New Wonder Woman Series Being Developed for The CW

Wonder Woman is getting another chance at a TV series. It was just last year David E. Kelley made a semi-infamous Wonder Woman pilot for NBC, which was passed on by the network. Now however, Vulture reports that there is a brand new TV take on Princess Diana in the works at The CW.

Titled Amazon, this is a complete origin story – what Vulture describes as being about “a young, budding superhero, rather than a fully formed defender of liberty.” It seems that, like Smallville, Diana may not even be called Wonder Woman at this point or wear the Wonder Woman costume – which would explain not using that name in the title.

Amazon is being written by Allan Heinberg, whose TV credits include Grey’s Anatomy and The O.C., but who is known to comic book fans for creating and writing Young Avengers at Marvel.

Vulture notes there is no pilot ordered yet, just a script. It’s unclear how the development of Amazon affects progress on a potential new Wonder Woman movie, which Variety reported Michael Goldenberg (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix) was writing – not to mention the character’s likely presence in the JLA movie. However, the potential TV series focusing on such a young version of Diana may make it possible for it to not be seen as a conflict with a different (and no doubt older) movie interpretation of the character.

While the 2011 NBC pilot starring Friday Night Lights' Adrianne Palicki was passed on, there's still plenty of nostalgic love for the 1970s Wonder Woman TV series, which starred Lynda Carter and helped elevate Wonder Woman into a much more well-known and popular character.

Source : feeds[dot]ign[dot]com

Win A 46" 3DTV And PlayStation 3 With Medal Of Honor: Warfighter

Ahead of Medal Of Honor: Warfighter's October 26th release, we're launching a new competition to give you the chance to win some incredible hardware. For the last few weeks IGN readers were given the opportunity to choose your ultimate gaming prize and the voting has now closed.

We're happy to announce that we're giving away a 46-inch 3DTV and a PlayStation 3 so that you can play EA's upcoming shooter as it was intended to be played - on a massive screen with the volume turned up to the max!

HOW TO ENTER

If you want to get involved all you need to do is head to...

http://uk-microsites.ign.com/medalofhonor/ 

...and click on the competition link at the very top of the page then click on the button marked Enter.

You've got until 10am on September 18 2012 to submit your details, so what are you waiting for soldier?

This competition is open to UK residents over the age of 18 only, with full terms and conditions on the competition page.

Source : feeds[dot]ign[dot]com

Xbox 720 could get pushed back to 2014 says analyst

Wedbush Morgan video game industry analyst Michael Pachter was quoted today as saying he believes there's a chance the Xbox 720 may be pushed back into 2014, rather than launching in 2013 as previously assumed.

“We have heard no word yet from Microsoft or Sony about their plans to launch new consoles, but both manufacturers are widely expected to launch consoles by year-end 2013," Pachter said in an industry note. "Although, we believe that Microsoft could delay a new console launch until spring of 2014 in order to accommodate what is certain to be overwhelming demand among hardcore gamers.”

This is all , of course, with the caveat that Microsoft refuses to admit the so-called Xbox 720 even exists. Of course, Nintendo is guaranteed to launch in advance of both Sony and Microsoft, and the Xbox 360 is still quite popular. All of this gives Microsoft the opportunity to sit back, take their time, and observe where the market is moving before pulling the trigger on the new console. They certainly have the luxury of sitting on their hands until 2014. It's just a question of how long they want to let Nintendo have the market all to themselves.

Source : gamesradar[dot]com

Diablo III Patch 1.0.4 -- An Interview With Blizzard

IGN recently had a chance to speak with Diablo III Game Director Jay Wilson and Senior Game Designer Andrew Chambers about Diablo III the new 1.0.4 patch. On top of adding a host of changes to all the classes, this patch touches on every major system of the game, as well as adds a whole new game component called the Paragon System. The goal for 1.0.4 is simple: give players a reason to keep playing...and to come back if they've stopped. Doing that is harder, though, because Wilson, Chambers and the entire team have to struggle to design and update a game that needs to appeal to a vocal hardcore minority, as well as millions of other players who will likely never read patch notes or reach max level.

Why does Diablo III need major tweaks, though? Why couldn't they see the need for these changes prior to release? To Wilson and Chambers, it's just part of making a game. "People play the real game at a different level than they play the beta," said Wilson. Before release there was no auction house, so the team tuned the game as best they could without it. "The game we released? We love," added Chambers, "But the thing is we're our own best critic -- harshest critic, even." With over 10,000 people playing the game, they feel it's inevitable that issues would be exposed. "That always happens," said Wilson, "That happens with every game we've ever made. Even with games like WoW, where they do a more extensive beta test...they still have all kinds of things that slip through the cracks and get found out after."

Many things about Diablo III's design have become contentious since design, but Legendary items have been a particularly sore subject. Thus the team is attempting to change them in a way that appeases fans with 1.0.4, adding considerable buffs to stats and new effects that make them feel ultra-powerful. Still, to Wilson and the team they felt pretty good when they first tested them internally. "When we would get Legendaries, Legendaries felt special. Because we didn't have the quality level of items that quickly kind of propagated in the live environment, said Wilson. But the need for change also wasn't unexpected according to Wilson, "We had an expectation that we would probably go out the gate and learn some things about the game and need to adjust. We just kind of planned for that."

The other major issue for fans has been finding reasons to keep playing after level 60. For some the farming and loot grind is enough, and Blizzard has already changed Magic find and item drops and is continuing to do so. For the rest of the audience, though, Blizzard is adding the Paragon System, an additional 100 levels that give small stat boosts and give you increased Magic and Gold Find after you hit the level cap.

Difficulty is something players often bring up as well, and it's a particularly tricky part of the design to work on. Said Wilson:

The basic issue I think we have with difficulty is that  we've got some players want a super difficult game and some players who don't view Diablo like that. They think Diablo is much more of a farming game and...about the player feeling awesome. And the problem is they're both right. One of the biggest problems of the game right now is we don't address the issues separately for both groups...We've touched difficulty,and we've really pushed it more towards it's going to be a bit easier because we've gotten way more feedback that the game's too hard than we've gotten that it's fine.

Wilson was quick to clarify that the issue of difficulty wasn't off the table, just not something they're touching in 1.0.4. "That being said, moving forward that's one of the things we're going to be looking at next...How can we address it for both players?"

Ultimately, the goal is to make sure players enjoy themselves. "Everybody should be able to have fun," said Wilson. But how do you design a game to be fun for everyone? For Wilson and the team it involves listening to everyone and gathering as much information as possible, not just listening to the loudest voices. "It's important that you listen to your forum community, but it's also important that you recognize they're not the entire audience...You've gotta play the game, you've gotta talk to each other about it, you've got to gather as much anecdotal evidence as you can." Only after a lot of listening and talking then do Wilson and the team, "make decisions about what's right for the game."

Anthony Gallegos is an Editor on IGN's PC team. He enjoys scaring the crap out of himself with horror games and then releasing some steam in shooters like Blacklight and Tribes. You can follow him on Twitter and on IGN.

Source : feeds[dot]ign[dot]com

Supernatural: Misha Collins on Season 8 and Castiel's Evolution

With Supernatural going into Season 8 this fall, I recently had the chance to talk to castmember Misha Collins, as he once more dons the trenchcoat of the angel Castiel.

Collins had to be tightlipped on the specifics of what’s to come this season, on the heels of a cliffhanger that found Dean and Castiel both sent to Purgatory, only for Cas to up and vanish on Dean. But we did discuss topics like Castiel's state of mind in Season 8, returning Supernatural writer Jeremy Carver becoming the new showrunner, the evolution of Castiel through the years and the fanbase Collins has amassed as a result.

IGN TV: I’m sure it always a little nerve-racking when things change behind the scenes, but is it also exciting for you having Jeremy return to the series as showrunner, and seeing what he’s going to bring to the table?

Misha Collins: Yeah, it’s funny for a character like mine. The show cannot go on without Sam and Dean, but we have seen that the show had started without me and can go on without me. So, yes, whenever there’s a changing of the guard, I have been nervous, not always without cause. But if funny because every time I think I know what’s going to happen in the show, something different happens. I thought at the end of last season, “Hey, thank God they left me in Purgatory with Dean. I’m definitely going to be significant next season.” Then there was a little back and forth where it wasn’t really clear whether I was going to come back at all -- and the way in which I do come back is not at all what I expected. I’ll be back much more significantly this season than last.

IGN: I was talking to Jeremy earlier, and he’s saying there will certainly be understandable drama between Dean and Castiel this season. Have you been given some insight on how that might play out?

Collins: I have. Although to be perfectly frank with you, I’ve only been given hints. I’m not exactly sure how it does play out. But yeah, that lingering question that was a significant part of the cliffhanger -- where the f**k did Castiel go? -- is answered very directly in the second episode. That won’t be a hanging chad. We’ll know what was going on with that.

IGN: Sam and Dean may be the core of the show, but clearly you have a passionate fanbase of your own among Supernatural viewers. They were none too happy when you were not on the show in the middle of last season. I would imagine it must be very gratifying to see how people have connected to you and this character.

Collins: Yes, it is. It’s funny, for whatever reason, I’m always a little bit surprised by it because I somehow don’t see it that way myself. My vantage point is skewed. And it’s not because I’m humbled, because I’m not. [Laughs] It’s just that I don’t really have another basis of comparison or something like that, so I think, “Oh, maybe this is what it’s like for everybody on the show.” But anyway, I have seen that there has been a big fan reaction to my character, and it’s grown with time. I’m super grateful for that, for a number of reasons. One, it was possibly a contributing factor to me lasting as long as I did on the show. I don’t know whether that was purely creative interest on the writers’ part or if there were other factors. But it’s also been really fun to interact with the fanbase and play with that dynamic and be able to utter the words, “I have fans.” Just waking up in the morning and saying that to yourself really gives you a boost. I don’t really know what I’m saying. I’m just rambling in weird spirals!

IGN: Well, I told you this at Comic-Con, but I happen to live with someone, my wife, who is constantly mentioning that Castiel is her favorite. So I can definitely vouch for it!

Collins: You know, at least empirically, one fan.

Continue to Page 2 as Collins discusses Castiel's state of mind in Season 8, fan encounters and more. 

Source : feeds[dot]ign[dot]com