Comic Book Reviews for 7/4/12

Thanks all for being patient this week while we in the IGN Comics Review Crew enjoyed our firework blastin' holiday.

Only one week until San Diego Comic-Con, folks. It's hard to believe it's already been a year. But that doesn't mean the big releases are slowing down any -- this week saw the release of Batman: Earth One, Avengers vs. X-Men #7, a new He-Man comic, and the next chapter of the big return of the Lizard in The Amazing Spider-Man.

We should note that due to SDCC next week, there will be no comics review round-up. Sorry! We will, however, still be reviewing some of next week's bigger releases. You can follow our coverage of the show here.

DC COMICS

Action Comics #11

Written by Grant Morrison | Art by Various

"Even almost a year after the New 52 relaunch, I hear plenty of readers complaining that they don't like Superman because he isn't relatable. I can only assume those people haven't been reading Action Comics. For whatever problems this series might have, Grant Morrison is able to balance the various sides of Superman into a cohesive whole. The strong characterization drives the book forward even when the plot falters." -Jesse

Click to read the entire review!

Final Score:

7.0

Animal Man #11

Written by Jeff Lemire | Art by Alberto Ponticelli

"It’s the climax you’ve been waiting for that brings several plot threads together for a brawl to remember. One of those gross guys from the Rot is masquerading as Buddy Baker and has his son Cliff while the real Buddy gets a makeover of sorts from two Coneheads in the Red. Jeff Lemire not only provides a satisfying conclusion to his Extinction is Forever arc, but he evolves the character of Animal Man by changing the nature of his abilities for the better." -Joshua

Click to read the entire review!

Final Score:

8.0

Batman: Earth One

Written by Geoff Johns | Art by Gary Frank

"It’s hard to believe that it has been two and a half years since DC Comics announced the Earth One line of graphic novels, which included the reveal of Batman: Earth One. After the massive success of Superman: Earth One (though a critical disappointment), fans waited eagerly for the Dark Knight incarnation. Whether it was a creative delay or simply a marketing effort to wait for the next Batman movie, Geoff Johns and Gary Frank’s Batman: Earth One is here, and best of all, has been worth the wait." -Joey

Click to read the entire review!

Final Score:

9.0

Batwing #11

Written by Judd Winick | Art by Marcus To

"With Batwing, Nightwing, Batman, Penguin, a new villain, and a dragon all figuring into Batwing #11, you’d expect to find some interesting developments. The reality is that the story being told is full of happenings but lacking in impact. As a result, this issue ends up sagging for want of a compelling narrative backbone." -Poet

Click to read the entire review!

Final Score:

6.5

Before Watchmen: Ozymandias #1

Written by Len Wein | Art by Jae Lee

"Before Watchmen: Ozymandias is the first of these prequel titles to break the desire of plugging itself into the greater Watchmen universe and really hone in on character. That’s not to say there aren’t ties to the greater narrative at large, but Len Wein and Jae Lee’s first priority is delving into the mind and past of Adrian Veidt. Remarkably, the exploration of his background not only supplements the character’s motivations in the original Watchmen, but also makes the reader more sympathetic to them. That said, without the context of the original story, I fear Ozymandias #1 would be less effective." -Joey

Click to read the entire review!

Final Score:

8.0

Detective Comics #11

Written by Tony Daniel | Art by Julio Ferreira & Eduardo Pansic

"Batman has followed Mr. Toxic’s trail to Dr. Marden’s lab in Wayne Tower, but that’s only the beginning of the mystery. Improving on last month’s enjoyable installment of Detective Comics, Tony Daniel has penned one of the best issues of the series to date in issue #11." -Poet

Click to read the entire review!

Final Score:

7.0

Dial H #3

Written by China Mieville | Art by Mateus Santolouco

"If you’ve been reading Dial H, you already know it’s a weird book. It’s a good thing for readers to understand from the outset because writer China Mieville plunges his readers straight into the weirdness in issue #3. Longtime readers of the Dial H property will have an advantage over those who are just learning the ropes; however, it still takes until the last few pages for Mieville’s seemingly disparate clues to coalesce into something that makes sense. That may sound frustrating, but it actually continues the totally unique vibe of the series nicely." -Poet

Click to read the entire review!

Final Score:

8.0

Earth 2 #3

Written by James Robinson | Art by Nicola Scott

"Behold the origin of Earth 2’s Green Lantern. It’s nowhere near as powerful or epic as it tries to be. Instead, it functions as a rite of passage that so many heroes often have to endure: receive the power, put on the costume, and declare the agenda. While the actual proceedings are dry, there’s an unexpected layer of heart to it. Alan Scott lost his would-be fiance in last issue’s fiery train crash, so he pledges to fight in his memory. The only person more upset about this loss is me." -Joshua

Click to read the entire review!

Final Score:

7.0

G.I. Combat #3

Written by Various | Art by Various

"It's hard to complain about a concept as fundamentally sound as soldiers battling dinosaurs in a prehistoric wonderland. And to date, J.T. Krul's update of The War That time Forgot has been the primary draw with G.I. Combat. Unfortunately, even that appeal is beginning to wear thin with issue #3. Krul relies on the same storytelling elements once more in this arc. A brief flashback explores the civilian life of one of the soldiers, and then more dinosaur carnage ensues. What worked well enough for a couple months is becoming played out now." -Jesse

Click to read the entire review!

Final Score:

5.5

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe #1

Written by James Robinson | Art by Philip Tan

"For those of us that grew up that magical time known as the 80s, He-Man is a true icon. He's up there with G.I. Joe and Transformers. His world was filled with some of the most crazy-awesome heroes and villains ever to grace the cartoon world, and don't even get me started on the incredibly cool toys. Yes, He-Man was a big deal, but he has yet to have a proper resurgence -- a full-blown comeback -- like many of his 80s and 90s counter parts. DC Comics is looking to rectify that with a brand new He-Man and the Masters of the Universe comic series, and the good news is that the first issue is pretty decent." -Benjamin

Click to read the entire review!

Final Score:

7.5

Red Lanterns #11

Written by Peter Milligan | Art by Miguel Sepulveda

"Last issue blew me away with the focused story and impressive art, but here the splintered narrative breaks down the story’s strength to a point where Miguel Sepulveda’s spectacular art can do little to save it. The Red Lanterns are on a mission to fix their poisoned power in order to save their lives. While the conflict itself is solid, the way writer Peter Miligan has the different Red Lanterns go about fixing it is curious, making me wonder if their Corps would self destruct due to poor management if Abysmus hadn’t poisoned their central power battery." -Joshua

Click to read the entire review!

Final Score:

5.5

Stormwatch #11

Written by Peter Milligan | Art by Ignacio Calero

"Peter Milligan has a great story for Stormwatch here, but the clunky execution has it buried beneath an unclear plot and forced dialog. The Hidden People, a group of super powered survivor Neanderthals, have hatched a plan to devolve humanity with a powerful cube device. Sounds Stormwatch-y enough for me, but between the truncated history lesson in the beginning, the confusing action sequence in the middle, and the hokey mustache-twirling end, the team has seen better days." -Joshua

Click to read the entire review!

Final Score:

5.5

Source : ign[dot]com

Invincible #93 Review

Rather than simply have Cory Walker take over full art duties for a few issues, the current Invincible storyline has taken the interesting approach of dividing pages between Walker and Ryan Ottley. The two artists definitely work well together. Their styles are just similar enough to maintain consistency while also easily highlighting the differences between the Flaxan flashbacks and the present-day material. Ideally, this approach could be replicated in the future when Ottley needs a break and the story structure allows for it.

That being said, Robert Kirkman's decision to divide this arc along those two fronts has its drawbacks. The general pacing of the series seems to have slowed considerably in these most recent two issues. And particularly with the way the ending plays out in this issue (losing much of its impact because the reader isn't sure what exactly they're seeing or what it means), the book may have been better served by focusing solely on the Robot/Monster Girl flashbacks before diving into the new Flaxan conflict.

Still, there's plenty to enjoy in these pages. If Kirkman took his sweet time revealing what happened to Robot and Monster Girl in their time trapped in the Flaxan universe, the payoff is well worth it. That story is developing an unexpectedly tragic edge. It's also fun to watch mark deal with his newfound feelings of helplessness as the world falls into chaos once more. But perhaps the best aspect of this story is the way Kirkman is finally humanizing the new Invincible. Zandale's family woes nicely offset his tendency towards bravado and generally being a jerk.

Walking Dead may be hogging most of the spotlight when it comes to Robert Kirkman's work these days, but Invincible is still chugging along capably even with its lead hero out of action.

Jesse is a writer for IGN Comics and various other IGN channels. Follow Jesse on Twitter, or find him on IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

The Hobbit: It's a Wrap!

Director Peter Jackson announced on Facebook that his forthcoming two-part adaptation of The Hobbit has completed principal photography:

"We made it! Shoot day 266 and the end of principal photography on The Hobbit. Thanks to our fantastic cast and crew for getting us this far, and to all of you for your support! Next stop, the cutting room. Oh, and Comic Con!

Cheers, Peter J"

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey opens December 14. The Hobbit: There and Back Again opens December 13, 2013.

Source : ign[dot]com

Louie: "Telling Jokes/Set Up" Review

Note: Full spoilers for the episode follow.

First off, I was very happy to see Lilly and Jane back this week. This show gets a tremendous amount of wonderful material out of the scenes between Louie and his two daughters, with none of the cloying, saccharine crap regular sitcoms use when it comes to cute little kids. Young Ursula Parker is especially funny and natural, and had me cracking up as Jane exclaimed, “I don’t get it! I just don’t get it!” at a knock knock joke that went over her head.

The way we first heard Louie talk about her “Who didn’t let the gorilla in the ballet?” joke early in the episode in his standup routine and then actually saw her say it at the end was a really nice touch. The standup bit was hysterical, as he analyzed her thought process when she said this joke, while the payoff was just a sweet scene between father and daughter.

Of course, the main story here was Louie’s friends trying to set him up with a woman named Laurie (perfectly played by The Fighter’s Oscar-winning Melissa Leo), without bothering to tell either of them about it. What followed was an expertly-done Louie scenario – and a much more typically strong episode for the show than the season premiere. The way Louie and Laurie were both pissed off, but then had a sense of shared bemusement about the situation seemed to be heading towards a, “Hey, maybe there will be some sparks here after all…” situation.

Her then matter of factly giving him a blow job inside her truck was a surprise (to Louie as well), but it’s what followed that brought this to that special hysterical and yet pretty messed up place Louie can go.

Her proclamation, “I just sucked your d**k. You’re gonna eat my p**sy” was just one small segment of their very funny, very on point back and forth, as she demanded satisfaction, and Louie made things worse by saying stuff like, “If I had done what you did, I would feel like a whore,” while saying that going down on her would be too intimate. This was a classic male double standard of course (he had no objections to him doing something so “intimate” to him), but made all the more direct and graphic (and amusing) by the specific acts they were so openly discussing.

But it got really messed up when she went from calling him gay (seemingly to goad him into going down on her to prove his sexuality) to simply smashing his head into the window and forcing his face into her crotch. It’s one of those fascinating things… I have no doubt if the situation were reversed with a male character doing those exact actions to a female character (the initial sex act included), it would play as a ghastly, brutal sexual assault. But when Melissa Leo does that to Louis C.K., it’s a very funny moment… even though it still is, you know, a ghastly, brutal sexual assault. In fact, it’s funny almost because it’s so f**ked up. Damn if Louis C.K. doesn’t know how to tap into that weird place others wouldn’t think of going for humor. “Lick it! Lick it!”, indeed. This is a show not afraid to go to very uncomfortable and even twisted places, and I continue to admire it for that.

Despite Louie saying he’d be up for “going out” with Laurie again, I’m guessing that he won’t be seeing her again… But this is Louie, so you never know.

Eric Goldman is Executive Editor of IGN TV. You can follow him on Twitter and IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

Rumored 7” iPad Expected Later This Fall

According to two separate reports from Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal, Apple is planning to release a smaller iPad, with a screen between 7-8”. The tablet would directly compete with recently announced and expected tablets such as the Google Nexus 7 and Amazon Kindle Fire 2. Apple currently holds 61.4% of the tablet market with the company’s 9.7” iPad models, according to Gartner.

Bloomberg expects this new iPad model to be announced in October, to release the following March (the same time Apple releases new iPads annually). This is telling, as Apple typically doesn't announce new products so far in advance of release.

• Why Apple Shouldn't Make an iPad Mini

Pricing is still unknown, but analysts expect this smaller iPad to rival competitors pricing, though it would likely be slightly more expensive than the competition. The reports also indicate that the display will have a significantly lower resolution than the Retina display on the iPad.

Some reports suggest the smaller iPad will contain a 16:9 widescreen display instead of the current 4:3 on the iPad, with a lower resolution of 720p. This configuration would make it a prime competitor against other 7” tablets, but require developers to completely re-work previous iPad apps.

These reports may still prove false. The 7-inch tablet business has seen few victors, besides Amazon’s Kindle Fire, which subsidizes the low price for exclusive content available through the company’s Amazon Prime service. The Nexus 7 will likely prove to be another hot seller.

This isn’t the first time such reports have surfaced, but it is the first time two very similar reports have been released simultaneously from two completely different sources. We will continue to report on this as more information becomes available.

What do you think about a 7” iPad? Would you buy one, or get one over the current iPad? Or is it all fake?

Source : ign[dot]com

Why Apple Shouldn't Make an iPad Mini

Once upon a time, I had an argument with a coworker about whether or not Apple was making a 7-inch iPad. It went something like this:

“Apple is making a 7-inch iPad.”

“No they aren’t, you are dumb.”

“Of course they are, how else will they compete with the 7-inch Blackberry Playbook?”

Fast-forward two-and-a-half years and it becomes clear to all that my coworker is eating more hat than a face-hugger at a Limp Bizkit concert.

Analysts like to get their names seen by predicting what companies- especially companies like Apple - are up to. Sometimes they back up their hypothesis with facts, leaks, and anonymous sources. Sometimes they just flail their arms around like Zangief on a bad LSD trip.

This is the reason, year after year, we have to read about Apple’s inevitable 7” tablet, and why every year I have to field calls from friends asking me when a product that doesn’t exist is going to start existing.

First of all, I don't believe the iPad Mini exists, and I don't think it will ever exist. I think someone in Apple is intentionally floating false rumors so people won't buy Nexus 7's. But some very reputable sources seem to think it's a done deal. The iPad Mini could be coming to a fancy glass store near you as early as this fall.

Of course, I don’t know anything you don’t, but I feel like I know a whole Hell of a lot more than analysts who say Apple must position themselves against the Nexus 7s, the Kindle Fires, and other products that are so far behind Apple in terms of sales, that they aren’t even directly competing with the iPad.

Like it or not, the current slew of 7-inch tablets are competing for second place.

“

Apple has never been in the business of competing for the low-end.

The argument I keep hearing is that for some reason Apple isn’t content with simply dominating a market they created a mere two+ years ago, but that they also must own the offshoots. A 7.85” iPad would compete with the Kindle Fire and Nexus 7 and become king of the lower end of the market. But it would mostly compete with the 10” iPad, and therein lies the problem.

Apple has never been in the business of competing for the low-end. Apple makes high-quality products at high price points, and it appears to me that strategy is working out just fine for them.

Furthermore, the iPad already has more SKU’s than a game of Scrabble. There are currently 18 versions of the new iPad(!), and six versions of the iPad 2, all of which are on sale simultaneously. Customers not only have to choose color, they have to choose carrier and size. Another version of the tablet would make choosing between tablets even more confusing to consumers and, more importantly, cannibalize their own 10” tablet sales.

That's the really important part: by making a 7-inch tablet, Apple would be implicitly stating that the 7-inch form factor is important, and if that's the case, how could you be sure the 10” iPad was really the ultimate tablet experience? It's not just my own opinion that a 10" tablet is a far superior experience to a 7-inch.

Steve Jobs famously repudiated 7-inch tablets in 2010 with some very choice words, including:

• "This size is useless unless you include sandpaper so users can sand their fingers down to a quarter of their size."


• "...We think the screen is too small to express the software. As a software driven company, we think about the software strategies first."


• "7-inch tablets are tweeners: too big to compete with a smartphone and too small to compete with the iPad."


• "We don't think you can make a great tablet with a 7-inch screen."

That’s not to say the iPad Mini is some entirely fabricated impossibility, just that Apple shouldn't make it.

If recent rumors are to be believed, Apple will try out a new size for their next iPhone. We may very well see the rise of the 4” iPhone later this year (sidenote: this likely won’t be called the iPhone 5, because it’s the sixth generation iPhone). Up until now, Apple has stuck to their 3.5” guns, and has had an incredibly successful run.

In order to see why Apple would upsize their phone, one must first understand that the first iPhone was huge. But in the last five years, the general public has adopted larger phones. In fact, every flagship phone is currently larger than the iPhone – The Galaxy S3 at 4.8”, the HTC One X at 4.7”, the Nokia Lumia 900 at 4.3”.

Apple’s little 3.5” seems undeniably compact – which is a good place to be, separated from the competition, but it also shows the general public is ready and willing for larger phones. By trimming the top and bottom borders up a bit, Apple could create an iPhone that was bigger but not a lot larger.

The tablet market, on the other hand, is a different beast. The iPad is winning the tablet wars with a brilliant display and a solid, but not cheap, price tag. While no company should rest on their laurels while competitors play catch up, the introduction of a 7-inch Apple-brand tablet would cause more problems than it's worth.

What do you think? Should Apple make a 7-inch tablet in addition to their 9.7-inch iPad?

Nic is the Editor of IGN Tech. He loves technology almost as much as Wall-E, Boyz II Men, and Fable 1. You can follow him on Twitter and IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

The Amazing Spider-Man #689 Review

As with Spider-man 3 and the Back in Black storyline, Marvel is tailoring a new Amazing Spider-Man arc to appeal to fans of a recent movie. Luckily, the execution is much better this time around. No Turning Back is a logical offshoot of threads that have been building with Horizon Labs, the Lizard, and Morbius.

Issue #689 improves on the previous chapter right away by ditching the pointless flash-forwards and offering a more straightforward script. Morbius and Spider-Man believe they've restored Curt Connors, not realizing that the Lizard Brain is still in full control. This adds a nice little dose of tension to the story as the Lizard bides his time and struggles to maintain his facade in the halls of Horizon. That said, I've always felt Dan Slott's depiction of The Lizard lacked some of the creepy, inhuman quality that Zeb Wells introduced in Shed. That gulf only grows wider now that the Lizard's vocabulary and intelligence seem to have expanded considerably.

In many ways, this arc is more about Morbius' latest fall from grace, and that's where a lot of the most effective emotional work is found. There's little reason to view Connors as anything other than a lurking threat, but where this arc will leave the well-meaning but sadly corrupted Morbius is anyone's guess.Slott's handling of the character is strong enough that I didn't mind the fact that Peter's own current emotional issues are relegated to the background. What did bug me was a brief interlude involving Madame Web and more predictions about Spider-Man's dark future. The sequence felt random and out of place in the context of this arc.

Giuseppe Camuncoli's art fits the darker tone of this arc in some ways. His Connors is every bit as slinky and brooding as one could hope for, and his Morbius both brooding and tragic. However, too many of the civilian characters also have a dour look about them. Perhaps Klaus Janson's inks lend to harsh an edge to the pencils.

If not without its flaws, No Turning Back is a refreshing change of pace for the series, and not a bad gateway for prospective new readers looking for more Spider-Man vs. Lizard shenanigans.

Jesse is a writer for IGN Comics and various other IGN channels. Follow Jesse on Twitter, or find him on IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

What Spider-Man and the Lizard Almost Looked Like

And the Amazing Spider-Man news just keeps coming… First up: It sounds like Sony is positioning the reboot as the first part of a trilogy. Or their marketing department is anyway.

The film's official Facebook page posted the following on Monday: "The Amazing Spider-Man is the first installment in a movie trilogy that will explore how our fave hero's journey was shaped by the disappearance of his parents." That messaging is then followed by a call to buy tickets, so while it might sound like a confirmation that there will be two more films in the series, it strikes me as more of a left-corporate-hand not knowing what the right-corporate-hand is doing kind of thing. Time will tell.

Of more interest, though, is the appearance online today of some concept art for the film that reveals what Spider-Man and the Lizard could've looked like. First up, via Movies.com, some alternate designs from The Aaron Sims Company:

This next one is based on actor Chris Cooper (for some reason):

And here's an interesting take on Spidey which feels much more tied into the original Sam Raimi costume:

Meanwhile, io9 uncovered some concepts from artist Eddie Yang and George Hull. Check out the very 2099 web-cape on that one Spidey below:

Follow Movies Editor Scott Collura on Twitter at @ScottIGN, on IGN, and subscribe to his Facebook updates.

Source : ign[dot]com

Exclusive: How It Should Have Ended Presents Batman and Superman's Comic-Con Thoughts

For the past few years, the gang at How It Should Have Ended have offered animated, comedic takes on “What If?” style finales to everything from Assassin’s Creed to The Avengers to Game of Thrones: Season 1. Along the way, they’ve also launched the ongoing “Super Cafe” segments, where Batman and Superman hang out, Seinfeld-style, to chat about this and that. As producer Tina Alexander explained, “Daniel [Baxter] came up with the first appearance of 'Super Cafe' in our original Superman HISHE. He wanted to put Superman and Batman in a casual situation where they could talk about their lives and a diner seemed a good fit. We started to put it in all our super hero shorts but fans demanded seeing it even more than that... so we decided to start a little series of just ‘Super Café’.”

Alexander added, “And you never know who might be joining them!” Which is very true, considering a memorable recent installment found Super Mario trying to hang out with Superman and Batman, much to the dismay of the World’s Finest.

With San Diego Comic-Con just a week away, IGN is happy to present the exclusive debut of a new installment of How It Should Have Ended’s Super Cafe, with the focus on that uber-popular convention. Check out the video below, to see Batman and Superman debate the appeal of Cosplay, being the first to see footage from films like Iron Man 3 and The Hobbit and more.

Alexander noted they actually debated which of these Super Friends would be the cynic, revealing, “The original script had Superman playing the cynic and Batman pointing out that he dresses up like a human everyday (a joke we were sad to lose, but it didn't make sense in the reversal). But then we remembered that Dark Knight Rises was suspiciously absent (in panel form) from the Con last year, which disappointed a lot of fans. So maybe Batman isn't into it? At that point we reversed things and we felt like it was a lot funnier to have Superman threaten to make him go."

Still, if Batman were to actually make it to Comic-Con, Alexander feels he’d change his tune. “I'm pretty certain he'd be a huge hit and become a regular attendee. How could he not enjoy all that fan love? After all, he's Batman!”

Source : ign[dot]com

Is the Kindle Fire 2 Incoming?

The Kindle Fire 2, Amazon’s expected upcoming Android-based media tablet, is rumored to be in production to ship starting as early as July, according to the China Times. If rumors are true, the tablet will again be built by Quanta, the same company that built the original Fire and Research in Motion’s Blackberry PlayBook tablet. According to the report, the Fire 2 will have a metallic frame, but there is no word on the size or components.

The Kindle Fire uses a highly modified version of Android, and offers complete access to its Prime service for owners. We reviewed the Kindle Fire back in November.

The original Kindle Fire sold at a loss for Amazon, and that is unlikely to change with the Fire 2, especially now that it has a new competitor in the Nexus 7.

Amazon has reportedly ordered two million Fire 2 units.

The Kindle Fire 2 was originally expected to release on August 7th, but according to the report may be announced and released in July or August. What do you think? Are you interested in the Kindle Fire 2?

Source : ign[dot]com

Spider-Man Has an Amazing Holiday Turnout

The results are in, and Sony's The Amazing Spider-Man is definitely on the upswing. Box office reports show that Marc Webb's new 3D tentpole has pulled in a stellar $59.3 million domestically in its first two days.

The Hollywood Reporter notes that Wednesday's $23.4 million gross was the second-best 4th of July showing of all time after Transformers, which earned $29.1 million that same day in 2007. Additionally, the film is on track to make $125 million to $140 million by the end of its six-day debut.

With a budget of $220 million, Spider-Man is mainly being fueled by positive word-of-mouth. Despite its familiar storyline, the fans are turning out in droves to see Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone in the updated roles of Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy. IMAX ticket sales have also given the film a nice leg up over the competition.

Max Nicholson is a writer for IGN, and he desperately seeks your approval. Show him some love on Twitter and IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

Nintendo Downloads of the Week (07.05.12)

It’s Thursday, Koopalings! And as download fans well know, that means another batch of downloadable goodies has been released across the Nintendo's various systems. Today also marks the beginning of the company's “8-bit Summer” for the 3DS eShop, during which Nintendo will release two Virtual Console games a week from now through the end of the month. Hooray for retro goodness!

So take a look at this week’s offerings below, then be sure to check back at the end of the month for our thoughts on the best the eShop has to offer.

The Legend of Zelda

Available on: 3DS (Virtual Console)

Price: $4.99

Publisher: Nintendo

Description: Reunite the Triforce and send Ganon packing with this smash-hit adventure, originally released on the NES console in 1987. Ganon, the King of Evil, has broken free of the Dark World and has captured Hyrule’s beloved Princess Zelda. But before she was caught, Zelda managed to shatter the Triforce of Wisdom and scatter its eight pieces throughout Hyrule. Begin your adventure by finding a small wooden sword in a dark cave. As you grow in stature, experience and strength, so do your weapons. Help Link collect the captured pieces of the Triforce, rescue the princess and thwart Ganon’s evil plans.

NES Open Tournament Golf

Available on: 3DS (Virtual Console)

Price: $4.99

Publisher: Nintendo

Description: We all know Mario™ is a hero, but did you know he’s also a world-class golfer? This classic NES game from 1991 lets you challenge another player in Stroke, Match and Tournament modes. Play on three fantasy courses in the United States, the UK and Japan, and try to win a million dollars. Make sure you keep an eye on the wind and the distance to the hole before selecting your club, or else you’ll be racking up some high scores –which is exactly what you don’t want to do in this game.

Family Tennis 3D

Available on: 3DS

Price: $6.99

Publisher: Arc System Works

Description: There are six different courts, and eight playable characters. With the addition of Easy Mode, absolutely anyone can play with the press of a button and look great while doing it. Start with the Tournament to unlock everything in the gallery, then try the minigames: Roulette Rally, Human Backboard, and Survivor.

Akari by Nikoli

Available on: 3DS

Price:$4.99

Publisher: Hamster Corporation

Description: Akari is a puzzle in which you set lights based on the hint numbers in order to light up the entirety of the white space. There’s both a Stage Clear mode and a Random mode. In Stage Clear mode, you progress by clearing puzzles one by one, and in "Random" mode puzzles are generated at random.

Topoloco

Available on: DSi, 3DS

Price: $4.99 (3DS), 500 Points (DSi)

Publisher: Abstraction Games

Description: Meet professor Topoloco. He's absolutely crazy about topography and he is glad to have you in his world topography class! For each of the 5 continents he covers you can practice your skills in a series of mini-games like locating cities and countries, dragging flags, and more! You can practice as much as you want in order to prepare for a final exam which you can take whenever you think you're ready.

3, 2, 1... WordsUp!

Available on: DSi, 3DS

Price: $1.99 (3DS), 200 Points (DSi)

Publisher: EnjoyUp Games

Description: Build the maximum number of words with the same combination of letters. Do it before time runs out or you will lose! Practice your mental agility and your knowledge of the language in 3, 2, 1... WordsUp!

Let's Create! Pottery

Available on: Wii

Price: 500 Wii Points

Publisher: Infinite Dreams Inc.

Official Description: Become a true artist and create "one of a kind" pottery items and share them with your friends! Throw the clay on the wheel, release all your artistic talents and take benefit of dozens of materials available in order to create your own design!

2020 SUPER BASEBALL

Available on: Wii (Virtual Console)

Price: 900 Wii Points

Publisher: D4 Enterprise

Description: Originally released in 1991, this is not your typical baseball game. In the near future, there are two leagues with a total of 12 teams for players to choose from. Pick your team and go for the championship. The games are held at the exclusive Cyber Egg Stadium, where the home run zone is alarmingly small and the fair zone is unusually wide. You may be a bit perplexed at first, but once you get used to it and begin devising a strategy, you might even start enjoying all the curveballs being thrown at you.

That wraps it up for this week’s full releases. In other download news, a Heroes of Ruin demo is now available for free on the 3DS eShop. Finally, Nintendo’s 3DSWare title Sakura Samurai: Art of the Sword has been selected as the Game of the Weekend, and will be available for the discounted price of $4.99 from now until Sunday, July 8 at 9:00PM (PST). In case you missed our full Sakura Samurai review - it’s pretty awesome, so take this chance to check it out if you haven’t already.

Until next time, Koopalings - game on!

Audrey Drake is an Associate Editor at IGN and a proud member of the IGN Nintendo team. She is also a lifelong gamer, a frequent banisher of evil and a wielder of various legendary blades. You can follow her wild adventures on her IGN blog and Twitter. Game on!

Source : ign[dot]com

Futurama: "The Thief of Baghead" Review

Warning: Full spoilers from the episode to follow.

It's been a while since we've seen an episode of All My Circuits, hasn't it? It was great to see the return of the ever self-centered Calculon at the start of "The Thief of Baghead," still plugging along as the world's greatest actor of all time. Futurama has always done an excellent job of satirizing the soap opera genre, and the beginning of this week's episode was no exception. Putting twists on the traditional genre conventions never ceases to entertain, and Calculon's opening monologue about a murderer being in the room ("It's me!") firmly established that notion.

The aquarium scene had some good moments, particularly Fry's fascination with 31st century fishtanks. It was also "Neat!" to see Bender's frequent picture-taking become a central focal point of the episode. The chemical darkroom and lens gags were pretty funny, as was Bender's shutterbug stalking of Calculon. ("At last, we can enjoy our studio-mandated quality time!")

Bender's turn as a professional paparazzo had some okay jokes, but it wasn't until we learned about Langdon Cobb that the story really began to pick up. Easily one of the best scenes in the episode was Bender showing his Cobb snap to Fry, Amy and Hermes. His deduction process was one of the funniest bits of the episode. ("The evidence is mounting! Although two times hardly establishes a pattern.")

As for the actual Langdon Cobb character, his whole bag-over-the-head schtick provided a few chuckles -- mostly in his personal documentary -- but the bit grew a little tiresome by the end of the episode. However, the Professor's "quantum lycan" explanation for why Cobb's face couldn't be revealed was pretty enjoyable, especially his fastidious distinction between souls and "life forces." But it was the World Acting Championship where things really got cooking.

It will be interesting to see if the writers actually follow through on Calculon's food coloring suicide. On the one hand, it'd be a shame if that was really the end of his character. On the other, if that truly was Calculon's demise, I don't know if I could come up with a better way to write him off. In either case, it was a nice touch leaving his motionless corpse up on stage for the rest of the episode, and it was almost funnier that it was never directly addressed.

The results of the giant fungal brawl also tied things up in a nice, roundabout way. The covert mission with the Professor and Zoidberg on one end with Leela and Bender on the other was a fun pair up on both sides. Bender's darkroom sequence was also a great way to bring the story back around to Bender's central arc, and it's always a treat when the writers can work his character into inadvertently saving the day.

Overall, "The Thief in Baghead" was another quality entry to Season 7. This episode was a great example of how Futurama can veer off into radically bizarre territory while also capturing the quirky behavior and mannerisms of its eccentric characters. It's always a plus, too, when the writers can incorporate the principle cast into the main storyline (even if that means turning some of their bodies into inanimate husks).

Max Nicholson is a writer for IGN, and he desperately seeks your approval. Show him some love on Twitter and IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

Battleship Preview

Movie tie-in games are rarely any good. Too often the focus for these games is quick cash-in and not on producing an actual game. There is a small group of titles, however, that are the exception to this rule: Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay, the classic Tron arcade game, Star Wars Episode I: Racer, Spiderman 2, and, of course, GoldenEye, all come to mind. This year Activision and Hasbro are hoping to add another title to this list with their new title Battleship.

Battleship is unique in that it’s not only a movie tie-in but it’s also based on the classic board game of the same name. But if you’re expecting to pick up Battleship and get a simple copy and paste of either the board game or the movie, you’ll be disappointed. You won’t be looking at a polygonal game board, and Rihanna and Liam Neeson are nowhere to be found. Instead, players are in for one of the most unique gaming experiences I’ve seen in some time, and a title that has the potential to be one of the year’s standouts.

Developer Activision’s mission with Battleship is ‘War on the shore, spectacle at sea’ and they’ve done a spectacular job achieving that, even in the early build of the game that I saw. The gameplay in Battleship is split into two distinct modes that players switch between seamlessly. First you command your ships RTS-style using a map that is reminiscent of the original board game. As in the original you are only aware of enemy ships once you’ve managed to figure out their location, which you can do by blindly moving into new positions or by using special items, like radar, that can be found and unlocked. After you’ve positioned your ships gameplay shifts to a first person shooter with missions to be accomplished. Whenever you need to move your ships you simply pull up the map and do so at will.

The nifty thing about juggling these two gameplay styles is the symbiotic relationship they have; the position of your ships and your skill in defeating the enemy's will affect and even change the nature of your on-foot missions, and while on-foot you can acquire items and upgrades for your ships, and take over checkpoints that will allow them more navigational freedom. Even mission objectives can change depending on the direction each battle has taken. To put this into board game terms: each mission is a cleared board.

Every decision made is vital because ultimately the enemy aliens of Battleship are responding directly to the player; there are no scripted events. How a player positions their ships at the start of a level will change when, where, and how many enemies they face. You can play the same mission again and again and it will be a completely different experience each time. Even the developers I watched play were surprised by their own game a few times. What’s more, while Battleship’s shooter gameplay is mostly cover-based, there is a wide array of weapons that allow for run and gun as well as non-lethal damage. This is a game that caters to the individual player’s style, while also dropping in surprises to keep you on your toes. Battleship’s Wildcard system shakes things up with weapons, ship upgrades, and more that appear as item drops in FPS mode. There’s even a ship control card that gives you direct control of your ships and twenty seconds to deal massive damage to your enemies; think of it as a Street Fighter style ultra-combo of sorts. The Wildcards operate like a shuffled deck; you know what you have available to you, but you never know when, where, or what card will show up for you to use. They can turn the tide of battle, but there’s no guarantee you’ll be able to access the ones you need when you need them.

Now eventually we have to ask, how does Battleship connect to the film? Well as I mentioned, don’t expect any Rhirhi cameos; this is an original side story set in the same universe as the film, but not a one to one translation. Activision has really given this game their all, working with both the filmmakers and Hasbro to craft a title that will satisfy moviegoers, board game lovers, and gamers. There’s a lot of polish to the title, and little details that really make it shine: When you move a ship on the map you can actually see the ship moving in real time while on-foot, and battles between ships you can observe as well; you really get the sense that this war is happening all around you. The game’s color palette is refreshing in that it not only has color, a rare thing in contemporary shooters, but it also embraces color with aliens, Hawaiian environments, and skylines that really pop while still feeling gritty and realistic. The design's aesthetic more than gets the job done, and some of the aliens, like the rolling Shredders, really stand out, giving Battleship a unique feel.

is still early in its development cycle, but based on the little I’ve seen I can only hope this one won’t fly too far under the radar; it definitely has the potential to blow up. There are a lot of fresh ideas on the table here, and that alone is worth lauding. I must admit that when I first sat down to play I wasn’t very enthused, but now it is already looking to be a must buy.

Battleship drops for both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 later this year.

Source : gamezone[dot]com

Making Sense of Amazing Spider-Man's After Credits End Scene

SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE FOR AN UPDATE TO THIS STORY.

SPOILERS FOLLOW FOR THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN.

DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO BE SPOILED ON THE FILM.

The Amazing Spider-Man, Sony's reboot of the wallcrawler, just hit theaters today, but some fans are already buzzing about the planned sequel to the film. Amazing Spider-Man 2 is already being written by Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci (Transformers, Star Trek), so it would seem logical that the studio would want to tease that follow-up in some way to the many, many fans who are seeing the film this summer.

The Amazing Spider-Man Movie Review

Additionally, Chronicle director Josh Trank has been rumored to be up for a Venom solo movie. So clearly Sony wants to mine the Spider-Man universe. And let's assume they've at least taken notice -- as has the rest of the world -- of the very successful Marvel Studios movies, and in particular the resounding success of The Avengers. An Easter egg or after-credits scene of course makes sense for Amazing Spider-Man -- and we in fact do get one in the middle of the end credits of the new film. But what does it mean exactly?

Does whatever a spider can

The brief scene features Dr. Curt Connors, the once and future Lizard, who has now been imprisoned. As he sits in his cell, a shadowy figure appears from out of nowhere -- did he teleport into the cell? -- and a brief exchange takes place between the two regarding Peter Parker's father. The mysterious character asks Connors if he told Peter about his father, and then shortly thereafter he seemingly disappears once again. Actually, you can catch a glimpse of this scene in the third Spider-Man trailer:

Scrub to 1.24 to see Dr. Connors' mysterious pal.

Who is this guy? Is he Connors' boss, lurking in the dark corners of the film, but actually the real villain of the piece? We know that Connors works for Oscorp, and we know who runs Oscorp, don't we? Norman Osborn, of course! A.k.a the Green Goblin -- or at least, the guy who will become the Green Goblin one day -- Osborn is one of the big bads of the Marvel universe. He's Spidey's arch foe much as the Joker is Batman's, and let's not forget that Chris Nolan decided to save the Joker for his second Batman movie. And of course, Osborn is named-dropped throughout Amazing Spider-Man... though doesn't it seem a bit too obvious for it to actually be him?

Dr. Connors, a.k.a. the Lizard

Another possibility, though perhaps more of a long shot than Osborn, is -- wait for it -- Peter Parker's dad himself, Richard Parker! Played by Campbell Scott in flashback (along with Embeth Davidtz as Pete's mom Mary), Richard is said to be dead during this film, having been killed when Peter was still a boy -- in the grand Spider-Man tradition. But it also is clear that Richard Parker's dealings with Dr. Connors and Oscorp, of which he was also an employee before his death, tie directly into Peter's origin as Spider-Man in this film. And reportedly, the plan is to continue to flesh out this story arc in future movies. Loyal Marvel zombies will also recall that Spidey's folks did return from the dead in the comics at one point -- kinda sorta. Actually, they turned out to be Life Model Decoys. Ask Tony Stark what that is if you don't know.

One other suggestion -- and this is total fanboyism at work -- is this is a Venom tie-in. The character -- sometimes a villain, sometimes an antihero, and sometimes a hero -- remains very popular. His current incarnation in the comics is as Flash Thompson, Peter Parker's longtime frenemy, and Flash is in fact in the new movie (played by Chris Zylka). And again, Sony is still pushing for a Venom movie… So, yeah. Not sure how that shadowy guy could tie-in to Venom, but that's what retconning is for!

Fans have suggested the Easter egg character might be Electro (flash of light!) or Mysterio (magic tricks!) or any number of other Spidey villains, while others are whispering that it's Inglourious Basterds' Christoph Waltz playing the role. And the bottom line is, unlike The Avengers Thanos Easter egg, the Spidey ending is vague enough that it really could wind up being any of the above when Amazing Spider-Man 2 hits a couple of years from now.

Who do you think the shadowy figure at the end of Amazing Spider-Man is? Discuss below!

Update #1: This story has been updated since it first ran in May, with specific details from the film added.

Update #2: Ain't It Cool spoke to Rhys Ifans, who plays Dr. Connors in the film, and he said that the mystery character is not Norman Osborn. "A representative from OsCorp appears miraculously in the room," he tells the site. "How he gets in there and how he leaves, we don’t know. Maybe we will find out. But it’s not Norman Osborn. ... But it is someone who is in the employ of Norman Osborn without question."

The site followed up by asking, "[It's] someone we're familiar with, who we don’t know is employed by Osborn?" And Ifans replied, "Yeah."

So if it's not Osborn, then who the heck could it be?

Talk to Movies Editor Scott Collura on Twitter at @ScottIGN, on IGN, and on Facebook.

Source : ign[dot]com

Gamesplanet Lab Combines Kickstarter and Steam

Following the massive number of users on Steam and the success of Kickstarter campaigns in recent months, indie game distributor Gamesplanet has teamed up with crowdfunding site Ulele to join digital distribution with user-generated funding in the form of Gamesplanet Lab.

Gamesplanet Lab will allow developers to seek funding for potential projects, but will also provide tools and support for actual development. Once a game is completed, it can be sold through Gamesplanet Lab, and backers can have their pre-orders fulfilled directly, without the need for an additional distribution platform. Backers will also be able to check in on a game’s progress while it’s in active development.

All games will be checked by Gamesplanet Lab to verify that they’re up to expected standards and that “reward fulfillment, community communication and more is conducted professionally and honestly.” Devs will also have to agree to a 10-point charter, including providing clear information, maintaining a clear timetable, guaranteeing the delivery of rewards, prioritizing customer experience for DRM and more.

Gamesplanet stresses that all developers will retain control of their creations, saying in a statement that “This is not a publishing house. No matter what support Gamesplanet Lab offers, developers retain full control and copyright over their ideas. Gamesplanet Lab is also committed to putting the gaming experience first, by demanding not only good results but a gamer friendly approach to the issue of DRM.”

The first two Gamesplanet Lab projects are Day One, an adventure game featuring dark comedy by developer Pendulo, and first-person shooter Magrunner: Dark Pulse from developer 3AM Games. More information about both projects, as well as more details about Gamesplanet Lab itself, are available on the Gamesplanet Lab official site.

Andrew Goldfarb is IGN’s associate news editor. Keep up with pictures of the latest food he’s been eating by following him on Twitter or IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

The Best Time to Buy a Game Online is...

When is the best time to buy games online, and save the most cash? Turns out, it’s early in the week. Buying on a Monday can, on average, save five percent against buying at the weekend.

These are the findings of a survey by online pricing and coupons outfit Extrabux. CEO Jeff Nobbs told IGN that the company had monitored hundreds of games, consoles and peripherals sold online, and concluded that it’s way smarter to shop online early in the week.

The reason? People tend to do their online shopping at work. Nobbs explains, “A lot of consumers do their window-shopping on the weekends, but then they wait until Monday morning when they're back at work in front of their big monitor to actually complete the purchase. Online retailers are aware of this, and so they make their prices as low as possible early in the week”.

The average price for video game-related products hits $70.19 on a Friday. But on a Monday, it’s down to $67.17, according to the research.

Nobbs adds, “If the retailer has a great deal on a video game, that creates a lot of buzz on a Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday when there's the most shoppers out there willing to purchase a product. If they make their prices really low on a Friday, it's counterproductive, because not nearly as many shoppers are out there looking for video games on a Friday or over the weekend.”

Even though many people have perfectly fast Internet connections at home, shopping from work is still more popular. Nobbs says, “They don’t want to do it on their own free time. It's on their employers' time. Most employers don't have insight into whether or not their workers shop online at work. It’s like social media. Research shows that the best time to post something on Facebook is around 11AM in the middle of the week, because that's when most people are at work, bored, in front of their computers. And so they share all these pictures and viral videos.”

Although shopping online is best early in the week, traditional retail shopping is still best done on the weekends. Nobbs says, “In the real world, when you're at work, you can't also be at Best Buy. They focus on having their big sales over the weekend, because that's when people can actually go to the store and shop.”

“

If the retailer has a great deal on a video game, that creates a lot of buzz early in the week.

Prices for games creep up during the week and hit a high on Fridays. They then begin to drop over the weekend because, when employees in charge of monitoring prices are off work, computer algorithms take over most pricing decisions. They compete with each other and prices drop. However, fail-safes are locked in. Nobbs says, “Back in maybe 2004 you might have seen some very low prices as bugs and glitches took over and drove the prices down. But that’s all been figured out by retailers now, and they set minimums and maximums.”

Extrabux also tracked pricing for home computers, TV sets and cameras and found similar trends.

Of course, shopping habits are changing fast. A third of gamers now say they prefer to buy content digitally. Online retailers like Steam have their own algorithms and offers based on buying-patterns that are different from those associated with packaged goods, bought online or in real stores.

Do you have any tricks for bargain-hunting games? Share them with us in the comments belo.

Colin Campbell writes features for IGN. You can join him on Twitter and at IGN for chats about games.

Source : ign[dot]com

Avengers vs. X-Men #7 Review

After five issues of dull fighting and jumpy narratives, Avengers vs. X-Men #6 was the first chapter to realize the potential of this event. But the constantly rotating cast of writers means readers can never be sure that the quality will remain consistent, a fact that has been both a blessing and a curse for this book. AvX backslides a bit in issue #7. Luckily, Act 2 still remains markedly improved over Act 1.

Cyclops closed out issue #6 by promising "No more Avengers." We've seen that decree play out a bit in certain tie-in books, but here we see the full might of the Phoenix Five unleashed against Captain America's ragtag team. The tables certainly have changed since the Avengers stormed Utopia at the end of issue #1. While Cap keeps fighting a losing battle against the X-Men, Matt Fraction also follows Tony Stark and Black Panther's desperate battle to find a scientific solution and explores the twin mysteries of how Scarlet Witch and the Iron Fist factor into the conflict.

Characterization is one area this series has often faltered. The problems now are ones of consistency and focus. Both within this series and among the various tie-ins, there's very little consistency in how the Phoenix Five are portrayed. Are they retaining their normal personalities for now, or is the Phoenix Force speaking through them? It's really difficult to tell at times, but on the whole Fraction's dialogue for these five X-Men is much more casual than we saw from Jonathan Hickman in issue #6. In some ways this works better, as we see a bit of bickering and dissension among the group, but again, greater consistency would be nice.

This issue is also too narrow in its focus at times. For one thing, the various X-Men not currently empowered by the Phoenix are nothing more than window dressing -- extra bodies to toss into battle scenes. Unlike issue #6 and its Magneto/Xavier exchange, there's absolutely no sense of how the X-Men are reacting to their sudden rise in fortunes. How do characters like Psylocke and Storm feel about hunting down the Avengers in brutal, militaristic fashion? Uncanny X-Men #15 does a great job of mining that material, but that brings us back to one of the recurring complaints about this event -- too much vital story material is being left to the tie-ins. AvX is also beginning to feel a bit like Fear Itself in the sense that there's no wider context for the conflict. This issue is so concerned with specific Avengers and X-Men characters that it ignores how the rest of the world is responding to the conflict between heroes and the actions of the Phoenix Five. It's as if the Marvel Universe is an empty place beyond those few dozen creatures wearing spandex.

Still, this issue does a lot right, as well. Fraction does a fine job of capturing the growing tension on the Avengers side. The interaction between Black Panther and Tony Stark stands out particularly. These two have never had the warmest of relationships to start with, but here Tony's latent death wish becomes a major source of friction for them both. With Wolverine continuing to fade into the background in Act 2, it's really Panther of all characters that is stepping us as the neutral party and moderate voice of reason. Marvel has also been promising a major game-changer with this issue. While I'm not sure I would describe the final pages as "game-changing," Fraction does deliver an impressive escalation in the conflict that promises a very memorable issue #8.

Issue #6 also does a better job than most of providing fully realized, engaging battle scenes rather than the choppy, truncated ones of earlier issues. Fraction's script makes excellent use of Olivier Coipel's talent for epic scale and bold, dramatic figures. Coipel nails the tense emotions as the Avengers struggle to remain free, as well as the surreal action as characters like Magik and Scarlet Witch unleash their full power. There's an impressive amount of detail and energy at work in these pages, and it's a shame that Coipel only has one issue remaining before the next visual shake-up.

As with nearly every chapter of this event, Avengers vs. X-Men #7 is guilty of glossing over certain vital parts of the story in its charge forward. Even so, the series remains in better shape than it was during Act 1. I would be surprised if issue #8 were to kill that momentum given the groundwork Fraction has laid here.

Jesse is a writer for IGN Comics and various other IGN channels. Follow Jesse on Twitter, or find him on IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

The Dark Knight Rises: Air Superiority

Check out the latest international TV spot for The Dark Knight Rises, featuring more snappy dialogue from Lucius Fox and shots of The Bat:

The Dark Knight Rises opens July 20.

Source : ign[dot]com

THQ No Longer Publishing Devil’s Third

THQ will not be publishing Devil’s Third. While the company made it clear that it no longer wanted to publish the game back in May, the final decision has now been made, and rights to the game have been returned to creator Tomonobu Itagaki.

“THQ confirms that the company will not be publishing Devil’s Third,” a spokesperson said in a statement provided to IGN. “All of the game’s IP rights have been returned to Itagaki-san and the Valhalla team.”

Devil’s Third was originally announced in the days leading up to E3 2010 and later slated for release in 2012. According to a THQ earnings call earlier this year, the game was forced to switch engines partway through development, as the studio behind the original engine went out of business. We last heard that Devil’s Third was running on an adapted version of the engine used by Space Marine developer Relic.

For now, now publisher has been confirmed for the game moving forward, but keep checking back to IGN for updates as they’re announced.

Andrew Goldfarb is IGN’s associate news editor. Keep up with pictures of the latest food he’s been eating by following him on Twitter or IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

NiGHTS Into Dreams HD Remake Confirmed

Sega has confirmed that an HD remake of Saturn classic NiGHTS Into Dreams is indeed on the way, and will be released via Xbox Live Arcade, PSN and PC digital download this Autumn.

Originally released in 1996, NiGHTS Into Dreams is one of Sega's most fondly-remembered games, and fans have been clamouring for a new one for years, not sated by a Japan-only PS2 remake and a Wii sequel in 2007. IGN reported that this remake may well be on the cards just a few days ago, after Sega posted a mysterious, NiGHTS-suggestive image on its Facebook page.

This new version will include an optional "Saturn mode" that will let you experience the game in its original form, if that's your thing.

NiGHTS joins Jet Set Radio Future, which is also being re-released in HD later this summer, in Sega's line-up of HD remakes. An HD remake of Shenmue for XBLA and PSN has also been heavily rumoured, but not confirmed.

Source : ign[dot]com

Is Final Fantasy XIII-3 On The Way?

No further content will be released for Final Fantasy XIII-2, but that doesn't mean Square Enix is done with Gran Pulse and Cocoon.

In an interview with Japanese magazine Famitsu (via Andriasang), FFXIII and XIII-2 director Motomu Toriyama dropped some hints that we may soon be adventuring with Lightning once more.

“

The [FFXIII-2] Lightning download content had an ending that left a feeling mystery and hope. The day when the meaning of this will come to light is not too far off.

When asked if whether Final Fantasy XIII would be a focus at the the upcoming Final Fantasy 25th Anniversary event, he replied, "The [FFXIII-2] Lightning download content had an ending that left a feeling mystery and hope. The day when the meaning of this will come to light is not too far off."

Speculation about the possibility of a third instalment in Lightning's story has been rife since Final Fantasy XIII-2 ended with the words "to be continued", but this was later suggested to refer to DLC.  Now though it seems the original idea could be closer to the mark.

Thankfully we won't have to wait too long to find out; the anniversary event mentioned by Toriyama is scheduled to take place at an art gallery in Shibuya from August 31.

Despite the exciting realms of possibility this opens up, there are some drawbacks.  Firstly, while it was never likely the team were going to start work on a Final Fantasy VII remake anytime soon, this pretty much confirms it isn't a priority.

Secondly, Toriyama had some ominous comments for anyone waiting for the HD remake of Final Fantasy X.  It seems a release date is still nowhere near being set, as he explained, "Regarding HD conversions, there is a lot to look into, so please wait a bit more."

Luke Karmali is IGN's UK Editorial Assistant.  You too can revel in mediocrity by following him on IGN and on Twitter.

Source : ign[dot]com

Mojang to release Minecraft 1.3 on 1st August

In a blog post, Mojang announced Minecraft 1.3 will be available on the 1st of August.

Version 1.3 will include many sweeping changes to the popular game.

“The most dramatic change is that we’ve kicked out single-player, and made it a shell on top of multi-player. There are two major benefits to this: first, it’s required for the modding api if we don’t want to have multiple implementations of every mod, and second, if we fix a bug in single-player, we know the bug is fixed in multi-player, too. Previously we had to fix bugs both in relation to single-player and multi-player.”

Other changes include adding emerald ore that can be used for currency in villages to purchase and sell goods, the ability to write in books, the addition of trip wire to create contraptions, “added new stairs, new half-slabs, cocoa plants and tweaked dispensers, leaves, cauldrons, levers, gravel, pressure plates, cookies, buckets, boats, minecarts, ice, furnaces… Plus you get magic orbs from mining and smelting (and not just killing monsters)!”

Also added is a bare bones “adventure mode,” which is promised to be more fleshed out in version 1.4.

There is one glaring problem caused by the restructuring of multi and single player modes, however, resulting in an increase of computing power needed since “…the game needs to be able to both simulate and emulate the world, which take many more CPU cycles. We’re working on optimizing rendering, but those improvements will not be included until Minecraft 1.4.”

Furthermore some features and bug fixes that were supposed to be in 1.3 have been pushed back until version 1.4. Notably they failed to fix a lighting glitch that makes some blocks appear black, and failed to provide the user with an API for modding due to time constraints.

Version 1.3 brings about a ton of changes that should prove to keep Minecraft players very busy, until version 1.4 is released sometime in the future.

A list of all the changes between versions can be found on Reddit.

Source : ign[dot]com