascinated by EVE Online, she fears actually playing it. You can follow her on IGN and Twitter.

Source : ign[dot]com

The Wonderful 101 May Not be That Long

Upcoming Wii U-exclusive The Wonderful 101 may be quite short, if the game's director is to be believed.

Platinum Games' Hideki Kamiya took to Twitter to warn anyone planning on picking up the title that he wouldn't be pressured into creating a bloated game just to satisfy consumers.

If u hate to finish a game the next day u buy it, u better not play TW101. I focus on how it is fun, not how long it lasts till the ending.

— 神谷英樹 Hideki Kamiya (@PG_kamiya) April 27, 2013

After a bit of a kerfuffle from fans though, the game's producer Atushi Inaba decided he should step into the fray to clear things up in a series of tweets (via Siliconera) before they escalated further.

"So it looks like @PG_Kamiya has caused another bit of controversy," he wrote. "What he is saying is his basic approach to how he creates an action game. The idea is rooted in that you shouldn’t pad your game with content users won’t enjoy in order to control play time to the end of the game. It isn’t something he wants to do, or thinks you should do.

"@PG_Kamiya is the kind of game director who will pack as much content into the game as he can until he is satisfied. If we were to give in to all of his desires, the game we’d ship would probably be some super-long action game that no one would beat. I’ve been teamed up with @PG_Kamiya as his producer for a long time now, and game length is something I’ve never once worried about.

"That means both the length of a single play-through and the replayability of the game. Never worried once. Never. Actually, my job really is to be the one who says “This is too %^&* long! Cut it!”"

Inaba went on to explain that fans shouldn't jump to conclusions about the length of the game, and that more info on the anticipated title would be released soon.

"Let me make my own conclusion: TW101 will be so much fun you are going to wear out your Wii U GamePad. Actually, the Wii U GamePad is pretty sturdy, so you probably won’t wear it out…

"And I’m sorry I can’t explain to you in exact terms why I think you will have so much fun with TW101. I promise there will be plenty of news about the game in the days and weeks to come. But I will say this – Everyone here is working incredibly hard to make sure you say two things about TW101. One: I’m happy I bought a Wii U! — Two: I’m happy I bought The Wonderful 101!"

What do you reckon? Have your fears been allayed or are you still somewhat perturbed? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Luke Karmali is IGN's UK Junior Editor. You too can revel in mediocrity by following him on IGN and on Twitter.

Source : ign[dot]com

The Office’s Craig Robinson on the Finale and His Upcoming Apocalyptic Films

The final good-bye for The Office is three weeks away, and many of the cast members are taking some time to look back on their time on the show. Eric Goldman recently ran an interview with Angela Kinsey (Angela) and Ellie Kemper (Erin) about the bittersweet end of the series. We also sat down with Craig Robinson (Darryl Philbin) to talk about his not-so-tearful experience shooting the finale, the Michael Scott cameo that wasn't and his upcoming turn in two apocalyptic movies.

IGN: In looking back over your career, could you have imagined how it's developed over the last ten years?

Robinson: That's a yes and no answer. I mean, I feel like you have to have some vision to keep climbing. It's like looking at the top of a mountain from the bottom, you know what needs to be done, but in the midst of climbing you forget and just kind of find yourself saying, 'Oh! Look how far I've come.'

IGN: It's kind of incredible when you think of the careers that have come out of The Office, it's like a petri dish for amazing talent. One of the cooler things about the show is that often times they've been able to construct the characters so that they stay true to themselves, but also evolve and grow like human beings do. How much input did you have on Darryl's progression as a character?

Robinson: I input zero on Darryl. Sometimes the writers see you and they get ideas just from being around you, but I didn't start writing and I didn't start inputting, so I didn't want to finish it. As a matter of fact, they gave us the opportunity, like, 'How do you want to see Darryl end up?' And it's like, 'Well don't ask me! What are you talking about? Ya'll got this.' So, no I would just look forward to what Daryl was going to say and do when I got the script.

IGN: Have you been happy with it? Because I think for audiences it's been fun to see him kind of take charge of his own life and start this new career.

Robinson: Yeah, I love where he's going. One of the things I adore about Darryl's journey is that he would be so sure of himself, and so confident, and knowing he's going to rise, and then he gets these interview opportunities and he just has a complete breakdown. So it's fun to play those quirks and wonder what the hell is wrong with him.

IGN: Was it an emotional end for you guys shooting that finale? Or were you really ready to move on?

Robinson: It was emotional, it was a lot of people crying and stuff. I feel I didn't earn the cry that a lot of them earned. Because a lot of them were there for every single episode, I wasn't. So part of me feels like, okay, you know I'm going to miss seeing these guys, and this was an amazing experience, but I don't feel like I earned the tears as much as a lot of those characters did.

IGN: You know we're all sort of waiting to see the Michael Scott cameo in the finale that's been rumored.

Robinson: I wish, I wish that that was the case. You know it was a big question: "Was he coming back?" And it was like, he said his good-bye, so they didn't want to overshadow the whole finale with that, because Michael had already said his good-bye.

IGN: There's a lot of pressure when ending series like The Office, that's had such a long run and meant so much to fans. Do you think fans will be happy with it? Are you happy with it?

Robinson: Yeah, I think we have a really nice send-off. I think fans are going to get everything you'd expect from The Office, from awkwardness, to a lot of humor and heart.

IGN: Some of the cast, including yourself, are already on to other projects. When you look forward, where do you see the cast going from here?

Robinson: Everybody on that show could have their own show. Some people have other projects, and some people are being considered for other projects. I don't see anybody slowing down anytime soon.

IGN: You most certainly aren't. You have this new pilot based on your experience as a teacher.

Robinson: Yeah, and a band leader.

IGN: Why were you interested in drawing from that particular time in your life?

Robinson: We started to develop the concept and I sat down with Greg Daniels (writer/executive-producer on The Office) and a creative team and I just started telling them about my life. Everybody just started pitching ideas about their time as a student or how their kids acted during their teenage years. But it really was just like, 'This is how I was as a teacher, this is how I am as a band leader,' and we fashioned it into this pilot.

IGN: What's the tone of the pilot? Does it feel like a more traditional sit-com than The Office? 

Robinson: It's a single camera, music driven and all about me. I'm a band leader and substitute teacher, and then one day they bring me into a music class and I'm like, 'Wait a minute, I know this stuff.' And the principal is like, 'Just throw the video in and call it a day,' and I'm like, 'That's not good enough, I want these kids to know what it's like to have a gig and all that kind of stuff.'

IGN: You're also tackling your first leading man role in the rom-com Peeples. Is that exciting?

Craig Robinson: Very exciting, and I couldn't have picked a better first leading lady. Are you kidding me? I have to fall in love with Kerry Washington, 'S**T!'

IGN: Are you a fan of the genre? Do you like a rom-com?

Robinson: I do, I do enjoy a good rom-com here and there. Would A Fish Called Wanda be a rom-com?

IGN: Hmm, well it would be awesome. I don't know, I'm not sure if it's a traditional rom-com...

Robinson: I mean they [John Cleese and Jamie Lee Curtis] fall in love, so it's a rom-com.

IGN: Sure, I'll buy that.

Robinson: So then I'm a fan.

IGN: [Laughing] 'If it's A Fish Called Wanda, then yes, I like a good rom-com.' Good answer. How involved was Tyler Perry in the production on Peebles? I know he was producing, but I don't know if he was really in there with you guys.

Robinson: Tyler would not leave us alone! No, he came to set one time and he was like, 'Oh, ya'll got this.' You know I think he got his cut of the movie or whatever, but he really was using his name to shine his light on us.

IGN: You've also got Hot Tub Time Machine 2 coming up, yes? Have you seen the script yet?

Robinson: Yes, we start shooting in June. I've seen the script, Josh Heald, who wrote the first Hot Tub Time Machine, is back for this one. With any sequel you want to duplicate what people love about it, but also bring in something different to the table, and I think Josh did a good job of that.

IGN: You also have these two end of days stories, Rapture-Palooza and This is the End coming out this summer. We know that This is the End is very improvisational, how about Rapture-Palooza?

Robinson: Rapture has a lot of improv as well. These are comedy heavyweights coming in for both of those movies. There was definitely a lot of improv, and I got a lot of free reign on Rapture. Most of the movies I've been doing call for improv. The difference between Rapture and This is the End is that in This is the End we play heightened versions of ourselves, in Rapture we play straight-up characters. Also, in This is the End, the rapture is happening all around us and in Rapture-Polooza we're two years into the rapture and the Antichrist has taken over.

IGN: And you're the Antichrist, yes?

Robinson: Yes, baby.

IGN: What kind of Antichrist are you?

Robinson: He's so insecure that he does not need to be in power, but he's so insecure that he needs to be in power and he relishes in it. He has this whole body guard team, and this amazing mansion, and anything he says goes. Everybody is ready to do his bidding. And so he runs into Anna Kendrick who tells him that she's a virgin and he just loses his mind, and he says the most vile things and he thinks he's being charming. I love him.

IGN: Working on improv-heavy films can be risky in some cases in terms of keeping things clear and on-track story-wise. Have you seen the completed version of This is the End? Is there a good balance between a clear story and really funny moments?

Robinson: Oh yeah, you've got Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, Danny McBride and Jay Baruchel and James Franco and they all understand story and jokes; and with Seth and Evan Goldberg directing you get a lot of improv.

IGN: How were they as first time directors?

Robinson: It was like being in the basement with your friends and someone says, 'Hey we got a camera, lets do this!' We just let the camera roll and get everything and chop it up later.

IGN: You know sit-coms and rom-coms have kind of specific structures and needs, and then you have these hard-R comedies which are more free. Do you prefer the hard-R comedies? Or is it nice to have the mix?

Robinson: It is nice to have the mix. I think the rom-com, it's refreshing especially for my mother. I've taken her to my movies and its like I had to cover her eyes in Zack and Miri Make a Porno, and then she hears me curse, and so something like Peeples is something she can tell her church friends about. So the mix is nice.

The one-hour series finale of The Office airs Thursday, May 16 at 9 p.m. ET on NBC. Stay tuned for our continued coverage.

Roth Cornet is an Entertainment Editor for IGN. You can follow her on Twitter at @RothCornet and IGN at Roth-IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com