Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Digital and Blu-ray Release Dates

Disney and Lucasfilm have officially announced the digital and home release dates for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

In the US, the digital version of The Rise of Skywalker will arrive first on March 17, with the 4K UHD, Blu-ray, and DVD formats hitting shelves on March 31. In the UK, the digital edition will land in HD and 4K UHD on April 13, while fans who prefer physical releases will be able to pick up their copies on April 20.

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The Rise of Skywalker release is set to be accompanied by, “over two hours of bonus material,” including a feature-length documentary titled, The Skywalker Legacy, which will go behind-the-scenes of Episode IX.

Other extras include storyboard-to-screen style featurettes that will dive into the making of Pasaana and the epic landspeeder chase, along with an exploration of the ship that connects Rey to the mystery of her missing parents and a closer look at new droid D-O. Plus, a conversation with Warwick Davis about his return as Wicket the Ewok, this time with his son, and a bonus creature feature that will reveal the puppetry, makeup, prosthetics and digital magic that helped to bring the galaxy’s menagerie of aliens to life.

Interestingly, the list of special features does not make reference to any of the rumoured deleted scenes that ended up on the cutting room floor, including one that may have provided additional context for Kylo Ren’s rampage on Mustafar.

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In addition to these releases, a complete 27-disc 4K Blu-ray boxset of the 9-Movie Skywalker Saga has now become available for pre-order.

In our review of The Rise of Skywalker, we concluded the film had been, “engineered to hit the viewer on multiple levels while struggling to settle 42 years’ worth of story elements,” which we suggested was “too much for any one film to handle.”

For more reactions, take a look at our round-up of IGN staff reviews for the final chapter, find out the film’s Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic scores, and discover how Episode IX’s opening weekend compared to other Star Wars entries.

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

NES Zappers Selling For High Prices In Japan

If you’re a gamer above a certain age, you’re probably well-familiar with the NES Zapper, the electric orange light gun that served as one of the most popular accessories for the original Nintendo Entertainment System. While you could use it to blow away bad guys in a variety of games, like Hogan’s Alley and Wild Gunman, it’s often associated with Duck Hunt, the bird-shooting game that starred one of video game’s most annoying canine companions.

Well, Japanese gamers looking to blast some ducks these days will need to fork up some serious cash for the privilege. According to a tweet by Kotaku features editor Chris Kohler, the humble Zapper has climbed in price in Japanese markets in recent months. For comparison, the cheapest orange Zapper in the image had a price of 6,000 yen (~$54), whereas Amazon postings for a US Zapper start around $15, including shipping. This can be attributed to two main factors: the Zapper never came out in Japan, since the Famicom had its own light gun that bore a strong resemblance to a real-life revolver; and the gun’s appearance as a weapon in Splatoon 2 has raised its profile significantly.

This isn’t the first time that Nintendo has included the Zapper as a bit of nostalgic fan-service. The character Duck Hunt in Super Smash Bros. serves as an elaborate tribute to the light gun, complete with many references to characters from NES light gun games.

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Dangerous Driving 2 Takes Inspiration From Burnout Paradise

Dangerous Driving developer Three Fields Entertainment is back with a sequel, and it’s taking a page out of the Burnout Paradise playbook this time. Dangerous Driving 2 will arrive later this year, with support for Nintendo Switch and a new open-world environment.

Also coming to Xbox One, PS4, and PC this holiday, Dangerous Driving 2 features racing events as well as a free driving mode that lets you cause massive wrecks in classic Burnout fashion. The first Dangerous Driving was a spiritual successor to games like Burnout 3, while Dangerous Driving 2’s open-world should allow for experimentation like in Burnout Paradise.

“Dangerous Driving 2 will truly be our best game yet–delivering new features our fans have been clamoring for such as Nintendo Switch support and split-screen, building on the innovations we as game makers are passionate about including [like] interactive music and emergent game modes as well as addressing the areas we weren’t happy with in the last game,” said Three Fields creative director Alex Ward in a press release.

We weren’t particularly impressed with the last game. In GameSpot’s Dangerous Driving review, Richard Wakeling called the tracks “bland” and criticized its lack of personality.

Prior to the first Dangerous Driving, Three Fields Entertainment created Danger Zone and Danger Zone 2, which both put heavy emphasis on vehicular destruction but without a racing focus.

Burnout Paradise itself got a remastered version in 2018, and the PC version was particularly improved with hitches being removed. Electronic Arts hasn’t given any indication it is moving forward on a sequel, and Burnout developer Criterion Games was recently moved back to the Need for Speed franchise.

Now Playing: Dangerous Driving – 1st Place Finish With Nitro Boost

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These Animal Crossing Switch Skins Are Stinkin’ Cute

Though the Animal Crossing Switch console is sold out at every major retailer, you can still add some New Horizons flavor to regular ‘ole Switch and Switch Lite systems. Three Animal Crossing console skin sets are available now for both the Switch and Switch Lite. The officially licensed skins from Controller Gear also cost a lot less than the special edition console. Switch console skins are $20, and Switch Lite skins are $10.

Controller Gear’s console and controller skins are scratch resistant and leave no residue on your console, dock, or Joy-Cons after removing them. Since the skins are officially licensed, it’s no surprise that the artwork is great. You can check out all six options–three for Switch, three for Switch Lite–below. The Switch skins come with screen protectors as well. Controller Gear also has Animal Crossing tech decal sets for $7 featuring characters like Isabelle and Tom Nook, which can stick to your Switch, laptop, smartphone, and other devices.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons releases March 20 on Nintendo Switch, so there’s still time to pre-order and get some nice bonuses. The controller skins are just a few of the many cool New Horizons Switch accessories available. For newcomers and series veterans alike, you may want to check out the official New Horizons companion guide, which includes everything you need to know about your island getaway.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons Switch console skins

Tom Nook & Team (Switch) — $20

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Tom Nook & Friends (Switch) — $20

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Timmy & Tommy (Switch) — $20

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Outdoor Pattern (Switch Lite) — $10

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Timmy & Tommy (Switch Lite) — $10

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Woodtone (Switch Lite) — $10

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Now Playing: Animal Crossing: New Horizons – “Deserted Island Getaway Package” Trailer

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Chris Pratt Addresses Question of Thor in Guardians of the Galaxy 3

Marvel Cinematic Universe star Chris Pratt couldn’t give an answer when asked if Thor will appear in Guardians of the Galaxy 3, but he didn’t rule out the possibility.

At IGN’s red carpet event for Pixar’s Onward, we asked Pratt why Thor isn’t in Guardians 3.

“How do you know that Thor’s not in Guardians 3? We haven’t shot it yet, he might be in Guardians 3,” Pratt said. “We don’t know! There’s no definitive yes or no on that.”

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This is the first time in a while that someone involved with Guardians 3 has answered a question about Thor’s status. Last July, a fan asked director James Gunn if Thor would “be a part of it,” referring to Guardians 3. However, Gunn dodged the question by saying, “No. Thor will not be in The Suicide Squad,” which Gunn will finish before filming for Guardians 3 begins.

Guardians 3 could be a long way off, as Gunn previously apologized for Guardians 3’s absence from Phase 4 of the MCU. However, it may be worth the wait, as Karen Gillan, who plays Nebula in the MCU, said the script for Volume 3 is the best of the trilogy.

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For now, MCU fans have plenty to look forward to, with Black Widow releasing in May, as well as the upcoming slate of Disney+ shows.

For more, read how Chris Pratt and Tom Holland want to start an Avengers Dungeons & Dragons party.

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Logan Plant is a news writer for IGN, and the Production Assistant for Nintendo Voice Chat, IGN’s weekly Nintendo show. You can find him on Twitter at @LoganJPlant.

Sony Won’t Be at PAX East Anymore

Sony has announced that it is canceling its participation in the upcoming PAX East due to concerns over COVID-19, or the novel coronavirus.

The company announced the news as an update to its PlayStation Blog post detailing its PAX East plans. “Today, Sony Interactive Entertainment made the decision to cancel its participation at PAX in Boston this year due to increasing concerns related to COVID-19 (also known as “novel coronavirus”)[,]” Sony wrote in an update to its February 13 blog post.

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Sony was originally scheduled to present the first playable public demo for The Last of Us Part 2 at PAX East. Other games in Sony’s PAX East lineup included Marvel’s Iron Man VR, Nioh 2, Doom Eternal, Spelunky 2, and more.

It is unclear if the demo will still be available since Sony has decided to pull out of the event. IGN has reached out to Sony for more details, including whether The Last of Us Part 2 will still be available as a demo at the show.

The outbreak of COVID-19 has interrupted several planned gaming events already. Overwatch announced it will temporarily relocate its Chinese teams to South Korea, and Nintendo confirmed the outbreak will impact Animal Crossing: New Horizons shipments in Japan.

Developing…

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Matt Kim is a reporter for IGN. You can reach him on Twitter.

PS4 Pro Gets Steep Discount On Amazon

The PS5 is set for release at the end of the year, but we’re only a few months away from Final Fantasy VII Remake and The Last of Us Part II–not to mention Ghost of Tsushima this summer–and if you want to play the best versions of those games, then there’s a great deal on the PS4 Pro at Amazon. The PS4 Pro is currently $300, down from its original price of $400, and it comes with free Prime two-day shipping.

The PS4 Pro is the more powerful version of the PS4 Slim. It’s capable of playing enhanced versions of the PS4’s games, displaying them at higher resolutions with better performance. Of course, developers can take advantage of the extra power in different ways, so the results vary between games. The PS4 Pro is also capable of streaming 4K video from services like Netflix and YouTube.

Even if you buy this PS4 Pro and then upgrade to a PS5 later, all of your games will work on the next-gen console. Sony confirmed last year to Wired that the PS5 will be backward-compatible with the entire PS4 library.

If you’re looking for some games with your new PS4 Pro, then there are some great sales going on in the PlayStation Store right now. The Essential Picks sale discounts dozens of some of the PS4’s best games, while the Remastered and Retro sale has some great deals on, you guessed it, remastered and retro-style games, including Spyro Reignited Trilogy and Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night.

Now Playing: Ask the Reviewer: PS4 Pro – The Lobby

Wolcen: Lords Of Mayhem 1.0.4.0 Patch Notes, Studio Explains New Policy On Hotfixes

The indie Diablo-like Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem had a big launch on Steam, but quickly hit server issues and other launch hiccups. The studio has now delivered a promised hotfix, which addresses some of those problems along with several other bugs.

In an update posted to Steam, Wolcen Studio thanks the audience for its patience with the admittedly rocky launch, including a data loss issue that occurred last week. It says it is halting its previous approach to hotfixes to prevent another data loss issue, and instead it will slow the pace of fixes and coordinate with partners more carefully. As a result, in the future it will cap server capacities and only push out one patch per week.

This week’s patch, version 1.0.4.0, fixes an issue that would prevent offline characters from being saved, along with several other bugs. It states that it fixes an issue regarding network load and unretrieved data, but it’s clear Wolcen Studio still feels it has a lot of work to do. In a future patch, it plans to make more bug fixes, including issues with the Act 1 and Act 3 bosses, a Korean language option, and PTBR localization selection.

Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem 1.0.4.0 Patch Notes

General

  • Fixing a crash on connection(Checking game version) if a player starts an endgame “transmutation forge” project.
  • Fixing an issue allowing players to have more passive skill nodes activated than their total points would allow.
  • Fixing item duplication via chest panel issue (offline).
  • Fixing stackable items duplication.
  • Fixing invalid sell price on stacked items.
  • Fixing an issue that caused a chest panel deletion when changing acts.
  • Fixing item deletion when exiting the game while dragging an item from the inventory.
  • Fixing an issue causing players to fall from act 1 boss’ platform while using Warpath.
  • Fixing an issue causing crafting reagents to ignore lower tier gems when selecting magic effects.
  • Fixing an issue preventing DOT damage bonuses to be displayed in the character sheet detail panel.

User Interface

  • Fixing an issue making items on the ground hard to pick up depending on the framerate.

Active Skills

  • Fixing an issue preventing summoned minions bonuses to work.
  • The Wealth Omens cannot be possessed by Parasite anymore.
  • Fixing an issue preventing Livor Mortis damage redirection to work.
  • Fixing an issue causing Livor Mortis damage redirection to invalidate player magic effects.

Engine

  • Fixing an issue preventing offline characters to be saved.

Network

  • Fixing issues regarding network load & unretrieved data.

Quests

  • Fixing an issue to prevent player from going to Helmshire before talking to Valeria during “Dawnbringer”
  • Fixing two soft-locks preventing players to go in the Monolith
  • Remove double objectives while exiting Battlefield Overlook during “Infiltration”
  • Fixing progression issue in Cell-F Ramparts during “The Gates of Fury”
  • Remove quest FX on Sirkis’ cutscene during “The Bane of the Storm”
  • Improve Edric and Val’s stability during “Children of Heimlock”
  • Improve behavior of the fast travel tutorial during “Meet the Purifiers”
  • Improve transition from gameplay to the last cutscene during “Children of Heimlock”
  • Improve clarity of the objectives on quest “Chasing Val”
  • Improve script of the quest “Chasing Val”
  • Improve script around Zima’s dialog during “Creeping Shadows”
  • Fixing a wrong dialog portrait displayed during “Children of Heimlock”
  • Fixing an issue preventing players from talking to Zima in act 2.
  • Fixing an issue preventing players from progressing further during act 2.

Monsters

  • Fixing a bug allowing Eos “Dawn’s pious striker” to kill certain story bosses under 15% of their max health when used in combination with “Sudden Death”.
  • Fixing an issue with the Endgame special boss preventing loot to drop upon death.
  • Fixing an issue with the Endgame special boss that sometimes didn’t have the right level.

Items

  • Replacing the bonus to “health on this item” on Purifier’s Statement unique spaulder by a “maximum health” bonus. Existing items will be rerolled.
  • Fixing the “additional stamina points” magic effect on boots being unable to roll on high level items.
  • Fixing the Macksfesten Enneract cosmetic mismatch that made it appear as an unknown weapon and without any mesh.

Gate of Fates

  • Fixing a bug with Child Of Fury node “Blistering Embrace” and “Shattering Strike”. They didn’t work properly.
  • White Arrow node “Acute Tracking” now allows for a maximum of 10 “Cold Blooded” points, up from 5 maximum points.
  • Siegebreaker node “Secure Parry” now gives 0.1% Health Regeneration per “Inexorable” point down from 10% Health Regeneration per “Inexorable Point”. Percentages are hard.
  • Siegebreaker node “Bane of Tyranny” now has its correct value too ! Your Damage is now increased by +0.5 multiplier by your equipped Shield’S block chance instead of 50. Again.. percentages are hard !

Aspects of the Apocalypse

Aspects of the Apocalypse balance: we reduced their duration and increased their damage in order to make these forms more impactful in comparison with non-Apocalypse damage per second.

Base damages of all Aspects of Apocalypse skills have been increased by 60%.

Aspect of Dawn:

  • Immaculate Score: increase cost from 5 -> 40
  • Immaculate Score: increase damage multiplier by 100%
  • Dawn Choir: increase cost from 10 -> 60
  • Dawn Choir: increase damage multiplier by 300%
  • Will of the Protector: increase cost from 20 -> 60
  • Hammer of the Aurora: increase cost from 20 -> 100
  • All-Cleansing Light: increase cost from 100 -> 20

Aspect of War

  • Frenzy attack: increase cost from 5 -> 40
  • Frenzy attack: increase damage multiplier by 100%
  • Charge of the First warrior: increase cost from 20 -> 60
  • Charge of the First warrior: increase damage multiplier by 200%
  • Unfliching Assault: increase cost from 10 -> 20
  • Scorching Obelisk: increase cost from 20 -> 100
  • Strife of Baäpheth: increase cost from 100 -> 200

Aspect of Infinity

  • Biorhytmic Missiles: increase cost from 5 -> 40
  • Biorhytmic Missiles: increase damage multiplier by 150%
  • Parallel Convergence: increase cost from 10 -> 40
  • Parallel Convergence: increase damage multiplier by 200%
  • Calamitous Paradox: increase cost from 20 -> 150
  • Calamitous Paradox: reduce the bonus damage per Point of Entropy by 70%.
  • Calamitous Paradox: increased cooldown from 5 -> 10 seconds
  • Inevitable Obsolescence: increase cost from 20 -> 100
  • Inevitable Obsolescence: reduce damage multiplier by 20%.
  • Spatial Warp: increase cost per second from 25 -> 40
  • Spatial Warp: reduce max duration of the last phase from 5 seconds -> 3 seconds.
  • Spatial Warp: reduce damage multiplier of the first phase by 50%.
  • Spatial Warp: reduce damage multiplier of the second phase by 33%.
  • Spatial Warp: reduce damage multiplier of the last phase by 25%.

Aspect of Flesh

  • Boneblade Incisions: increase cost from 5 -> 40
  • Boneblade Incisions: increase damage multiplier by 100%
  • Bone Shuriken: increase cost from 20 -> 40
  • Bone Shuriken: increase damage multiplier by 100%
  • Eviscerating Flurry: increase cost from 20 -> 50
  • Eviscerating Flurry: increase damage multiplier by 100%
  • The Ungering Flesh: increase cost per second from 20 -> 50
  • The Ungering Flesh: reduce damage multiplier of the final hit by 40%.

Miscellaneous

  • Added “Feeding Swarm” enneract in the quest reward when you talk to Demetra for the first time.
  • Fixing a generation issue on some Maps and Reverie incense leading to the wrong area (ex: expedition with more chests that don’t have any chest).
  • Fixing some rare occurrence of the Offering Shrine to be unable to generate valid objects at a low character level.

Audio

  • Restored missing sound effects, ambiance and music across the game.
  • Some performance gains from optimisations to environmental audio.

Localization

  • Changed the name of Concealed Pistol, it’s now named Radiant Pistol
  • You can now fast travel instead of fast tavel.
  • Removed the double occurrence of “Rogue” in the Siegebreaker “Salvatory Anchor”
  • Added missing localization for some error messages.
  • Fixing some typos in dialogues.

Now Playing: Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem S+ Rank Expedition Hybrid Gun Mage

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Umbrella Academy Season 2 Teased With Stylish New Posters

The Netflix-produced adaptation of Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá’s cult comic book Umbrella Academy was one of the most acclaimed comic adaptations of the last few years and anticipation is high for Season 2. While we don’t yet know when in 2020 the second season will arrive, a new series of posters have been released.

The posters were tweeted by the show’s official account. There’s seven of them and they’re incredibly stylish–each gives us a look at a different member of the Hargreeves family. There’s Ellen Page as Vanya, Tom Hopper as Luther, Emmy Raver-Lampman as Allison, David Castañeda as Diego, Robert Sheehan as Klaus, Aiden Gallagher as Number Five, and Justin H. Min as Ben. Check two of them out below, and the rest over at the Umbrella Academy account.

Umbrella Academy Season 1 hit Netflix in February 2019. The show focuses on a dysfunctional superhero family and ended with a massive cliffhanger, increasing anticipation for Season 1. In her review of Season 1 for GameSpot, Meg Downey said “Umbrella Academy stumbles a few times in the pacing department,” but although it “throws a lot at the wall, most everything sticks.”

For more, check out GameSpot’s look at every change between Umbrella Academy and the comics, plus our look forward to what Season 2 might involve.

February’s Free SNES And NES Games For Nintendo Switch Online Members Now Live

February’s free NES and SNES games for Nintendo Switch Online subscribers are now live. Four more retro titles have been added to the online service–two from each classic system.

The new NES games this month are Shadow of the Ninja and Eliminator Boat Duel. The former is a cooperative side-scrolling action game in the vein of Ninja Gaiden, while the latter is a top-down racing game that has players piloting high-speed powerboats.

The two new SNES titles, meanwhile, are the cute-but-frenetic top-down shooter Pop’n TwinBee and the sports game Smash Tennis. What makes these titles particularly notable is that neither has previously received a US release. You can take a look at the four new Switch Online games below.

With these additions, there are now 52 NES games and 26 SNES games in the Switch Online library. In the past, new titles were added to the service on a monthly basis, but they are now being released intermittently. The last batch arrived in December and featured six games, including Super Punch-Out, Star Fox 2, and Breath of Fire II.

The retro titles can be accessed from the free NES and SNES apps, which are available exclusively for Nintendo Switch Online members. Subscriptions to the service cost $4 for one month, $8 for three months, and $20 for one year. Nintendo also offers a $35 annual Family Plan that covers up to eight different Nintendo Accounts across multiple systems.

Another exclusive offer for Switch Online subscribers is the Switch SNES controller, which is now back in stock on Nintendo’s website. The controllers cost $30 each and can be used to play Switch Online’s SNES games, but you can only purchase one if you’re a Switch Online member.

Now Playing: Biggest Nintendo Switch Exclusives Of 2020 So Far