Mighty Morphin Power Rangers 2017 Annual #1 Review

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A Mighty collection.

By Jeff Lake

In any annual, most of the fun comes in allowing the various creators to play freely within the universal playground sans the regular trappings of the series’ ongoing narrative. It’s a formula BOOM! Studios nailed with its first Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Annual and, wouldn’t you know it, they’ve done it again with their second.

Again featuring five different stories from a collection of industry talent, this annual offers a little bit for everyone. Regular MMPR writer Kyle Higgins and annual artist Goni Montes kick things off with the one story directly tied into the flagship title's ongoing narrative. Anyone following that book knows that an alternate version of Tommy eventually goes full Vader on his former allies, and here we see how the initial fractures are formed. It'd be easy to lean into Tommy's loner machismo, but Higgins actually gets more mileage by playing the character as the odd man out. As Rita manipulatively points out, Tommy wasn't one of the five initially selected by Zordon, making his status as a Ranger comparatively second tier. There's not a whole lot that Higgins can unpack in the limited pages provided, but its enough to add further layers to this particular portrayal of Tommy.

From there we get two equally entertaining stories from Jamal Campbell and Caitlin Kittredge. The former taps into the sprawling history and various offshoots of the Black Ranger, while the latter offers a kooky look at what happens when Scorpina and Goldar try to have a day off from villainy. Both are character driven pieces, and offer plenty of opportunity to show a different side of their respective focuses.

For our money, however, the two best stories are also the most widely opposite from one another. The first, from Tom Taylor and Dan Mora, follows Yellow Ranger as she too tries to get in some much needed R&R. Taylor, who himself is currently writing the Rangers' crossover with DC's Justice League, turns in an effortlessly personable and delightfully witty script. He gets more out of the brief pages here than anything we've yet seen in the his other Ranger crossover, which is downright baffling to say the least. Mora too is a standout, his crisp lines and yellow-heavy color palette making for a refreshing breeze of a read. On the very opposite of the spectrum is Trey Moore and Frazer Irving's Finster-centric romp. The new Rangers series has had its darker moments, but this is some next level stuff, and to say any more would only spoil its impact. It's a bit scary how well Moore's script works within the framework of what we know about the character, and while Ranger purists may not approve of the new direction, Fraser's oppressive art certainty gives it weight. Needless to say, you'll look at Finster in a different light after this one.

Annuals are all about having fun with the characters involved, and in that regard BOOM! Studios hits the mark. The chapters presented here are diverse both in content and tone, the many creators leaving their own lasting imprint on a similarly lasting property. The $7.99 price point is an undoubtedly tough pill to swallow, but this one annual that actually proves its worth.

The Verdict

As far as annuals go you cant get much better than this. The content is varied, the scripting and art strong, and the attention to character pays entertaining and even surprising dividends. Whether you're a fan of the original series or someone just looking to fill the gap between MMPR issues, there's something for everyone here.

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EA Teasing Location of Next Need for Speed

Where will it be set?

By Luke Reilly

EA has teased NFS fans with a couple of smoke-filled shots containing what appears to be the skyline for the upcoming game’s location.

Elements of a city skyline can only be made out when adjusting the contrast of the image.

Adjusting the contrast reveals a skyline (behind the, uh, Skyline).

Speculation so far has focused on the tall tower on the right, based on its resemblance to both the Seattle Space Needle and Stratosphere Tower in Las Vegas.

Aside from some exceptions, like Need for Speed The Run, Need for Speed games are generally based in fictional cities inspired in various ways by real-world locations. 2015’s Need for Speed was set in Californian-esque city called Ventura Bay.

EA confirmed a new Need for Speed game would be released this year back in May 2016. Last month developer Ghost shared a number of details on the new game and explained it will be taking fan feedback into account, including complaints regarding the previous instalment's always-online requirement.

According to EA the name of the game should be revealed “later in the week.”

Luke is Games Editor at IGN's Sydney office. You can find him on Twitter @MrLukeReilly.

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Saga #43 Review

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Growing pains.

By Jeff Lake

If you were looking for yet another reason to pick up Saga, this issue’s 25-cent cover price fits the bill. Released in conjunction with Image Comics’ 25th Anniversary, the latest from Fiona Staples and Brian K. Vaughan gets first-time readers caught up to speed even as it sets new wheels in motion.

This issue is billed as a jumping on point for new readers, and while it’s difficult to imagine anyone out there not already reading this series (who are you people?), it certainly does the job. Coming off of hiatus, writer Vaughan dedicates the early part of this issue to recap territory. Detailing both the overarching themes of the series and its more immediate developments, the refresher does a nice job of crafting an opening for new readers to hop on board, assuming they get past the first jarring page. While long time readers may find the backtracking unnecessary, at a price point of 25-cents it’s tough to argue with the direction of the content.

Of course, there’s plenty more than just history in play, as Vaughan uses this return to explore the lasting physical and emotional effects of Alana’s recent miscarriage. The book’s aforementioned opener makes it clear that Vaughan intends to pull no punches with this examination, but at least here he shows restraint, the full breadth of Alana and Marko’s loss evident but not yet overwhelming. Somewhat surprisingly, it’s actually the relationship between Hazel and Petrichor that gets the majority of the issue’s more immediate development. Petrichor has really come into her own over the last few arcs, and in her Hazel finds a kindred spirit. With so much going on Hazel’s own lineage often gets lost in the shuffle, and with this issue we’re reminded that while she’s of two worlds she’s unwelcome in both, a sentiment Petrichor seems to relate with all too well.

Even with the recap pages there’s a lot to unpack here, and again Fiona Staples makes it look easy. Perhaps it’s simply the result of the long delay between issues, but this round of visuals look even more layered in their color and depth, Staples offsetting her detailed character work with less established backdrops. The end result makes for a stark visual contrast, and puts the book’s emotional layers at the forefront. The exchange between Hazel and Petrichor is strong on body language alone. With Hazel in particular, Vaughan has a way of dealing with big themes in straightforward ways. Staples takes that even further, instilling an awareness in the character that allows her reactions to feel genuine and earned. Add in a dynamite sequence featuring a new-look Alana to close the issue and you get another standout artistic installment.

It’s always a good day when Saga returns, and its latest looks set to bring new readers into the fold. The issue’s recap heavy opener is the very definition of new reader friendly, while it’s layered look at the aftermath of recent events opens entirely new avenues. Toss in the absurdly low price of 25 cents and this book darn near recommends itself.

The Verdict

Saga #43 makes for an excellent jumping on point for new readers. The opening recap structure allows for easy comprehension, where the back half of the read details the kind of well developed characterization the series is known for. Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples appear set to turn their narrative on its axis yet again, and at the sweet, sweet price of 25 cents, this issue is an easy sell for readers new and old.

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Fargo: "The Law of Inevitability" Review

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"There was a crooked man..."

By Matt Fowler

Warning: Full spoilers for the episode below.

"The Law of Inevitability" took place during the hours following Ray's untimely demise, giving us sort of a strange condensed Fargo chapter in the process. It was an episode that felt a bit constrained and strangled as it attempted to dole out the immediate aftermath of last week's big shock.

Firstly though, let's talk about the appearance of Mr. (Wes) Wrench there at the end, on the prison bus, as a huge callout to Season 1 and the Fargo mob who Lorne Malvo tore through during his path of chaos and murder. Yes, Wes Wrench, who apparently met Hanzee Dent as a child - the man who later morphed into mob boss Moses Tripoli.

So what does Wrench's appearance mean for Season 3? Is an entirely new outside force about to intervene in the story, perhaps on Nikki's behalf, or was he just there as an Easter egg to get squashed during the bus crash? Either way, something has to give with this latest Nikki cliffhanger. The series, despite its affection for random offings, has to be careful now when it comes to Nikki given all that she's survived. Was Yuri sawing away at that bus gate the show's way of telling us that she was done for? That she simply couldn't survive the night given all the forces out to kill her? Or was the pause button used here so that she could somehow skin-of-her-teeth out of yet another perilous predicament?

Nikki's terse clue about following the money, as well as the nice couple lines about Gloria visiting her one day with coconut creme pie, may have been her send off. Hell, it's more of a send off than most folks get on Fargo, so I can see this being the end for her. Her death might even galvanize Gloria even more. But - dammit! - I feel like she needs to scape by somehow. Again, I think I've mentioned this, but there are very few Fargo characters I actively root for. She's one of them.

Because Gloria will indeed now start sniffing around Sy, "following that money" and uncovering more of the conspiracy involving Varga. Because that's who Nikki thinks is behind Emmit's criminal dealings. At least, he's the one she was seeing when she almost got killed by Yuri. Though that's not to say Emmit's off the hook. He failed miserably at the "playing it cool" game when Winnie told him Ray was dead, blurting out "I've been here since six" before she even had the chance to relay the news.

Overall, coupled with Emmit's emotional collapse (complete with Varga's apropos Mother Goose rhyme) and Nikki's hanging fate, this episode was about Gloria's persistence and absolute refusal to bend to Moe's obtuse will. She's in business for herself at this point, seeking the truth no matter what her actual job title will be by the end of it. Hell, she may not even be a cop anymore by the time things get sorted out, but she's determined to not let other people's stories obscure, or replace, what actually happened.

I'm not sure what DJ Qualls' character is all about, or if he'll ever turn out to be more than a sleazy hitman, but it was a nice surprise to see him pop up here as the "cop" trying to kill Nikki. Was it a real cop or an imposter? Does Varga have a man on the inside? A third goon that we didn't know about? I'm assuming that when Meemo saw Nikki being taken into custody (caught in a motel window like Jerry Lundegaard!) he contacted someone who could take her out while she was behind bars.

Odds and ends:

• Depending on what goes down next week, Moe still might chalk the open road attempt on Nikki's life up as another accident. At that point, should it occur, Moe would basically completely shift from being a character to being a cosmic force of absurd opposition. I'm hoping after the bus crash he'll start to rethink things.
• Fargo: Season 1 took place in 2006, so this Mr. Wrench is one years later, after his life was spared by Lorne Malvo. Seems he's gotten himself into trouble again.
• Sy and Emmit both broke down in tears this week, and after Varga's attempt to turn Emmit against Sy almost worked. It was Sy sobbing in front of his wife that held the most impact though. Sy's a yellow hummer-driving fool, but of the two he's the least corruptible. He wept for a world gone wrong. I may even feel sorry for the guy now if he goes.
• Just learned today that Season 3 had another Season 1 Easter egg a few episodes ago when Billy Bob Thornton acted as the Peter and the Wolf narrator. Pretty cool!

The Verdict

Despite multiple attempts on Nikki's life, and a fun, perhaps game-changing, shot of Mr. Wrench on the bus at the end, Fargo simmered down a bit this week for a Christmas Eve episodes all about Gloria making pain-staking progress in her frowned-upon investigation.

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Warner Bros. May Sue Universal Over its Dark Universe

Turns out 'Dark Universe' is quite popular.

By Lucy O'Brien

Warner Bros. is reportedly considering legal action against Universal over its 'Dark Universe' monster movie franchise.

Last week it was announced that Universal Pictures' classic monsters shared universe is now officially known as the 'Dark Universe' franchise, and THR reports that Warners is "mulling" legal action (via a studio source), as its very own 'Dark Universe' banner encompasses its upcoming Justice League Dark movie - currently working-titled Dark Universe - and a series of comic books.  You can see how it might get...confusing.

Dark Universe's core creatives are The Mummy director Alex Kurtzman, Chris Morgan (producer behind The Fast and the Furious Franchise), Christopher McQuarrie (Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation director), and David Koepp (writer of 2002's Spider-Man). The Tom Cruise-starring The Mummy will be the first out of the gate, followed by Bride of Frankenstein and The Invisible Man.

Lucy O'Brien is an editor at IGN’s Sydney office. Follow her ramblings on Twitter.

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Netflix Founder Wants to Cancel More Shows

Reed Hastings on why his streaming service needs to keep taking risks.

By Lucy O'Brien

Netflix founder Reed Hastings believes his streaming service needs to cancel more of its original shows.

Speaking to CNBC (via Vulture) Hastings said that Netflix's "hit ratio is way too high right now.” Netflix needs to be taking more risks, said Hastings, which would naturally result in some unexpected massive hits and some failures. “We’ve canceled very few shows," he continued. "I’m always pushing the content team: We have to take more risk; you have to try more crazy things. Because we should have a higher cancel rate overall.”

By taking big risks, Hastings said, you get unexpectedly successful shows like 13 Reasons Why. “You get some winners that are just unbelievable winners, like 13 Reasons Why. It surprised us. It’s a great show, but we didn’t realize just how it would catch on.”

To date, Netflix has rarely cancelled its originals. Notable outliers are The Get Down, Netflix's first show that wasn't renewed for a second season, and Marco Polo, which was canceled after two seasons without a proper ending (unlike situations like Hemlock Grove and Bloodline where a third and final season was announced/produced).

Lucy O'Brien is an editor at IGN’s Sydney office. Follow her ramblings on Twitter.

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The Best Friendship Items in Magikarp Jump

Friendship Items in Magikarp Jump allow you to befriend Support Pokemon and get their help, both at the pond and during competitions at the League. You can purchase these at the Diamond Shop, but some of them can only be earned by completing Leagues. 

Magikarpa 5-25% JP boost.  Some of the Support Pokemon can be upgraded, which enhances their effects at the pond, with Support Candy. Get Support Candy as a shopping bonus by purchasing Training and Berry upgrades, or by winning League battles. 

Editlist of friendship items and Support pokemon

The best Friendship Items are arguably the ones you get for free by conquering Leagues. Piplup, who you befriend after defeating the Quick League, restores a Training Point every one and a half hours! That's hard to beat.

Otherwise, the purchasable Friendship Items all have their own merits. Pick your favorite and have no regrets!

Also consider, Slowpoke looks like the best option at first glance. However, it restores the skill for just one Support Pokemon every 12 hours. This would be decent to combo with Charizard, granting you two great items every 12 hours. To time it correctly, just make sure only Charizard has used its skill, then use Slowpoke, guaranteeing it will restore Charizard's skill again.

Rowlet is another great early pick because it grants coins, which are easy to earn, but having more will allow you to upgrade more food and training items. Rowlet's skill cooldown is one of the shorter cooldowns for the higher priced Friendship items (aside from Snorlax).

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Our Far Cry 5 Gameplay Reactions

Plus: we learn that Mark is a Virgin virgin.

By Ryan McCaffrey

DOWNLOAD UNLOCKED 298 (Audio version)

On this week's Xbox show, we discuss our thoughts on the gameplay features of Far Cry 5 we know about so far, what Square Enix might do with Hitman, Take-Two's surprising indie purchase, and much more!

Oh, and Unlocked now has its own snazzy new homepage! Bookmark this: go.ign.com/unlocked

And we've got our own YouTube channel too! Subscribe here: http://youtube.com/ignunlocked

DOWNLOAD UNLOCKED 298 (Audio version)

Past Episodes of Unlocked

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Cable #1 Review

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Cable gets back to doing what he does best.

By Jesse Schedeen

Marvel is banking pretty heavily on '90s nostalgia when it comes to the ResurrXion relaunch. Hot on the heels of X-Men Gold, X-Men Blue and a new incarnation of Generation X, Cable is back in his own solo series. Luckily, one needn't already be a fan of this gun-toting, time-traveling cyborg assassin to enjoy what James Robinson and Carlos Pacheco are delivering.

Robinson has really found his niche at Marvel these past couple years. Cable continues the approach of books like Scarlet Witch and Nick Fury, books that reflect current Marvel continuity but focus more on telling clean, approachable stories set in their own little corners of the Marvel U. Cable doesn't follow the standalone issue format of those books, but otherwise is cut from a similar cloth. Robinson doesn't burden readers with Cable's convoluted history or an excess of plot in this first issue. Instead, he throws them right into the middle of Cable's latest time-hopping adventure. It's not clear who or what Cab;e is pursuing in this first issue, but clearly this is a case where the journey is more important than the destination.

There can be a fine line when it comes to plot-light, action-heavy books like this. The pared-down, straight-to-the-point approach is all fine and well, but there needs to be at least some depth and nuance to the characterization to keep readers invested. That's been the problem with Nick Fury so far, to be honest. But Cable falls on the other side of that line. The script is streamlined and light on exposition, but it manages to shed light on Cable's personality in subtle, effective ways. In particular, the scene involving Cable consoling a grieving Japanese woman speaks a lot to his character with only a handful of words and images.

Carlos Pacheco makes for a strong storytelling partner. Pacheco's style evokes the classic '90s era just enough to suit the lead character. There's also a very clean, sleek quality to his pencils that helps immensely with the streamlined storytelling approach. Robinson has no need to rely on narration of exposition when Pacheco's dynamic framing choices and emotionally charged characters get the job done on their own.

More so than with many artists, Pachecho's art tends to vary in quality a lot depending on which inker and colorist he's paired with. Luckily, Cable pairs Pacheco with a strong team in inker Rafael Fonteriz and colorist Jesus Aburtov. Fonteriz's thin but confident lines bring extra clarity to Pacheco's work, and Aburtov's colors give the book a rich quality. Aburtov is especially skilled at capturing the sun-drenched vistas of the Wild West and the dramatic scenes human suffering in Feudal Japan.

The Verdict

Cable immediately establishes itself as one of the stronger additions to Marvel's ResurrXion lineup. This first issue offers a tightly paced, attractive romp as the cyborg hero hunts a mysterious enemy across time. And fortunately, the book is able to add just enough depth and complexity to its main character to balance out the light, breezy storytelling approach.

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Ender's Game's Steinfeld May Star in Transformers Spinoff

Steinfeld received an Oscar nomination for her role in True Grit.

By Jordan Sirani

Ender's Game star Hailee Steinfeld is reportedly in talks to star in the first Transformers spinoff, Bumblebee.

The news comes by way of Variety, which reports, much like the film itself, details on Steinfeld's potential character are being kept under wraps. IGN has reached out to Paramount for comment and will update this article with any new information.

Steinfeld as Petra Arkanian in Ender's Game

Steinfeld's other credits include True Grit, Pitch Perfect 2, and The Edge of Seventeen. She can be seen next in Pitch Perfect 3.

The Transformers spinoff, meanwhile, was officially confirmed last year. The script comes from Christina Hudson, with Michael Bay, Steven Spielberg, and Lorenzo di Bonaventura on as producers. Travis Knight, who helmed Kubo and the Two Strings, will be making his live-action directorial debut.

Earlier this year, Bay revealed Bumblebee isn't the only Transformers spinoff in the works. According to the director, 14 more stories have already been written.

The next Transformers movie, The Last Knight, is set to hit theaters June 23.

Jordan is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter @jdsirani.

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Resident Evil: Jovovich on Why She Almost Quit Over Michelle Rodriguez

“OK, why don’t we start with page one?”

By Hope Corrigan

Resident Evil star Milla Jovovich has revealed the reason why she almost quit the iconic series before it had even started.

During an interview with Inverse, Jovovich explains that she was a big fan of the games which prompted her to sign on to produce the original film and ended up reading for the movie after discovering that Paul W.S Anderson was holding the reins.

The series lead then candidly confided that she had originally planned to quit the film over re-writes to include Michelle Rodriguez's role.

"I almost quit the movie. I was shooting something else, and Paul had hired Michelle Rodriguez to play Rain. And she had just come off Girlfight and there was Oscar buzz. She was very hot at that moment, and my hotness had sort of been already four years old by that point"

Jovovich felt that the changes turned her character Alice into "the girl" and Rodriguez's Rain became "the guy" stating that "She got all of my big action scenes, and she became like Alice. And then Alice became this tag-along."

“I got to the hotel and said, ‘We have to have a big talk or I’m going to be on a flight tomorrow morning.’ So Paul ended up coming over that evening and we literally sat for three hours and went through the script, page by page,” Jovovich said. “He was like, ‘What do you mean? This didn’t change that much?’ So I was like, ‘Okay, why don’t we start with page one?’"

The Resident Evil movies wrapped up this year with Resident Evil: The Final Chapter and according to our review, it's probably a good thing they stopped.

Hope Corrigan is a freelance news writer for IGN. You can find her on the internet.

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The Flash: Season 3 Review

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Barry Allen struggles to find his footing in a more uneven third season.

By Jesse Schedeen

Note: this is a mostly spoiler-free review of Season 3 of The Flash, which is now on Netflix. I'll discuss basic plot and character details but avoid getting too much into specifics.

Season 3 appears to be the real test for The CW's Arrowverse shows. Arrow followed up its first two seasons with a much rockier third season, leaving that series in a hole of which it's only just now managed to climb out. The Flash went through a similar series of hurdles this year. The Flash: Season 3 was noticeably more uneven than its predecessors, suggesting that maybe Barry Allen's best days are behind him. Luckily, the show was able to recapture its footing where Arrow continued to struggle. The strong last couple months of the season went a long way towards making up for the mistakes that came before.

It was clear right away that Season 3 faced a long, uphill battle. Season 2 ended with an exciting cliffhanger, as Barry (Grant Gustin) traveled back in time, undid his parents' deaths and created the alternate timeline known as Flashpoint. Anyone who's read the Flashpoint comic or watched the animated movie Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox was surely salivating at the thought of seeing a twisted, dystopian vision of the Arrowverse. What the premiere episode, "Flashpoint," actually delivered was slightly less exciting. Aside from a few key differences, this world wasn't a particularly dramatic change from the norm. There was still a definite appeal in seeing Barry briefly granted the happy, quiet life he's always dreamed of, but "Flashpoint" set an underwhelming precedent that would continue on for several months.

Looking back at my reviews of the first half of Season 3, it wasn't until the midseason finale that any episode scored above the low 8 range. That pretty much encapsulates the problems with the season right there. The show was often perfectly fine on a week-to-week basis, but it was rare for any episode to really stand out from the pack. The general status quo in the first half of the season too often struggled to measure up to the Reverse-Flash and Zoom conflicts from seasons past. The end result of Barry's three months spent living in Flashpoint was a handful of changes to the Team Flash dynamic, many of which became all but irrelevant after a week or two. Flashpoint also resulted in the rise of two new villains - Doctor Alchemy and Savitar (both voiced by Tobin Bell). Alchemy never amounted to much more than a shadowy, mysterious string-puller, while it wasn't until the final few episodes of the season that Savitar truly came into his own.

Again, the show really struggled to build a cohesive and compelling direction in the early months of Season 3. It was a long, long time before it became clear exactly what separated Savitar from previous speedster villains. Nor did Alchemy's quest to restore the Flashpoint status quo do much to build a strong narrative hook. More than ever, the series was forced to fall back on the core Team Flash dynamic. At least it always has that element to rely upon. The Flash may no longer be the best the Arrowverse has to offer, but after three years I've become very invested in the collective struggle of this unusual family of speedsters and geniuses.

There was plenty of character drama to work through early on, much of it the direct result of Barry's time-meddling. Iris (Candice Patton) and Joe (Jesse L. Martin) dealt with a mutual estrangement. Cisco (Carlos Valdes) mourned the death of someone close to him. Both Caitlin (Danielle Panabaker) and Wally (Keiynan Lonsdale) dealt with the spontaneous appearance of metahuman powers (with the former dreading her transformations into Killer Frost and the latter relishing his opportunity to follow in Barry's footsteps). That's to say nothing of the complications created by Barry's new co-worker/frenemy, Julian Desmond (Tom Felton). When all else failed, the Team Flash family drama could usually be relied upon to keep the show humming along.

Julian proved an entertaining and somewhat unpredictable addition to the recurring cast, adding a unique voice and temperament to the Team Flash dynamic. But the best addition this year was H.R. (Tom Cavanagh), the latest alternate universe incarnation of Harrison Wells. It's part of The Flash's charm that there must always be a Wells in the picture, even if Cisco and friends have to go on a recruitment drive to find one. Cavanagh again proved to be one of the show's MVP's, playing H.R. as a wholly distinct character compared to Season 1's Dr. Wells and Season 2's Harry. There were even a few opportunities to see Cavanagh play multiple Wellses in the same scene, just for kicks.

This season also got a lot of mileage out of John Wesley Shipp's new role as the real Jay Garrick. Like Cavanagh, Shipp successfully managed to set his new character apart from the old, casting Jay as a grizzled veteran not entirely comfortable with his status as mentor to Barry and his fellow speedsters. The only complaint here is that the season never used Jay as often as it could. That was especially true with the midseason finale, "The Present," which offered a tantalizingly brief glimpse of Jay's rivalry with Earth-3's Trickster (Mark Hamill).

Looking back, the one character who felt oddly underutilized this year was Wally. On paper, it was a big year for Wally, as he gained his speed powers and took his place alongside Barry. That paved the way for several memorable speedster team-ups (including one with Violett Beane's Jesse Quick thrown in for good measure). But there was a specific point in the season where it seemed like the writers completely lost interest in Wally. He all but completely faded to the background and never recovered as a result. The show needs to do better by the character in Season 4.

The character drama gave the early episodes weight where villains like Alchemy faltered, but that drama brought about its own set of problems. Not only was the scope of Flashpoint itself disappointingly limited, the fallout often felt small and perfunctory. Some subplots, particularly the Joe/Iris rift, were quickly resolved and forgotten, almost like they never happened at all. And at some point, the series simply felt too mired in darkness. Character drama is great, but this series has always thrived on its ability to balance that drama with lighthearted adventure and that ever-important sense of hope. But Barry Allen became more morose than ever this year, and his misery seemed to envelop everyone around him. It didn't help that The Flash was airing new episodes at the same time as fellow Arrow-verse/CW series Supergirl and Legends of Tomorrow, two shows that did a much better job of balancing character drama with lighthearted fun this year.

By the time the midseason finale rolled around, it was clear that Season 3 had two fundamental problems - an overabundance of darkness and a lack of a clear, compelling supervillain threat. To its credit, the show started making a concerted effort to address both problems around that point, though it would be some time before either was truly rectified.

"The Present" at least established clear stakes for Team Flash and a new conflict to propel the show forward in the second half of Season 3. A good start, though the problem remained that viewers knew very little about Savitar or what motivated this self-styled god of speed in his feud with Team Flash. The writers waited a shockingly long time to actually shed light on the man beneath the armor. In fact, it wasn't until late April that Savitar's identity was finally revealed. That ambiguity weighed on the show for months. As the third speedster villain in as many seasons, Savitar just didn't have the novelty factor or the depth needed to stand out.

Fortunately, that did change once the reveal came and Savitar's true endgame became apparent. The final five episodes went a long way towards reviving the Savitar conflict and building the character into someone worthy of Reverse-Flash and Zoom. That doesn't necessarily excuse the writers for keeping their cards close to the vest for so long, nor their decision to focus on a third speedster villain when there are so many other worthy Flash villains who haven't gotten their due yet.. But at the same time, the reveal did make it apparent why that prolonged secrecy was necessary. Moreover, the reveal wound up tying the season together, forcing Barry to confront his mistakes and his habit of being the architect of much of his own misery. For a villain who remained so aloof for much of the season, Savitar wound up becoming a surprisingly personal villain in the end.

It also didn't hurt that the later episodes placed so much emphasis on Caitlin's fall from grace. I still maintain that Killer Frost should have been the central villain of Season 3. But even as a supporting player in the Savitar conflict, Caitlin added a great deal of dramatic weight to the series, with the writers banking heavily on the strong bond linking Barry, Cisco and Caitlin and the tragedy that arose when those bonds were shattered. This was also a valuable chance for Panabaker to play Killer Frost not as an overt villain, but someone torn between her twisted metahuman side and the good, loyal friend that still remained within.

As for the dark tone, it's no coincidence that some of the best episodes this season were those that diverged from the Savitar conflict and focused on the lighter side of Barry's world. The two-part Gorilla Grodd storyline was very entertaining, offering fans their first real glimpse of Earth-2's Gorilla City and suggesting that Grodd would make for an excellent recurring villain if not for the sheer expense involved in bringing the character to life. The series even took the opportunity to throw in a little levity right before the end, as "Infantino Street" offered a wonderfully entertaining Flash/Captain Cold team-up before moving into the dramatic fallout of Savitar's final attack.

But nowhere did the series shine brighter this season than in the long-awaited musical episode/Supergirl crossover "Duet." For one glorious hour, all the darkness fell away and Grant Gustin and Melissa Benoist were given free reign to sing, dance and just have fun playing superheroes. It certainly didn't hurt that so many actors involved, including Victor Garber, John Barrowman and Jesse L. Martin have serious musical theater chops of their own. Not only did that episode strongly suggest that the musical crossover needs to become an annual tradition, it served as a crucial reminder of how enthralling The Flash can be when it focuses on the lighter side of Barry Allen's life. Hopefully that episode, and the generally improved state of the series in the second half of Season 3, are signs of what to expect when the show returns in the fall.

The Flash (CW): Season 3

The Verdict

The Flash: Season 3 is a clear step down from the show's first two years. It's not that there were many truly bad episodes this year, but more that the show struggled too long to find a compelling status quo and make the most of the fallout from "Flashpoint." Some of the best episodes this season had little to do with the overarching Savitar conflict. Luckily, the show did find its footing in the final two months of Season 3, and that strong finish went a long way toward redeeming the season as a whole.

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Why Red Dead Redemption 2's Delay Is a Good Thing

"A delayed game is eventually good, a bad game is bad forever."

By Alanah Pearce

Last week, Rockstar Games announced that Red Dead Redemption 2 has been delayed, and people are mad about it.

It was originally supposed to come out on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in Fall this year, but has been pushed to Spring 2018, with Rockstar stating, "some extra time is necessary to ensure that we can deliver the best experience possible for our fans. We are very sorry for any disappointment this delay causes, but we are firm believers in delivering a game only when it is ready.”

Never finished, just shipped.

Negative responses to delays always really confuse me, but especially in this case, where Rockstar's statement reads as an assurance of care and quality. We’re being told a studio who is almost guaranteed to make an enormous amount of sales doesn’t want to rush something. Grand Theft Auto V broke six world records, including the highest revenue generated by an entertainment product in 24 hours, and Red Dead Redemption 2 has already been predicted to sell at least 15 million copies. Rockstar could easily release Red Dead 2 this year and still make a sizeable profit, even if it’s riddled with bugs, but they aren’t. This is good. There’s a famous quote from Miyamoto, the man who created Mario, that says, “A delayed game is eventually good, a bad game is bad forever.”

Some of Rockstar’s success as a studio has to be attributed to the fact that they take their time producing high-quality, usually very highly rated games, too, and I'd prefer they hold true to that standard than play Red Dead 2 this year. They’re not new to delays either, and I completely understand the criticism that if a publisher isn’t sure about a release date, they shouldn’t announce one. The problem with that is that game development is really unpredictable, to the extent that it’s difficult to be entirely sure when a game will be ‘finished’.

Naughty Dog’s co-director, Bruce Straley, said, "The reality is, left to our own devices, we as developers would never ship a game because there’s always something else to iterate on, or new idea, or more polish to make the game better. It’s always going to be never finished, just shipped.” Diablo 3’s delayed launch seems to have been influenced by that, where Blizzard’s philosophy was that the release date shouldn’t determine the quality of the game — the quality of the game should determine the release date. It’s a noble idea, but because of that, Diablo 3 took 10 years to make, and still had issues on launch.

A release date that’s announced a year off is always a guided estimate, and something one designer thinks might take one month to make might turn out taking three. Important new code that updates one thing can break three others, and things have to be revised. From start to finish, making a game isn’t an exact science, and pulling a release date out of that mess can’t be easy. Regardless of the difficulty, marketing and sales departments need those dates to do their jobs, and publishers need them to have an understanding of their financial situation for a year.

Release dates help guide a game, and announcing them publicly helps marketing teams and sales teams, but delaying that release date can help all of us, in the end. It means the game we get to play is better. I think I’d be far more disappointed if Red Dead Redemption 2 is bad, than I am by not getting to play it this year.

Alanah Pearce is a Producer at IGN. You can find her on Twitter @Charalanahzard.

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The Long Journey Home Review

Share.

Never tell me the odds.

By Leif Johnson

According to one of my playthroughs of the roguelike The Long Journey Home, humanity's first meeting with an alien species took place between the crew of our first interstellar vessel and a squat little glukkt trader named Mendarch. Here it was: the chance of enlightenment and the promise of advances in science beyond our wildest dreams. There was a whole unspoken history in his calling our place the galaxy the "prohibited sector." And what were the fruits of that first mission? He offered to loan me 600 galactic credits and only told me that he expected 200 credits in interest after we finished the transaction. Aliens will be human, I guess.

That's the fun part of The Long Journey Home, and the glukkt are but one of a long list of races who approach your ship with intentions both malevolent and magnanimous. Unfortunately, I had to fight to enjoy these moments. There's a great premise at the heart of this adventure, but it gets smothered under the weight of frustrating and tedious minigames which require ridiculous feats of precision and patience and wear out their welcome long before you ever reach Earth – if indeed you do. I never quite made it all the way back home (though I came close a few times), because this is, after all, a game designed to be a tough and often unfair adventure through the stars, giving you stories to tell of your brave crew’s sacrifices. It does that, but the story was always more about just scraping by until the end, with few climactic triumphs to keep the mood from getting too dire.

“

The odds are stacked against you as highly as a Corellian freighter navigating an asteroid field.

The Long Journey Home never lets you forget the odds of making it back to Earth after a malfunction sends you to the other side of the galaxy are stacked against you as highly as a Corellian freighter navigating an asteroid field. Even if you were to perform the aforementioned minigames to perfection (and I'd love to have your autograph if you do), you still have to contend with ship components that randomly break with resources that never seem to be more than stingy. You can alter your chances somewhat by carefully choosing which of 10 available crew members (with distinct personalities and professions ranging from astronaut to archaeologist) you want to fill the ship's four seats, but it'll always be rough going considering that the far reaches of the galaxy aren't exactly stocked with components for human technology.

On the bright side, it's crammed with folks like our glukkt usurer. It's a good thing, too, as our adventurers would be up the Milky Way without a paddle without them, to say nothing of the Mass Effect-style relays that shuttle between star systems help as well (usually for a price). Other races include the reeves, who once offered to buy one of my crew members as a slave in exchange for some galactic credits, or the seemingly super-chummy plant-like mizzurani, whose gift of "free" fuel for my jump drive ended up "infesting" my astronaut after I had her install it from my cargo inventory.

These close encounters deliver The Long Journey Home's best moments, and the excellent writing involved helps lend it a storytelling strength seldom found in roguelikes. Often even the bad encounters left me smirking, such as when Dark Mistress Zacherraza of the Reeves responded to my refusal to sell a crewmate with a petulant "Fine, be that way." End transmission. These stories and the character art that accompanies them are more personal than the majority of what you’d find in the thematically similar FTL: Faster Than Light.

Unfortunately, those interactions turn out to be a fairly small part of The Long Journey Home. The vast majority of a playthrough involves either easing the ship into a planet's orbit or sending the lander down to a planet's surface to scrounge for gases and metals needed to refuel or repair the craft, or to pick up the "exotic" matter needed to power the jump drive when I wanted to port to a neighboring star. Both minigames are 2D and factor in a given planet's gravity, which appeals to the science nerd inside me in a simplified Kerbal Space Program sort of way. Both require a careful dance of the left and right mouse buttons; in space you use the left button to fire off lightweight "thrusts" for precision maneuvering and the right for "boosts" that guzzle fuel and propel you from a big planet's orbit. When you visit a planet with the lander, you use the left mouse button to thrust upward and the right to thrust downward.

“

It feels like an interplanetary hole in one.

The orbiting is the easiest to adapt to, as it requires carefully adjusting your speed and direction on a top-down map of a solar system in order to slip into a planet's orbit, with the help of a guide that projects your current trajectory. I still find myself crashing into planets after hours of practice, but these are understandable failures with a basis in my impatience. When I find that patience, I also find that The Long Journey Home presents few greater pleasures than coasting straight into a planet's orbit from the other side of a solar system without overshooting it or colliding with it. It feels like an interplanetary hole in one.

I had much more trouble mastering the annoying 2D lander minigame, in which it feels almost impossible to avoid damage to the craft on anything besides a planet with low gravity. For that matter, you almost always have to factor in elements in addition to gravity, whether it's winds, heat, or earthquakes. And then you're expected to land on a ridiculously precise section of a planet for drilling to extract resources, and drilling itself guzzles as much fuel as a boost on the ship.

Charmers, those glukkt.

The bumps and bruises you get from botched attempts aren't mere "aw, shucks" moments. They're life-threatening, damaging not only your craft but often breaking the bones of your crewmembers in the process. Upgrades you can pick up from quests of vendor help, yes, but it's always challenging. (And using a controller is far worse as far as I'm concerned, though I've also heard people say the opposite.)

We've already seen how The Long Journey Home attempts to make life painful at almost every turn, but the unkindest cut of all is the way these frequent planetary expeditions yield so few resources. Even when I managed to fill my lander's entire cargo space with fuel, for instance, I cringed when I returned to the ship and discovered that all my efforts barely filled a fourth of my almost-empty tank. I’d been desperate for fuel, and now my lander was damaged and my pilot was injured.

Hull damage is far more harrowing, as it seems as though you'll never get enough supplies from the multiple different resources available to patch it up like new. Maybe the virtually unavoidable damage wouldn't be so annoying if you could avoid high-risk or high-gravity planets save in dire emergencies, but The Long Journey Home's stinginess means you'll want – or need – to mine almost every chance you get.

And then, if you've somehow managed to survive multiple landings, you'll still have to battle with scrappy alien ships in top-down battles that bear a passing resemblance to Star Control 2. You're only allowed to fire off broadside attacks, which would be manageable if there were a targeting reticule to show your line of fire. But having to eyeball the aim while you steer using the same glacial thrusts and boosts used for planetary orbits, and while the enemy craft spits out nimble fighter ships that pelt you relentlessly while you're still trying to turn around seems like a bit much. Like so much of The Long Journey Home, these fights are good in concept but maddening in practice.

The Long Journey Home

The Long Journey Home is a space exploration game that throws players into deep space where they must navigate danger, mystery and opportunity as they try to navigate their way home.

The Verdict

When The Long Journey Home focuses on interactions with a diverse and entertaining cast of aliens across its procedurally generated star systems, it's possible to find a degree of wonder and personality that many roguelike seldom achieve. Unfortunately, such interactions take a back seat to a barrage of frustrating minigames with rewards that rarely match the risks. The experience as a whole suffers for it.

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Prey Update Adds PS4 Pro Support

Higher quality shadows, improved textures and more.

By Hope Corrigan

Bethesda has released a new update for the PS4 version of Prey that features enhancements when playing on PS4 Pro.

The 1.04 update is available now for download and adds support for several cosmetic tweaks, including the ability to enable screen-space reflections. Support other visual enhancements, like higher quality shadows and improved textures are included in the update as well.

The update also features various gameplay improvements. In addition to further fixes for input drift, "Transfer all Junk" will now send tracking bracelets to the Recycler. Check out the patch notes for a full rundown of all the PS4 Pro enhancements and general improvements.

Bethesda plans to release the update for Xbox One and PC users later this week.

Prey has been no stranger to bugs and glitches, and had a game-breaking PC save issue that caused problems for many players when the game first released.

Hope Corrigan is a freelance news writer for IGN. You can find her on the internet.

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NECA's SDCC TMNT Exclusives Once Again Rule

Heroes in a Collectors Box.

By Hope Corrigan

NECA has announced its newest set of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles figures, which will be exclusive to San Diego Comic-Con 2017.

According to The Fwoosh, the new set features 8 posable figures, including the four Ninja Turtles complete with weapons and accessories, as well as Shredder, Krang and henchmen for them to fight.

NECA's TMNT exclusive for SDCC 2017, via TheFwoosh

All the characters are modeled after the cartoon aesthetic of the series and come complete in a themed SDCC collector's case.

The entire set will cost $200, and for those unable to attend Comic-Con, the figures will be available to preorder in June at The NECA Store.

Last year's NECA TMNT Box Sets rocked the style from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade game, split into a Turtles Box Set and a Foot Clan Box Set with all figures standing at about 6 inches tall with over 30 points of articulation. Each set was priced at $100, which puts it in the same range as the new collector's box if purchased together.

San Diego Comic-Con will run from July 20 to 23 this year and IGN has a complete list of last year's exclusive toys to help get you ready for what to expect.

Hope Corrigan is a freelance news writer for IGN. You can find her on the internet.

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ASUS Republic of Gamers Strix GL702VM Review

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A lot of ponies for not many pennies.

By Seth G. Macy

Be sure to visit IGN Tech for all the latest comprehensive hands-on reviews and best-of roundups. Note that if you click on one of these links to buy the product, IGN may get a share of the sale. For more, read our Terms of Use.

The hottest trend in gaming laptops is "VR readiness," and the ASUS Republic of Gamers GL702VM proudly (See it on Amazon) (See it on Amazon UK) announces in its marketing materials that it's is a machine wholly capable of transporting you to new, entirely virtual, realities. Its "readiness" is due to the inclusion of an Nvidia GTX 1060 GPU, which is the new entry level GPU for VR. At $1299, the GL702VM configuration I received for testing is on the lower end of the pricing spectrum given its specs, and the most readily apparent trade-off it makes to hit this low-ish price is the fact that it uses an older Intel Core- i7 6700HQ CPU, which is from the previous generation, a.k.a. Skylake.

Practically all new gaming laptops, and all the the models we're reviewing this week, use the newer Kaby Lake Core-i7 7700HQ, which is marginally faster. Aside from its CPU and GPU, the most notable gaming spec it offers is the inclusion of a huge 17" G-Sync display, allowing for glorious tear-free gaming.

Asus ROG Strix GL702VM

Specs

Here are the specifications of the ASUS ROG Strix GL702VM we're specifically evaluating here:

• Model GL702VM-DB74
• Display: 1920x1080 17.3-inch G-Sync Matte Display
• Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB
• Processor: Intel Core i7-6700HQ 2.6GHz
• Memory: 16GB DDR4
• OS: Windows 10
• OS Drive: 256GB SATA SSD
• Storage Drive: 1TB 7,200 RPM HDD
• Optical Drive: N/A
• Ports: 1 x COMBO audio jack, 1 x USB 3.1 TYPE C Thunderbolt port, 3 x USB 3.0, 1 x RJ45 LAN, 1 x HDMI, 1 x mini Display Port
• Battery: 76 Whrs Polymer Battery
• Wireless: 802.11 ac 2x2, Bluetooth 4.1
• Weight: 6 pounds
• Price: $1,299

As mentioned earlier, the GL702VM's processor is a 6th-generation Skylake Core i7-6700HQ running at 2.6GHz, but ASUS offers a version with the newer Core i7-7700HQ as well, and it costs $200 more. It's not really worth the upgrade though, as it has a smaller 128GB SSD and a slower 5,400rpm hard drive instead of the 256GB SSD and 7,200rpm hard drive.

Storage-wise, having an extra terabyte of hard drive storage makes all the difference in the world. The 256GB SSD is fine for your OS and some programs, but with the size of modern games it will fill up quickly. Grand Theft Auto 5 is now over 70GB, for example, so installing games to the SSD means choosing only the ones that will benefit from the performance boost, and putting the rest on the hard drive. The 7200 RPM hard drive helps with game load times versus a 5400 RPM version, but just having all that extra space in tandem with the SSD is great.

Asus ROG Strix GL702VM

There are plenty of extra ports populating the edges of the GL702VM. You get three USB 3.0 ports, a Thunderbolt 3 port, Mini Displayport, HDMI, an honest-to-God Ethernet port, as well as an SD Card reader and combination headphone/microphone jack. We would have liked to have had separate jacks for headphones and mic, but it's a minor complaint.

The 17.3-inch, 1080p G-Sync display on the GL702VM is crisp and colors really pop. Text looks great, making web surfing and daily driving easy on the eyes. High definition movies also look fantastic on the GL702VM, and the screen's matte finish keeps it from being too reflective, but it isn't quite bright enough for use in full sunlight.

Asus ROG Strix GL702VM

ASUS includes its ROG Gaming Center software with the GL702VM, and not much else, and that's a good thing. Other laptops come preloaded with intrusive software constantly bothering you to back-up or register, or run scans, but the ROG Gaming Center software just hangs out until you want to use it. The software monitors the frequency and temperature of CPU, GPU, and memory. It also has settings for turning on and off the Windows key, adjusting screen brightness and colors, and it has four programmable profiles for gaming, movies, etc.

The Keyboard

Asus ROG Strix GL702VM

The GL702VM has a backlit chiclet style full-size keyboard with bright orange WASD keys. The WASD keys are translucent, so when the lighting is on, they glow more brightly than the rest of the keys. Is it a helpful feature? Not really, but it does help drive home the point it's a laptop designed for gaming, and it looks pretty cool. As far as keyboards go, it's great. Key travel is wonderfully satisfying and since the GL702VM is a 17-inch laptop, my hands never felt crowded on the spacious keyboard. Probably the highest praise I can offer is that there was no adjustment required going from a desktop keyboard to this one. The GL702VM has ample wrist space, too, so I didn't experience wrist fatigue. The trackpad buttons also have a nice, meaty click to them and though the trackpad itself lacks lighting effects, it has a bright orange pinstripe around its edge, making it easier to find and use.

Performance

To see how the GL702VM fared against a few of its competitor we ran a few games and synthetic benchmarks. Four of the five systems we tested used a GTX 1060 GPU so as you can see performance was incredibly similar, which is a comparison that works in this model's favor, given its lower price. The GL702VM has an older CPU, as I noted above, but for gaming there's almost zero difference between the Skylake part and the newer Kaby Lake version.

The GL702VM holds its own performance-wise, even against laptops with newer Core i7-7700HQ CPUs. The Razer Blade, MSI GE62VR, and Alienware 13 all have the same GPU as the Asus laptop, but use the newer i7-7700HQ CPU, and as you can see there's almost zero difference in gaming. When making comparison that take price into consideration the GL702VM looks like an absolutely killer deal, performing just as well as much more expensive laptops.

It also stays surprisingly cool when in use, with no distracting fan noise to speak of. If you sit it on your lap, it radiates an almost cozy warmth, but we never felt like the computer, or my thighs, were in danger of overheating. At 6 pounds, it's certainly on the heavy side, but not obnoxiously so.

Battery Life

Battery life for gaming laptops falls into two categories: acceptable and atrocious. The GL702VM is in the acceptable category. Through normal use, web surfing with a dozen or so tabs open, watching the occasional YouTube and auto-play Facebook videos, we got just under 4 hours of battery life. That's with the screen set to 50% brightness and the keyboard lighting turned off. Stress-testing by running a 4K video in VLC, however, absolutely decimated the battery. After just 1 hour 29 minutes, the GL702VM gave up the ghost. This is about average for this class of laptop, but not as good as more expensive laptops such as the Razer Blade and Alienware 13.

Purchasing Guide

The ASUS Republic of Gamers Strix GL702VM has an MSRP of $1,299, and that's exactly what it's going for on Amazon. Since it's an older model, Asus told us it is clearing out inventory though, so if this laptop tickles your fancy you best snatch one while you still can:

Seth Macy is IGN's weekend web producer and just wants to be your friend. Follow him on Twitter @sethmacy, or subscribe to Seth Macy's YouTube channel.

The Verdict

At just $1,299, the GL702VM hits the sweet spot between price and performance, making it a top contender in the midrange gaming laptop market. Build quality is good but not great, with a lid made of metal and everything else made of hard plastic, but at this price you have to live with a few tradeoffs, and luckily there are very few. I liked how it manages to shed heat without distracting fan noise, and for a 17-inch gaming laptop, it actually feels relatively small. It's not a mega powerhouse thanks to its midrange GPU but it's great for 1080p gaming, and the G-Sync display is a a great addition. Overall it's a killer notebook, especially given its low price.

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Kingdom Hearts Orchestra Features Exclusive Story Content

Composer Yoko Shimomura will appear as a special guest.

By Alex Osborn

The Kingdom Hearts Orchestra World Tour is headed to the United States this June, complete with exclusive voice acted story sequences.

Performances will be held at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on June 10, 11 and 14. Meanwhile, those in New York will be able to see the concert at the United Palace Theatre on June 23 and 24. A performance will also be held at the ORIX Theatre in Osaka, Japan on July 8.

In addition to featuring a selection of music and HD cinematics from Square Enix's beloved video game series, the concert will include three exclusive voice sequences from actors Risa Uchida (Kairi / Xion) and Megumi Toyoguchi (Aqua), which were recorded specifically for the event.

Kingdom Hearts composer Yoko Shimomura will be appear on stage at each show as a special guest, and will meet with VIP ticket holders after the performance. The tour will also feature exclusive goods for purchase, as well as a special CD that includes twelve pieces from the concert.

Kingdom Hearts director Tetsuya Nomura is supervising the entire concert series. According to Nomura, it may be quite some time before the release of Kingdom Hearts III, as both the long-awaited third installment and Final Fantasy VII Remake "still have a way to go."

In addition to releasing Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 ReMIX and 2.5 ReMIX for PlayStation 4 earlier this year, Square Enix also launched Kingdom Hearts HD II.8 -- Final Chapter Prologue, a compilation that includes Kingdom Hearts χ [chi] Back Cover, 0.2 Birth By Sleep - A Fragmentary Passage - and a remastered version of the Nintendo 3DS game Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance.

Check out the video below for our thoughts on the PS4-exclusive compilation, and then read up on how it paves the way for Kingdom Hearts III.

Alex Osborn is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter and subscribe to his YouTube channel.

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Stranger Things Star in Talks to Star in The New Mutants

Heaton is in negotiations to play Sam Guthrie, aka Cannonball.

By Jonathon Dornbush

Charlie Heaton, who played Jonathan Bryers on Netflix's Stranger Things, is in talks to star in the upcoming X-Men spinoff film The New Mutants.

IGN can confirm that the Stranger Things star is in negotiations to portray Sam Guthrie, aka the mutant Cannonball, in Fox's upcoming 2018 X-Men film directed by Josh Boone. Cannonball is a mutant with the ability to essentially propel himself through the air like a rocket, creating an impenetrable field around himself in the process.

Stranger Things star Charlie Heaton

Should Bryers officially sign on, he would join a cast that includes Game of Thrones' Maisie Williams and The Witch's Anya Taylor-Joy as Wolfsbane and Magik, respectively. Daredevil's Rosario Dawson and 13 Reasons Why's Henry Zaga are also both in talks to appear in the film as Dr. Cecilia Reyes and Sunspot, respectively.

Boone recently discussed the upcoming film — one of three X-Men universe movies planned for 2018 — calling it "a full-fledged horror movie set in the X-Men universe."  Boone has also teased that the lineup could include Warlock, while Death Note star Nat Wolff has previously been rumored for the part of Cannonball.

New Mutants will open in theaters on April 13, 2018. It will be one of three X-Men films coming in 2018, with Deadpool 2 and Dark Phoenix also set to release next year. Stranger Things will return for its second season later this year on October 31.

THR originally reported Heaton's talks regarding the film.

Jonathon Dornbush is an Associate Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter @jmdornbush.

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How and When to Watch E3 2017

Below you'll find the E3 2017 press conference schedule and show times as soon as they're announced. Microsoft, Sony, Ubisoft, EA, and Square usually hold large press conferences before the E3 show floor opens, each of which are live-streamed on IGN, and also archived on this page. Nintendo broadcasts a similar pre-recorded event. All E3 coverage can be found at IGN.com/E3.

You can watch the E3 press conferences live on almost every screen in your house or in your pocket. Here are the many apps and channels where you can watch the E3 2017 Live Stream(s). We highly recommend you install these apps now so you don't miss out for E3 2017!

As always, IGN will be bringing you coverage of all the conferences live on IGN.com/E3. You can also watch the E3 2017 live streams on IGN's home page and various IGN apps, including on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, as well as IGN's video channels on YouTube and Twitch.

In addition to the conferences, IGN will stream its own coverage of the conference throughout the week, featuring game demos and interviews from the show floor hosted by IGN's entire staff.

Conference	IGN Pre-Show	Conference Time
EA†	11:30 AM	Saturday, June 10 at 12 PM PT
Microsoft	1:30 PM	Sunday, June 11 at 2 PM PT
Bethesda	8:30 PM	Sunday, June 11 at 9 PM PT
PC Gaming Show	N/A	Monday, June 12 at 10 AM PT
Ubisoft	12:30 PM	Monday, June 12 at 1 PM PT
Sony	5:30 PM	Monday, June 12 at 6 PM PT
Devolver Digital	TBA	TBA  [1]
Nintendo††	8:30 AM	Tuesday, June 13th at 9 AM PT

†EA's show is part of its special pre-E3 event, EA Play.

††As with previous years, Nintendo opted out of having a traditional E3 press conference. Instead, Nintendo will live stream its Nintendo Switch presentation (referred to as the "Nintendo Spotlight") on June 13 at 9 AM PT.

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The Best and Cheapest Fidget Spinners and Cubes

What idiot called them fidget spinners and not fidget widgets?

By Seth G. Macy

If you can't seem to keep yourself still and need something, anything, to occupy your hands, the sudden explosion of fidget toys is just what you need. While they make somewhat dubious claims about their therapeutic benefits, there's no denying the satisfaction of spinning a tiny toy, or clicking and fussing with switches and buttons, while you're otherwise idle. It just feels right. Below we've compiled a list of the best fidget spinners and best fidget cubes you can buy right now. And if you aren't interested in dropping $20 or more on a simple fidget toy, we've also included a few ultra-cheap fidget spinners and cheap fidget cubes that will still get the job done (and likely make a little but more noise while doing it).

Here are some great fidget toys to help keep your mind on track.

List last updated on May 24.

Atesson Tri-Spinner Ultra

Atesson Tri-Spinner Ultra

This spinner is pretty amazing, honestly. It spins for as much as nine minutes at a time and hardly weighs anything. Plus it just looks awesome. This one has great reviews, too, and it's inexpensive.

- See it on Amazon

D-JOY Tri-Spinner Fidget Toy

D-JOY Tri-Spinner Fidget Toy

Here's a cheap, colorful fidget spinner for you non-committal types. At under $4, there's not a lot of reason not to go ahead and grab one, or two, or five, just to get a feel for the whole fidget spinner craze. Even better, since its low-cost it makes a great choice for kids who misplace things, because at $4, who cares?

- See it on Amazon

Gorilla Spinners

Gorilla Spinners

This device from Gorilla Spinners promises 120 seconds of spin, guaranteed. It also comes in an attractive metal tin, so you can stow it away in style. On top of that, it has a 30-day money back guarantee and has a high customer rating on Amazon.

- See it on Amazon

Classic Red Spinner

Red Classic Fidget Spinner

The tri-tip spinner design is one of the more common takes on the fidget spinner concept, and the Red Classic from The Sharon's has all-ceramic bearings, something the manufacturer claims gives it between two and five minutes of blissful spinning action.

- See it on Amazon

Oliasports 6-Sided Fidget Toy

Oliasports 6-Sided Fidget Toy

This fidget cube is one of the cheapest on Amazon, and its classic fidget cube design will help keep your hands occupied and your mind free to focus on other tasks.

- See it on Amazon

KCHKUI Fidget Cube

KCHKUI Fidget Cube

This little KCHKUI fidget cube fits in your hand and offers the tactile feedback your hands are after. It comes with a 2-year guarantee, which is pretty excellent given its price tag. On top of that, there are tons of colors and designs to choose from.

- See it on Amazon

Labvon Fidget Spinner

Labvon Metal Fidget Spinner

This is one of the top-rated fidget spinners on Amazon right now. It boasts 5 minutes of spin thanks to a stainless steel bearing, which the manufacturer claims allows it to travel through time. Just kidding, but you'll definitely pass the time with this cool metal spinner.

-See it on Amazon

AMILIFE Spinner

Amilife EDC Fidget Spinner

Here's another low-cost spinner if you're looking to dip your toes in the world of fidget toys. The Amilife EDC fidget spinner is under $9 and promises low-noise, high-quality bearings with long spin times. No muss, no fuss.

- See it on Amazon

Jarvinia Retro Silver Fidget Spinner

This retro silver spinner from Jarvinia claims two and half to three minutes of spin time off a single flick of the toy. It has a cool medieval looking shield on its wings, to help you feel like an ancient warrior whose mind tends to wander.

- See it on Amazon

Bokate Crusader

Bokate Crusader

The Bokate Crusader has the same shield design as the one by Jarvinia, but it's in a cool, brushed metal exterior. There are two finishes to choose from, too: the coppery one shown in the image, and a silvery one.

- See it on Amazon

12-Sided Fidget Die

Fidget Dice Anti-Anxiety

This 12-sided contraption from Fidget Dice has switches, sliders, squeezable rubber protrusions, a knobby thumb-massaging side, and more. There are 12 sides to this fidget device, make it multidimensional. And it's fairly cheap, too, coming in at just under $15.

- See it on Amazon

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