Month: February 2020

Full spoilers follow for this episode.

The third episode of Star Trek: Picard oddly opens with a quick montage of the Mars attack from last week, which almost plays like a dream sequence but turns out to just be there to catch us up in case we missed the last episode (which is what the “previously on” segment is there for, but O.K.). It then slides into a different flashback: the day 14 years ago that Picard resigned his commission in the wake of those attacks. In a fine bit of story back-filling, we also meet Picard’s former First Officer Raffi (Michelle Hurd), and get a real sense of their dynamic and how things went wrong between them.

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These two approaches — replaying or re-explaining stuff like the Mars attack, and cool scenes between Jean-Luc and some new character — tend to be the way Picard has been rolling so far this season. The result is a frequently appealing and exciting return to the character that alternatively turns into an exposition-laden slog for half of its running time, as if the writers don’t trust us to be able to keep up — or don’t trust that they’re getting their ideas across.

In this week’s segment, “The End Is the Beginning,” it’s Isa Briones’ Soji Asha who takes up a lot of our time talking about the same thing over and over again. The episode keeps cutting back to her on the former Borg cube now known as the Artifact, where she’s working to help former members of the Borg ease back into their lives. But she’s also looking, we learn here, to employ the “therapeutic utility of a shared mythical framework” with the ex-Borg. Basically, she wants to use their mythology to connect with them… or something.

But that’s the thing, because even though so much time this week is spent with Soji and this idea, we still don’t really understand what it all means by the end of the episode — despite going back to Soji and her Romulan ex-Borg patient several times.

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Also frustrating is the fact that another classic character made his debut this week and yet we learned virtually nothing about what he’s been up to for the past 30 years. Jonathan Del Arco played a Borg named Hugh who Picard’s crew freed from the Collective back on The Next Generation. He was only in two episodes, so even fans of the old show might not recognize him here in his more human form, sans cyborg implants. Surely we’ll learn more about him eventually, but it seems an unnecessary tease to drop him here with absolutely no explanation.

Meanwhile over on “current day” Earth, Picard is trying to get Raffi’s help in finding a ship that can take him offworld in his search for Soji, but he finds that his former officer is now a space-weed-vaping, hard-drinking burnout who resents him for ruining her career all those years ago. It’s an interesting idea to give us a less than perfect ex-Starfleeter like this, but the show seems to be laying it on a bit thick, particularly when it comes to Raffi complaining about the economic gap between her and Picard. Why exactly is she crying about money in a post-money society, anyway? Can’t she just have a vineyard too if she wants one?

Anyway, Raffi puts Jean-Luc in touch with another ex-Starfleeter in Cristóbal Rios (Santiago Cabrera). He has cool ship — it’s even got a slick paintjob! — and a fun EMH (also played by Cabrera) who is like Batman’s butler Alfred, only if he got less respect from his master. Rios runs the risk of becoming a stereotype very quickly with the whole shrapnel in the shoulder/I don’t need a dermal regenerator shtick, as well as the dead-captain back story… and yet, when the EMH calls Rios on his “angsty teenage moral relativism,” you have to chuckle.

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So Picard finally has his ship and his crew — Allison Pill’s Dr. Jurati is also tagging along — but before he takes off for the great beyond, there’s a nicely choreographed fight scene in his home as more Romulan baddies show up. Fortunately my favorite non-Jean-Luc characters Laris (Orla Brady) and Zhaban (Jamie McShane) are on hand to exercise their Tal Shiar training, though Picard keeps a couple of phaser pistols hidden under the coffee table for just such an occasion, so he’s able to help out as well. I continue to worry for Laris and Zhaban — they aren’t main cast members, and therefore could be expendable. And yet there’s just something about them that works. When Zhaban is about to deliver a death blow to the sole surviving attacker, Laris scolds him in their native tongue, “We are not like them anymore.” Damned straight you’re not.

By episode’s end, we’re seemingly, hopefully on our way to a less leisurely adventure than these three episodes have so far given us. Listen, I’m all for a good Picard speech — I practically minored in that s#!t in college. But at a certain point you have to make it so already.

Questions and Notes from the Q Continuum:

• The Romulan baddies whispering in a dark hallway with canted angles is just too much.
• Soji is “the Destroyer,” eh? Sounds… bad.
• Next stop: Freecloud (whatever that is) and Bruce Maddox?!
• The EMH nailed it when mentioning several of Picard’s greatest achievements: “Chief contact with the Q Continuum, Arbiter of Succession for the Klingon Empire, savior of Earth from Borg invasion, captain of the Enterprises D and E, the man even worked alongside the great Spock…”
• I neglected to mention last week that Raffi’s home is at Vasquez Rocks, which of course has been the real-life site of many Star Trek adventures in the past, including the fight between the Gorn captain and James T. Kirk.
• We now understand what Soji’s take is on the Romulans harvesting Borg tech: “I hate it,” she says. Hugh agrees.
• Where was Picard when Raffi needed him, anyway?
• So Picard is aware that there must be Federation complicity in order for the Romulan attack squads to be operating on Earth, but when Raffi says she has evidence about the Mars attack he’s skeptical and doesn’t seem interested in even looking at it?
• Commodore Oh popped in again this week and she’s wearing… sunglasses (also, her ear prosthetics were really sticking out in that scene). As my colleague Jim Vejvoda points out, Mirror Universe inhabitants are very light-sensitive. Hmm…

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In a call with investors for the most recent financial quarter, Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto said that in the era of IP, Nintendo has to consider ways to grow the Nintendo brand beyond the hardware race with Sony and Microsoft.

During a Q&A with investors to discuss Nintendo’s Q3 2020 performance, Super Mario and The Legend of Zelda creator Shigeru Miyamoto was asked about Nintendo’s plan to develop its intellectual property (IP) and how Nintendo will increase its reach in a competitive “IP-based content industry.”

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Miyamoto agreed with the IP-focused nature of the industry saying, “Nintendo has long been thought of as part of a race to produce the video game hardware. Lately, I feel like that conversation about competition between Nintendo and other game companies is happening less and less.”

Miyamoto reaffirmed that “Only Nintendo developers can use the character of Mario as we feel best… and we have closely guarded our rights so that we don’t lose that freedom in developing our games.” But Miyamoto also discussed the benefits of expanding into other mediums like theme parks, animated movies, and mobile phones.

“[T]here is a limit to how many consumers will be able to engage with Mario if their contact point is limited to dedicated video game systems,” said Miyamoto. “That recognition is highly valued by us, and we will continue to grow the number of people who come in contact with our Nintendo characters as we continue working on our unique initiatives.”

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Miyamoto’s comments about being less in a console hardware race, and more in an IP-focused competition echoes remarks made by Xbox boss Phil Spencer who said that Amazon and Google were Microsoft’s biggest competition in gaming, not Sony and Nintendo.

Spencer was referring to Microsoft’s cloud business, which is directly competing with Amazon and Google’s cloud technologies. This technology also powers Google and Microsoft’s video game streaming service — Stadia and xCloud respectively. Nintendo doesn’t have a cloud business, though reports say the company could work with Microsoft for future streaming services.

While Miyamoto talks about the importance of Nintendo’s unique approach to game development and hardware, he seems to be acknowledging a limit to how big Nintendo’s brand can get through systems alone. Nintendo has spent the past few years expanding into the smartphone space partnering with studios like DeNA and Cy Games to create hit mobile games like Fire Emblem: Heroes and Dragalia Lost.

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Nintendo also partnered with Universal Studios to open up a series of themed Super Nintendo World resorts at Universal parks, and an animated movie starring Mario is also in the works from the animation studio behind the Minions movies.

In an era of increasing competition from new technologies and consolidation of IP, it appears that both Nintendo and Microsoft are looking beyond the console wars that defined previous gaming generations.

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Matt Kim is a reporter for IGN. You can reach him on Twitter.

The script for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness will reportedly be rewritten by the showrunner for Loki.

Michael Waldron has been hired to work on the script that was previously written by Jade Bartlett, according to THR. Sam Raimi is said to be in talks to direct the film, which is slated for May 7, 2021.

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Waldron is the showrunner for the Disney+ series Loki, which will premiere on the service in 2021. In November 2019, Kevin Feige said the Loki series will tie directly into Doctor Strange 2.

Waldron recently served as a producer on Rick and Morty for its fourth season and wrote the episode “The Old Man and the Seat” as well as worked on the fifth season of the NBC-Hulu series Community.

He’s following in the footsteps of his Rick & Morty and Community colleague Dan Harmon, who was brought in to rewrite the first Doctor Strange.

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Plot details on the movie are slim but read all about the Multiverse of Madness here. And see what Scott Derrickson had to say about the reports on Sam Raimi replacing him.

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Petey Oneto is a freelance writer for IGN who’s hoping that The New Mutants turns out well so Marvel will hopefully feel comfortable and go all in on the horror for Doctor Strange.

Ryan and Andy Tohill, the directors of the 2018 thriller The Dig, have been hired for a reboot of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre franchise.

The Tohills will direct the film from a script by Fede Alvarez and Rodolfo Sayagues, the writers of the 2013 Evil Dead reboot and Don’t Breathe. Alvarez expressed his enthusiasm for the Tohills in a statement to Variety.

“The Tohill’s vision is exactly what the fans want,” Alvarez said. “It’s violent, exciting and so depraved that it will stay with you forever.”

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Variety reports that Legendary Pictures acquired the rights to the Texas Chainsaw franchise around autumn 2019. Alvarez and Sayagues were signing a deal to produce movies for Legendary through their own production company at that time, and the Texas Chainsaw reboot was announced as one of their projects. Chris Thomas Devlin was said to be writing the script, according to Deadline.

It was first reported by Bloody Disgusting in August 2018 that Legendary Pictures was vying for the rights to the franchise. That report said that Legendary wanted to develop a TV series and reboot the film franchise.

The Tohills may have only directed one movie before, but Ryan Tohill has a recent history in Hollywood. Ryan Tohill’s IMDb credits him on various TV and movie prop teams including Game of Thrones, Krypton and Philomena.

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The last Texas Chainsaw movie was 2017’s Leatherface, which acted as a prequel to the original 1974 film. It was released on DirecTV a month before a limited theatrical release that grossed less than $1 million worldwide, according to The Numbers. In our review of Leatherface, we said it was “the worst Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie ever.”

This reboot will be the ninth Texas Chainsaw movie to be released in theaters. We think the franchise would work great as a video game. And if these reboots aren’t satisfying you, then visit the gas station from the first Texas Chainsaw movie for some delicious BBQ.

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Petey Oneto is a freelance writer for IGN who thought Philomena was awesome. PHILOMANIA!

Harley Quinn’s big adventure is packed full of hidden comic book easter eggs and references. Did you catch them all?

The wait is over. Harley Quinn’s brand new movie, Birds of Prey is now in theaters after a long and winding road through production–and it turns out, good things really do come to those who wait. Birds of Prey might actually be the best modern DC movie yet, bringing home an eccentric, addictively high-energy street-level Gotham City story populated by characters we absolutely loved.

But, of course, as with any comic book movie, it also came jam-packed with plenty of shout-outs, references, and Easter Eggs to the books it’s based on. It even managed to weave in some DCEU shout-outs in there as well, for the fans looking for a bit more shared universe continuity mixed in with all the chaos. Want to see exactly how this movie ties into Suicide Squad? We’ve got you covered. Curious as to how The Joker figures in? We’ve got you there as well. But before you dig deeper into the meat and potatoes, check out these 20 references peppered in through the movie and see which you were able to catch.

1. Helena’s backstory

Helena’s backstory is pulled directly from her comic book counterpart, with the exception of Zsasz’s involvement in her parent’s murders.

2. Helena’s Catholicism

During the flashbacks to her violent past, we see Helena in a church, praying with a rosary. In the comics, Helena is a devout Catholic who carries a rosary on her, even when in costume.

3. Bruce the Hyena

Harley’s pet hyena is actually a two-for-one deal. In the animated series, Harley had two pet hyenas named Bud and Lou–get it? Because she’s clown-themed and hyenas are famous for laughing? In Birds of Prey, there’s only one hyena but his name is Bruce, the movie’s only nod to Batman.

4. Ace Chemicals

Harley’s tragic dip into a vat at Ace Chemicals (which she later blows up) is also pulled directly from the comics–or, well, some of them. Joker and Harley tend to have their origin stories shuffled around semi-frequently, but this is one of them.

5. Janus Corp

All around Gotham are signs for Roman Sionis’s company, Janus, usually with the “J” blocked out so that it reads “Anus,” get it? This is actually from the comics as well–well, minus the gag–though in the comics, rather than a real estate development company, Janus was a cosmetics empire.

6. False Facers

Roman’s cronies arrive at the Booby Trap wearing their very own masks, a nod to their comic book counterparts, the “False Facers,” or False Face Society, a mask-wearing cult that Roman once started.

7. Roller Derby

Harley’s brief stint in roller derby was inspired by her solo comics in the New 52 era.

8. Harley’s costumes

Most of Harley’s outfits in the movie are street clothes, but during the Boopy Trap fight scene, Renee Montoya wears a bustier that’s directly inspired by her Animated Series look. Similarly, Dinah pulls out Harley’s Suicide Squad t-shirt (the white top that says “daddy’s little monster,” remember?) which Harley says still has sentimental value.

9. Dinah’s mother

Renee was working with Dinah’s mother, who was a police informant that wound up killed on the job. This is an extremely surface-level nod to Dinah’s comic book past which is very, very complicated (seriously, it has a lot to do with various reboots merging Dinah and her mother into one character for a while) but appreciated none the less. In the comics, fighting crime is a family business for the Lances, and apparently it is in Birds of Prey as well.

10. Canary cry

Dinah’s super-sonic scream is another comic book pull, and her one meta-human ability.

11. Dinah’s musical career

It’s slightly different in Birds of Prey, but the New 52 era of DC Comics actually reinvented Black Canary to be a singer in a punk rock band. We see echos of that idea here where she’s a lounge singer for Roman’s club.

12. Harley’s backstory

Harley gives an abbreviated version of her personal history, including her time spent as an orphan, her stint as a psychologist in Arkham and so on. All of that comes directly from her animated series origins.

13. Captain Boomerang

Harley spots a wanted poster at the GCPD for a guy she happens to know: Captain Boomerang from Suicide Squad, who will be making a comeback alongside Harley in the James Gunn reboot.

14. Voted for Bernie

Harley’s not exactly a topical gal, but one of the grievances that Roman has with her is that she voted for Bernie Sanders. Later, she tells Cass that she should never pay federal income tax, though, so we can assume Harley isn’t exactly an informed voter.

15. “Bomb in your neck”

Harley briefly talks about surviving a bomb in the neck, an obvious nod to her time with the Suicide Squad which kept its members in line by implanting bombs in each of their necks. One wrong move and their heads would explode at Amanda Waller’s say so.

16. Zsasz’s scars

Birds of Prey’s Victor Zsasz may not look that familiar to fans of modern Batman comics or shows like Gotham, but he still shares some major similarities. Before he tries to kill Harley, he explains that he gives himself a scar for each kill–they’re not the neat, uniform tally marks that we see in the comics, but the ritual is definitely still the same.

17. Amusement Mile

The plan to meet up at the Booby Trap leads everyone to the abandoned Amusement Mile, a real location from Gotham City over in the comics. It’s clearly seen some better days–but that’s pretty par for the course for Batman’s home turf.

18. Beat with a crowbar

After open season is officially declared on Harley, one of Roman’s hired goons comes at her wielding a crowbar, which just so happens to be the now infamous weapon of choice Mr. J decided to use on Jason Todd, the Robin he murdered.

19. Looney Tunes

Harley and Cass camp out in her apartment watching Looney Tunes on TV while hiding from the cops–you know, in case you missed Harley’s own personal Looney Tunes stylings, including her very Bugs Bunny “disguise” when breaking into the police station.

20. Puddin’

Harley’s favorite nickname for Joker, “Puddin,” gets a shoutout during her break up story. We wouldn’t expect any less.

Ubisoft will release five new AAA games in 2020-2021, with three of them getting released by the end of this year and two being released in early 2021. And none of them will be Beyond Good and Evil 2.

“We have evolved our organizational structure in recent months in order to strengthen our focus on high-potential titles, and we are very excited about the idea of releasing five new AAA games in 2020-21,” said Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot during the Q3 FY2020 investor call.

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During the Q&A portion, Guillemot followed up on that statement by confirming, at the least, that Beyond Good and Evil 2 is not one of the five planned AAA games set to be released this year.

Ubisoft previously announced, then delayed a slate of AAA games including Watch Dogs Legion, Rainbow Six: Quarantine, Gods and Monsters, and there have been reports that Ubisoft is working on a new Assassin’s Creed game supposedly based on Vikings.

That’s four games that could fit neatly into Ubisoft’s AAA plans for the year. And there are also projects like Skull and Bones that have been delayed indefinitely which could complete the release calendar.

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As for when players will see any combination of these games, Guillemot revealed that three of the five games will be released in Q3 FY2021, or the period between October to December 2020, and the other two games releasing between January and March 2021.

For more check out IGN’s demo impressions of Watch Dogs Legions from E3 and Gamescom.

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Matt Kim is a reporter for IGN. You can reach him on Twitter.

If you open Netflix this weekend, you’ll probably come across a new show called Locke and Key. Season 1 of the fantasy-horror series went live today, with all 10 episodes available to binge. Comic book readers will likely instantly recognize the series, as it’s adapted from one of the very best comics of the 21st century. The show diverges from Joe Hill’s original comics, removing some of the more frightening elements in favor of lighthearted fantasy. With that said, it’s definitely worth checking out the comics whether you enjoy the show or not. Amazon has the Locke and Key Slipcase Set on sale for $65.62, roughly $35 off its list price.

The Locke and Key Slipcase Set compiles the six main volumes in the comic series (984 pages in all):

• Welcome to Lovecraft
• Head Games
• Crown of Shadows
• Keys to the Kingdom
• Clockworks
• Alpha and Omega

After Rendell Locke is brutally murdered, newly widowed Nina and her three kids–Tyler, Kinsey, and Bode–move to Rendell’s childhood home in Lovecraft, Massachusetts known as Keyhouse Manor. They soon learn that Keyhouse is much more than a home; it’s filled with doors to other dimensions and an ominous being that’s seeking the key that Rendell died protecting. Locke and Key’s gripping story is told in non-chronological order, jumping from the present to the past throughout.

The comics are genuinely frightening, which isn’t surprising considering that Hill is responsible for some of the best modern horror fiction, including Heart-Shaped Box and NOS4A2.

The Slipcase Set contains most of the Locke and Key comics, but not all. A seventh volume, Heaven and Earth, released in 2017 and features three new one-shot stories and other one-shots from “The Golden Age” arc that take place in the past. Last year, Joe Hill revealed a new six-issue arc in the series called World War Key, and earlier this week he announced a new one-shot called Pale Battalions.

For those who have already read the comics, make sure to check out our breakdown detailing the biggest changes in the show. After you watch Episode 1, see how many of these Easter Eggs you noticed.

King, the Activision-owned developer responsible for such mobile titles as Candy Crush, appears to be gearing up to release a Crash Bandicoot endless runner.

As reported by Eurogamer, @JumpButtonCB and @Motwera on Twitter uncovered a listing, that has since been removed, for this Crash Bandicoot mobile title that will allow players to “Run, Jump and Slide” and “Build & Grow Your Base.”

The artwork allegedly leaked from Brazilian Facebook ads and shows a game that is very similar to 2011’s mobile hit Temple Run, albeit with Crash’s iconic bop crates and wumpa fruit.

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Kotaku grabbed a screenshot of this new game’s description, before it was removed, from an app store testing company called Storemaven, and it states players will team up with Coco and Aku Aku to defeat Dr. Cortex.

The game’s story description is as follows; “Dr. Neo Cortex dispatched mutagen henchmen across the multiverse to enslave all dimensions. With the help of his spirited sister Coco, Crash must strike and base Cortex’s minions back to their own worlds!”

IGN reached out to King, and a representative gave us the following comment; “At King, we’re always trying and testing new game concepts for mobile platforms. Since becoming part of the Activision Blizzard family, we’ve been looking at ways to work together to create even more great gaming experiences for our network of players. Currently, we are exploring opportunities to bring Activision IP to the mobile platform.”

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This would be the third recent Crash Bandicoot game following 2017’s N. Sane Trilogy and 2019’s Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled. Crash Team Racing also won our Best Racing Game of 2019.

Activision has found success with these remasters, which also included the Spyro Reignited Trilogy, and plans to release “several” more in 2020.

Alongside those, Call of Duty: Mobile had the largest mobile game launch in history, so it makes sense to see Activision continue trying to tap into the mobile market with its most popular franchises.

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Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN who can’t wait and is so excited he just can’t hide it. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.