Month: November 2017

Following her announcement during BlizzCon’s opening ceremony, Blizzard subsequently shared more about new Overwatch hero Moira during the game’s dedicated panel. As part of that, we got a look at her first alternate skins, as well as early concept art from when she was still in development.

During the panel, Blizzard explained that Moira is a scientist, like many other characters in the Overwatch universe. However, she’s different from those in that she doesn’t, for instance, have aspirations to conquer the world; she’s simply interested in science itself. While that makes her sound nice enough, she has no patience for those who would get in the way of her scientific advancements. Blizzard developers also shared that they wanted her to have a deep connection to existing characters, hence the backstory outlined in both her reveal and origin videos.

As seen in the gallery above, an early concept for Moira gave her tentacles. However, that would come with the expectation that the tentacles would factor into her abilities, which is not the case. She went through a variety of different forms before Blizzard finally settled on her current, shadowy look. It emphasizes her somewhat unusual-looking hands that she uses to heal teammates.

Additionally, Blizzard unveiled concept art for the first two Moira skins. You can see both of these in the gallery above; they include the cool-looking Oasis, as well as Glam, which seem to be a nod to David Bowie.

Blizzard had a lot to share about Overwatch today. In addition to revealing Moira, we also got a look at the next Overwatch map, BlizzardWorld. It’s a theme park based on the developer’s other games, with areas themed around StarCraft, Warcraft, and Diablo. On a similar note, we’ve also seen new Overwatch skins themed around Blizzard games; Widowmaker, for instance, is getting a new skin that makes her look just like StarCraft’s Nova.

Also during BlizzCon, we learned about WoW’s new expansion, StarCraft II going free-to-play, the new Hearthstone expansion, and new Heroes of the Storm characters. For more, check out our roundup of all the new BlizzCon 2017 news.

A new expansion called Kobolds & Catacombs is on the way to Blizzard’s collectible card game Hearthstone, and it includes a new single-player mode. During the BlizzCon opening ceremony today, Blizzard announced Dungeon Run, a mode that Blizzard says is “nothing like we’ve done in the past.”

Dungeon Run is a rogue-like single-player experience that’s all about defeating bosses, collecting loot, and leveling your character. Players start with a 10-card deck and must defeat eight random bosses, out of 48 total possible encounters. Each time a boss is defeated, you’ll be presented with a loot pile–each comprised of three cards–to choose from to add to your deck. If you lose, however, your deck is discarded and you have to start the gauntlet again from the beginning. You don’t need to own any cards in order to actually play, as everything is contained to each Dungeon Run playthrough.

Dungeon Run will be a free mode that’s completely separate from your normal collection. That allows Blizzard to introduce new passive upgrades (to help you progress during a run) and treasures, which are cards too powerful to introduce into the regular game. For instance, Gloves of Mugging steals three cards from your opponent’s hand and gives them to you. Rod of Roasting casts Pyroblast at random until one hero or the other dies. You can see all the new Hearthstone Kobolds & Catacombs cards revealed so far in our gallery.

Other new mechanics include Legendary weapons, which are available for each class and don’t necessarily deal direct damage to enemies. Unidentified Items are cards that have a base effect and then an additional effect (selected from four possibilities) that is only revealed when it is played. And Spellstones are a new type of spell for each class that levels up over the course of a match.

The Kobolds & Catacombs expansion is slated to launch in December and will be the final part of the Year of the Mammoth. Players will be able to get one card from the expansion, Marin the Fox, for free on November 6. Logging in after the expansion releases will also get you a free random Legendary weapon card.

Blizzard announced a slate of news for its many games during today’s BlizzCon opening ceremony. In addition to two new characters for Heroes of the Storm, Overwatch will soon get a new hero, Moira, as well as a brand-new map called BlizzardWorld. You can find all of the big announcements from the BlizzCon opening ceremony in our roundup.

A new batch skins, inspired by the upcoming Blizzard World map, are coming soon to Overwatch.

Blizzard announced the news during its Overwatch – What’s Next? panel at BlizzCon 2017. These skins, which you can view below, will be released sometime early next year and can be acquired via base loot boxes. They’re also not part of any special event, meaning players can acquire the skins all year round.

Blizzard also announced the Blizzard World map for Overwatch, which pulls inspiration from all of Blizzard’s various games. The map, which is a Blizzard-themed amusement park, will go live for Overwatch players next year and will be available on the PTR very soon.

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To cap off its Overwatch panel at BlizzCon today, Blizzard revealed a series of new skins coming to the shooter. A handful of these are particularly notable, as they are themed around Blizzard’s other games.

A total of eight new skins were shown off, most of which are of the Blizzard game variety. These include a version of Roadhog based on Diablo‘s Butcher, while Zarya gets a take on Diablo’s Barbarian. Maybe the most on-point of the bunch is Widowmaker’s new Nova skin. You’ll notice that a few of these–Reinhardt and Mei’s–are based on previous cinematics. The Reinhardt one is based on the just-released story video put out today, while Mei’s gives her the look from the emotional Ecopoint video. You can see all of these in the gallery below.

These skins won’t arrive until early 2018. Thankfully, they won’t be restricted to a limited-time loot box. Instead, they’ll be available right in the standard, base loot box, allowing you to earn them throughout the year (or purchase them outright, provided you save up enough Credits).

This wasn’t the only Overwatch news that Blizzard had to share at BlizzCon. We also learned about the new Overwatch hero Moira, who is a hybrid Support character who can heal in a much different manner than anyone else. We also got a look at the new BlizzardWorld map, which is essentially a theme park featuring many of Blizzard’s games–Overwatch being a notable exception, as that would get a little weird.

Outside of Overwatch, there were still a lot of announcements. We heard about Hearthstone’s new expansion, WoW’s new expansion and the upcoming WoW Classic version, new Heroes of the Storm characters, and more. For a full recap, check out our BlizzCon 2017 news roundup.

There’s something big happening in the sewers of New York City. Nickelodeon has announced the cast of Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles–the newest reimagining of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series–and there are some significant changes coming.

Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles taps into the mystic side of the story about four mutated turtles–Leonardo, Donatello, Michelangelo, and Raphael–who are raised as brothers by their mentor and sensei Splinter, a mutated rat. An official description from Nickelodeon says the series “follows the band of brothers as they encounter new allies and villains and discover a mystical world they never knew existed beneath the streets of New York City.”

With the new story comes a new cast. Ben Schwartz (DuckTales) will voice Leonardo, described as “the self-professed ‘coolest’ brother possesses irreverent charm and a rebel heart.” One word missing from that description to longtime turtle fans is “leader.” Instead, that role falls on Raphael, voiced by Omar Miller (Ballers).

The turtle with a red bandana “is now the leader and his enthusiasm and bravado puts him front and center for most of their bizarre adventures.” Michelangelo, who is “an artist and awesome skateboarder with a wild, colorful, and imaginative personality,” will be voiced by Brandon Mychal Smith (You’re The Worst). Finally, Josh Brener (Silicon Valley), will portray Donatello as “an unflappable mechanical genius and tech wizard whose ninja skills are second only to his coding.”

While the changes in hierarchy within the Turtles will put an interesting new spin on the group dynamics within the show, the most notable change comes from the group’s human friend, April O’Neil. Describing April as “a street savvy native New Yorker who is always ready to join in the fun,” Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles will be the first time in the franchise the character is portrayed as an African-American woman. The Vampire Diaries alum Kat Graham will voice the role.

Character art will debut before the end of the year, with the series premiering in 2018. The initial season will consist of 26 episodes, airing on Nickelodeon.

Welcooooooome to Nintendo Voice Chat, Episode 380!

The latest addition to IGN, Filip Miucin, joins Zach Ryan, Brian Altano, and Peer Schneider to introduce himself and share his favorite games for all the big Nintendo platforms. Topics this week range from the latest games released for Nintendo Switch — yes, including Farming Simulator — to more impressions of Fire Emblem Warriors, Super Mario Odyssey, and Sonic Forces.

As always, you can watch NVC here on IGN and on our YouTube channel (subscribe and hit the bell!) or listen to it on your commute in audio format. If you enjoy the show, share it with other Nintendo fans, make a constructive comment, and give us a thumbs up or leave us a review.

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