Welcome back to IGN Game Scoop!, the ONLY video game podcast! This week your Omega Cops — Daemon Hatfield, Tina Amini, Sam Claiborn, and Justin Davis — are discussing whether or not to watch game credits, Nintendo Switch's impressive milestone, Blaster Master Zero 3, and more. And, of course, they play Video Game 20 Questions.
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Here's a good deal for fans of the Caped Crusader. The massive, deeply researched book Batman: The Definitive History of the Dark Knight in Comics, Film, and Beyond is 52% off at Amazon. The MSRP on this thing is $75. But it's on sale now, with an additional discount that brings it down to $35.69 at checkout. There's no telling how long the deal will last, so grab it if you want it.
Batman: The Definitive History, if I may abridge the title, is a 400-page full-color doorstopper of a book that that traces the history of Bruce Wayne's alter ego from his debut in Detective Comics in 1939 all the way to the present.
Written by Cartoon Art Museum curator Andrew Farago and media reporter Gina McIntyre, this hefty tome (it weighs seven pounds) dives into pretty much everything you'd want to know about Batman through the years.
It includes interviews with people like Frank Miller, Grant Morrison, Tim Burton, Mark Hamill, and Christopher Nolan. It illuminates behind-the-scenes stories surrounding major moments from the comics. It goes into the live-action Batman TV show from the 1960s, as well as Batman: The Animated Series, the Nolan films, and even the Arkham video games.
In addition to its credentialed authors, the book features a forward by Michael Keaton, an introduction by Kevin Conroy, and a preface by longtime Batman editor Dennis O'Neil.
Also included in the book are previously unpublished photographs from Batman film sets, animation cels, and comic book art, plus a 40-page film treatment from Bob Kane.
Basically, it's a whole lot of information about Batman over the 80 years he's been a pop cultural icon. And it's displayed beautifully in a full-color, gorgeously illustrated book. It would make a great present for the Batman fan in your life, even if that fan happens to be you.
Chris Reed is a commerce editor for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @_chrislreed.
Google at one point considered buying Epic Games as a means to “squelch” the game company’s attempts to circumvent the Android Play Store, according to newly unsealed court documents.
First reported by The Verge, Epic quotes internal Google correspondence which calls Epic’s plans to get around Google’s Play Store commission a “contagion” threatening the tech giant.
Epic says, "Google’s persistent monopoly is the result of deliberate efforts by Google to achieve and maintain it." Epic accuses Google of using "its size, influence, power, and money to induce third parties into anticompetitive agreements that further entrench its monopolies."
To prevent Epic from circumventing Google's alleged monopoly, the gaming company says that Google "has even contemplated buying some or all of Epic to squelch this threat.”
Details regarding Google’s internal discussions on the matter remain secret, and no indication has been made that Google at any point contacted Epic with such an offer to buy out the company. Epic Games co-founder and CEO Tim Sweeney reiterated this on Friday.
“This was unbeknownst to us at the time, and because of the court’s protective order we’re just finding out now about Google’s consideration of buying Epic to shut down our efforts to compete with Google Play,” Sweeney tweeted Friday morning.
Epic also alleged in court filings that a Google Play manager previously reached out to Epic and said that the experience of downloading Fortnite onto an Android phone without the Google Play Store (referred to as “sideloading,” which typically comes with a security warning) is “abysmal.”
“One manager contacted Epic’s Vice President and Co-Founder to gauge Epic’s interest in a special deal and, among other things, discussed ‘the experience of getting Fortnite on Android’ via direct downloading," Epic states. "The manager’s call notes state that she viewed direct downloading Fortnite as “frankly abysmal” and “an awful experience”, and that Epic should ‘worry that most will not go through the 15+ steps.’”
Epic also alleges that Google understands from its internal data that the “install friction” associated with sideloading will “drastically limit [Epic’s] reach.”
“The [internal] document goes on to explain that “[f]uture [Fortnite] updates will be challenged re: targeting, update experience via web”; that the direct downloading approach was “most associated with malicious apps”, which would be “incompatible with [Epic’s] brand/demographics”; and that “[t]he approach will create significant user confusion, since [Google Play] will still attract [billions] of users who will search for Fortnite and run into dead ends that aren’t clear how to resolve," Epic states.
Epic Games launched lawsuits against Google and Apple in mid-2020, alleging both companies practiced “anti-competitive” behavior on their respective app stores.
Joseph Knoop is a writer/producer for IGN.
At the Television Critics Association’s Summer Press Tour, Hulu announced that a 13-episode second season of Animaniacs will arrive on the Disney-owned streaming platform on Friday, November 5, 2021.
"Yakko, Wakko, and Dot return for an all-new season of this iconic, family-friendly series with something for everyone: pop culture parodies, musical showstoppers, takedowns of historical baddies, and even some important safety tips. Join the Warners and Pinky and the Brain as they wreak havoc everywhere they go, from the Warner Bros. lot to an international beauty pageant, even all the way into outer space. Keep an eye out for season one favorites Starbox and Cindy, as well as some rejected Animaniacs characters that were left on the cutting room floor," according to a synopsis from Hulu.
Oscar-winning director Steven Spielberg returns as executive producer of the series, with Wellesley Wild serving as showrunner and executive producer.
In our full review of Animaniacs Season 1, we said, "while not every joke lands, Hulu's Animaniacs revival proves the original formula still works in 2020."
For more Animaniacs, be sure to watch the voice cast responding to IGN comments, find out why the series' revival is more than just a reboot, and check out our list of the most memorable kids' WB original shows.
David Griffin still watches DuckTales in his pajamas with a cereal bowl in hand. He's also the TV Editor for IGN. Say hi on Twitter.
Despite positive reception for the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 1 and 2 remasters, a remaster of Modern Warfare 3 “does not exist,” according to a statement from Activision sent to CharlieIntel.
“A remaster of Modern Warfare 3, campaign or multiplayer, does not exist. Any reports otherwise are incorrect,” an Activision representative said in response to rumors of a Modern Warfare 3 campaign remaster.
Modern Warfare 1 and 2 remain the only Call of Duty remasters that Activision has released. Modern Warfare Remastered included both the original’s campaign and multiplayer, scoring an 8.5 out of 10 from IGN back in 2017. Modern Warfare 2 Remastered only included the campaign and scored a 7 out of 10.
Both were lauded for their updates to their respective graphics, with IGN editor Ryan McCaffrey stating that if you told someone Modern Warfare 2 was a game that came out in mid-2020, they’d probably believe you. When it came to more kinetic features, like explosion effects or flat outdoor lighting, Call of Duty’s more modern incarnations understandably beat the remasters.
Modern Warfare 3 received a 9 out of 10 from IGN back in 2011, but by then the franchise, which was also sharing the spotlight with the popular Black Ops series, was starting to spin its wheels and show a lack of innovation. Common criticisms included a “run-of-the-mill campaign” and shooting galleries of enemies who emerge from monster closets without much interest in their own wellbeing.
It’s a different age for Call of Duty. Activision, Infinity Ward, and Treyarch have split their attention between the 2019 Modern Warfare reboot, Black Ops Cold War, and the ongoing Warzone battle royale mode. Meanwhile, Activision Blizzard is embroiled in a lawsuit alleging a widespread culture of sexual harassment and discrimination. Most recently, major sponsors for Blizzard’s Overwatch League have started to pull their participation, including Coca-Cola and State Farm. You can read about the entire timeline of the lawsuit and the alleged discrimination here.
Joseph Knoop is a writer/producer/target practice for IGN.
