Who Are Your Favorite Quirky Characters In Media?

Guardians of the Galaxy hits theaters tomorrow, and we're super excited for it. Seeing Rocket Raccoon -- the gun-toting, talking raccoon -- on the big screen will surely be something to behold. Crazy, eccentric characters make everything more interesting, and we wanted to know what the quirkiest characters were in media.

We got the conversation started by asking our All-Stars from IGN Blogs and Wikis what their thoughts were; read what they had to say below, and share yours in our comments section!

dunc7827: My favorite quirky characters are The Minions from Despicable Me. Each has their own unique personality and they're really funny.

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Once Upon a Time: More Photos of Frozen's Characters

Once Upon a Time is cooling down.

Now that filming is well underway for Season 4, we're getting peeks at the new Frozen additions to the cast. Elsa, Anna, and Kristoff will first appear in the season opener. We've already got our first glimpse of Elsa (Georgina Haig), and we saw Anna (Elizabeth Lail) and Elsa together in footage shown at San Diego Comic-Con. But now, it's time to meet Kristoff (Scott Michael Foster) and Sven the reindeer in new photos from Season 4.

The clip from Comic-Con revealed Anna's getting married, and chances are good that it's to Arendelle's Official Ice Master, Kristoff. In promo photos, Elsa and Kristoff are having a conversation in a barn alongside Sven. Like Elsa and Anna, Kristoff is wearing a costume similar to what he wears in the animated film.

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Chuck Osborn's 10 Favorite Games Ever

From the desk of Managing Editor Chuck Osborn...

As you can imagine, it’s a stupidly difficult task trying to whittle a lifetime of game-playing down to just 10 games. Sure, I could -- and very nearly did -- lengthen the list so that I could fit in some more recent favorites, but that felt like cheating. So I kept it to a nice round list of 10 games: the ones that touched me the most personally or had me playing them over and over again.

This means I had to cut out a lot of great games, especially more recent ones that I loved. Games like Batman: Arkham City, LEGO

, The Walking Dead series, Skyrim, DC Universe Online, and more. Plus the venerable oldies that most gamers would yell at me for not putting on this list like the original Legend of Zelda or Super Metroid. This list isn’t necessarily about quality, though -- these are my personal favorites. Each one is a step in my formative journey as a gamer.

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How Did You Kill Time in The Destiny Beta?

The Destiny beta was awesome. One of the greatest things about an RPG like this is the ability kill time and do whatever you want in the world.

With different ways to waste time, we asked the IGN community what they enjoyed doing when they weren't on a mission.

@IGN @DestinyTheGame dancing. It's fun. Occasionally I will throw a wave out to folks.

— Nathan Martin (@Editwithmouse) July 30, 2014

@IGN @DestinyTheGame Cliff Break Dance Competitions http://ift.tt/UORx3Z

— Samuel J. Abood ⛳️ (@SamuelAbood) July 30, 2014

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Get On Up Review

James Brown embraced many a moniker over the course of his 50-year career: TK, “The Hardest Working Man in Show Business,” and later, “The Godfather of Soul.” A bundle of raw energy bolted through song, swagger, and mashed potato dance moves, modesty was not Brown's forte. The peculiar disconnection may have been his greatest asset.

In Get on Up, the first Brown biopic with Hollywood sheen, star Chadwick Boseman takes the stage swinging, glowing with a confidence to match his non-fictional counterpart. Though the actor lip-syncs his way through Brown's electrifying discography, it's impossible to tell. His vocal physicality, choreography, piercing eyes, and every bead of sweat that trickles down the man's forehead is transportive.

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FIFA 15 More Realistic Than Ever With 'Agility and Control'

A new video from EA Sports shows off FIFA 15's "Agility and Control" feature, showing how heightened physics adds responsiveness and fluidity to the gameplay.

Players now demonstrate a better ability to counterbalance when moving rapidly, and the movement and personality of real-life players is reflected in their in-game counterparts. For example, Leo Messi, a predominantly left-footed player, will also play with that foot in-game.

New physics has been applied to the ball, which will keep momentum and accurate spin, adding variety and realism to players as they pass, dribble, and control the ball. Additionally, small details such as shoulder barges, fall physics, and even shirt-pulling will be depicted, adding further realism to the game.

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Black Widow and Punisher Team Up in "Friend From Foe"

As two of the more deadly and gun-loving killers in the Marvel Universe, Black Widow and the Punisher have crossed paths before. And now that both characters' respective solo titles are being written by the same eprson, what better time for another meeting between Natasha Romanov and Frank Castle.

We've got an exclusive look at next week's "Friend From Foe" crossover, which unfold in the pages of Black Widow #9 (written by Nathan Edmondson and illustrated by Phil Noto) and The Punisher #9 (written by Edmondson and illustrated by Mitch Gerads). Marvel is promising that each issue can be enjoyed on its own, but together they tell two sides of a larger story as the two characters unite to deal with Crossbones and his Skull Squad. Look for both issues to be released on Wednesday, August 6.

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World of Warcraft Getting Some New Faces-- Literally

Soon, the familiar faces in World of Warcraft will be a thing of the past. No, Blizzard isn't radically altering the look of its gold-standard MMO, but instead it's bringing characters' faces inline with more modern graphical techniques.

It's no easy task, however. According to the latest edition of Artcraft, the low-polygon heads and texture overlays meant things like facial expressions were simply "painted on" the texture. Blizzard points to a sneering Dwarf lip as an example. Before, it was just a simple addition of a sneering lip texture over the relatively flat character model, but with the new facial customization system in place coming with World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor, a sneer means adjusting the model to pose a sneer, adding the appropriate textures, then meshing "that base pose with all of the existing emotes and animations."

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Gearbox Fights the Aliens: Colonial Marines Lawsuit

Gearbox Software is fighting against a lawsuit with SEGA, which claimed Gearbox funneled money for Aliens: Colonial Marines into other projects. Documents obtained by Polygon detail the ongoing drama's next steps.

Last year, plaintiff Damion Perrine filed a class action lawsuit against Gearbox and SEGA, saying that the pair "falsely advertised Aliens by showing demos at trade shows like PAX and E3 which didn't end up being accurate representations of the final product." According to the lawsuit, Gearbox and SEGA "never told anyone—consumers, industry critics, reviewers, or reporters—that their 'actual gameplay' demonstration advertising campaign bore little resemblance to the retail product that would eventually be sold to a large community of unwitting purchasers." At the time, Gearbox told us that the lawsuit was "beyond meritless" and "frivolous."

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Bioware Releases a Second Teaser for New Project

Bioware has released a second teaser trailer for its unannounced project, which will likely be revealed at Gamescom in August.

Much like the first of the "You've Been Chosen" teasers, the "Spark" trailer suggests that the Mass Effect developer's new project, possibly called Shadow Realms, is a horror game. The teaser concludes with the question, "Do you know they are watching?" possibly suggesting the inclusion of supernatural or extraterrestrial life. The previous teaser, titled "Nightmare," posed the question, "What really happens when we sleep?"

We speculated that the new project is either the new IP from Bioware's Edmonton studio or Bioware's unrevealed project with Failbetter Games.

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Lionhead and EA Veterans Announce Multiplayer Sandbox Oort Online

UK-based studio Wonderstruck, whose employee lineup features many veterans of companies such as Lionhead and EA, has announced that its next project Oort Online is now available for early access and pre-order.

Oort Online is an ambitious voxel-based multiplayer sandbox that will have players visiting different planets, each with unique appearances, resources, and player creations. You'll be able to choose what sort of life you lead on Oort, whether it's that of a temple-raiding explorer or a shrewd trader, and craft tools and weapons for your chosen path.

The team hopes that Oort will become a "second home" for its players, and is running a crowdfunding campaign in the hopes of making that dream a reality. Instead of going the usual Kickstarter route, Oort Online can be backed via its website, allowing backers to select from various reward tiers. The lowest paid tier entitles you to a game key upon launch for $15, though if you're really keen, you could pay anywhere from $95 to a whopping $5000 for instant pre-alpha access.

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Play Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn For Free

For those wanting to try Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, now is your chance. Square Enix is launching a free trial, starting today.

PC players can try the fantasy MMORPG for free for 14 days. The trial allows game play up to level 20 with some limitations on in-game activities. To play, you'll need to download the trial software and create a free trial account. You can access the free trial via Square Enix's site.

Final Fantasy XIV Online: A Realm Reborn is a beautiful and fun, subscription-based MMORPG. We gave it an 8.6 in our review.

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Call of Duty: Ghosts Nemesis DLC Release Date Announced

Developer Infinity Ward announced today that the fourth and final DLC pack for Call of Duty: Ghosts is incoming.

Titled Nemesis, the pack includes four new multiplayer maps and the final chapter in the story-driven Extinction saga.

The first of the maps, Goldrush, takes place in an abandoned gold mine and contains two roving mine carts, giving players a fast-travel option to traverse the environment. Completion of the map's field order will call in a pack of wolves to take out other players.

Subzero is set on a mysteriously abandoned Canadian submarine base. This medium-sized map features a unique kill streak that calls in a blizzard seemingly occupied by angry and vengeful spirits.

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Graphic Novel Review: Bryan Lee O'Malley's Seconds

It's often said that the second book is the hardest for an author. For Bryan Lee O'Malley, it might be more accurate to say that the eight book is the hardest. Following his graphic novel debut with 2003's Lost At Sea, O'Malley devoted most of his energy to the Scott Pilgrim series. Six volumes and one movie adaptation later, O'Malley has earned numerous awards and a legion of rabid followers. Where does a creator go from there? Is there anywhere to go but down?

Seconds is appropriately titled, because it's both a story about second chances and a chance for O'Malley to launch the next phase of his artistic career. It showcases an artist maturing in his visual style and mode of storytelling without losing any of the charm or whimsy that made the Scott Pilgrim series stand out. So while it's a very different kind of graphic novel from the Scott Pilgrim books or Lost at Sea, O'Malley fanatics will feel right at home with Seconds.

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Killer Instinct Getting a Retail Release

Killer Instinct is getting a retail release for Xbox One, Microsoft announced today.

Called the Killer Instinct: Combo Breaker Pack, the physical edition of the popular fighting game will be available starting September 23 for $20 USD. You can check out the official box art for the game below.

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This Week in the Nintendo eShop

We're on the cusp of "MegAugust" here on the eShop, as every week in August, a new Mega Man game will come out on Wii U Virtual Console. It started a day early with Mega Man Battle Network, the 2001 GBA RPG. Aside from that, this week has a few updated releases of games, including the 3DS remake of the 1992 Genesis game Steel Empire and a remastered version of the PC rhythm adventure Frederic: Resurrection of Music. Don't forget the sales, too, as Assassin's Creed IV is getting dropped to $30 on the Wii U eShop next week.

Mega Man Battle Network ($7.99)

Originally debutting in 2001 on Game Boy Advance, Mega Man Battle Network is another spinoff of the classic series but this time it's a tactical RPG. Set in a world where Mega Man is a computer program (dubbed MegaMan.EXE) and the villain is the WWW organization, Battle Network is pretty out there, but the real-time grid-based combat is engrossing, fusing the Mega Man style with an RPG format. The story's dumb, though. Real dumb.

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Michael Douglas on The Wasp in Ant-Man

While promoting Ant-Man at San Diego Comic-Con over the weekend, Henry Pym actor Michael Douglas discussed the role and fate of his wife Janet van Dyne — known as The Wasp — in the upcoming Marvel film. (Warning: Spoilers ahead!)

Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Douglas revealed that The Wasp appears to die sometime while he's working on the serum that allows Pym to transform into the size of an ant. "My name is Dr. Henry Pym. I’m an entomologist. I’m also a physicist and I discovered in 1963, a way, a serum to reduce a human being to the size of ant maintaining the strength," explained Douglas.

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F1 2014 Announced; Check Out the First Trailer

Codemasters revealed today F1 2014 is coming to PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 on October 17 in the UK and October 21 in North America.

F1 2014 will feature new turbocharged cars and circuits, as well as an expanded scenario mode. Codemasters is also promising refined career mode options, with creative director Stephen Hood elaborating on the changes coming to the new racing title.

“There’s been a dramatic shift in the sport; the largest shakeup in the rules and regulations for a very long time and the new power units provide a very different kind of challenge, for both driver and team," he said. "... Additionally, with the new driver evaluation system analyzing each player’s skill level and suggesting appropriate game settings, plus re-graded difficulty levels including a brand new Very Easy setting, we aim to deliver a thoroughly rewarding F1 experience for players of all abilities, from the novice to the seasoned pro.”

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Trailer Debut: Netflix's Bojack Horseman

Netflix continues their impressive array of original shows with BoJack Horseman, a new animated series aimed at an adult audience.

IGN has the exclusive debut of the new trailer for BoJack Horseman, which features the voice of Will Arnett (Arrested Development) as the title character - a former 1990s TV star, who after years of self-loathing, whisky and failed relationship is trying to make a comeback... and who just so happens to be a horse, thanks to the wonders of animation!

Check out the brand new trailer for BoJack Horseman:

The impressive voice cast for BoJack Horseman includes Arnett, Alison Brie (Community) as Diane Nguyen, Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad) as Todd Chavez, Amy Sedaris (Strangers with Candy) as Princess Carolyn and Paul F. Tompkins (Comedy Bang Bang) as Mr. Peanutbutter, plus many other notable guest stars, including Patton Oswalt.

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Extant: "Shelter" Review

Note: Full spoilers for the episode follow.

First of all, apologies for not posting a review of Extant last week. San Diego Comic-Con got in the way.

"Shelter" started off with a sense of urgency as Molly and John continued their escape from the clutches of the ISEA, Director Sparks, and Yasumoto, but then it fizzled. There were intense moments that pushed the edge and made me cringe and worry, but in between those scenes, the story fizzled and ultimately didn't reveal any new pieces of puzzle.

Part of the reason the episode didn't work incredibly well is that it focused on the family dynamics. Molly, John, and Ethan aren't your average unit, and while some of the awkwardness between them is intentional due to Ethan's nature, there's not much chemistry. Louis Gossett, Jr. (Quinn) and Pierce Gagnon had some interesting back and forth as the grandfather exploited his humanic grandson's abilities, but there should have been stilted interaction there. Quinn tries to treat Ethan as a normal kid but clearly isn't quite there yet. Beyond that, the scenes between Molly and John fell flat. And while Quinn could get more interesting, he doesn't have the most original of backstories.

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This Week's Best (And Worst) Comic Books

It's a huge week for Guardians of the Galaxy with the big movie release this Friday, so naturally Marvel put out two comics featuring the space adventurers. There's also a long-awaited Hawkeye issue, a new look for the damaged mutant Dazzler, and a huge finale to the current story arc in Uncanny Avengers.

Over at DC, you have to take notice whenever Sandman Overture hits. So take notice! Other notable releases include Justice League with a new Power Ring, a Superman story by Ron Marz, and the much-anticipated finale to The Wake.

Rick Remender launches yet another new series at Image Comics -- this one is called Low, and it gets off to an amazing start. We also got the next chapter of Outcast, a pair of comics from Jonathan Hickman in East of West and Manhattan Projects, and the end of Dark Horse's Star Wars: Rebel Heist mini-series.

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The Wake #10 Review

If The Wake was to be summed up in one word, it'd be "big." Big in ideas, big in scope, big in execution. Since the very first issue we've been treated to numerous histories and mythologies, clues and teases, breadcrumbs on an ever winding trail. Tasked now with finishing their grand design, Scott Snyder and Sean Murphy deliver a truly all encompassing read, offering a uniquely riveting and remarkably constructed finale that pays off in about every way imaginable.

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Guardians of the Galaxy #17 Review

After spending the last few issues pulling the Guardians apart, issue #17 serves to bring them back together, just in time to make their cinematic debut. The latest from writer Brian Michael Bendis offers the same enjoyable team dynamic that's made the book so enjoyable thus far, but it also features many of the same hang-ups, resulting in an uneven and ultimately pedestrian installment.

With King J-Son finally exposed as the manipulative sour-puss that he is, the bulk of issue #17 is spent traversing the various story lines in order to bring the group together once more. Bendis does a decent job closing each of these threads, but there's a definite sense of ease to the proceedings that makes everything they've been through recently feel largely unimportant in the grand scheme of things. From the ship finding Drax to the sudden miraculous return of Rocket, everything feels remarkably scripted, losing the sense of randomness that's made their continued adventures so engaging.

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Sandman Overture #3 Review

Had Sandman Overture stuck to its originally intended shipping schedule, the series would be almost finished now instead of just reaching the halfway point. Unfortunately, it looks like Overture is really going to test the patience of readers by the time everything is said and done. But if this comic isn't worth waiting months and months for, what is?

Issue #2 was a significant improvement over the first, which in hindsight was a little too scattered and meandering for its own good. Neil Gaiman has honed in on the meat of his conflict now. And it's quickly developing into a story that manages to flaunt all the creativity and narrative eloquence Sandman is known for while also carving new territory and exploring new genres for the series. There are shades of Western films and The Dark Tower in this issue as Morpheus' little group grows and makes its way across a harsh landscape. Young orphan girl Hope proves to be a great addition to the cast, offering a childlike sense of awe and also helping to keep her lofty companions a bit more grounded.

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Low #1 Review

Rick Remender has been on quite the hot streak lately between his Image hits like Black Science and Deadly Class and his monumental announcement of Sam Wilson taking over the role of Captain America. He’s also penning Marvel’s next big crossover, Axis. That he’s found time in between all of that to team up with artist Greg Tocchini for a book like Low is astounding.

Low is a book readers should go into as blind as possible. Doing so makes the twists and turns of its first issue all the more surprising and enjoyable. At play in Low’s first issue is complex and intriguing worldbuilding and precise, emotional character work. Remender has found a way to play up both of these without having one take a backseat. You’re on this journey with real people, not hollow storytelling vessels, from the moment they’re introduced.

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Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate Features Cross Region Multiplayer

North American and European Nintendo 3DS users will be able to play together online when Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate launches in the regions early next year, Capcom confirmed in a post today.

“But let's talk about the main focus again: multiplayer! I'm proud to confirm that multiplayer in Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate will work amongst both North American and European versions, online AND locally!” the post reads.

Capcom also reaveld the game’s box art (below) in full where fan’s can catch a glimpse of new in-game features, according to the post, such as “a hunter on the Gore Magala's back and the more subtle idea of terrain differences affecting gameplay manifesting itself in the archer on the right.

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Hawkeye #19 Review

Shocker of the week: the new issue of Hawkeye is super good. Fresh off of their Best Single Issue Eisner at SDCC, Fraction and Aja’s series is back with a vengeance in this inventive and memorable first issue. The timing of its release is uncanny. The creative team just this past weekend won an Eisner for the now-legendary Hawkeye #11, told entirely from the point of view of Clint Barton’s dog. That the issue that comes out the week following would also be told in a unique and unconventional fashion is perfect timing.

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100th Anniversary Special: Guardians of the Galaxy #1 Review

This Guardians of the Galaxy issue is the latest in a series of wacky one-shots that explore what form the franchise might take 100 years after its original debut (in this case, the year 2069). But this issue actually works as a movie-friendly celebration of the Guardians franchise independent of the rest of the 100th Anniversary Specials. It manages to pay homage to all incarnations of the team, from the classic 31st Century Guardians to the Dan Abnett/Andy Lanning revamp to the current Brian Michael Bendis series. Fans of any of those books, or just cosmic craziness in general, will find a lot to like with this issue.

This issue brings back one half of the Abnett/Lanning team. Unfortunately, the two writers seem to have parted ways in recent years. Instead, Lanning teams up with Ron Marz to script this issue. The tone still manages to be pretty similar to the 2008 series. It's humorous, but a little more dramatic and weird than the current Guardians book. As with the other 100th Anniversary Specials, the goal isn't necessarily to flash forward 50 years into Marvel's timeline, but merely approximate what a Guardians comic crafted by writers and editors and artists in 2069 might look like.

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Uncanny Avengers #22 Review

The problem with time travel is that it offers heroes an easy way out of their problems. Did your failure to achieve Avengers team unity cause a giant space god to destroy Earth, leaving the mutant race to start a new civilization on a faraway planet? We've all been there. But all you need is a little blast of Kang's temporal magic, and Earth is as good as saved.

That might be how some writers would resolve the conflict in "Avenge the Earth." But luckily, Rick Remender isn't one of them. Issue #22 chronicles the big battle between the Avengers and the Chronos Corps as the former realize too late they've been bamboozled by Kang. Shocking. What ensues is an epic battle against characters pulled from all corners of the Marvel Universe. And the conflict only gets crazier as Remender draws in Immortus and his Infinity Watch, as well as bringing the Apocalypse Twins back into the picture.

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Uncanny X-Men #24 Review

As we learned in the first chapter of "The Last Will and Testament of Charles Xavier," Chuck has now been dead long enough that his legal counsel (She-Hulk, of course) feels comfortable reading his will. But before that can happen, all of the X-Men need to be present. The drama of forcing two opposing factions of mutants into the same room so they can confront the lingering pain of Xavier's death forms the crux of the conflict in this second issue. That might just be the best premise for a story arc Brian Bendis has cooked up in either of his X-titles so far. And even if this arc is moving pretty slowly right now, it definitely has its appeal.

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New Avengers #21 Review

Saying that there is a lot going on in Hickman’s Avengers books right now is a huge understatement, but it’s also certainly true. That said, the emotional weight of New Avengers #21 completely blows everything else out of the water. The Illuminati have been unabashedly brandishing a world-killing bomb for many issues now, but that all comes to a head with this latest issue. The results are gut-wrenchingly hard to read, and both surprising and unsurprising when all is said and done making this a must read issue and one of Hickman’s best so far.

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Original Sin: Hulk vs. Iron Man #3 Review

None of the Original Sin tie-ins have much direct relevance towards the core Original Sin series. But at least it can't be said that Original Sin: Hulk vs. Iron Man has no impact on the two characters. So far, the series has mined another dirty nugget from Tony Stark's already sordid past, and caused a transformation in Hulk that has merged his limitless strength with Bruce Banner's prodigious intelligence. Granted, Smart Hulk is something we've seen before in various incarnations and colors. But even one issue later, Hulk's latest transformation seems like just the thing to reinvigorate a struggling franchise.

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Avengers #33 Review

Jonathan Hickman’s era of adventures have been often, if not always, heavily laced with high concepts and science fiction fun. Avengers #33 is a prime example of this as it continues to explore the story of our time lost heroes. More than that though, this issue introduces a terrifying, but fascinating sci-fi threat that makes this issue an entertaining and exciting read.

This issue focuses on Captain America, who is seemingly the last of the Avengers still traveling further into the future. He arrives in a place completely devoid of humanity and soon finds out why. Hickman’s main threat of the issue is unique, scary, and truly interesting both as a villain and a sci-fi concept. Cap faces this threat alone which is definitely riveting to read, but since this is an Avengers book, it’s a bit of a bummer that he’s basically the only hero featured in this issue. This is by design of course, and Hickman does find an interesting way to get at least another version of the Avengers in the issue, but it still feels more like an issue of Captain America than anything else.

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X-Men #17 Review

X-Men #17 marks the end of Brian Wood's tenure on the series. The previous issue gave me hope that he'd be able to wrap up his run on a satisfying note, but that doesn't prove to be the case. Poorly paced and largely unfulfilling, X-Men #17 only eaves me wishing Wood had stuck around a bit longer to take care of some loose threads and more definitively cap off this arc.

In the tradition of so many X-Men storylines before it, "Bloodline" ends with the X-Men dusting themselves off after recent defeats and suddenly roaring back to beat the enemy into submission. I'm all for comics the showcase the X-Men fighting as a well-oiled unit. That's something Wood has excelled at. But it's always a little odd to see the stakes so suddenly shift in the climax of a story. The X-Men wind up dealing with The Future so quickly and resoundingly here that all sense of conflict leaks out of the story. For a guy who supposedly knows every move his enemies will make, the Future is bizarrely short-sighted.

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Justice League #32 Review

You'd think the one upside of Forever Evil being delayed so long in its final chapters is that Justice League would have a chance to catch up and eventually resume a more steady shipping schedule. That hasn't been the case so far. This series is caught a couple months behind the pack, exploring how the new incarnation of the Justice League comes to be even as we're already seeing said League in action in books like Robin Rises. Justice League could definitely use a pacing boost right now, but there's enough enjoyable material in this issue that the slower pace is hardly a deal-breaker.

While the cover suggests this issue will continue to focus on the showdown between Bruce Wayne and Lex Luthor, Johns instead turns his attention to the hunt for Jessica Cruz, the new Power Ring. The fact that the new Doom Patrol are the first responders at the scene of Power Ring's fiery carnage allows Johns to explore the team in greater depth than ever before. This process begins with a flashback as Dr, Caulder introduces Element Woman (and by extension, the readers) to her new teammates. It's a pretty elegant way of setting the stage without lingering too long on setup.

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Game of Thrones Actress' Funny Response to Being Recast

It can't be great news for an actor finding out you've been recast after already establishing a role on a TV series - especially when you've been recast on a show as huge as Game of Thrones.

Such is the case for 16-year old Aimee Richardson, who played Myrcella Baratheon in Season 1 and 2 of the series. While not portraying a prominent character, Richardson still appeared in 8 of the first 20 episodes -- which isn't bad at all considering how many characters are fighting for screen time -- in her role as Cersei and Robert (whoops, really Jaime's!) only daughter. Richardson wasn't seen in Season 3 and 4, after Myrcella was sent to Dorne for her own safety. But with Season 5 bringing Dorne -- and the family of Oberyn Martell -- into the show, Myrcella will be back...

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The Mummy Lives Again with Alex Kurtzman

Universal recently confirmed that they're relaunching their classic movie monster stories with creative direction from Alex Kurtzman and Chris Morgan. The first film to come from this reboot is The Mummy, and The Wrap reports Alex Kurtzman is getting close to a deal to direct the film.

Also according to The Wrap, the modern Mummy will be set in present day, and it won't be all about the horror. The tone will be more action and adventure oriented and family friendly. It sounds like a summer tentpole flick.

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Tom Hiddleston Thanks Whedon for Avengers Role

Ever since he rose to fame as the villainous Loki, Tom Hiddleston has gained a reputation as a fangirl heartthrob and all-around classy gent. If there were any worries that the actor's humble reputation is anything less than genuine, they can be put to rest now.

In her book Joss Whedon: The Biography, author Amy Pascale includes an email exchange between Hiddleston and Whedon in which the English actor graciously thanks Whedon for including him in The Avengers.

"I am so excited I can hardly speak," writes Hiddleston. "The first time I read it I grabbed at it like Charlie Bucket snatching for a golden ticket somewhere behind the chocolate in the wrapper of a Wonka Bar."

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State of Decay Developer to Announce New Game

State of Decay developer Undead Labs will be announcing a new game on Monday, and it has nothing to do with zombies.

It is not a zombie game. Like... not at all a zombie game. More than that, I cannot say.

— Undead Labs (@undeadlabs) July 30, 2014

According to the developer's official Twitter feed, the game will also have nothing to do with Microsoft, State of Decay's publisher. This is particularly interesting, considering Undead signed a multi-year extension of its contract with the publisher at the beginning of the year.

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Maleficent's Fanning to Play Frankenstein Author

Elle Fanning recently played Sleeping Beauty in Disney's live-action Maleficent, and she'll be taking on a different kind of iconic role in A Storm in the Stars.

The Hollywood Reporter states she'll be starring in the drama directed by Haifaa Al-Mansour. Fanning will be playing a young Mary Shelley, then known as Mary Wollstonecraft.

Wollestonecraft will be 17-years-old in the film, which means it's just one year before she writes Frankenstein. Written by Emma Jensen, A Storm in the Stars explores a romance between Mary and poet Percy Shelley.

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Beautiful Photos From The Last of Us: Remastered

The Last of Us: Remastered recently released with a raving review from our very on Colin Moriarty. Besides the updated graphics and addition of all of the DLC, Naughty Dog added Photo Mode.

In Photo Mode, players can take a still from their gameplay and alter it in many ways. Zooming in, adding filters, and more are all available so players can get the perfect shot.

With so many possibilities, we asked the IGN community on Twitter to send us their best shots from The Last of Us: Remastered.

Have you been enjoying the new mode? Should every game come with a photo mode? Post your photos in the comments below.

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Twin Peaks Cast on the Show's Enduring Popularity

One of TV’s most influential and memorable series, David Lynch and Mark Frost’s Twin Peaks has been an enduring cultural touchstone and a huge influence on the television landscape since it went off the air in 1991, after just two seasons.

This week, the long-awaited Blu-ray of the show -- under the title Twin Peaks: The Entire Mystery -- was released, not only giving the series its first-ever HD release but pairing it with the feature film prequel, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, for the first time. On top of that, among the new extra features are 90 minutes of deleted scenes from Fire Walk With Me, containing a ton of material fans have been hoping to see for 22 years, including many characters from the TV Show cut from the final film altogether – and a small glimpse of events after the TV show ended.

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Hearthstone's Secret Lore Connections Explained

With hundreds of different cards to draw from in Hearthstone, you’re bound to encounter obvious references to the game’s World of Warcraft source material. But every once in a while a rare character or unique encounter elicits a more uncommon callback to the franchise’s rich lore. Here are 9 examples you might not have noticed.

If you’ve acquired the legendary Illidan card through crafting, card packs or Hearthstone’s arena rewards, you’ve probably heard “You are not prepared!” each time he’s summoned. But when he's summoned against an opponent playing as Malfurion, Hearthstone’s Druid class hero, a new line of dialogue is spoken: “Hello brother.”

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Con Air 2: Nic Cage in Space?

Director Simon West burst onto the action filmmaking scene with 1997's Con Air, a star-studded Jerry Bruckheimer production that marked the first action movie that Nicolas Cage carried (The Rock being a two-hander with 007 himself, Sean Connery). So it's rather surprising given the commercial success of the film ($224 million at the worldwide box office) that there was never a Con Air 2. Now West has chimed in on what it would take to get him to make the sequel.

“There are always rumours about a Con Air 2," West told ScreenDaily. “I would do it if it was completely turned on its head. Con Air in space, for example - a studio version where they’re all robots or the convicts are reanimated as super-convicts, or where the good guys are bad guys and the bad guys are good guys. Something shocking. If it was clever writing it could work.”

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The Top 10 Anime Villains

Anime is a beloved art form and a remarkable link in the chain of storytelling through illustration, a tradition that goes all the way back to when cavemen first scratched out crude drawings on bare rock. We have always loved our stories, and we loved our heroes even more. But every hero must have a challenge to overcome and a cause to fight for. Batman needs the Joker. Superman needs Lex Luthor. Kirk needs Khan. Ripley needs the aliens. The heroes in our modern mythology are often defined by the actions they must take to stop the villain.

It's time we celebrated the best of the baddies, the venerable villains who left us disturbed and distraught but oddly enamored. Here's our homage to the villains who often overshadowed the heroes tasked with stopping their evil plans.

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New Features in League of Legends' Team Builder

Riot Games is adding a Demand Board, a Suggested Players list, and revised the matchmaking system for League of Legends' Team Builder mode in order to improve "queue times, match quality and building a team itself."

Jeffrey Lin, Riot Games' lead social systems designer detailed the changes in a forum post, and explained why these new features were necessary:

"When we were designing the system, we decided on a goal of "six minutes or less." From when a player hits "Play" and decides to start or join a team in Team Builder, we wanted them to be at the loading screen in six minutes or less," Lin said.

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First Look at the Next Unreal Tournament

Today, Epic Games released a video showing off some early footage of the latest Unreal Tournament.

The video, which features Gameplay Programmer Joe Wilcox along with others, gives us a brief look at the early building stages of the game. Although they don't go into detail about weapons and levels, fans of the series will be able to spot various well known weapons from the franchise as play tests are shown throughout the first look. Towards the end, we also see how testing improves the game, with the developers calling out improvements that can be made during their daily in-house play tests. The brief blog post also provides information on how to join in on the early version of the game, if you wish to help them with testing and feedback.

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Why is There a Mario Mural Inside a Nuclear Bunker?

On Interstate 80 between Wyoming and Nebraska is a bunker containing some of the military's most powerful nuclear missiles. Before you reach them, you'll have to get past Mario and Bowser.

In "Welcome to the Nuclear Command Bunker," an article on NPR, the author was given access to the U.S. Air Force facility. Past the final checkpoint, just before the elevator that takes you deep underground, is the following mural:

Source: USAF, via NPR

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Take Our Destiny Quiz

To celebrate the continued IGN First coverage of Destiny, we decided to make a Destiny Quiz. Although this quiz is intended for users who participated in the beta, we invite everyone to test their knowledge!

How did you do? Did you get every question right? Let us know in the comments below!

Eriq Martin is IGN's Community Manager. He lost his phone last weekend and feels empty inside. Chat with him on Twitter (@ereeeek).

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4 Fantastic Things About Ori and the Blind Forest

Ori and the Blind Forest was one of the best unknown quantities to come out of E3. Debuting at Microsoft’s media briefing before making its way to the show floor, Ori is a gorgeous and stylish 2D platforming adventure that pulls in equal parts Super Metroid, Symphony of the Night, Journey, Dust: An Elysian Tail, and Super Meat Boy. It’s a great group of influences that simply work, as Leah B. Jackson explained in her E3 preview.

After getting hands-on with the same demo at San Diego Comic-Con, I gravitated towards four distinct features that help make Ori a fantastic experience.

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GameStop Reportedly Introducing New Credit Card

GameStop is preparing to introduce its own credit card, according to Destructoid,

The site says the interest rate for the credit card will be 26.99 percent - about double the current market average of 13 percent. The card will be closely tied with the company’s PowerUp Rewards program, and will reward customers with 5,000 points for basic members and 15,000 for Pro members.

Destructoid was able to uncover these photos, which look to be marketing materials for the credit card:

So far, details on when we might see this card are unknown. However, Destructoid sources claim that PowerUp members have already been approved for use of the card, suggesting we may be seeing it soon.

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Final Fantasy Themed Restaurant Opens in Tokyo

Maybe it's not entirely original (or necessarily true anymore) to complain that Japan gets all the cool stuff, but in the case of Tokyo's newly opened Final Fantasy themed restaurant, Japan really did get the cool stuff.

The restaurant is a joint collaboration between the Pasela Resorts company and Square Enix, and is called Eorzea Cafe.

The eatery, which opened today in the Akihabara district of Tokyo, is based on the world of Final Fantasy XIV. This means that while patrons won't be able to order One-Winged Angel food cake for desert, they can still order food and drinks that draw inspiration from the world of Final Fantasy XIV. Since the games all share common threads, the menu will satisfy any fan of the series. Fancy something spicy? Order the Bahamut Giga Flare Curry. How about a Weight of the Land Titan Burger, for a little bit more casual fare?

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Crytek USA's Game Hunt Goes to German Team

Hunt: Horrors of the Gilded Age is no longer in development at Cytek's Austin studio, with the company moving the project to Crytek Frankfurt in Germany.

VentureBeat reports that Crytek USA also saw layoffs with development of Hunt shifting to the Frankfurt studio. Crytek reportedly plans to transition the Austin-based house into a support team for North American developers that license CryEngine.

"We would like to thank all our staff — past and present — in both Nottingham and Austin for their contributions to the company, and we wish all the very best to anyone who may no longer be under the Crytek banner moving forward," said Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli in a statement.

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New Interstellar Trailer

Christopher Nolan and Matthew McConaughey made a surprise appearance at Comic-Con over the weekend to debut the second trailer for their upcoming sci-fi film Interstellar. And now the preview has made it online. Take a look:

You can check out an HD version of the trailer at interstellarmovie.com. Just enter the code 7201969 when prompted.

Read our man Max Nicholson's full Paramount panel report from Comic-Con right here, including what Nolan had to say about the film, new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles footage, and more. Or watch his panel reaction below:

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Check Out the First Poster for The Hateful Eight

With Quentin Tarantino saddled up and ready to roll with The Hateful Eight, we're finally getting our first official poster for the upcoming western tale.

Empire revealed the black, white, and red poster, which is featured in the magazine's next issue. The promotional art seen below features a carriage being pulled by six horses, with bright blood streaking behind the passengers.

The first poster for The Hateful Eight

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Shin Megami Tensei 4 Finally Gets a European Release Date

Atlus has announced that its samurai RPG Shin Megami Tensei 4 will finally be available for European gamers in September.

The Nintendo 3DS game was first announced last year. It became available in Japan in May 2013, with North America following suit in July 2013.

It will be downloadable from the Nintendo 3DS eShop for £17.99 / €19.99. All of its DLC will also be available, with the exception of some armour exclusive to North American retailers.

We're not sure why it's taken so long to Shin Megami Tensei 4 to reach Europe, but after it received an 8.5 review from IGN, we're glad that it's becoming accessible to more gamers out there.

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Two New Additions for 12 Monkeys

Syfy announced yesterday two new additions to the cast of the TV adaptation of 12 Monkeys: Tom Noonan (Damages, Heat) and Emily Hampshire (Cosmopolis).

The two actors will have recurring roles on the 13-episode first season. Noonan is set to play a villain in the TV show, acting as the face of the Army of the 12 Monkeys. Hampshire will portray a dangerous mental patient by the name of Jennifer Goines, who may just have the answers for the 12 Monkeys mystery.

Noonan and Hampshire join 12 Monkeys stars Aaron Stanford, Amanda Schull, Kirk Acevedo, and Noah Bean. The TV series will follow Cole (Stanford) as he travels back in time to find and destroy a mysterious plague that decimates humanity in the future.

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Pinball FX 2 Tables Will Transfer to Xbox One After All

Zen Studios is delaying the release of Pinball FX 2 on Xbox One to implement the functionality that lets players transfer their Xbox 360 tables onto Microsoft's new platform for free.

The announcement came courtesy of the Zen Studios blog, where the company said that it's been working with Microsoft to make table transfers to Xbox One a reality for Pinball FX 2. Originally, this import option wasn't going to be available.

The new table transfer functionality will lead to a slight delay for Pinball FX 2, however, which was originally set to launch this week. "We apologize to any fans affected by this delay, but we pledge to make it up to you by incorporating this highly desired feature."

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5 Tips for Your LG G3 Smartphone

LG's G3 is easily one of the best phones you can buy right now. The combination of its beautiful Quad HD display, premium build, long-lasting battery, and fantastic camera make it hard to pass up. If you've already picked one up, or plan to in the near future, here are some helpful tips for your brand new smartphone.

The Smart Keyboard that ships with the G3 is one of the best stock options available, and the fact that you can do some customizing to it makes it even better. To make changes, head over to the "Language and Input" section in your phone's settings, and tap the gear symbol next to "LG Keyboard." From there, you can adjust the height, add or remove a row of numeric keys, change the keyboard's height, and allow swipe typing.

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Guardians of the Galaxy Animated Series Announced

At the Marvel Animation panel at SDCC this past weekend, Marvel revealed some details about the upcoming seasons of three of its current shows and ended their presentation by showing a clip of a new series based on the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy film. First up was the premiere of a new episode of Ultimate Spider-Man Web Warriors, which will begin its third season on Disney XD in September.

The episode shows the beginning of a "Spider Verse" arc that comic book fans are already familiar with. Green Goblin uses Electro's power to open up wormholes into various alternate realities. When Spider-Man follows, he encounters Spider-Man 2099 in one reality, and Petra Parker in a female-dominated society. Each reality has its own animation style as well. Later, they even showed a clip Spider-Man in a wacky adventure with Spider-Ham (Peter Porker). While that arc is slated for next year, the series will start with Spiderman joining the Avengers, and fans can expect to see other favorite characters like Nova, Luke Cage and Iron Fist.

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Transformers 4 Actor Dishes on Michael Bay

Transformers: Age Of Extinction actor T.J. Miller doesn't seem too eager to work with filmmaker Michael Bay again, judging from a story he recently recounted that happened on the blockbuster movie's set.

15 Gloriously Ridiculous Michael Bay Moments

Speaking with Doug Benson on Doug Loves Movies, Miller — who broke out onto the scene with Cloverfield — discussed collaborating with Bay on the set of Transformers 4, summing it up as a "very bipolar experience."

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Homefront: The Revolution Now Property of Deep Silver

Deep Silver has announced it's acquired all rights to the Homefront franchise from Crytek, and will now be in charge of development of the upcoming Homefront: The Revolution.

The publisher best known for Dead Island and Saints Row has confirmed it's opening a new studio in Nottingham, England, to continue the project.

At this stage it isn't clear if the new studio, called Dambuster Studios, is made from the remnants of Crytek UK, which was where Homefront: The Revolution was being developed and is also based in Nottingham. Given there have been multiple reports of problems at Crytek UK, including rumours that the entire staff stopped working, it does seem that the studio has reformed under Deep Silver's banner.

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Destiny: The Endgame is Only the Beginning – IGN First

The Destiny you play after 20 hours is likely to be very different than the Destiny you play up until then, if Bungie’s Luke Smith has any say in the matter (spoiler: he does).

“I think Destiny's endgame begins as soon as you see the way the story ends,” Smith begins. “As soon as you see the way we wrap up the sort of first piece of the adventure that we're going to tell because we want to set you back out into the world to keep going. We want to try to align your motivations as the player with the motivations of the character who you've been pushing around this world. So for us I think a bunch of the endgame starts right at level 20.”

A big part of this is raids. Though Bungie has been careful to distance itself from traditional MMO terminology such as instances and raids, the nomenclature is very much applicable to the upcoming “shared-world shooter.” Story quests are like instances for you and your fireteam, while raids – something Bungie hasn’t spoken much about until now – are one of Destiny’s most intriguing and mysterious elements. According to Smith, raids are, in fact, “one of the pillars of the game.”

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European PS Plus August Content Revealed

Sony has announced what titles will be coming to European PS Plus subscribers in August.

As always, two titles will be hitting PS4. This month, we'll see the roguelike puzzle-adventure title Road Not Taken, which doesn't even release until next month, and the infamous Fez. PS3 gamers meanwhile will get a chance to sink their teeth into Crysis 3 or, if that's not to their taking, the experimental exploration game Proteus.

Last but by no means least, Vita owners will be able to try out Metrico... which is pretty impressive seeing as the game doesn't officially release until next month. Rounding out August's offerings will be LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7.

All these games will become available on August 6, which is when Towerfall Ascension, Strider, Dead Space 3, Vessel, LEGO Batman 2 DC Superheroes and Doki Doki Universe will leave the system. If any of those are still of interest to you, make sure you get on the in the next week!

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Check Out Jack Black's Goosebumps

Jack Black was promoting his next movie Goosebumps at Comic-Con last week, and now the first stills from the movie have been released.

Loosely based on the horror books by R.L. Stine, the film sees Black playing the author, whose life is turned upside down when his creations start coming to life.

The stills are below, while you can scroll down for our exclusive interview with Black and the film's director Rob Letterman.

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Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare Collector's Editions Revealed

Activision has announced three Collector's Editions are on the way for the upcoming Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, and also detailed the game's Season Pass.

The Atlas Pro Edition and Atlas Limited Edition can be pre-ordered now, while the Atlas Digital Pro Edition will be available at a later date. If you're wondering about the name, it's inspired by the game's Atlas Corporation, the private military organisation headed up by Kevin Spacey's character.

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The PlayStation Now Open Beta is Around the Corner

The PlayStation Now open beta begins tomorrow for all North American PS4 owners, and the service's Senior Director Jack Buser divulged some details to IGN during a recent interview.

As has been mentioned previously, Sony is looking to offering a flat subscription fee model for its upcoming PlayStation Now game streaming service in addition to the a la carte pricing currently seen in the private beta.

"We're working diligently to bring a subscription option to gamers to compliment our rental offering for PlayStation Now," said Buser. "We believe that offering both of these options would provide gamers the freedom to discover and play games in ways that weren't before possible."

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Neverwinter Coming to Xbox One; Tyranny of Dragons PC Expansion Revealed

Free-to-play MMORPG Neverwinter is about to bring its Dungeons & Dragons-based action to consoles, starting with Xbox One in China this fall, and followed by a worldwide release (and, presumably, other console versions) in the first half of 2015. According to Neverwinter's lead producer, Andy Velasquez, it's losing little in the translation; on consoles, Neverwinter will feature "all the same races, all the same classes, all the same maps. The content will be there, with some minor exceptions."

"Since we launched on PC,” he continues, “we've added some bits to the endgame, and then we added another module which had another campaign at the endgame. So we'll probably stagger those releases

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The 10 Greatest Movie Trees

Trees. What are trees? Are they just stupid bits of wood? Or are they, in fact, wise and ancient beings that will outlive us all? Maybe they're both. Or neither. Maybe we're overthinking this. But with Guardians Of The Galaxy in cinemas this week, there's no doubt the humble tree has a glamorous new face: that of Groot, the walking, talking plank, as voiced by Vin Diesel, the walking, talking… well, you get it. Anyway, here are the top movie trees. Because trees.

Actually, Groot isn't a tree at all – he's a sentient, tree-like creature from outer space who is actually the monarch of Planet X, and not just somewhere for dogs to wee up in the park. Capable of saying just three words – "I am Groot" – he's not the most chatty of trees, but he puts more inflection into those three words than you might think. You see, Groot is actually super-intelligent and something of an expert in quasi-dimensional super-positional engineering – it's just that Groot's wooden larynx renders the subtleties of his speech void to human ears. Also, he's quite nice to sit under when it's sunny out.

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Launching Indie Games on Xbox One Can Cost up to $5,000

The costs incurred by indie developers releasing games as part of ID@Xbox program, Microsoft's Xbox One independent developer initiative, can reach up to $5,000, according to a post by Happion Labs founder Jamie Fristrom.

Sixty Second Shooter Prime developer launched its twin-stick shooter on Xbox One last month to a sum of $5,143, but as outlined in the breakdown, there are a lot of variables so each game will incur a different cost. The breakdown of the costs involved to launch Happion Labs’ game on Xbox One follows:

1. Maintaining the Sixty Second Shooter URL = $19
   

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Logitech Reveals the G402 Hyperion Fury Gaming Mouse

Logitech debuted its latest addition to the wonderful world of peripherals today: the G402 Hyperion Fury gaming mouse. The company claims it's the fastest of its kind and able to accurately track up to 500 inches per second thanks to its 32-bit on-board ARM processor. Designed with FPS players in mind, the Hyperion Fury comes armed with an accelerometer and gyroscope and low-friction feet.

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How Hungry Are You to Play Morrowind on Android?

A modding community is developing an unofficial Android port of Bethesda’s action role-playing game The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind as an open source port dubbed OpenMW.

OpenMW was created primarily to support Linux and OSX and the 2002 open world fantasy title’s main quest is now finishable on those platforms, according to a recent post. Spearheaded by community member Sandstranger, and spotted by Android Authority via Something Awful Forums, development of the Android port began two months ago and is currently in the very early stages of development.

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Indie games industry rally to save GaymerX

Indie developers and publishers are rallying to donate money to the financially troubled LGBT-focused gaming convention GaymerX, with many of the companies announcing their support on Twitter and encouraging others to do the same.

The support follows GaymerX CEO Matt Conn’s revelation on Twitter yesterday, tweet since removed, that publisher NIS America could allegedly no longer honor a $3,000 official sponsorship agreement for next year’s GaymerX VIP party.

Beginning with Hotline Miami publisher Devolver Digital, numerous game industry companies have since announced $3,000 sponsorship pledges for next year’s GaymerX convention, including Gunman Clive creator Bertil Hornberg, Goat Simulator developer Coffee Stain Studios, Tinsley PR’s Stephanie Tinsley Schopp and Thomas Was Alone creator Mike Bithell.

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Sharknado 2 Review

Whether you asked for it or not, Syfy's Sharknado is back. To create some more snark-nado online, as live-tweeting and live-blogging essentially made the first installment a can't-miss experience.

Please be advised though, I'm going to give this squeal a "bad" score. The word next to whatever number I pick will not be favorable. But Sharknado 2, like its predecessor, is meant to be bad. Its sole purpose is to be mocked. So if it is indeed terrible then... that's good, right? It will have succeeded. It will have fulfilled its unspoken mission statement of giving us top-notch bats*** absurdity.

Sharknado 2 is performed by both stars whose celebrity factor faded long ago and those who, well, you'll actually be surprised joined in on the fun. For every "Downtown" Julie Brown appearing as a nurse, there's a Robert Klein as the mayor. For every Kari Wuhrer (yes, old school MTV is a big contributor) as Ian Ziering's sister, there's a Matt Lauer and Al Roker as themselves. Wil Wheaton (with wife, Anne), Kurt Angle, Biz Markie, Andy Dick. Everyone gets in on the shark stabbing.

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Lord of the Rings Alum to Play Frozen Charcter

Once Upon a Time has cast more characters from the Oscar-winning animated film Frozen -- as Tyler Jacob Moore (Shameless, L.A. Noire) and John Rhys-Davies (The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King, Raiders of the Lost Ark) have now been cast as Hans and Pabbie, respectively.

According to E! Online, Moore will make his debut as Hans in the third episode of Once's fourth season. Taking place after the events of Frozen, the site says that Hans hasn't "lost his mean streak" and is "described as having a serious chip on his shoulder and a burning desire to be king."

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Why Do So Many People Hate Indie Games?

In recent months, I’ve felt an overwhelming sense of disappointment when I scroll through the comments of the coverage of “indie games” here on IGN (or on other sites and on Twitter, at that). While many folks praise these games (and a vast, vast majority of people who read IGN don’t comment at all), I can’t help but notice a lot of hatred cast against these games, too. This hatred doesn’t come from disliking the content of the game at hand. No, it comes from the game being “indie,” period. The word, to some, is used as a weapon. To others, it’s a reason to dismiss a game outright.

As a life-long gamer who has been playing for over 25 years, judging games like this totally bums me out. It’s wrong-headed, silly, and – above all else – wildly ignorant. It holds us back as gamers, and by muddling the message to players and developers alike, it holds back the industry at large, too. So I wanted to take a few moments to say something about this growing trend.

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Buzz Aldrin Wears the Infinity Gauntlet at SDCC

People from all walks of life and space attend Comic-Con, even astronaut Buzz Aldrin. He's the second person to walk on the moon, and he's now an honorary member of the Guardians of the Galaxy. The icon stopped by the Marvel booth at San Diego Comic-Con and took advantage of props and photo ops while he was there.

He tweeted that he joined the Guardians of the Galaxy, and it looks like he has the jacket to prove it.

Buzz Aldrin joins the Guardians of the Galaxy

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DC Reveals More "Selfie Month" Variant Covers

You'd think the heroes of the DC Universe are too busy catching criminals and punching Darkseid and whatnot to whip out their cellphones and take spontaneous selfie photos. But you would be wrong. DC has declared August to be "Selfie Month." During the course of August, a number of New 52 books will ship with selfie-themed variant covers, as Superman, Batman, and the rest snap photogenic pics of their day-to-day lives.

We have a preview of all the selfie variants, including an exclusive look at the final batch of five covers - Wonder Woman #34, Superman #34, Batman '66 #14, Justice League Dark #34, and Justice League #34. And let us know your thoughts on this unusual promotion in the comments below.

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7 Awesome Cosmic Comics

With Guardians of the Galaxy hitting theaters this Friday, never has the spotlight on Marvel's cosmic characters been stronger. Characters like Rocket Raccoon and Star-Lord are becoming household names, and causal Marvel fans are realizing that the Marvel Universe has more to offer than just straight-up superhero stories.

If Guardians of the Galaxy is piquing your interest in all things cosmic, we're here to help. We've put together a list of comics that any fan of epic space fantasy should read.

Released: 1981-present

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Can eSports be as Big as the Super Bowl?

In a recent interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Electronic Sports League Vice President Craig Levine spoke about his belief that eSports have a definite appeal beyond their seemingly hardcore audience.

"A lot of the misconceptions in the industry right now are still that it's

very niche, or they don't really understand what it is, or that eSports isn't for them. It's too hardcore," he says of the struggles for eSports to gain popularity. "That's sort of a recurring theme that you hear, and I think from my perspective, eSports is the culture of gaming. Just like the Super Bowl - everyone watches it whether you're a fan or not of football - it gets everyone together. I think the reach for eSports and the appeal is broader than people superficially give it credit for."

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BvS SDCC Scene Not Getting Released

It's tough luck for anyone who wasn't able to make to the Warner Bros. panel at San Diego Comic-Con over the weekend, as the movie studio has no plans to release the early footage of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice to the general public.

Speaking with Variety, Warner Bros. exec Sue Kroll explained that the sneak peak for Batman v Superman was solely meant for fans at Comic-Con. "That’s just going to live in that hall. We’ll post extended trailers and stills, but that presentation, that was just for those fans," she said.

IGN was there for the Batman v Superman panel, with details on the sneak peak footage showcased at Comic-Con, which we said featured the "stare down of all stare downs." But that wasn't the only thing Warner Bros. and director Zack Snyder revealed over the weekend, next releasing the first official image of Wonder Woman from the superhero flick.

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Breach and Clear: Deadline Revealed

Mighty Rabbit Studios and Gun Media have announced that Breach and Clear: Deadline, the sequel to last year's iOS, Android and PC game, is coming to Steam Early Access this fall for $20.

The new entry in the series will give players control over their entire squad via the new Command Mode, which Rabbit Studios says will allow, "greater on-the-fly decision making during enemy encounters."

Deadline's story centers around the commander of an elite Special Forces squad who is tasked with venturing into Harbor City to uncover the source of parasitic worms that are turning citizens into monsters.

The original Breach and Clear was announced in February, 2013 by former Infinity Ward employee Robert Bowling. It launched on PC earlier this year.

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Gnar is League of Legends New Tank Champion

Gnar is confirmed as League of Legends’ newest top lane tank Champion. Yesterday Riot Games teased Gnar’s lore, but revealed Gnar’s full details today.

According to the announcement, Gnar is Teemo’s ancestor that was frozen in true ice and has now escaped into the game. Gnar’s defining trait is switching between his mini and mega forms, which is his passive ability, Rage Gene, rather than an active ability.

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This Week on the PSN (July 29, 2014)

Every Tuesday, Sony drops a bunch of new stuff onto the PlayStation Network. Those with a PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, or PlayStation Vita can download these goodies, which include PSN games, movies, themes and more. While the Official PlayStation Blog outlines these updates in full each week, we thought we'd help truncate the good news into something more digestible.

Here are this week's new PlayStation 4 games.

• Pure Pool ($12.99)


• Rogue Legacy ($16.99)


• The Last of Us: Remastered ($49.99)

And here are this week's PS3 games.

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Hearthstone: Curse of Naxxramas Second Wing Launches Tonight

The second wing to Blizzard's Hearthstone: Curse of Naxxramas update will be live tonight across the world, along with all of its rewards.

The following are the exact times the update will unlock in each region, according to the Battle.net forums. Although the first wing, the Arachnid Quarter, was free to anyone who signed in this month, the remaining four sections must be purchased with real-world money or in-game gold.

• Americas: Tuesday, July 29 at 11:59 p.m. PDT

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Four New Mad Max: Fury Road Posters Unveiled

Warner Bros. is oiling the promotional machine for next year's Mad Max: Fury Road film, as the movie studio showed four new posters for the George Miller action flick at San Diego Comic-Con over the weekend.

First and foremost is the character portrait for Tom Hardy as Max Rockatansky, a role that Mel Gibson made famous in three movies throughout the 1970s and '80s. Hardy's poster is followed up by his co-star Charlize Theron, who's portraying Imperator Furiosa.

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Ubisoft's Mysterious Watch Dogs Tweet

Yesterday afternoon, the official Twitter account for Watch Dogs tweeted this image:

Camden, New Jersey is a fairly small city located across the Delaware River from Philadelphia. Might this be a future new location for Watch Dogs?

Last month, Watch Dogs set a new record for sales of a new franchise. Though new DLC has already been announced, it is likely that Ubisoft Montréal is eager to release new content.

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Toki Tori 2 Developer Reveals New Platformer

Two Tribes, the developer responsible for games like Toki Tori 2 and Rush, has announced a new title – a 2D platformer called RIVE.

The developer describes the game as a “metal wrecking, robot hacking shooter.” Two Tribes said RIVE is inspired by retro gaming, much like some of their previous titles.

Players will be in control of a gun-wielding hero who both shoots and hacks enemy robots. Not much else is known about the game at this point.

The company suffered a massive reboot earlier this year, in which the "old Two Tribes," founded in 2001 was disbanded. This will be the first outing for the new team of just three members.

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Wildcat Cast in Arrow: Season 3

At San Diego Comic-Con on Saturday, it was revealed that both Ra's al Ghul and Wildcat were coming to Arrow: Season 3. Now, one of those roles has been cast.

Deadline reports that J.R Ramirez (Power) will play Ted "Wildcat" Grant on the CW show. In the comics, Grant is a member of the Justice Society, as well as the mentor and trainer of other heroes like the Black Canary.

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Stained Dev No Longer Supplying Promised Steam Keys

Players expecting a Steam key for PC side-scroller Stained will not be receiving them, as developer RealAxis is declining to distribute them to those who purchased the bundle the game was originally included in.

Last year, players who purchased the Indie Royale's Debut 3 bundle were promised keys for Stained. But after the game was greenlit via community approval, RealAxis said it would not be releasing the keys because of low sales.

"The game is not selling at all and there is no hope," the developer wrote on Stained's Steam page. "I think we are already doomed so we are abandoning the process of distributing the keys. We will continue to do what is required to make the living and provide support to game related questions twice a week. If you really love this game you should consider buying it on steam else I think you already had your share of enjoyment when you purchased the game via IR-Bundle for 50 cents."

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Look: Captain America's Shield Broken!

Marvel didn't just stop at unveiling footage and posters for the upcoming Avengers: Age of Ultron at San Diego Comic-Con, but the studio also showcased some of the props for the superhero sequel as well.

One of the most-alarming props on display was no doubt Captain America's broken shield, hinting that Steve Rogers may be in for quite the fight in the sequel. Most likely the cause of the Captain's shattered weapon is Ultron, and Marvel displayed what looks to be one of the villain's earlier versions at Comic-Con (we saw footage of him in action at the panel).

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EA Announces Subscription Service on Xbox One

Today, EA revealed EA Access, an Xbox One-exclusive subscription service that grants players access to EA's so-called Vault.

Subscribing to EA Access will cost $4.99 a month (or $29.99 a year), and since the program is technically in beta, only four games will initially be available: FIFA 14, Madden NFL 25, Peggle 2, and Battlefield 4, "with more titles being added soon."

Additionally, EA Access will also net subscribers 10 percent discounts on all EA digital content, which includes full games and DLC, as well as access to trials of new EA games nearly a week before they come out (with saves that copy over to the final game, should you choose to purchase it later). Games that will be eligible for early access and save copy-over are Madden NFL 15, NHL 15, FIFA 15, NBA Live 15, and Dragon Age: Inquisition.

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William Shatner May Be in Ted 2

Star Trek icon William Shatner will reportedly appear in Seth MacFarlane's comedy sequel Ted 2.

According to the Boston Herald, Shatner will play himself in the follow-up to the highest-grossing R-rated original comedy film. In Ted 2, Shatner will be at a convention answering questions about his role as T.J. Hooker, but people won't stop bringing up Star Trek in the process.

Shatner won't be the only new cast addition if the report pans out, as Amanda Seyfried is set to take over the lead female role in Ted 2 for Mila Kunis. Mark Wahlberg is slated to return, with MacFarlane directing once more.

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New Assassin's Creed Unity Trailer Introduces Elise

Assassin's Creed Unity has received an atmospheric new CG trailer, introducing a young Templar woman called Elise.

In the trailer, which you can see above, our hero Arno races through packed Parisian streets to rescue her from the guillotine, at which point her Templar necklace clearly becomes visible.

We're told Elise is "a character central to Assassin’s Creed Unity’s story. As an independent young noblewoman, Elise is determined to secure her place in the Templar dynasty amidst the chaos of the French Revolution. Her quest leads her to cross paths with Arno and establish an unlikely bond with him."

More information about Elise will be coming in a new paperback book, also called Assassin's Creed Unity, which will be told from her perspective.

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Evil Dead TV Series Will Star Bruce Campbell

A few days back, we reported on the news coming out of San Diego Comic-Con that Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell were making an Evil Dead TV series.

An extra detail has now been added to this awesome news, which is that Campbell himself will be the star of the show. Assumedly as Ash Williams from the Raimi-directed Evil Dead films (as the sketch Campbell tweeted below is of the character).

From the twitter exchange here, you can see Campbell responding to a fan, letting him know what the big plan is...

“@DeaditeBill: Only if @GroovyBruce is the STAR of this new tv series will I accept. That's the plan. http://ift.tt/1lJyoY8

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Trials Fusion DLC Released, Five More Packs On The Way

The first of six DLC packs for Trials Fusion, Riders of the Rustlands, was released today, and Ubisoft said players can expect the next DLC pack in August.

Set in floating islands, Empire of the Sky is the second DLC pack for Trials Fusion. The DLC includes nine new tracks, and like Riders of the Rustlands, it brings 18 new track challenges, new editor objects, and five new achievements to the game.

Welcome to the Abyss, Fire in the Deep, Fault One Zero, and After the Incident are the names for the final four DLC packs.

In addition to the DLC, Ubisoft said there will be free updates throughout the year that will introduce new features into the game, such as the June update that brought online tournaments to Trials Fusion. Each DLC pack costs $5 USD, but is available to season pass owners for free.

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What The Avengers Revealed About Age of Ultron

Marvel's The Avengers: Age of Ultron closed out San Diego Comic-Con this past Saturday, an exceptional panel that saw Marvel Studios president and producer Kevin Feige introduce the cast of the highly anticipated sequel to SDCC attendees.

While at SDCC, IGN had the chance to interview Avengers 2 cast members Robert Downey Jr., Aaron Taylor Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Samuel L. Jackson, Jeremy Renner, and Colbie Smulders about the movie and learn what fans can expect from the Joss Whedon-directed sequel. Here's what they had to say.

Robert Downey Jr. says there's more to the movie's Hulkbuster set-piece battle between Hulk and Iron Man than just a superhero donnybrook:

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15 Things You (Probably) Didn't Know About BTTF

Back to the Future is one of the most beloved films in motion picture history. So-much-so that as well as knowing the plot back-to-front, fans also know the story behind the film. From Eric Stoltz initially playing the lead before being replaced by Michael J. Fox, to the latter having to fit filming around his Family Ties TV schedule so that he was something of a zombie by the end of the shoot. But what of the lesser-known behind-the-scenes stories?

If London's 'Secret Cinema' event ever actually happens, thousands will be heading to Hill Valley to revisit the film over the next few weeks, which inspired us to put together a list of more obscure facts about the flick: 15 things you (probably) didn’t know about Back to the Future.

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What Would Bring Crazy Taxi to PS4 and Xbox One?

The creator of Crazy Taxi has revealed he's contemplating bringing the franchise back to consoles, but there are two key features he wants to master first.

Speaking to IGN ahead of the release of Crazy Taxi: City Rush on iOS and Android devices, Kenji Kanno admitted he's keen to see the series return to consoles like PS4 and Xbox One but it needs to be an evolution, and that's the part he's struggling with.

"I don’t know how old I would be when the next one came out, but there are some features I would like to add to new Crazy Taxi games, but I haven’t managed to figure out how to do it yet," he admitted. "This is the first time I’ve ever told anyone. The very, very first time. Ever.

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New Details on The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth

The PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita versions of The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth run at 60 frames per second and feature fully configurable control mapping along with more than four billion unique seeds, according to a post on the game’s official blog.

“You can literally set the buttons as you like,” writes Nicalis founder Tyrone Rodriguez, the team working with the title's creator Edmund McMillen. “And we’re certain that you’ll change them around almost instantly. For example, on Vita, if you know you only play with analog movement and firing, then you can move all the vital inputs to the face buttons and not have to mess around with the shoulder buttons.”

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Under the Dome: "Reconciliation" Review

Warning: Full spoilers for the episode follow...

Guys, I'm still laughing at the fact that someone took the time and resources to make, and hang, a giant banner that read "VOLUNTARY FOOD SHARE DRIVE." In the dome. For the food drive. Which no one needed a sign for.

Was anyone confused about where to drop off the food and therefore needed that sign? Because there was so much going on in town that day, event-wise, that there were competing large gatherings of people accepting canned goods?

That's it. This is the show, people.

The citizens of Chester's Mill are, for the most part, nondescript drips. They're "the mob." We're told their opinions, percentage-wise (half the town this, the other town that), and then we'll sometimes see it play out between two people we've never met before. One who wants one thing and the other who wants the opposite. Then they all fight amongst themselves because they exist as this sort of giant temperamental child that can easily - very easily - be swayed one way or the other. Kind of like Junior, but on a grander scale. So conveniently duped. And often duped, whenever the show needs them to be.

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4 Things We Learned About Ant-Man at Comic-Con

This past weekend's Marvel Studios panel at San Diego Comic-Con revealed a few key tidbits about their Edgar Wright-less Ant-Man movie. Here are the four key takeaways from their Hall H panel.

After months of rumors, it was confirmed by Marvel Studios boss and producer Kevin Feige and by the actress herself that Evangeline Lilly is indeed a member of the Ant-Man cast. The actress revealed during the Hall H panel that she plays Hope Pym, the daughter of Michael Douglas' Hank Pym, the original Ant-Man and inventor of the miniaturization superhero suit.

Douglas, however, referred to Lilly's character as Hope van Dyne, which clearly suggests she's the offspring of Pym and his wife, Wasp aka Janet van Dyne.

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Check Out These Gorgeous Vistas From Destiny

Destiny is a beautiful looking game. During the beta, IGN users took snapshots of their favorite vistas. Whether it's on the Moon or in Russia, there is beauty in every corner of Destiny.

Have you taken pictures of a beautiful vista in Destiny? Do you wish these places were real? Let us know in the comments below!

Eriq Martin is IGN's Community Manager. He once saw a cat eat a fish. Cool story, right? Talk to him on Twitter (@ereeeek).

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