Month: February 2020

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Report: Platinum May Be Announcing a Kickstarter for The Wonderful 101 on Switch and PS4

The Wonderful 101 may be getting a second chance at life, thanks to rumors of an upcoming PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch port.

An initial report from GameXplain shared a video theorizing that the old Wii U title, The Wonderful 101, would be ported to current gen consoles. The theory was backed up today by Liam Robertson (via EuroGamer) of DYKGaming.

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According to Robertson, The Wonderful 101 developers, PlatinumGames, pitched the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 port to multiple publishers, but failed to find an interested party. In lieu of this, Platinum is expected to announce a Kickstarter aimed at gaining enough support to port the game to new platforms.

Adding fuel to the speculation fire, Platinum Games posted a tweet featuring Hideki Kamiya, director of The Wonderful 101 (and Bayonetta, Okami, Devil May Cry). Notice the timestamp on the computer behind Kamiya reading 1:01, and the Switch to his left.

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While none of this has been confirmed by Platinum at the time of writing, Robertson shared that fans could expect an announcement as early as Monday, February 3.

The Wonderful 101 released on the Wii U in 2013 and is an action-adventure hack and slash. In the game, players must explore different levels and recruit citizens to join their team of superheros. Further, as more superhero citizens join the fight, players can use a unique feature, known as “Unite Morphs” to turn into various objects and defeat enemies.

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PlatinumGames already has a working relationship with Nintendo, as it released Astral Chain as a Switch exclusive last year and is expected to port Bayonetta 3 to the Switch later this year.

The Wonderful 101 is one of the Wii U games that we could like to see ported to the Switch, be sure to check out some other games we are hoping for as well. In the meantime, if you need a refresher on the game, check out our review of The Wonderful 101.

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Andrew Smith is a freelance contributor with IGN. Follow him on Twitter @_andrewtsmith.

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Daily Deals: Animal Crossing Preorder, Pokemon Sword and Shield Discounted, Last of Us II Art Book

The weekend of deals is kicking off with two strong offers: Pokemon Sword and Shield are both discounted to $50, while Animal Crossing New Horizons has a preorder credit of $10 at Best Buy. Other great deals on home goods, kitchen products and technology can be found below, in what is sure to be another great weekend of deals.

Out 3/20: Preorder Nintendo Switch Animal Crossing Edition Today for $299.99

This is, in my opinion, the best looking Switch out there. Every part of the Switch has been themed. The Joy-Con controllers are a pastel blue and green, the back of the Switch is embossed with an Animal Crossing design, and even the dock has a full color Animal Theme decal. I already own a Switch and for the first time I’m jealous of anyone who gets a hold of this one. RIght now, it’s only available at select vendors.

Pick up Pokemon Sword or Shield for $49.99 at Amazon

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If you’re itching to catch some Pocket Monsters, now’s your chance. Either version of the latest Pokemon game is on sale at Amazon for $49 currently, a cool $10 discount off the usual price.

New Price Drop: 40% Off The Art of Last of Us Part 2 Deluxe Hard Cover Edition, Now $54.99

lastofuspart2artThis just in! Starting today the Deluxe Edition has dropped from $89.99 down to $53.99. For those of you who have already preordered, Amazon will automatically adjust the price. The Art of Last of Us Part 2 is a 200-page full color hard cover art book from Naughty Dog and Dark Horse that includes an exhaustive collection of original art and creator commentary. The Deluxe Edition includes a gallery quality lithograph, slipcase, and exclusive cover.

Out 3/20: Preorder Animal Crossing for Switch, Get $10 in Best Buy Credit

This is the only deal available right now for preordering the hottest Switch game of 2020 so far. You’ll need a MyBestBuy membership to get this free credit, but it’s free to sign up.

11% Off the Xbox Elite Series 2 Controller, Now $159.99 (Compatible with Upcoming Xbox)

xboxelitecontrollerAmazon is offering a Prime exclusive discount of about 11% off, dropping the price from $179 to $160. This is very likely the nicest first party controller you can buy. This professional-grade controller features adjustable tension thumbsticks, shorter hair trigger locks, wraparound textured grips, interchangeable thumbsticks and paddle shapes, and includes a USB Type C cable with charging dock. It boasts up to 40 hours of battery life and can be used for both the Xbox and PC and will supposedly work with the next gen console too.

Newest Apple AirPods 2 Wireless Earphones for $129

It’s a bitter fight to the end to get Apple to drop prices on their very popular Apple Airpods. Today, the AirPods have dropped 20% off down to $129, which is the lowest price that we saw on Black Friday. These are truly wireless earphones with no cord connecting the two ear pieces. It also includes a charging case. The AirPods Pro adds in active noise cancellation and throws in a wireless charging case.

Transformers Action Figures On Sale

Several new Transformers action figures have gone on sale. None of them are over $20 s grab them all without even breaking a sweat.

Darkest Dungeon Discounted at the Nintendo eShop

darkestdungeonIf you’re like me and have been waiting a long time for a discount on Darkest Dungeon, it’s finally here. This game has been out for a while, but it’s still one of the best RPGs available for the Switch. Warning: it’s a challenging game.

King of Monitors: Open Box Dell Alienware AW3418DW 34″ 3440×1440 1900R Curved 4ms 120Hz GSYNC IPS Panel Gaming Monitor for $569

This is an open box like new item, but Buydig is also throwing in a free extended 2-year warranty. If you’re looking for the ultimate beast in gaming monitors, the Alienware AW3418DW should be a tops on your list. Specs include a 34″ 3440×1440 curved IPS panel display with super wide viewing angles and 99% sRGB coverage, 4ms response time, NVIDIA G-SYNC compatibility, up to 120Hz refresh rate, and RGB lighting. This is my primary monitor and I absolutely love it, both for work and for games.

Get Verizon Fios Gigabit Internet $79.99/mo + $100 Visa Prepaid Card + 3 Years of Free Router Rental + Free Disney Plus Subscription

This sponsored deal is brought to you by Verizon FIOS.If you’re eligible for FIOS, Verizon’s fiber optic internet service, then you have access to one of the fastest internet services available at a price that traditional cable and DSL companies simply can’t compete with. Once you’ve had a taste of fiber, there’s no turning back. This internet only deal gives you blazing fast near-gigabit 940/880Mbps internet speeds.

Refurbished 2nd Generation Nintendo Switch “V2” Model for $259 at Walmart

This is a refurbished model sold from Walmart direct (not a marketplace vendor). That means it’s probably going to look completely brand new, and worst case scenario it’s easy to return it at your local Walmart store. Gamestop and Amazon are currently selling pre-owned units for $280. This is the V2 model with about 2 hours longer battery life than the original.

Grab a Ninja Foodi 6.5 Quart Pressure Cooker for $179 at Walmart

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For a limited time you can grab this handy 6.5 quart pressure cooker, with a ton of great built-in features for only $179 at Walmart.

Sunbeam Heated Blanket for $15 at Walmart

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There isn’t much better than the comforting warmth of a nice heated blanket on a cold night. Now you too can have that feeling, thanks to this amazing discount on the giant 60″ x 50″ heated blanket at Walmart.

Get a Magic Bullet Blender for $20 at Walmart

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The Magic Bullet blender is the perfect device for someone looking for a quick and easy solution to mixing up drinks and other small menu options. At $20, it’s one of the cheapest and most reliable kitchen appliances you can grab this weekend.

24-Count MyProtein Delicious Peanut Butter Cookies with 18g of Protein Each for Only $35

Make sure to add TWO of the 12-count packs and apply the coupon code in your shopping cart. Each delicious cookie packs in a massive 18 grams of whey protein.

More Deals From Today:

  • Avatar The Last Airbender: Complete Series for $25 on Amazon
  • HP Pavilion GTX 1660 Ti Gaming Desktop for $599 at Walmart
  • Logitech G Pro Tenkeyless RGB Mechanical Gaming Keyboard for $79.99 on Amazon
  • 2×12-Count MyProtein Protein Cookies for $35 at MyProtein (use code “COOKIE25“)
  • 3×2.2lbs Whey Protein Powder for $31.98 at MyProtein (use code “VIP32“)
  • Monopoly Frozen 2 Edition Board Game for $8 on Amazon
  • Oculus Quest VR Headset for $399 on Amazon
  • Newest Generation Apple iPad 10.2″ 128GB WiFi Tablet for $329.99 on Amazon
  • Sony PS4 DualShock Controller in Black for $39.99 at Walmart
  • Sony PS4 DualShock Controller in Glacier White for $39.99 at Walmart
  • Sony PS4 DualShock Controller in Green Cambo for $39.99 at Walmart

Video Game Deals:

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Alan Harris, the Actor Behind Star Wars Bounty Hunter Bossk, Has Died

Alan Harris, the actor responsible for multiple minor (but no less significant) Star Wars roles, including the lizard-headed bounty hunter Bossk in The Empire Strikes Back, has died.

SYFY Wire obtained a comment from Harris’ appearance manager, stating that the actor had been dealing with undisclosed health problems but “loved and lived every moment to the fullest.”

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Cathy Munroe, who similarly played the bounty hunter Zuckuss in Empire Strikes Back, issued a statement, saying Harris was “an incredible courageous man” whose “legacy will live on and he will always be fondly remembered.”

Harris is most widely known for playing Bossk, the Trandoshan bounty hunter who joined Boba Fett and several others (including the robotic IG-88) in the hunt for Han Solo. That was far from Harris’ only Star Wars role, though. According to the actor’s IMDB page, the man also portrayed a member of Leia’s Rebel escort, as well as a Bespin security guard who can be briefly seen helping transport a frozen Han Solo. He also played an uncredited role as a stormtrooper in Return of the Jedi. Harris also doubled for Anthony Daniels as C-3PO. All this would make him one of the few actors outside of the core cast to appear in all three of the original trilogy movies.

Bossk, the Trandoshan bounty hunter, from The Empire Strikes Back. As played by Alan Harris.
Bossk, the Trandoshan bounty hunter, from The Empire Strikes Back. As played by Alan Harris.

Harris also got to play the role of a vervoid, a plant-like humanoid alien, over the course of several Doctor Who episodes. When the Star Wars prequel trilogy finally rolled around, Harris returned to double as the actor Terence Stamp, who played Supreme Chancellor Finis Valorum.

Though his acting career mainly comprised of playing an extra, Harris managed to do it in some of the biggest franchises and films in Hollywood. His IMDB page also lists minor credits for Flash Gordon, The Shining, Superman, and A Clockwork Orange.

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Harris spent much of his retirement on the convention circuit, where he proved popular among diehard Star Wars fans, sharing stories of his time on Empire Strikes Back.

Original Boba Fett actor Jeremy Bulloch shared a statement on Facebook reflecting on his friendship with Harris, according to the Boba Fett Fan Club Twitter page.

“We were so sorry to hear about Alan Harris – he was one of the nicest guys we have met – and he was so modest and so very good with all the fans – he will be greatly missed,” a statement from Jeremy and wife Maureen Bulloch read.

Harris was 81 years old.

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Joseph Knoop is a writer/producer for IGN.

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Young Julia Stiles is All About That Cyberpunk Life in This Clip from 1994

Sometimes nostalgia clips are just too good, and too hilarious, not to share, so here’s a slice of viral-ness from this past week.

With the internet in its infancy, the ’90s were flooded with movies about hacking and the untapped potential of cyberspace – like Sneakers, Disclosure, The Net, Johnny Mnemonic, and – naturally, 1995’s Hackers (“Hack the Planet!”).

Enter Julia Stiles’ recurring character on PBS’ Ghostwriter, Erica Dansby – a no-nonsense hardcore hacker all about that cyber life. In this clip from the four-part story, “Who Is Max Mouse?,” a hacker disrupts the school’s computer system, causing our heroes to get a “crash course in the internet in its cruder and more basic form, including chat rooms and bulletin boards.”

Here’s the clip, as shared by critic D. Patrick Rogers on Twitter…

“Can you jam with the console cowboys in cyberspace?”

Suffice to say, the moment when Erica looks longingly at her desktop monitor and says “It’s a world where you’re judged by what you say and think, not what you look like. A world where curiosity and imagination equals power” is everything. If only we viewed the internet with such awe and glowing admiration these days.

Ghostwriter was a mid-90s children’s mystery that ran on PBS, about a team of young detectives who solve crimes with the help of an invisible ghost named Ghostwriter. This past fall it was announced that a Ghostwriter reboot series was in the works at Apple TV+.

Anyhow, back to your regularly scheduled internet. Thank you for indulging in this detour.

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Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN and a member of the Television Critics Association. Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and Facebook at Facebook.com/MattBFowler.

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Margot Robbie Says Her Harley Quinn Wouldn’t Click with Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker

Though it’s already established that Todd Phillips’ Oscar-nominated Joker has no connection to the current slate of Warner Bros.’s DC Extended Universe, it doesn’t stop fans from wondering how Joaquin Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck, and his murderous machinations as the Joker, might fit in with that cinematic world.

The DCEU’s Harley Quinn, played by Margot Robbie in 2017’s Suicide Squad and the upcoming Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), has a history with the Joker played by Jared Leto…but would she gel well with Phoenix’s Fleck? During an interview with the U.K.’s Capital FM, Robbie gave her thoughts on this hypothetical pairing.

“I think they exist in two very different worlds,” she said. “Todd Phillips’s Gotham and this Gotham [are] very different. I don’t know how you’d bridge that gap.”

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“She’d drive him insane,” Robbie continued. “She’d be on the other side of the fridge, like ‘here.’ ‘J-puddin, whatcha doin?’ And he’s like ‘’I just need a minute, I’m going through a lot of s***.’”

The first reactions from those who saw an advance screening of Birds of Prey praised the actions scenes along with stars Margot Robbie and Ewan McGregor while Robbie also recently explained why Black Mask was the villain of the piece and not Joker.

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For more on Black Mask, read our explainer on the villain’s DC Comics backstory as well as our breakdown of the Birds of Prey’s comic book history.

And for more on Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), learn about the film’s surprising video game connection as well as how the film differs from 2019’s Joker.

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Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN and a member of the Television Critics Association. Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and Facebook at Facebook.com/MattBFowler.

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Always Sunny Star Has the Perfect Response to Lethal Weapon 5 News

A fews days ago, producer Dan Lin (EP on the Lethal Weapon TV series) revealed that a fifth and “final” Lethal Weapon movie is close to happening, with original stars Mel Gibson and Danny Glover on board to reunite with series director Richard Donner.

Following the news, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia’s Rob McElhenney saw IGN’s Twitter post about the news and use it to write the perfect comment…

As Sunny fans know, back in 2010, in Always Sunny’s sixth season, The Gang made their own Lethal Weapon 5 and screened it for a high school class in “Dee Reynolds: Shaping America’s Youth.” Then, in Season nine, the Lethal-ness continued in “The Gang Makes Lethal Weapon 6,” as Dennis and Mac’s production of a sixth Lethal Weapon movie was halted when Frank stopped paying for the production.

The official Always Sunny Twitter account even got in on the action here…

The first rumors about Lethal Weapon 5 surfaced in 2008, when Shane Black had planned to direct Martin Riggs and Roger Murtaugh’s next adventure. However, after several rumoured changes, the project was squashed in 2012 when Donner revealed that Gibson turned down a reprisal of his role.

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For more movies news, Birds of Prey’s Mary Elizabeth Winstead is interested in a Scott Pilgrim sequel, Fast and the Furious fans celebrated the return of Han in Fast 9, and Marvel just solved a big mystery about Luke’s lightsaber.

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Matt Fowler is a writer for IGN and a member of the Television Critics Association. Follow him on Twitter at @TheMattFowler and Facebook at Facebook.com/MattBFowler.

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Netflix’s Locke And Key Review: Unlocking A Lighter Side Of The Horror Comic

The Locke and Key comics aren’t exactly old enough yet to be considered “classics,” but they’re certainly among the best to come out in the last decade or so. Fans have been awaiting the series’ live-action adaptation since the very beginning, and various versions have started up and then sputtered out over the years. Now, thanks to Netflix, we finally get to watch the action, horror, friendships, romances, and mysteries that make the Locke and Key comics impossible to put down play out on the screen–although enough has been changed in this adaptation that some fans won’t be happy.

Locke and Key follows the Locke siblings Tyler, Kinsey, and Bode (Connor Jessup, Emilia Jones, and Jackson Robert Scott, respectively) after their father Rendell (Bill Heck) is murdered by one of Tyler’s classmates. With their mother Nina (Darby Stanchfield), the Lockes move across the country to Matheson, Massachusetts (named after horror author Richard Matheson, a change from the comics, where the town was called “Lovecraft”). In Matheson, they take up residence in Keyhouse, the ancestral mansion where previous generations of Lockes, including their father, resided for centuries. They soon discover that Keyhouse is full of magical, reality-bending keys that give the siblings fantastical powers–and the responsibility to protect those keys from threats who would abuse those powers.

In the comics, it wasn’t quite as “magical” a journey as that synopsis might suggest. Rendell’s murder haunts the Lockes, particularly Tyler, who takes his father’s death extra hard, and Bode, who’s young enough to have trouble making sense of concepts like death and grief. The show chooses a lighter path–Tyler adjusts more easily to life in their new town, Kinsey makes friends quickly, Bode is older and better-equipped to cope, and Nina’s personal problems are way more under control than in the books. The adaptation spends more time at school with Tyler and Kinsey, where there are more characters, which leads to a greater focus on high school shenanigans than fans might be expecting–although that’s not inherently a bad thing, just different.

These and many other changes from the source material may indeed succeed in making Locke and Key more accessible for a wider audience, but they also take the edge off the series’ formerly Lovecraftian horror. The comics are dark, but while the show pays lip service with a conspicuously copious number of references to horror filmmaking pioneer Tom Savini, it rarely throws wide the doors into actual horror. Instead of getting half his face blown off in disturbing detail and haunting his childrens’ nightmares, Rendell gets cleanly shot in the abdomen and simply collapses. Fights with furious fear-demons result in cat-like scratches instead of gruesome, torn flesh. And when a certain door gets opened, there are no eyeball-shaped horrors to inspire wanton slaughter on the other side–just sparkly lights and some teenagers’ silly drama. New fans might enjoy the show’s playful tone, but those expecting the comics’ darker side will be disappointed.

And that was a deliberate choice for the show. Speaking to GameSpot, executive producer Carlton Cuse said he and Locke and Key’s other adapters tried to strike a ratio of “three cups fantasy to one cup horror.”

“It’s sort of an intuitive process,” Cuse continued. “[Showrunner] Meredith [Averill], we worked on Haunting of Hill House, and I had done Bates Motel before this, and I think that for both of us, we loved the kind of inviting, warm, heartfelt undertones to Joe [Hill]’s comic. And we wanted to have that be reflected in the story, in our adaptation of it. And I think that we felt like horror was an element, but we were much more interested in structuring the show on the fantasy axis.”

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It definitely shows. When one character uses the Ghost Key, which causes the user’s body to drop dead while their spirit flies loose around Keyhouse’s grounds, there’s no terror or danger to the discovery; instead, he flies to the ancestral Locke cemetery and encounters the friendly ghost of his grandfather. They have a nice chat, underscored by heartwarming, adventurous music. It feels like a scene from a Disney movie, not a horror series. Meanwhile, the Head Key doesn’t cause its user’s skull to open like a tin can–instead, it spawns a door that leads inside their mind. The body horror from the series’ pages is pretty much totally absent here.

That said, not all the changes are unwelcome. The Netflix version uses some of the keys more effectively for the TV format. For example, the aforementioned Head Key lets users view memories inside their own minds like browsing videos on Netflix itself (or at Blockbuster, for a less contemporary metaphor)–a smart change that gives the show an effective tool for diving into backstory and exposition that the comics didn’t have. There are some new additions to Keyhouse’s magic as well, like a key that creates fire and another that remixes a couple of keys from the books and combines them into something more versatile, with some really fun ripple effects on the larger plot.

Unfortunately, the show falls short again when it comes to the characters. Beyond just the Lockes themselves, many of the other characters have been significantly watered down compared with the source material. For example, Scot Kavanaugh (Cavendish in the show, for some reason) has been transformed from a brash, British invasion-style punk covered head-to-toe in tattoos, to a shy, ineffectual, heartbreakingly boring drama club stereotype (played to the best of his ability by Petrice Jones). He and a handful of new characters invented for the show make up the “Savini Squad,” a clique of misfits who are supposedly obsessed with horror films but appear to know very little about them (the honest-to-goodness dialogue “Final girls don’t hide!” will make any actual slasher fans want to open up their heads and throw the memory of it off a windy cliff). That’s the kind of sloppy writing and characterization that plagues the show.

Of course, those shortcomings aren’t the fault of Locke and Key’s mostly adequate cast. Stanchfield, Jessup, and Jones do a decent job as the core family members at the center of it, although poor Jackson Robert Scott–who horror fans may recognize as Georgie from the recent It movies–has been woefully miscast as a version of Bode who’s more precocious (and thus, annoying) than the mischievous, rambunctious kid from the books. Similarly, the murderous Sam Lesser (Thomas Mitchell Barnet), who was a disfigured force of nature in the comics, is way too sympathetic and not nearly threatening enough; he even gets characterized as the class clown at one point, which just feels wrong.

Luckily, more than one scene is stolen and subsequently saved over the series’ first 10 episodes by Laysla De Oliveira’s performance as Dodge (or “Well Lady,” as the Lockes often refer to her). Dodge plagues the Lockes throughout this season, popping up again and again to threaten and cajole them into giving her the keys she wants, providing a credible threat and a villainous throughline that keeps the show exciting. De Oliveira is forced to deal with just as much confused writing as the rest of the cast, like when she murders random people for no reason or stumbles on important discoveries by total coincidence, but the actress manages to hit the right balance of threatening and playful anyway, especially in scenes with Bode, with whom she has a fun but dangerous dynamic.

Dodge also demonstrates what the show does best for existing fans of the series: It effectively explores a new version of this beloved story. If you think you already know everything that’s going to happen on Locke and Key because you’ve read the comics 30 times, you’re guaranteed to be pleasantly surprised by some of the directions the show goes–even as you’re inevitably disappointed by the blunted horror and watered-down characters.

And if the Netflix version is your first introduction to Locke and Key and you don’t mind some cheesy writing, congratulations–you’ll probably enjoy the show just fine, without all the baggage of the high expectations that fans have been lugging around for the decade-plus since Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez’s masterful horror comics series debuted.

Luckily, this fan’s opinion doesn’t really matter, since work on Locke and Key Season 2 has already begun.