Mass Effect Sequel in 'Early Stages'

The next Mass Effect game is in the “early stages” of production. According to a tweet from executive producer Casey Hudson, “we're in early stages of designing a completely new Mass Effect game. What would you want to see in it?”

Hudson’s comment comes after BioWare previously hinted at a new Mass Effect game in September, noting at the time that “the Mass Effect universe is vast, and Casey and our teams have plans for another full game.” Not much other information is available, but BioWare has said in the past that it won’t involve Shepard and that players should keep their save files.

Will you be giving Hudson your feedback? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below, and see five ideas about where Mass Effect should go next and why no more Shepard could be a good thing for more.

Andrew Goldfarb is IGN’s associate 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

Warner Bros. Sues Over Hobbit Mockbuster

Warner Bros. has sued notorious mockbuster production company The Asylum over their upcoming release Age of the Hobbits, claiming its trying to knock off Warners' forthcoming The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. (Age of the Hobbits opens December 11, three days ahead of The Hobbit's debut.)

Here's part of the studio's filed complaint, via The Hollywood Reporter: "The Asylum has been and is promoting and advertising its low-budget film using the confusingly similar and misleading title Age of the Hobbits, in an intentional and willful attempt (i) to trade on the popularity and goodwill associated with the Tolkien novels, the extraordinarily successful Lord of The Rings film trilogy, and the famous HOBBIT mark, (ii) to free-ride on the worldwide advertising campaign in connection with the forthcoming Hobbit films, and (iii) to divert customers and potential customers away from the Hobbit films."

The Asylum recently told THR, "Age of the Hobbits is about the real-life human subspecies, Homo Floresiensis, discovered in 2003 in Indonesia, which have been uniformly referred to as 'Hobbits' in the scientific community. ... As such, the use of the term 'Hobbits' is protected under the legal doctrines of nominal and traditional fair use. Indeed, a simple Google search of Hobbits and archaeology reveals dozens of articles containing the term "Hobbit(s)" in the title."

Source : ign[dot]com

Warner Bros Confirms Mortal Kombat Movie Reboot

Warner Bros. has revealed some new details about the Mortal Kombat movie reboot, suggesting that the new adaptation is already in production.

According to WorstPreviews, Warner Bros executive Lance Sloan confirmed that the film was being developed, as well as its director and budget.

“

We're preparing right now for the film with Kevin Tancharoen, [who] directed the digital series for us. He's at the helm of the forty, fifty million dollar film.

“We're preparing right now for the film with Kevin Tancharoen, [who] directed the digital series for us," said Sloan. "He's at the helm of the forty, fifty million dollar film."

The series he's referring to is Mortal Kombat: Legacy, which debuted on YouTube in April 2011. Aside from this, Tancharoen's other directorial efforts include the remake of Fame, Glee: The 3D Concert Movie and The Pussycat Dolls Present: The Search for the Next Doll. Sooo....yeah. Fingers crossed that he draws on resources from Legacy rather than his earlier batch of work when making the movie?

In terms of the proposed plot for the reboot, nothing has been confirmed, but rumours are swirling it'll follow a supermarket employee who discovers he has otherworldly powers and must make the ultimate choice between fighting for the side of good or evil.

The original Mortal Kombat film appeared in 1995 and was directed by Paul W. S. Anderson. This in turn spawned a sequel, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation in 1997, which performed poorly at the box office in comparison to its predecessor. As a result a planned third film, Mortal Kombat: Devastation, was shelved indefinitely until Warner Bros. picked up the rights to Midway's assets in 2009 following the game studio going bankrupt.

Luke Karmali is IGN's UK Editorial Assistant and Mortal Kombat fanatic. You too can revel in mediocrity by following him on IGN and on Twitter.

Source : ign[dot]com

Is The Lone Ranger the New Batman?

We've heard quite a bit about Disney's long-awaited adaptation of The Lone Ranger -- mostly in regards to the film's storied production issues. However, the film's star Armie Hammer recently offered a bit more insight into the title character, which he describes as a vigilante comparable to Batman and, to a lesser extent, Spider-Man. Here's what the actor had to say (from Empire Magazine via ComicBookMovie):

"It's the rock 'n roll Lone Ranger, actually. Our take is darker and more complex, more action-packed and more badass than the old TV show. It's a 21st century version of the character you know. There's a little of the Dark Knight in him. There's less moral ambiguity, but there are definite similarities. They're both vigilantes who feel they have to wear a mask to serve justice because the people who are supposed to be doing it aren't. I think The Lone Ranger will always resonate with people as a seeker of justice in the same way Spider-Man or Batman does. And I think we're doing a great job of making the character accessible to everyone, from the seven-year-old kid who brings his cap gun to the theatre to the 80-year-olds who remember the original radio show."

The Gore Verbinski-helmed project is currently slated for a July 3, 2013 release.

Max Nicholson is a writer for IGN, and he desperately seeks your approval. Show him some love on Twitter and IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

Rumor: 7.85-Inch iPad Mini Enters Production

Make way for the iPad Mini: Apple's smaller tablet has entered mass production in Asia, according to a report at the Wall Street Journal. The new iPad's display will be 7.85 inches diagonally, slightly larger than the Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire HD. It will probably be slightly more expensive than those tablets too; we're betting $300 to $350.

The WSJ reports that the iPad Mini will have a lower resolution than the most recent iPad's 9.7" display, which makes perfect sense, though we'd be surprised if Apple gave it a non-Retina screen just to keep costs low.

Will Apple announce its down-sized tablet this month, in lieu of its customary October music event? And if it does, will you buy one? Let us know in the comments.

Jon Fox is a Seattle hipster who loves polar bears and climbing trees. You can follow him on Twitter and IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

Is Forza 5 Already in the Works?

A new job listing suggests that production could be gearing up for Forza 5. A listing for a software development engineer on Microsoft’s site contains the text “We are Turn 10 Studios and we need you for the next version of Forza Motorsport.”

The listing is specifically looking for “a strong senior software engineer to own the testing of our multiplayer networking system” and was posted in late July. The listing also mentions a “scalable multiplayer system” -- could this mean the game would communicate between current-generation and next-gen consoles?

For now, no details on the next Forza have been revealed, but we do know that Forza Horizon is coming on October 23rd with an expansion to follow in December.

We’ve reached out to Microsoft about the listing and will update with any info we receive. Until then, read our hands-on impressions of Forza Horizon for more on what you can expect.

Thanks to VG247 for the heads up.

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

Source : ign[dot]com

Arrested Development Creator Talks Season 4

Arrested Development's highly anticipated fourth season went into production earlier last month, with Netflix set to premiere the new episodes next spring.

In a recent interview with Vulture, show creator Mitchell Hurwitz offered an update on the revival, which is set to focus on a specific character for each episode. Explained Hurwitz, "It's almost an anthology version of the show with each episode focusing on a particular character and where they've been since the family fell apart six years ago." The creator added that didn't mean you'd only see one Bluth per episode, as some other folks would be popping up in other people's stories as well.

As for the possibility of additional AD content, Hurwitz continued, "Our initial order is for ten [episodes], but the beauty of Netflix is that we theoretically have an opportunity to provide more material for them..."

For years, Hurwitz was trying to get an Arrested Development movie off the ground and he noted that was still what he hoped would happen. "The [new] episodes are an outgrowth of the design of what we hope will be the movie. They precede it. They function as an act one of a movie that we all want to do, but haven't 'sold' yet."

While Netflix originally announced that it would be releasing all ten episodes at once, Hurwitz said that may not necessarily be the case. "I actually think the strategy for release is up in the air," he noted. "I know Netflix at one point was talking about streaming them all at once, because that's how they've done it with other shows, and it's their choice."

Perhaps we'll be getting weekly installments of Arrested Development after all? Let us hear what you think in the comments below!

Max Nicholson is a writer for IGN, and he desperately seeks your approval. Show him some love on Twitter and IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

Robocop Director Struggling with Production

It sounds like production on director Jose Padilha's Robocop remake isn't going as well as previously hoped.

City of God helmer Fernando Meireilles, a close friend and colleague of Padilha's, says that the filmmaker is having a tough time with Hollywood making Robocop. While the story originated in an interview from Cinema Com Rapardura, the guys over at Bleeding Cool have translated the pertinent bullet points:

• 9 out of 10 of Padilha's ideas are being rejected.
• He's fighting, and it's making him bitter.
• The experience is described as "hell."
• But Mereilles believes the film will still be good.

Production seemed to be going well for Padilha until a few days ago when the film's big bad Hugh Laurie passed on the project before signing on the dotted line, leaving Padilha and company scrambling to find a new villain.

Clive Owen is said to be up for the role now, but nothing has yet to be confirmed.

Max Nicholson is a writer for IGN, and he desperately seeks your approval. Show him some love on Twitter and IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

THQ Lays Off 20 Marketing, Production Employees

THQ has let go 20 employees from its marketing and production departments. According to a statement provided to IGN by a THQ spokesperson, “THQ confirms a realignment has taken place in the company’s marketing and production groups in Agoura Hills. This change is reflective of the company’s ongoing strategy to create a more focused, agile, and digitally-oriented organization. Less than 3% of the company’s global workforce was impacted, and no development teams or projects were affected by this action.”

The news first surfaced in a leaked email posted on Twitter by 3D Realms founder George Broussard. In the email, THQ president Jason Rubin writes the following:

"All,

Days like today are not easy for any of us. The worst part of restructuring is clearly the restructuring. But this is a necessary part of improving and rebuilding. It is never easy to see friends and colleagues leave the company. Nobody in management, including me, takes these decisions lightly, but we must all continue to remain focused on driving the business forward and look towards our future.

As you know, it is my vision for THQ to enter into new markets though new distribution methodologies, and reaching those consumers in those markets will take a different approach to marketing. It is also vitally important that we improve our production methodologies and oversight so that we are shipping better titles, on budget and on time.

In our quest to make these changes, I have been looking at the Marketing and Production structure at HQ along with the heads of those departments, Rich Williams and Ron Moravek. We have identified changes that need to be made and thus today we reduced the size of these departments by about 20 individuals.

It is worth pointing out that none of the development teams are effected, and we do not anticipate the reduction to have any impact whatsoever on the titles in production or the future scale of our output. It is also quite likely that in the long run the company will hire new individuals with different skill sets in their stead. To put this in perspective, Volition alone anticipates growing by about 20 individuals in the next 12 months. This represents a shift of resources from oversight to production, and from centralization out to the teams. I would also like to note that these two departments were largely unaffected by the January reduction, so it makes some sense that their size and capabilities do not align with the changes made elsewhere.

I am genuinely excited about both the quality of work and the innovation happening at the company right now. When I look forward to the type of games and digital experiences we will deliver over the next few years, I see a new THQ taking a new market position in a very different industry environment.

Let’s all try to keep our eyes focused on that bright future."

This isn’t the first shake-up at THQ in recent months, following the closure of its Arizona quality assurance facility in July. A full timeline of THQ’s 2012 is available here.

THQ released Darksiders II earlier this week, which IGN gave a 7.5. The company also unveiled the roster for WWE 13, which is set to hit stores in October.

IGN wishes the best of luck to anyone affected by today’s news.

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

Source : ign[dot]com

Downey's Injury Delays Iron Man 3 Production

Star Robert Downey Jr. was injured today on the set of Iron Man 3, which has caused the film to temporarily halt production.

"Robert Downey Jr. sustained an ankle injury on the set of Iron Man 3 in Wilmington, North Carolina while performing a stunt. There will be a short delay in the production schedule while he recuperates," said Marvel Studios in a statement.

Iron Man 3 opens May 3, 2013.

Source : ign[dot]com

Warner Bros. Closes Doors on Direct-to-Video Unit

Warner Bros. has closed their direct-to-video department, Warner Premiere. The DTV production house, launched in 2006, was responsible for titles like Free Willy: Escape from Pirate’s Cove, Spring Breakdown, Return to the House of Haunted Hill, Lost Boys: The Thirst (and Lost Boys: The Tribe), Get Smart's Bruce and Lloyd: Out of Control and many others.

“Given the continuing decline in the direct-to-video film market and shifting business models in the production of digital series, the decision was made to close Warner Premiere,” the company said in a statement to TheWrap. “The division will continue and complete production on its remaining film and digital series project into the fall. In addition, the evaluation of potential digital content will be folded into Warner Bros. Digital Distribution, and Warner Bros. Animation and Warner Home Video will continue to produce and release animated films, such as Scooby Doo, Tom and Jerry and DC Universe.”

It's unclear if the final film project mentioned above was the recently announced sequel to A Christmas Story, arriving on home video in October. The studio will continue to focus their efforts on digital distribution and animated projects, like DC's upcoming release of The Dark Knight Returns: Part 1. The employees of Warner Premiere will be transferred to other departments.

Source : ign[dot]com

Gears of War Dev Joins BioShock Infinite Team

Former Epic Games director of production Rod Fergusson has joined Irrational Games. Fergusson himself confirmed the news on Twitter, writing “Yes it's true, I'm leaving my family at Epic to join my new family at Irrational in Boston starting tomorrow. And yes I've played Infinite and it's amazing! Can't wait for you guys to get your hands on it.”

While Fergusson’s formal title hasn’t been revealed, he’s presumably replacing director of product development Tim Gerritsen who departed Irrational yesterday. Gerritsen’s responsibilities included “overseeing the product development division of the company,” reporting progress to corporate, negotiating contracts, hiring and recruitment.

Meanwhile, reports from Kotaku suggest that two multiplayer modes originally planned for BioShock Infinite have been canceled, including one that involved fighting waves of toys inside of an arcade machine, and another that offered a co-op option for completing missions. News of both comes from sources allegedly within Irrational, though creative director Ken Levine simply commented “As I've always said we are experimenting with things, and only if they are good enough will we put them in the game” when asked.

BioShock Infinite is currently set to hit Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC on February 26, 2013.

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

Source : ign[dot]com

Arrested Development: Season 4 Begins Filming Today - Bateman Tweets First Photo

This is less a news piece than a place to celebrate... Because Arrested Development is back in production! Yes, today is the first day of shooting on the miraculously resurrected comedy series, which will return with ten new episodes next year, debuting on Netflix.

Jason Bateman (who already provided us with some pics of TV son Michael Cera visiting the newly rebuilt Bluth home set) has tweeted the first photo from the midst of actual production on the show, with the words, "First Day. Here we go..." No, it's not much to go on, but we'll take what we can get. Just imagine the funny things being said as they film!

Update: Yep, we agree - those looks like some Workaholics cast members (Adam DeVine and Anders Holm) in the photo.

Source : ign[dot]com

Thor 2 Goes to Iceland

With production for Thor: The Dark World ramping up in England, new reports suggest that the Norse gods of old may be paying a visit to one of their homelands: Iceland.

According to the Latino Review (via Svarthofdi), Thor 2 helmer Alan Taylor is no stranger to the island country; the director spent some time filming there during his stint on HBO's Game of Thrones. When asked about filming there for the fantasy series, Taylor said, "We feel amazing to travel to a world that looks like those we are trying to create. It gives us all inspiration."

Thor: The Dark World stars Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston and Christopher Eccleston. The Marvel epic opens November 8, 2013.

Max Nicholson is a writer for IGN, and he desperately seeks your approval. Show him some love on Twitter and IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

John Noble's Sleep Disorder Treatment Causes Delay in Production for Fringe's Final Season

According to recent reports, Production has been delayed on Fringe's fifth and final season as co-star John Noble is now being treated for a sleep disorder.

The 64-year-old, who plays Walter Bishop on the show, was overcome with his illness on Tuesday, just one day after he was expected to attend the Fringe TCA press tour panel alongside Anna Torv, Joshua Jackson, Lance Reddick and showrunner J.H. Wyman. While the delay was initially said to be just three days, insiders told The Hollywood Reporter that nine shooting days seems more likely (resuming production on August 7).

Noble's absence from the panel was addressed during the press tour on Monday, with Wyman claiming the actor was feeling "under the weather." However, the network is still confident that this will not affect the series' season premiere on September 28.

Here's wishing John a speedy recovery!

Source : ign[dot]com

Jackman Talks Wolverine's End

Hugh Jackman and director James Mangold were out and about in Australia today, promoting the start of production on The Wolverine. During the press op, Jackman discussed the importance of the character to him.

"I have been working for 12 years on the Wolverine character and while the franchise will go well beyond me, it really has been the backbone of my career,” Jackman said, while adding that he will stop playing the character “when I stop loving it. … This one has certainly been the most interesting and complex of the superhero characters. I do take my career one [step] at a time and I feel like a golfer always looking for that hole in one."

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the famed X-Men's sequel starts shooting next week. And to celebrate, Jackman and Mangold gave Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard a tour of the film's sets at Sydney’s Fox Studios.

The Wolverine will also shoot in Japan, but the Australian portion of the production is receiving a "one-off federal government grant of $12.8 million, boosting the location tax rebate, which normally sits at 15 percent of a production's qualifying expenditure, to around 30 percent." Bringing Hollywood productions to town with such rebates is good for the local economy; The Wolverine is expected to put $80 million back locally and support some 2,000 jobs.

As for details regarding the film and its casting, Jackman and Mangold weren't talking. In particular, they wouldn't comment on the rumors that Jessica Biel had recently withdrawn from the role of the villainous Viper. (The latest reports peg Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy actress Svetlana Khodchenkova as being up for the part.)

You can get a sneak peek of the sets and production art here, however. What can you glean from those shots?

Talk to Movies Editor Scott Collura on Twitter at @ScottIGN, on IGN and on Facebook.

Source : ign[dot]com

Konami Recruiting for New London Studio

Konami is recruiting staff for a new dedicated PES production studio based in London.

“

We are looking for a number of creative people who can help us elevate PES to whole new levels.

The satellite office will work alongside the company's main studio in Tokyo to try and capture local football culture and keep the Pro Evo series fresh and exciting. Interested parties will be invited to apply to apply for posts at the Games Developers Conference, which will take place in Cologne between August 13 and 14.

Konami president Shinji Hirano said, "We are looking for a number of creative people who can help us elevate PES to whole new levels. As part of Konami’s commitment to ensuring PES captures the majesty of European football, we are looking for people to help capture the very essence of the beautiful game and bring it to life.

"We look forward to meeting interested parties at GDC Europe."

Anyone wanting to apply should drop their CV and applications off at Booth #165 at GDC Europe 2012. Pro Evolution Soccer 2013 is due out later this year, with an official European demo available from tomorrow.

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

Source : ign[dot]com

Former EA Exec Joins THQ

THQ has hired Ron Moravek as executive vice president of production. Moravek will report directly to THQ president Jason Rubin and has been hired as part of an initiative to “embrace new strategic business models, digitally connected experiences, and a more focused, high-quality game slate.”

Moravek is the co-founder of Company of Heroes developer Relic Entertainment, which THQ acquired in 2004. Moravek previously served as vice president and COO of EA Canada and most recently was a senior advisor to cloud-based internet security firm NuCaptcha.

THQ has seen several corporate changes in the past six months, following Jason Rubin replacing Danny Bilson as president and the resignation of vice president Teri Manby. Moravek’s appointment comes after THQ “shifted its focus” earlier this year, following the failure of its uDraw tablet peripherals.

THQ has seen continued financial trouble throughout 2012, closing its San Diego studio and most recently announcing plans to consolidate its quality assurance facilities. It’s also facing a class-action lawsuit regarding uDraw.

For more on THQ’s plans for 2013, check out our interview with Jason Rubin from E3.

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

Source : ign[dot]com

Could Ptch be the Instagram of Videos?

The production company behind Shrek and Madagascar thinks it has the next killer social media app on its hands.

Referring to Instagram’s unlikely success among a sea of photo-sharing apps, Dreamworks Animation CTO Ed Leonard told Fast Company, “They had a very particular vision about creating something that had a strong point of view and ease of use. We're trying to do a similar thing in the world of media mashup."

Ptch, available now for video-equipped iOS devices, allows users to mix, share, mashup and re-remix media content with friends. The app is more involved than many existing social video apps, but giving users more editing options than filter selection should make for better videos.

Ptch’s dead-simple drag & drop interface lets you import content (the Ptch team calls it “Living Media”) from your camera roll and other social networks, and lets you mashup video clips with photos, add captions or a soundtrack, and apply “themes” for a finishing touch. Ptches are limited to 60 seconds, so your friends can’t subject you to more than a minute-long montage of how cute their kids are.

Sound familiar? The Ptch team acknowledges they’re not the first social video app. The spin, they say, is the option to make your Ptches available to friends for further remixing and mashing-up. So if you post a video from an Arcade Fire concert, I can replace the audio with a Coldplay song and make you look like a sap. Ha!

Ptch is a free download in the app store. The app team, which is being run as a startup within Dreamworks, plans to generate revenue from micro-transactions—licensed audio & video content, premium “themes”, etc. Unfortunately, no plans have been announced to let you pitch your Ptch-es to Dreamworks Pictures; looks like your Bee Movie sequel will have to wait.

Source : ign[dot]com