Month: August 2020

You’d have to look pretty hard to find a movie lover who isn’t a fan of Studio Ghibli. The Japanese animation company, along with distributor GKIDS, have been metering out new limited-edition steelbook versions of studio’s films on Blu-ray. Four of the upcoming titles, including Princess Mononoke and My Neighbor Totoro, are currently available for discounts of up to 33% off. The three films that are out already are also discounted.

The MSRP for the upcoming special editions is $26.99, but Amazon currently has them on sale for various discounts. The prices on these have been fluctuating quite a bit, but if you lock in a preorder you’ll get the lowest price the movies drop to, even if they go back up prior to release. It’s a good deal.

[poilib element=”commerceDeal” parameters=”slug=studio-ghibli-steelbooks”]

These steelbook editions come with a number of extras, like full-color booklets, storyboards, behind-the-scenes clips, interviews, audio commentaries, and more.

That said, if all you want is to watch the movies, you can stream the entire Studio Ghibli collection on HBO Max. But if you prefer having a collection of handsome steelbook special editions, you won’t find a better deal than these right here.

[poilib element=”accentDivider”]

Chris Reed is IGN’s shopping and commerce editor. You can follow him on Twitter @_chrislreed.

[widget path=”ign/modules/recirc” parameters=”title=&type=articles%2Cvideos&tags=us-shopping&count=3&columnCount=3&theme=article”]

Ahead of xCloud’s full launch on Android next month, Samsung has announced a neat promotion for the upcoming Note 20 smartphone and Galaxy Tab S7 tablet. Pre-orders of either device will come with three months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and an Xbox controller, immediately opening the door for streaming Xbox games on new Samsung devices starting September 15.

Announced during Samsung’s latest Unpacked event and reported by our sister site CNET, the deal will be available starting tomorrow, August 6 when pre-orders go live for the Note 20. The Galaxy Tab S7 releases later this year.

The Note 20 retails for $1,000, while a more powerful Note 20 Ultra 5G costs $1,300. If you pre-order at Best Buy, you could save up to $700 on your purchase depending on which device you trade in and also get up to $150 in Samsung credit. The Galaxy Tab S7’s price starts at $649, and a beefier S7+ will be available starting at $849.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Comedy Central has officially handed out a series order for a “reimagining” of The Ren & Stimpy Show, more than two decades after the classic animated series went off the air.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the network is planning on hiring an all-new creative team for the revived series, which will be “reimagined for a new generation” with Nickelodeon overseeing the project. However, there is no word yet on who will be sitting in the writer’s room, how many episodes have been greenlit, or when the new series will premiere.

[ignvideo width=610 height=374 url=http://www.ign.com/videos/2015/09/25/ign-uk-podcast-299-the-best-90s-tv-shows-to-watch-growing-up]

“We are excited to reinvent this iconic franchise with a new creative team and our partners at the Nickelodeon Animation Studio,” said Chris McCarthy, President of ViacomCBS Entertainment & Youth Group. “Ren & Stimpy joins our rapidly expanding roster of adult animation including South Park, Beavis and Butt-Head and Clone High as we continue to reimagine our treasure chest of beloved IP for new generations.”

The original animated series launched in 1991 as part of Nickelodeon’s Nicktoons lineup; the series followed the adventures of a disturbed chihuahua and a chowderheaded cat for five seasons before being officially cancelled in 1995. At the time, The Ren & Stimpy Show served as a precursor to the likes of Beavis and Butt-Head and South Park, wowing the college crowd with its dark humour, adult jokes, and controversial scenarios.

[widget path=”global/article/imagegallery” parameters=”albumSlug=the-25-best-adult-cartoon-tv-series&captions=true”]

The Ren & Stimpy reboot joins a growing roster of animated properties being revived at Comedy Central, with this latest announcement coming just over a  month after the network commissioned two new seasons of Beavis and Butt-Head and acquired Daria spinoff Jodie, focused on Tracee Ellis Ross’ character Jodie Landon. Still, we think there are a few other animated sitcoms that deserve a revival yet.

[poilib element=”accentDivider”]

Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.

The Ren & Stimpy Show is now joining the growing list of ’90s animated series getting a revival. Comedy Central announced in a release that the Emmy-nominated cult hit show is coming back, but not many further details beyond that.

“I want to thank our partners at Nick Animation as we re-imagine these iconic characters with a new creative team,” said Nina L. Diaz, president of content and chief creative officer for ViacomCBS Entertainment & Youth Group.

Noticeably absent from the terse announcement is any mention of the show’s original creator, cartoonist John Kricfalusi. That isn’t exactly a shock, however. In 2018, Kricfalusi was accused by two women of sexually harassing them while they were underage. He subsequently released an apology for his behavior, blaming his mental health and “poor impulse control.”

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones made The Fugitive an iconic film back in 1993, earning an impressive seven Academy Award nominations, with Jones walking away with a statue for Best Supporting Actor. Twenty-seven years later, actors Kiefer Sutherland and Boyd Holbrook are starring in a new version of the franchise on the Quibi streaming platform.

While this interpretation of The Fugitive features an innocent man on the run, who’s trying to clear his name, there are some distinct differences from the Harrison Ford film. “The biggest thing that I liked,” Sutherland explained, “was that [The Fugitive] didn’t center around one crime and that it didn’t center around one murder. The scope of the crime was much larger and it involved a terrorist attack.”

For more on what Sutherland and Holbrook have to say about their respective roles in The Fugitive, IGN can exclusively reveal a never-before-seen featurette in the video below or at the top of the page:

[ignvideo url=”https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/08/04/the-fugitive-exclusive-clip-reveals-how-quibis-version-differs-from-harrison-ford-film”]

Sutherland also jokes about collaborating with 24 director Stephen Hopkins once again. “He’s the only director where I’ve actually been doing a scene and he called out in the middle of the scenes, ‘you’re boring me.’ And it made me laugh while he said it.”

The Fugitive is currently airing on Quibi every weekday until August 18.

[widget path=”global/article/imagegallery” parameters=”albumSlug=quibis-movie-and-tv-shows-reviewed&captions=true”]

[poilib element=”accentDivider”]

David Griffin still watches DuckTales in his pajamas with a cereal bowl in hand. He’s also the TV Editor for IGN. Say hi on Twitter.

Developer Cold Symmetry has announced that its Dark Souls-inspired RPG Mortal Shell launches on August 18 for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. The studio shared a release date trailer showcasing the new Ballistazooka ranged weapon, which you can check out below.

Published by Playstack, Mortal Shell can be purchased from digital retailers–the Epic Games Store, Microsoft Store, and PlayStation Store–for $30, with a Steam version slated to drop sometime in 2021.

“Launching Mortal Shell worldwide is a dream come true,” said Cold Symmetry’s four co-founders in a joint statement. “Our commitment to our fans is to create a souls-like game that is authentic, uncompromising and unrelenting. We were humbled by the popularity of the beta and we closely studied the feedback we received to create something that we are incredibly proud of.”

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Ninja is back on Twitch, and he’s received a raucous response from viewers. Over 100,000 viewers tuned in to watch Ninja play Call of Duty: Warzone with Lupo, and the number is holding steady at around 60,000 now.

Arguably the most famous streamer in the world–he had over 14 million followers on Twitch before he switched platforms–Ninja signed a $50 million deal to stream exclusively on Microsoft’s Mixer back in August 2019. However, Microsoft announced that Mixer would close earlier this summer, triggering speculation as to what platform Ninja would stream on next.

Though he briefly streamed on YouTube last month, this is the first time Ninja has streamed on Twitch in a year. According to a tweet from esports consultant Rod Breslau, as with YouTube, this Twitch stream is not the result of a deal with the platform, and both he and fellow big-name streamer Shroud are still negotiating with the different platforms.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Developer Mediatonic has shared the extent of Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout‘s launch day traffic, and the numbers are mightily impressive for a new indie game. During its first 24 hours on sale, the wacky 60-person battle royale had over 1.5 million new players. This number is split between both Steam and PlayStation 4, where the game is available for free on the latter if you’re a PlayStation Plus subscriber.

Fall Guys launched yesterday to immense popularity. The massively online party game already took Twitch by storm during its beta period, becoming the most-watched game on the streaming platform during the weekend of July 27. So it’s no surprise that the game’s servers struggled to handle the load in the hours following its release.

According to SteamDB, the peak for concurrent players on PC currently stands at 76,520. Mediatonic also announced yesterday afternoon that the overall number of concurrent players on both platforms was over 120k, but that number may have risen since then. PlayStation Plus has certainly contributed to those 1.5 million new players, but that hasn’t stopped Fall Guys from reaching the top of the Steam top sellers list either.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Developer Obsidian Entertainment has certainly been busy ever since Microsoft acquired the studio back in 2018. It just launched Grounded, the arachnophobic survival game, in Early Access on both PC and Xbox One, and just last month it unveiled the first-person RPG Avowed during Microsoft’s Xbox Series X Showcase Event.

As it turns out, the famed RPG developer also has another project in the works. Studio design director Josh Sawyer, who led the development of Fallout: New Vegas and both Pillars of Eternity games, has revealed that he’s working on something new. This tidbit of information cropped up after Sawyer posted a blog post on Tumblr describing his job role at Obsidian. In response to the post, a Twitter user expressed sadness that Sawyer isn’t overseeing his own project, to which the design director replied that he’s heading up something new that isn’t Avowed.

It’s surprising that Sawyer isn’t handling director duties on Avowed. We don’t know too much about the upcoming RPG, but it’s been established that it’s set in the Pillars of Eternity universe which Sawyer is intimately familiar with. We do know, however, that he won’t be working on another Pillars of Eternity sequel. Despite reviewing well, Deadfire didn’t sell, and Sawyer says a third game will only happen if the devs can get “jazzed” about it.

Continue Reading at GameSpot

Dipping into the well of under-appreciated Wii U titles again, Nintendo has announced Pikmin 3 Deluxe for Nintendo Switch. It’s out on October 30 and will retail for $60 USD.

Pikmin 3 Deluxe brings with it the traditional Pikmin formula, where you’ll amass a small platoon of brightly color-coded Pikmin to help you in combat, puzzle solving, and resource gathering. The deluxe version coming to the Switch will include all the game’s original DLC, as well as new prologue and epilogue missions with Olimar and Louie. Additional difficulty options will also be included in the remaster.

The entirety of Pikmin 3 Deluxe will also be playable in co-op, including its included DLC and new missions. The action should be more seamless too with new lock-on targeting options and additional hints for those who might need them. A new Piklopedia has also been added, giving you more insight into the creatures you’ll encounter throughout the campaign.

Continue Reading at GameSpot