With an abundance of streaming providers out there, including the newly released Disney+ and Apple TV+ platforms, all competing for your hard-earned cash, knowing which streaming service is the best can be a pretty daunting task. If you still have questions about the future of streaming, then you’ve come to the right place. All week long, as part of IGN’s State of Streaming series, we’ll be debuting reviews and in-depth analysis about current streaming providers like Netflix and Amazon, as well as upcoming services like NBCUniversal’s Peacock and WarnerMedia’s HBO Max. So keep it locked on IGN this week for all of your streaming needs.
Google Exec on How Stadia Factors Into the Next-Gen Future
Welcome to the newly relaunched IGN Unfiltered, my monthly interview series where I sit down with the best, brightest, and most fascinating minds in the video game industry. I’m back with a brand-new bar/arcade set – complete with a working beer tap! My guest this month is Phil Harrison, who joined Sony during the early PlayStation days and rose through the ranks. He shares career stories from behind the scenes of the PS2 and PS3, and also of his time at Microsoft in the late-Xbox 360, early-Xbox One era. And don’t miss part 2 of this Unfiltered interview tomorrow, which focuses on Harrison’s present-day job running the Stadia platform at Google.
Check out the episode in the video above, but if you’d prefer to listen to the full, unedited episode, here’s an audio-only podcast download link. One way or the other we hope you’ll check out the interview!
Black Friday Deal Alert: Nintendo Switch with Pokemon Sword or Shield for £279
With the recent release of Pokemon Sword and Shield for the Nintendo Switch, it is no surprise that the game can now be found bundled with the console.
This bundle is priced at £279, which means if you’re investing in a Switch to play Pokemon, you can save yourself around £45 right away. This bundle is the same price as a standard Switch system, which means you can play either Pokemon Sword or Shield at no extra cost.
Get the LEGO UCS Millennium Falcon 40% Off During Black Friday at Amazon
Amazon is gearing up for Black Friday with its “Happy HoliDeals” savings page, a reskinned version of its usual Deal of the Day landing page. On it you can find savings on hundreds of items ahead of Black Friday, including some really excellent early chances to save on 4K TVs from TCL, Samsung, and Sony.
Apart from its HoliDeals branding, the biggest and best Black Friday deals haven’t officially started at Amazon. Once its competitors start, Amazon will begin price-matching on just about everything, so if you start seeing Best Buy or Walmart offering Black Friday deals, expect to see the same items with the same discounts at Amazon.
The Best Black Friday TV Deals: Cheap 4K and OLED TVs on Sale Now
Welcome to IGN’s Black Friday TV deals page, your source for all the best TV deals you can get in the UK this month.
If you’re in the market for a new TV, Black Friday sales are a great place to start. Most types of TV will receive some kind of discount, and if you look in the right places you could grab yourself a real bargain. Whether you’re after a brand new OLED set, or simply the most affordable 4K TV available, this is the best time of year to make a purchase.
The New Trailer For Cats Will Make You A Dog Person
Actors and musicians you know and love are all going to be turned into cats this Christmas for the upcoming musical journey Cats. The latest trailer for the upcoming December movie has arrived, and it is, aesthetically speaking, nightmare-fuel. I will never sleep again.
Back in July, we got our first glimpse of the movie, and it got everyone on the internet talking, but probably not in the way Universal Pictures had hoped. You can see the latest trailer below, which doesn’t really add anything that we didn’t already know.
The latest trailer shows off celebrities as cats. Do you like Idris Elba? Well, he’s a cat named Macavity. Does the music of Taylor Swift make you happy? Well, she plays a cat named Bombalurina. Also appearing are Sir Ian McKellen as Gus The Theater Cat, Rebel Wilson as Jennyanydots, Dame Judi Dench as Old Deuteronomy, James Corden as Bustopher Jones, Jennifer Hudson as Grizabella, Jason Derulo as Rum Tum Tugger, and Francesca Hayward as Victoria–the only cat without a ridiculous name.
We also get lots of people, dressed as cats, doing cat things. Bustopher Jones hisses at another cat then licks the back of his hand to rub on his head, just like cats do. There are also lots of cat puns as well. There’s also tap dancing and dance-offs, which may not be a spectacle humans see day-to-day, but surely, these are things cats probably do when we’re not looking.
The movie is based on the Broadway play by Andrew Lloyd Webber which is based on a poetry collection by T.S. Eliot. The movie is about a group of cats that have to pick another cat to live in the Heaviside Layer–which is very posh and classy. All street cats want a life of luxury, being spoiled with Fancy Feast served to them on satin pillows in gold bowls.
Cats claws its way into theaters on December 25.
Frozen 2: Everything You Need to Know Before the Sequel
Frozen became a smash-hit for Disney when it was released in 2013. The female empowerment story turned the idea of what a Disney film could be on its head and reinvigorated the studio’s animation division. The Oscar-winning computer-animated flick introduced fans to Elsa and Anna, a pair of sisters whose strange, isolated life is torn apart after the death of their parents. Elsa’s journey of self-discovery quickly made Frozen a cultural phenomenon and the fact that it was filled with catchy songs and adult-friendly jokes that were reminiscent of a Pixar film didn’t hurt either.
Now over half a decade later, Anna, Elsa, Sven, Kristoff, and Olaf are returning to the big screen in Frozen 2. In case you didn’t check out the rebel of the Disney Princess family when it was first released, or if you just need a primer on the original, you can catch up on everything you need to know about the beautiful modern fairy tale right here!
Shenmue 3 Actually Exists, Is Out Now
Shenmue 3 has finally arrived, putting an end to an almost 20 year Shenmue dry spell. The series debuted on the Dreamcast and the most recent game was released in 2001. It was always planned as a larger narrative, but fans of the series have been waiting a long time to see it return.
The story follows Ryo Hazuki, and a recent launch trailer showed some nostalgic elements as well as continuing story hooks like the antagonist Lan Di. The first two games weren’t commercial successes, but the franchise has remained a cult favorite for its portrayal of daily life in Japan and a grounded story.
Even aside from the long wait for a sequel, Shenmue 3 itself has been a long time coming. The Kickstarter opened on June 15, 2015, and quickly broke Kickstarter records–with an assist from Sony’s E3 press conference. Original director Keiji Okayasu returned to direct the revival project. It’s available on both PS4 and PC, though its Epic Games Store exclusivity on PC has been the cause of some controversy.
Reviews of the game are sparse so far, with only user reviews available on GameSpot sister site Metacritic. Still, the Kickstarter success suggests the fan demand is high, so success here could warrant further sequels and deliver on the series’ goal of being a multi-part epic. If you need to catch up, a remaster of Shenmue 1 & 2 were released last year.
Amazon’s Lord Of The Rings Show Renewed For Season 2
Amazon’s upcoming Lord of the Rings show is one of the most anticipated series set to arrive in the next few years. Although it’s yet to start production and no release date has been announced, it’s been reported that Season 2 has already been greenlit.
According to Deadline, Amazon has renewed the Lord of the Rings series for a second season. Season 1 is currently in pre-production, and like Peter Jackson’s movies, will be filmed in New Zealand. There have been no official cast announcements yet either, but it’s been rumored that Will Poulter, Markella Kavenagh, and Joseph Mawle are among the actors who have been cast so far.
The Season 2 renewal isn’t a huge surprise. The massive deal that Amazon signed with JRR Tolkien’s estate in 2017 included a multi-season commitment, although, as Deadline states, the studio still has to officially greenlight each season.
The new Lord of the Rings show is being written by JD Payne and Patrick McKay, with former Game of Thrones series producer Bryan Cogman joining the team in September. Jurassic World: Forbidden Kingdom director JA Bayona is set to direct the first two episodes of Season 1. The show will go on a 4-5 month hiatus after the first two episodes have been shot, to allow producers to evaluate the footage so far and work on scripts for Season 2.
As for what the show will be about, it will be set in the Second Age, which is a 3,441-year period that covered major events like the forging of the Rings of Power, including the One Ring; the War of Sauron, the beginning of the Ringwraiths, and when Numenor the island sank into the ocean. Also, it was during the Second Age that the Elven city of Rivendell was developed and the great battle where men, elves, and dwarves fought together for the first time against Sauron.
In other news, a new Lord of the Rings video game focused on Gollum is in development at Daedalic Entertainment, while a AAA online Lord of the Rings game is also on the way.
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order Is A Huge Step For Respawn
Developer Respawn began 2019 with a bang, introducing Apex Legends as the next step in its evolution. With Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, that evolution has hanged once again.