The Walking Dead: David Morrissey on The Governor's Control

Fans of The Walking Dead comic book know that The Governor is not a character to be messed with – a man who’s managed to amass quite a group of followers and created a new society in the midst of a world overrun by zombies.

Cast as the character on AMC’s hit Walking Dead TV series this season, English actor David Morrissey is not what one would expect, physically, from The Governor – and clips and photos already show they are not giving him The Governor’s much mangier and hostile look.

But The Governor will still make a quick impact on the series, when he’s introduced on Sunday night’s episode – showing that there are different ways to exert power. I spoke to Morrissey about joining The Walking Dead and what it’s like taking on this coveted role in the series.

IGN TV: How did the possibility of you joining this show come up?

David Morrissey: I came to the show as a fan. I’d watched it and loved it, and I’ve known Andrew Lincoln for a long time. I also knew Lennie James from the pilot, he’s a great friend of mine. So when it was on in the UK, I really tuned in, and I loved it. I thought it was like a movie, that pilot. It was so great. I was hooked from then on. So I came to the show from TV. I knew nothing about the graphic novels. I came to LA to visit my friend Ian Hart, who had moved here with his family. So while I was there, my manager said, “These casting directors would like to see you. They do The Walking Dead and Breaking Bad.” I was like, “God, I love both of those shows.” So they said there was a character -- they were quite cagey about it -- in The Walking Dead. I said, “Well, I’m just such a fan of The Walking Dead.”

David Morrissey as The Governor in The Walking Dead.

Then I met Glen Mazzara, and again there was talk of a substantial character, but they wouldn’t say who it was -- and because I didn’t know about the graphic novels, I had no idea. Then it emerged, what this character was, and it sounded great. I had a big chat with Glen about the character itself. But yeah, it happened very quickly from then on. Even then, once they offered me the role, I didn’t read the graphic novels. What I read was Robert Kirkman’s book Rise of the Governor, which I think is a great book. That book really gave me a lot of insight into the characterization of this man. So that was it.

The Walking Dead: Danai Gurira on Portraying Michonne

IGN: Obviously, at some point you would have seen, just physically, how he looks in the comic. Did they make that pretty clear before you got to the set, that they weren’t going to go with that physical look?

Morrissey: There was a bit of that, yeah. Again, it came a little from me as well in the sense that I wanted to make him my own. And I think what I like about the Governor and the TV series is, in the graphic novel we meet him and he is fully formed, he’s absolutely at the end of his psychological journey. He’s out there, and he’s got this town. He’s a real badass character, right off the bat. In the TV show I think we meet him much earlier in his personal journey, and I like that because it gives me more colors to play with. And as soon as you say, “Well, look, let’s play this man differently from in the book, introduce him to our main characters earlier in their lives,” then you can have more fun with it, I think.

IGN: I imagine it must have been very helpful then to have read that book because you could kind of pull from aspects of that.

Morrissey: That’s the backstory, really. What Robert did in that book, which I thought was wonderful, was it gave you this great characterization of this man who’s living in this terrible world with his family and people he loved. I think that’s a really interesting journey for this man.

IGN: He also has to be this charismatic guy that would be able to have people follow him. What do you think it is that has some people inspired by him?

Morrissey: I think it’s because he provides a very secure place to live. In a very volatile world, he says, “If you live here and stay within the confines of my say and my town and abide by the rules, you will be safe.” And that is true, people have seen that that’s true. In Woodbury, he’s created a fortress-like community, which has very strict rules that are all security based; they’re for reasons of security. But your kids can run out onto the street. You can ride your bike down the street. You can do whatever you want -- in those confines -- because he has worked hard to create this security. That security comes at a cost, and the cost is that you do as you’re told. But that is it.

He is able to give you the illusion of freedom very well, as long as you abide by the very strict rules that he lays down. And in this world, that is an amazing place. So that’s where he delivers. As far as his populace is concerned, looking at their leader, he can deliver. And if you don’t like it, you can go out into that world and see how long you survive. That’s the real trump card he has: if you don’t like it here, off you go. And nobody wants to go out there on their own. So he delivers. I think that’s the real reason people follow him like they do. I think like all leaders, they are inspired by him, they’re a little bit scared of him, and he keeps them in a state of flux in a very clever way. He’s very good at manipulating their sense of gratitude to him, and also their fear of the outside. That’s very important.

IGN: Is there an element of danger to him from the get-go when we meet him? Do you feel like he’s a guy who’s keeping something in check, or is it a guy who’s been making the choices he thinks are right, but could have things go wrong pretty quickly?

Morrissey: Yeah, I think what is good about what we’ve done is that the characters that interact with the Governor -- different characters have different knowledge of him. Different characters have different relationships with him. Also, the audience has a whole other relationship with him. They’ll get to see him in his private moments, and that is a really good insight into the man. Whether that is an insight into a darkness of him or a lightness of him, that’s for the audience to decide. But they have a personal relationship with him. And you’ll have to wait and see, I think. The main thing about him is he’s -- I hope -- much more complex than good or bad. And I certainly hope he’s more complex than in the graphic novel. I think an audience would have to decide that, if they were living in this world that is so volatile and dangerous, what choices would they make. I think it’s very easy for us to make choices in our world. But if you put yourself in that world, your choices will be different. And I think that’s important before you condemn him and think he’s good, bad or evil or whatever. You have to realize what the survival instincts of these people are. That’s what I would say. And you know, good people do very, very bad things sometimes. That’s the complicated world we live in.

IGN: The show has already showed some interesting conflicts regarding “What is the right way to lead?” with Rick and Shane. Anything you can say about what Rick and The Governor make of one another?

Morrissey: Yeah, that’s the big question of the series, I think. How do these two men lead these two groups of people? How do they work it out? That is the story of Season 3.

IGN: Having known Andrew before, what was it like working with him here, and was it also just kind of funny to find yourself both so far from home playing these characters?

Morrissey: Andrew has helped me immensely since joining the show. From a professional point of view, just the fact that he is -- and I think all the other actors would say this -- he’s the most professional actor I’ve worked with. He’s so brilliant on the show -- obviously as an actor, but he’s also the first guy on set, he’s the last guy to leave. He makes sure everybody is all right. He really leads from the front, and his commitment and passion for the show is infectious to everybody else. But for me, he’s also been invaluable in the sense that moving to Atlanta, finding somewhere to live, the best restaurants and places to go -- he’s been invaluable in that way as well. Both personally and professionally, I couldn’t have done it without him.

The Walking Dead: Norman Reedus Talks Daryl Dixon

IGN: Merle will be reintroduced as part of The Governor's community. That seemed like a character that would be the last person to be a team player or cooperative, and yet it seems the Governor has found a way with him…?

Morrissey: I think when the Governor discovered Merle, he was in a terrible place. The Governor saved his life, and I think there’s some sort of loyalty in that. But also, he knows how to work with people and manipulate people. He knows when to flatter people and when to beat them with a stick. He’s very much that sort of coach-like person who knows people well enough to get the best out of them -- or the worst out of them in some cases -- and Merle really responds to that. I think he has people in his community who can do certain jobs for him, and Merle is very good at doing certain jobs.

David Morrissey makes his debut on the October 28th episode of The Walking Dead.

Eric Goldman is Executive Editor of IGN TV. You can follow him on on Twitter at @EricIGN and IGN at ericgoldman-ign.

Source : ign[dot]com

The Walking Dead: David Morrissey on The Governor's Control

Fans of The Walking Dead comic book know that The Governor is not a character to be messed with – a man who’s managed to amass quite a group of followers and created a new society in the midst of a world overrun by zombies.

Cast as the character on AMC’s hit Walking Dead TV series this season, English actor David Morrissey is not what one would expect, physically, from The Governor – and clips and photos already show they are not giving him The Governor’s much mangier and hostile look.

But The Governor will still make a quick impact on the series, when he’s introduced on Sunday night’s episode – showing that there are different ways to exert power. I spoke to Morrissey about joining The Walking Dead and what it’s like taking on this coveted role in the series.

IGN TV: How did the possibility of you joining this show come up?

David Morrissey: I came to the show as a fan. I’d watched it and loved it, and I’ve known Andrew Lincoln for a long time. I also knew Lennie James from the pilot, he’s a great friend of mine. So when it was on in the UK, I really tuned in, and I loved it. I thought it was like a movie, that pilot. It was so great. I was hooked from then on. So I came to the show from TV. I knew nothing about the graphic novels. I came to LA to visit my friend Ian Hart, who had moved here with his family. So while I was there, my manager said, “These casting directors would like to see you. They do The Walking Dead and Breaking Bad.” I was like, “God, I love both of those shows.” So they said there was a character -- they were quite cagey about it -- in The Walking Dead. I said, “Well, I’m just such a fan of The Walking Dead.”

David Morrissey as The Governor in The Walking Dead.

Then I met Glen Mazzara, and again there was talk of a substantial character, but they wouldn’t say who it was -- and because I didn’t know about the graphic novels, I had no idea. Then it emerged, what this character was, and it sounded great. I had a big chat with Glen about the character itself. But yeah, it happened very quickly from then on. Even then, once they offered me the role, I didn’t read the graphic novels. What I read was Robert Kirkman’s book Rise of the Governor, which I think is a great book. That book really gave me a lot of insight into the characterization of this man. So that was it.

The Walking Dead: Danai Gurira on Portraying Michonne

IGN: Obviously, at some point you would have seen, just physically, how he looks in the comic. Did they make that pretty clear before you got to the set, that they weren’t going to go with that physical look?

Morrissey: There was a bit of that, yeah. Again, it came a little from me as well in the sense that I wanted to make him my own. And I think what I like about the Governor and the TV series is, in the graphic novel we meet him and he is fully formed, he’s absolutely at the end of his psychological journey. He’s out there, and he’s got this town. He’s a real badass character, right off the bat. In the TV show I think we meet him much earlier in his personal journey, and I like that because it gives me more colors to play with. And as soon as you say, “Well, look, let’s play this man differently from in the book, introduce him to our main characters earlier in their lives,” then you can have more fun with it, I think.

IGN: I imagine it must have been very helpful then to have read that book because you could kind of pull from aspects of that.

Morrissey: That’s the backstory, really. What Robert did in that book, which I thought was wonderful, was it gave you this great characterization of this man who’s living in this terrible world with his family and people he loved. I think that’s a really interesting journey for this man.

IGN: He also has to be this charismatic guy that would be able to have people follow him. What do you think it is that has some people inspired by him?

Morrissey: I think it’s because he provides a very secure place to live. In a very volatile world, he says, “If you live here and stay within the confines of my say and my town and abide by the rules, you will be safe.” And that is true, people have seen that that’s true. In Woodbury, he’s created a fortress-like community, which has very strict rules that are all security based; they’re for reasons of security. But your kids can run out onto the street. You can ride your bike down the street. You can do whatever you want -- in those confines -- because he has worked hard to create this security. That security comes at a cost, and the cost is that you do as you’re told. But that is it.

He is able to give you the illusion of freedom very well, as long as you abide by the very strict rules that he lays down. And in this world, that is an amazing place. So that’s where he delivers. As far as his populace is concerned, looking at their leader, he can deliver. And if you don’t like it, you can go out into that world and see how long you survive. That’s the real trump card he has: if you don’t like it here, off you go. And nobody wants to go out there on their own. So he delivers. I think that’s the real reason people follow him like they do. I think like all leaders, they are inspired by him, they’re a little bit scared of him, and he keeps them in a state of flux in a very clever way. He’s very good at manipulating their sense of gratitude to him, and also their fear of the outside. That’s very important.

IGN: Is there an element of danger to him from the get-go when we meet him? Do you feel like he’s a guy who’s keeping something in check, or is it a guy who’s been making the choices he thinks are right, but could have things go wrong pretty quickly?

Morrissey: Yeah, I think what is good about what we’ve done is that the characters that interact with the Governor -- different characters have different knowledge of him. Different characters have different relationships with him. Also, the audience has a whole other relationship with him. They’ll get to see him in his private moments, and that is a really good insight into the man. Whether that is an insight into a darkness of him or a lightness of him, that’s for the audience to decide. But they have a personal relationship with him. And you’ll have to wait and see, I think. The main thing about him is he’s -- I hope -- much more complex than good or bad. And I certainly hope he’s more complex than in the graphic novel. I think an audience would have to decide that, if they were living in this world that is so volatile and dangerous, what choices would they make. I think it’s very easy for us to make choices in our world. But if you put yourself in that world, your choices will be different. And I think that’s important before you condemn him and think he’s good, bad or evil or whatever. You have to realize what the survival instincts of these people are. That’s what I would say. And you know, good people do very, very bad things sometimes. That’s the complicated world we live in.

IGN: The show has already showed some interesting conflicts regarding “What is the right way to lead?” with Rick and Shane. Anything you can say about what Rick and The Governor make of one another?

Morrissey: Yeah, that’s the big question of the series, I think. How do these two men lead these two groups of people? How do they work it out? That is the story of Season 3.

IGN: Having known Andrew before, what was it like working with him here, and was it also just kind of funny to find yourself both so far from home playing these characters?

Morrissey: Andrew has helped me immensely since joining the show. From a professional point of view, just the fact that he is -- and I think all the other actors would say this -- he’s the most professional actor I’ve worked with. He’s so brilliant on the show -- obviously as an actor, but he’s also the first guy on set, he’s the last guy to leave. He makes sure everybody is all right. He really leads from the front, and his commitment and passion for the show is infectious to everybody else. But for me, he’s also been invaluable in the sense that moving to Atlanta, finding somewhere to live, the best restaurants and places to go -- he’s been invaluable in that way as well. Both personally and professionally, I couldn’t have done it without him.

The Walking Dead: Norman Reedus Talks Daryl Dixon

IGN: Merle will be reintroduced as part of The Governor's community. That seemed like a character that would be the last person to be a team player or cooperative, and yet it seems the Governor has found a way with him…?

Morrissey: I think when the Governor discovered Merle, he was in a terrible place. The Governor saved his life, and I think there’s some sort of loyalty in that. But also, he knows how to work with people and manipulate people. He knows when to flatter people and when to beat them with a stick. He’s very much that sort of coach-like person who knows people well enough to get the best out of them -- or the worst out of them in some cases -- and Merle really responds to that. I think he has people in his community who can do certain jobs for him, and Merle is very good at doing certain jobs.

David Morrissey makes his debut on the October 28th episode of The Walking Dead.

Eric Goldman is Executive Editor of IGN TV. You can follow him on on Twitter at @EricIGN and IGN at ericgoldman-ign.

Source : ign[dot]com

League of Legends - Azubu Frost Edges Out Najin Sword in IPL5 Korean Qualifiers

After a handing MVP White a loss in Group B, Azubu Frost looked forward to their next, and more formidable opponents, Najin Sword. Najin Sword also won their first game against LG Incredible Miracle in convincing fashion so it was easy to assume this match would be exciting to see.

Azubu Frost and Najin Sword were two of the great teams to make it out of the group stages and deep into the Season 2 playoffs, with AZF of course going much farther. They were also two of the teams that never got face each other in the playoffs, so that made this match much more interesting. Heres how picks and bans went:

Azubu Frost

Bans: Evelynn, Orianna, Jayce

Picks:

• Sona (MadLife)
• Irelia (Shy)
• Maokai (CloudTemplar)
• Anivia (RapidStar)
• Kog'Maw (Woong)

Najin Sword

Bans: Jax, Skarner, Shen

Picks:

• Ezreal (Pray)
• Lee Sin (Watch)
• Katarina (Ssong)
• Malphite (Maknoon)
• Zyra (Cain)

There were pretty standard bans, especially the ones directed at the top lane. AZF didn't want to deal with Maknoon's Jayce and NS did their homework, knowing that Shy's Jax and Shen were top notch. When it comes to team composition NS definitely seemed to get the better end of the deal, but Maknoon's Malphite pick was interesting. Malphite is a great top champion but we haven't seen Maknoon play him much in the past, and it seems like the team needed an initiation other than Zyra's ult and Unstoppable Force fit the bill. Regardless, NS's team was all about a fast pace and high impact style.

AZF had a more standard lineup, with champions that could both protect Kog'Maw as well as initiate and create chaos. RapidStar on Anivia and Woong on Kog'Maw would become terrifying in the late game if NS didn't do their best to shut them down. In my opinion, AZF had a better initiation comp and the super late game advantage.

In the early game it was clear that NS wanted to disrupt Shy and make sure he doesn't become strong enough to dive Ezreal in the late game. Both RapidStar and Ssong roamed up there to see if they can help get first blood and Katarina succeeds, putting Shy behind. Meanwhile in the bottom, it was apparent that NS's Ezreal/Zyra combo was going to have issues with AZF's Kog/Sona as Zyra went down early, nearly giving Kog a double kill. The score was even at 1-1 eight minutes into the game.

NS took advantage of the early game by contesting RapidStar's blue buff with Malphite and Katarina, prompting Irelia and Maokai to come help. AZF would pay for that decision by getting decimated by a perfect Malphite ult from Maknoon and the follow up ult from Katarina, killing Anivia and Irelia. A blue pilling Maokai tried to escape but was caught by Lee Sin's Q and destroyed, making the score 2-4 at the 11-minute mark.

NS would only enjoy that lead for a few minutes though, as AZF gathered to kill the dragon, not knowing that Lee Sin solo'd it earlier. Three members of the dragon squad descended to the bottom lane and started a 3v3 fight. Zyra went down early but helped taked out Maokai. Kog'Maw was let loose and dismantled both Ezreal and Lee Sin, making Woong 4-0.

NS took the majority of the dragons through out the game to keep their gold advantage but a fed Woong was beginning to worry them. NS decided to bait Baron to see if they could catch a straggler and Shy bit. Despite Woong doing well, Shy was 0-4 at 25 minutes.

A few minutes later it was AZF who decided to bait Baron, but NS doesn't bite, instead they decide to push AZF's mid tier 2 tower, forcing AZF to close in on them. NS tries to run into the bottom jungle but is separated by great wall placement from Anivia, forcing a fight to break out. The ensuing fight leads to a 4 for 4 exchange that fed kills to RapidStar's Anivia.

After they rezzed, AZF booked it to Baron and were able to take it, but NS followed through and made sure most of them didn't survive the aftermath, taking the Baron buff away from Irelia, Maokai and Kog'Maw. With only 2 members with Baron AZF decided they couldn't do an massive pushes, but decide to finally contest the dragon. Anivia gets a terrific wall off separating Maknoon from the team, feeding the kill to Malphite. However, the follow up came from Katarina who went on a rampage and earned herself a quadra kill before falling to Anivia. The score as 16-20 in favor of NS at the 34-minute mark.

Late Game This is where it got extremely exciting. Zyra got caught and was killing, prompting AZF to head straight for Baron. NS tried to contest it and Katarina got a kill off on Maokai leaving them smiteless. NS successfully disengaged but AZF stayed at Baron with Anivia hiding in NS's red brush waiting for the remaining members of NS to contest. They come and Anivia completes an ace but sacrifices himself in the process.

With 4-members with Baron, AZF pushes straight up NS's mid tower, but underestimated their burst damage, especially Katarinas, allowing NS to ace AZF in return. That fight let NS take AZF's mid inhibitor.

The Key Fight: Malphite gets walled off by Anivia and CC'd into oblivion. He couldn't get his initiation off and it led to a 4 for 1 exchange in favor of AZF, prompting them to push for the 28-30 win. AZF won regardless of having less kills.

The MVP: MVP for this game has to go to RapidStar, although Woong did a tremendous job as Kog'Maw. RapidStar's walls were game breaking for AZF and his sacrifice at Baron was amazing.

Source : ign[dot]com

StarCraft II - IPTL - NsHoSeo needs a good showing vs Karont3 to advance to Up and Downs

Contender Division Group B has the most difficult situation to asses. Why? Currently, there are 3 teams with similar score: Team Empire 1-2 (10-13 in small points), Team Dignitas 1-2 (10-11) in small points and New Star HoSeo 1-1 (6-7) with one game left. Who’s going to join Karont3 e-Sports Club in the Up and Down Matches?

The game between the Spanish organization and Koreans is going to be the decisive factor in establishing the final result in their group.

Karont3 e-Sports Club line-up: LoLvsxD (Z), LucifroN (T), Ryo (P), VortiX (Z), AlaStOr (Z), MikOeL (T), Verdi (P)

New Star HoSeo line-up: Tassadar (P), jjakji (T), Seal (Z), Sculp (T), SalvatioN (T), Brave (P)

Potential starters

Karont3 e-Sports Club: AlaStOr (Z), MikOeL (T), Verdi (P)

Three players that I’ve put above are the ones loaned from other teams purely for the “Team Games:” AlastOr is playing for French organization, Team LDLC.com, MikOeL represents another Spanish team, Aprender, and Verdi wears Vega Squadron tag together with DaNa, Polish player who will probably represent his country in the upcoming WCG 2012 Finals.

So far, both Spaniards have opened a game for Karont3 with Zerg falling to BlinG and MikOeL defeating Beastyqt, but later losing to Brat_OK. Now it’s time for Verdi to open the most important match for the Spanish team thus far.

New Star HoSeo: Tassadar (P), Sculp (T), Seal (Z)

New Star HoSeo went from being one of the best teams in Korea to a mediocre organization with one star player on the roster and average key players. They’ve lost four players over the last 3 months and their IPTL performance wasn’t as good as people would expect especially in one of the weakest groups in Season 1.

So far, both Brave and SalvatioN opened a game, so now it’s time for one of the core NSH players to be the lucky participant in the opening game against Karont3. Just like with the Spanish, NSH starters represent all three races available in Starcraft 2. Should be interesting.

Key players

Karont3 e-Sports Club: MikOeL (T), Verdi (P)

Both have decent results in IPTL and look strong against New Star HoSeo. I can see Verdi taking even a double-kill if Karont3 decide to use him in this match. As for MikOeL, he should be able to win at least one match just like he did against Team Empire, but will probably lose the next one. One should bear in mind that mediocre Korean player is still a level above decent European. We will see if that’s true in this case as well.

New Star HoSeo: Tassadar (P), SalvatioN (T)

So far besides jjakji they are the only players to grab a win in IPTL Season 1, thus it is safe to assume that they might be able to do it again especially against core Karont3 players. However, even when most of Karont3 roster is out there are always LucifroN and Vortix left who might be more than enough for NSH this time.

Ace players

Karont3 e-Sports Club: LucifroN (T), Vortix (Z)

Duran brothers are currently considered top Europeans with a huge potential that they’ve been showing for the past few months. IEM and DreamHacks were perfect tournaments for them to shine and make room for themselves among the best of the best in the world.

Both had a huge experience with Warcraft 3, but back then it was LucifroN who managed to achieve some international recognition. This time it is Vortix leading the family with impressive results lately.

But, are they going to fall in a slump as always? LucifroN was a one game wonder back in W3 era and after three / four good tournaments he quickly became another pray among beasts like Grubby, Moon or Sky. Is the same thing going to happen to Vortix? Let’s hope not.

New Star HoSeo: jjakji (T)

Although he failed to stay in GSL Code A jjakji is the best player on NSH, but despite his unstable play he managed to grab a victory for NSH in their match against Team Empire. However, in NSH match against Team Dignitas he wasn’t able to defeat Bischu.

Prediction

New Star HoSeo 1 > 5 Karont3 e-Sports Club

At this point Karont3 is just too much for NSH. If Team Dignitas was able to defeat NSH 5 – 1 then Karont3 will crush them even harder. I expect to see one game won by jjakji  and that’s it. In that case, Karont3, Team Dignitas and Team Empire will have 1-2 score so their small points will count when deciding who’s going Karont3 in the Up and Down Matches. However, if NSH win then both them and Karont3 are the undisputed winners of Contender Division Group B.

Tune in on October 19th to our stream to watch Karont3 e-Sports Club against New Star HoSeo live!

Source : ign[dot]com

Madden, Borderlands 2 Lead U.S. Sales for September

The NPD Group has revealed the top ten best-selling games in the United States for the month of September.

The best-selling titles for the period between August 26th and September 29th are:

1. Madden NFL 13 (360, PS3, Wii, PSV)
2. Borderlands 2 (360, PS3, PC)**
3. FIFA Soccer 13 (360, PS3, PSV, Wii, 3DS, PSP)
4. New Super Mario Bros. 2 (3DS)
5. Guild Wars 2 (PC)**
6. NHL 13 (360, PS3)**
7. World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria (PC)**
8. NCAA Football 13 (360, PS3)
9. Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes (Wii, 360, NDS, PS3, 3DS, PSV, PC)
10. Battlefield 3 (360, PS3, PC)**

**(includes CE, GOTY editions, bundles, etc. but not those bundled with hardware)

According to NPD analyst Liam Callahan, Madden sold 11% more units in its first month than Madden NFL 12, representing “the best month one performance at retail for a Madden title ever.” Borderlands 2, meanwhile, was up 234% over the launch of the original Borderlands in 2009.

“Although a stronger slate of content was released to market as compared to recent past months, weak comparisons to titles like Gears of War 3 and Dead Island from last September led to an overall decrease of 13% as compared to September 2011,” Callahan wrote. “When looking past the top-selling game for the month in each of the two comparison months, the remaining top 10 titles sold through 18% fewer units than they did last year. While year-over-year declines are present in video game software, we are seeing momentum leading up to the holidays when looking at August sales compared to September, which were up 67% on an average sales-per-week basis.”

Callahan notes that EA has five of the top 10 titles this month. Four come from EA Sports, continuing its massive string of success this month. Callahan adds that PC games are up 12% year-to-date through September thanks to strong launches like Guild Wars 2, Diablo III and Mists of Pandaria, softening the decline of sales this month. Overall, “video game sales alone were down 18%.”

Callahan notes that eight of the top 10 accessory items this month were character packs from Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure or digital point and subscription cards. “These types of accessories are helping offset the losses from accessories linked to hardware sales such as gamepads,” Callahan said.

On the hardware front, Callahan reports that hardware sales are up compared to last month for DS, 3DS, PlayStation 3, Vita and 360. Callahan suggests that this “points to momentum heading into the holiday season,” and that Wii U “has the potential to reinvigorate retail sales of hardware” when it launches next month.

Nintendo reports that 3DS software sales increased by 89% compared to the same month in 2011. New Super Mario Bros. 2 sold more than 295,000 units in September, and Mario Kart 7, Star Fox 64 3D, Kid Icarus: Uprising and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D “all saw sales increases compared to last month.” Nintendo also notes that Super Mario 64 DS has now sold more than five million units in the United States, making it the third DS game to pass the milestone (New Super Mario Bros. has sold 10.6 million and Mario Kart DS has sold 8.5 million).

According to Microsoft, 270,000 Xbox 360 systems were sold in September, giving the system a “49% share of current-generation console sales” in the United States and marking its “21st consecutive month as the top-selling current-generation console in the U.S.” Microsoft adds that more than $380 million was spent in September on Xbox 360 hardware, software and accessories.

This story will be updated once Sony provides IGN with a statement.

Andrew Goldfarb is IGN’s associate news editor. Keep up with pictures of the latest food he’s been eating by following @garfep on Twitter or garfep on IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

Madden, Borderlands Lead U.S. Sales for September

The NPD Group has revealed the top ten best-selling games in the United States for the month of September.

The best-selling titles for the period between August 26th and September 29th are:

Madden NFL 13 (360, PS3, Wii, PSV) Borderlands 2 (360, PS3, PC)** FIFA Soccer 13 (360, PS3, PSV, Wii, 3DS, PSP) New Super Mario Bros. 2 (3DS) Guild Wars 2 (PC)** NHL 13 (360, PS3)** World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria (PC)** NCAA Football 13 (360, PS3) Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes (Wii, 360, NDS, PS3, 3DS, PSV, PC) Battlefield 3 (360, PS3, PC)**

**(includes CE, GOTY editions, bundles, etc. but not those bundled with hardware)

Developing story…

Andrew Goldfarb is IGN’s associate news editor. Keep up with pictures of the latest food he’s been eating by following @garfep on Twitter or garfep on IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

IPTL Premier Division - Group B Preview

Welcome to IPTL Season 1 Premier Division Group B overview. Information that you can find in this article should help you in getting the best possible viewing experience while watching our live stream during IGN Pro Team League where the best teams and players in the world clash not only for the money, but also for the title! Fasten your seat belts or grab something to drink and enjoy.

Premier division of IPTL Season 1 consists of 8 teams that are divided into 2 groups. In Round of 8 we are going to have Round Robin system and matches will be played in an All-Kill format. Top 2 teams in every group advance to the Round of 4 while bottom 2 teams drop into the Up and Down Matches.

Round of 4 is a single elimination tournament for the IPTL’s championship crown. All 4 teams who qualify to Ro4 are instantly seeded in the next season Premier Division’s Tournament.

Premier Group B has everything that Starcraft 2 fans love: top Korean teams and superstar line-ups. With professional commentary provided by IGN’s casters done onh free high quality stream you get a perfect combination.

Team SCV Life have five strong players capable of winning, but what’s going to happen once they get eliminated? Read about TSL’s champions and runner-ups here Known for having super strong players like Bomber or PartinG, StarTale is ready for IPTL Season 1. They possibly have the highest number of players seeded in both Code A and Code S, but is that enough? Read IPL’s article on StarTale here. This is the team with the smallest number of players, but 80% of their roster is seeded in one of GSL’s leagues. Lead by MarineKingPrime and young Creator, Prime is a force to be reckon with. Apparently they believe in motto “quality over quantity.” Is it true? Read about them here Incredible Miracle is full of big names, but is it going to be enough? Lately most of their ace players weren’t performing well, so everybody’s looking forward to see them in action. Is IPTL going to be their event? Find out more about IM here.

We want to make sure that you know our schedule for IPTL Season 1, so that you won’t miss the most exciting games this season. Below you can find the schedule for Premier Group A matches.

Match 1: Incredible Miracle vs StarTale (09/11/2012)

Match 2: Prime vs Team SCV Life (09/19/2012)

Match 3: Incredible Miracle vs Prime (09/26/2012)

Match 4: StarTale vs Team SCV Life (10/03/2012)

Match 5: StarTale vs Prime (10/10/2012)

Match 6: Incredible Miracle vs Team SCV Life (10/17/2012)

I don’t remember if we ever had such an amazing and fun to watch group in any team event thus far. Four Korean power-house teams full of beastly players and long history of grand achievements in one league is just insane. I do not believe anyone who would say they are not going to watch this – you would be stupid. I am sorry, but that’s the truth – IPL did something that only GOMTV was able to do during their GSTL event. IPTL Season 1 is going to be the best team event outside Korea hands-down.

Isn’t it electrifying to watch TSL in what could possibly look like a group of death for them taking into consideration their GSTL performance and teams that were able to defeat them in the semi-finals of every tournament? It’s going to be insane!

MarineKingPrime isn’t as good as he used to be, but I feel that this event might be his great comeback. In June he did an all-kill on StarTale in KSL Team League Season 1, so why couldn’t he repeat this success in IPTL? I believe he can, especially when he’s being supported by Creator, current TeamLiquid StarLeague 4 champion.

I cannot wait to see Squirtle’s PvP – he’s the only player who can actually make this match-up look so interesting. StarTale have so many godly players on their team that they look unstoppable, but in All-Kill format even one small point counts.

We all know the story about NesTea who created the earth and people told by Tastosis during GSL matches, but is he going win at least a game during IPTL Season 1? He’s been in a slump for a very long time, yet there are still many people who would actually love to see him win again.

But fear not! There is still Seed, LosirA, Mvp and Happy who can come and save the day, and if they would fail IM have Yonghwa. On paper it looks like they simply cannot lose even one game.

However, these are all assumptions based on players latest performance. The results will verify everything. I just hope to watch six awing matches and get ready for the playoffs. IPTL Season 1 begins shortly and it’s going to be legen – wait for it – dary!

Source : ign[dot]com

NPD: Darksiders II Leads U.S. Sales, Big Month for 3DS

The NPD Group has revealed the top ten best-selling games in the United States for the month of August.

The best-selling titles of the month, in order, are:

1. Darksiders II (360, PS3, PC)**
2. New Super Mario Bros 2 (3DS)
3. Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance (3DS)**
4. NCAA Football 13 (360, PS3)
5. Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes (Wii, 360, NDS, PS3, 3DS, PSV, PC)
6. Sleeping Dogs (360, PS3)
7. Transformers: Fall of Cybertron (360, PS3)
8. Batman: Arkham City (360, PS3, PC)**
9. Call of Duty: Black Ops (360, PS3, NDS, Wii, PC)**
10. The Amazing Spider-Man (360, PS3, NDS, 3DS, Wii)

**(includes CE, GOTY editions, bundles, etc. but not those bundled with hardware)

Additional details coming…

Andrew Goldfarb is IGN’s associate news editor. Keep up with pictures of the latest food he’s been eating by following him on Twitter or IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

Steam Updates Groups, Enhances Content Management

Valve has announced more new updates to the Steam Community, making changes to group pages as well as how users manager their uploaded content. Valve says that over 2.5 million groups have been created, and their pages will now receive an entirely new layout, adding a group overview, friend showcase and new group discussions.

Discussions can be public or private and users will have “complete moderator control” over their own groups, including the ability to create sub-forums, add moderators and delete posts. Groups can also list their favorite games and a default language can be set.

Valve has also added a new way to keep track of screenshots, replays, videos linked from YouTube, workshop Items and Workshops on your profile page. All content will be available for users to display or manage, with an image wall that will offer multiple ways to view your uploaded screenshots. Players will also be able to favorite screenshots in order to find them later or share them with friends.

Today is the third day of a week’s worth of Community updates that Valve is rolling out this week. The first update came on Monday with the introduction of Game Hubs. For more details about all of the new features, check out the Steam Community’s official site.

Andrew Goldfarb is IGN’s associate news editor. Keep up with pictures of the latest food he’s been eating by following him on Twitter or IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

NPD: NCAA 13 Has Big Launch, 3DS Sales Increase

The NPD Group has revealed the top ten best-selling games in the United States for the month of July.

The best-selling titles of the month, in order, are:

1. NCAA Football 13 (360, PS3)
2. Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes (Wii, 360, NDS, PS3, 3DS, PSV, PC)
3. The Amazing Spider-Man (360, PS3, 3DS, NDS, Wii)
4. Just Dance 3 (Wii, 360, PS3)
5. Batman: Arkham City (360, PS3, PC)**
6. Call of Duty: Black Ops (360, PS3, DS, Wii, PC)**
7. Assassin's Creed: Revelations (360, PS3, PC)
8. NBA 2K12 (360, PS3, Wii, PSP, PS2, PC)
9. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (360, PS3, Wii, PC)**
10. Dead Island (360, PS3, PC)**

**(includes CE, GOTY editions, bundles, etc. but not those bundled with hardware)

According to NPD analyst Anita Frazier, Pokemon Conquest would be among the top 10 for the month if the chart included individual SKU sales rather than combining sales from all platforms. Frazier notes that Batman: Arkham City and Dead Island “both received a boost in sales due to the release of Game of the Year editions.”

Frazier adds that while sales for hardware and software were down for the month, sales of accessories were up, “driven by increases in points and subscriptions game cards as well as the Skylanders character packs.” She adds that “Between the characters that are packaged with the Skylanders game and the sales of the separate character packs, over 25 million individual Skylanders figures have been sold through at retail in the U.S. since the launch of the game in October 2011.”

The NPD Group expects sales to rise in the coming month thanks to the launch of Madden NFL 13, 3DS XL and New Super Mario Bros. 2, but notes that “while August is typically ‘Madden Month,’ Madden NFL ’13 launches on August 28th which falls into the September reporting period. So, like last year, Madden will impact September results instead of August.”

On the hardware front, Frazier notes that all platforms had decreased sales this month other than 3DS and DS, which saw increases in sales compared to June. 3DS is also the only system to see a sales increase compared to this month in 2011.

Microsoft reports that “Xbox 360 maintains its lead in the U.S. console market, marking 19 months as the top-selling current-generation console in the United States.” 203,000 units were sold in July, more units than any other gaming hardware. “This marks the 17th consecutive month that Xbox 360 has held more than a 40 percent share of current-generation console sales in the United States,” Microsoft said in a statement.

Nintendo says 3DS saw a 44% increase in sales compared to July 2011 and adds that more than 260,000 units of portable hardware were sold in July.

This story will be updated as we receive a statement from Sony.

Andrew Goldfarb is IGN’s associate news editor. Keep up with pictures of the latest food he’s been eating by following him on Twitter or IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

Wilfred: "Control" Review

Warning: Full spoilers for the episode to follow.

It was only a matter of time before Ryan attempted to integrate Amanda into his established group of friends -- or rather, Jenna and Drew. We already knew that there would be some unresolved tension between Amanda and Wilfred, given Amanda's darting looks of disapproval in episodes past. In this week's "Control," we got a chance to see Ryan confront the situation head-on.

It all started with a remixed auto-tune video of Jenna's infamous "Squishy Tits" incident from Season 1. Even after all the time that has passed, her televised black mark is still causing trouble (to the tune of 1.4 million views, I might add). Right off the bat, we were introduced to Ryan's first hurtle between Amanda and Jenna as Amanda caught Jenna and Ryan in a consoling embrace. It was that nail-biting anxiety that would set the tone for the rest of the episode. And things only got worse at Ryan's dinner party... thing.

Among the overall cumbersome atmosphere, it was a stroke of genius to incorporate Drew into the butt of every awkward pause. Some of his lines were unintentionally brilliant, particularly his analysis of the difference between Monet and Manet, which, as we learned, are "both correct." I never thought of Chris Klein's character as anything more than a one-note joke -- and in many ways, he still is -- but the degree to which they use him has been expertly played this season.

Meanwhile, Wilfred had his own problems with getting to know Amanda, who was immediately repulsed by Wilfred's clumsy gestures of affection. Pretty much every interaction that could go wrong, did go wrong. And "Bear's" drunken antics certainly didn't help matters.

Jenna and Amanda's polarizing stance on dogs was another fun (and inevitable) dynamic for the episode. Matters became doubly uncomfortable when Ryan started lying for both women to save face with either side, and the culminating trauma story for Amanda was the icing on the terrible cake.

However, in a rare moment for the show, I was pleasantly surprised to see Wilfred actually resolve everything with his final act of redemption. I supposed we should never underestimate the awesome power of the doggie snuggle. Once again, Ryan was able to narrowly escape a complete disaster.

As a self-proclaimed Amanda (Read: Allison Mack) fan, it seems as though we've seen our first real drawback in her relationship with Ryan. While this week's conflict did conclude rather nicely, who knows how long the peace will last. Nevertheless, it was great to see Amanda playing a central role in the story this week, as well as the return of Jenna and Drew. Now that the formal introductions have been made, it will be interesting to see where this newly formed ensemble eventually ends up, especially now that Amanda and Jenna are so buddy, buddy.

Max Nicholson is a writer for IGN, and he desperately seeks your approval. Show him some love on Twitter and IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

A Story About My Uncle…and Grappling Beams

Created by a group of 11 students in Södertörns Högskola’s game program, A Story of My Uncle lets you soar across vast alien spaces using a grappling beam. After a brief introductory sequence it gets right to the point, dropping you onto magical floating platforms and challenging you to long-jump and swing your way to safety in search of your missing uncle.

It’s rough in spots, but the exhilarating flow of movement as you soar over deadly chasms more than makes up for the flaws. It’s also free: you can find a download link on A Story About My Uncle’s site.

Did you play it? What did you think?

Source : ign[dot]com

Raggedy Ann and Andy Movie in the Works

Well, this might get creepy. The classic Raggedy Ann and Andy dolls are getting their own big screen adaptation from The Gotham Group and Elmo puppeteer Kevin Clash. The film will be developed as a musical comedy.

Variety reports that the story will center on the original Johnny Gruelle book Raggedy Ann and Andy and the Camel With Wrinkled Knees, in which the doll duo get lost in a modern-day city and have to potentially rescue one of their friends from an unforeseen enemy. The movie will take place in a live-action setting with celebrity cameos, while also blending puppetry and CGI to achieve the look of the puppets.

What do you think? Is the world ready for a raggedy adventure? Let us hear your thoughts in the Comments below.

Source : ign[dot]com

The War Z -- A New Zombie Survival Experience

Zombies are everywhere, you’re low on supplies and you’re traveling with people even more destitute than you. You stumble upon another group of survivors who have tons of food but no weapons. Do you use your scarce pistol ammo to kill them and take what you need, or does your moral compass remain strong in a world where the dead now rule?

This is the world of the upcoming zombie survival MMO, The War Z. Developed by Hammerpoint Interactive and published by Arktos Entertainment Group, this is another take on hardcore survival for PC players. To get more information on it, how it differs itself from the already popular ArmA II mod DayZ, and when we can expect to play it, we conducted an email interview with Arktos Executive Producer Sergey Titov and Hammerpoint Interactive Senior Game Designer Eric Nordin.

IGN: OK, so let's just get this out of the way right off the bat: How much was this game a reaction to the success of DayZ? Was this in development before the Alpha's release in April?

Sergey Titov: We started thinking about doing a zombie game last year and began developing a quest-based MMO set in a large, zombie infested world. Players would be able to explore and “unlock” new areas on the map as they progress through quests assigned to them in-game. When DayZ was released to the public we were really excited to see another game that was akin to what we were working on – we were like “wow, that’s cool, we’re not the only ones making something like this." As we saw the popularity of DayZ grow, and how players and the community were reacting, we realized two things – first, there was validation that our idea of making a zombie MMO was actually right and that there is a market/player base for it, and second, we decided to abandon the idea of unlocking parts of the map as you progress – rather, the player will be able to freely roam the world and gather information and quests by exploring notes, diaries, etc left behind by both real players and NPCs.

So short answer – while we began developing our game before DayZ, we've been encouraged by fact that DayZ has become so popular. And yes, of course some of our latest design decisions were influenced by the DayZ community forums.

IGN: What do you guys like about DayZ, but feel like you want to do differnetly with The War Z? What do you want to capture that's similar?

Eric Nordin: Most of our team members are fans of DayZ. We love the way DayZ was able to capture the primal feel of being alone in a big hostile environment, where your biggest enemies are not necessarily zombies, but other players. And these other players are no different from you – they’re scared humans who are trying to survive - this is the same feel we want to capture in WarZ.

The major difference is that DayZ is a fantastic mod for a hardcore military simulation game, so it is all set in that type of environment. We are creating a standalone game, with the entire world designed around a zombie apocalypse, so that players feel completely immersed in that environment. We want players to see the signs of struggle and destruction from humans fighting with zombies and have that sense of fear and anxiety when they are exploring the world. Additionally, aside from having different characters to play and some other mechanics that we think will really set WarZ apart, the other key difference is that, being a standalone game, it will be much more accessible in terms of being able to buy, download, install, log into a server and play.

IGN: So will there be multiple maps for people to play on or only one world?

Sergey Titov: We’ll launch with one world we call “Colorado," but we have more worlds designed, all of which are based on real world locales such as New York, Los Angeles, Paris, etc. We’ll be releasing new worlds/maps as we go and they’ll be available for free to all of our players.

IGN: What sorts of things can players expect to encounter in the world?

Eric Nordin: The game is set five years after a “zombie apocalypse," so most of the human population is either dead or turned into zombies. Cities are decaying, resources are scarce and scattered around the world. About a year prior to when the game begins, a special, mutated type of zombie is discovered. These zombies have stem cells can be extracted and used to create a vaccine that cures humans of the zombie virus. People around the world are hunting these “special” zombies, however they can only be found at night, and they are rare, so players will need to go to places where zombies gather in masses – namely – big cities, larger towns, etc. If you hunt these special zombies and extract the stem cells, you’ll be able to sell them to merchants at “safe settlements” for Gold Coins – the most valuable currency in the game.

While exploring the world, scavenging for supplies, weapons, ammo and gear, players will be able to find “notes” and “diaries” – text pieces left by other players or NPCs. For example, you can find a diary that tells the story of a family escaping their home and running from zombies - and dying one by one. If you read carefully you can find clues that will point you to a place where you can find better equipment. Another scenario would be finding a note from another real player – this note could either help you or lure you into a trap – you never know what other players intentions are.

There are dozens of towns, villages, even large cities scattered across the world that players will explore looking for rare artifacts. You will be able to team up with other players to raid cities at night in order to find special zombie breeds or higher value gear. Players will also be able to form alliances against other clans.

IGN: Will you start with a gun?

Sergey Titov: If you’re playing in hardcore mode, you’ll get some kind of basic gun. In normal Mode you’ll have to find one, but it will be relatively easy to do close to your initial spawn point.

IGN: How does zombie combat work? Are they hard to lose, do they move fast? Will we have to fight hordes of them at a time, or are they a bit more scarce?

Eric Nordin: Our zombies are moving slightly slower than you - so with enough patience and enough stamina you can lose them, but it’s not easy to do. Still if you don’t have a gun or run out of ammo and there are zombies in pursuit, there’s a good chance you can lose them. Also, zombies can’t climb ladders or scale walls, open doors, etc – so you get inside a house and barricade the door and you should be safe.

Depending on location you’ll encounter between one and literally many dozens of zombies at a time. Choosing the right tactics, movement, camouflage (for example you can buy “zombie scent” spray that will save you from being detected in certain situations) or weapon type (silenced weapons are the way to go) you can either end up killing dozens of zombies without being detected or will end up being attacked by hordes attracted by loud sounds, smell, etc.

Source : ign[dot]com