IGN is proud to exclusively reveal Darkborn, the debut game from developer The Outsiders. Previously codenamed Project Wight, Darkborn is a story-focused action game where you play a literal monster in a classic revenge story.

Though still in development in a pre-alpha state, Darkborn is a first-person mixture of stealth and action as you inhabit one of the titular creatures in a bid to visit vengeance on the Viking-like humans who inhabit the world.

But there’s more to it than pulping your way through grunting, barbaric Norsemen. Darkborn is positioned to tell a unique story revolving around opposing powers in the world, while you and your family are caught in the middle. As evident from the 15-minute gameplay reveal above, the opening moments of Darkborn paint the picture of a caring family unit that’s literally ripped apart, sparking your journey to grow and evolve from a cub to a predator, gaining size, strength, and incredible bestial powers.

Speaking with The Outsiders co-founder, project lead, and longtime Battlefield and Payday developer David Goldfarb, Darkborn is about putting you on the other side of the sword, so to speak.

“Darkborn is first and foremost a game about being a monster,” Goldfarb said. “Playing it is about experiencing that monstrous quality – in first person combat, in novel abilities and movement, and even in enemy reactions to you.”

“But it’s not traditional in that humans are murderous, cruel enemies bent on your extinction. You yourself are an innocent caught up in a much larger conflict between Powers, the specifics of which become clearer in the course of the game. It’s a classic revenge story, but also a mystery: what happened to the world and your people? Can they be saved?”

Darkborn’s inspirations are similarly varied. The idea was pulled together from twists on classic epic literature like John Gardner’s Grendel being the biggest influence on Goldfarb, pop-culture staples like King Kong and Bambi, and video games like Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of the Colossus.

“What if the Orcs [in Shadow of Mordor] were the good guys?” Goldfarb said. “What kind of lives did those great beasts [in Shadow of the Colossus] have before you came to murder them?”

At a scant 25 members, The Stockholm-based development studio has been working on Darkborn for nearly three years, albeit with a much smaller development team for half that time – the exception being some outsourced art, and the audio team Two Feathers which is responsible for the incredible, yet heart-wrenching crunches, cries, and whimpers of Darkborn’s opening minutes.

“Originally [The Outsiders] was founded to try to make the types of games we wanted to play that we felt no one else was making,” Goldfarb said. “Darkborn was the first of those games.”

Though there’s currently no release window, The Outsiders’ vision seems to be coming together nicely as Darkborn makes its way to an eventual PC release with the possibility of a home on consoles over the horizon.

“We hope people experience a new perspective,” Goldfarb said of his hopes Darkborn players. “We want them to want to help this lone creature succeed against seemingly impossible odds on their journey of knowledge and vengeance.”

So while there is a huge component of traditional power fantasy in the player’s own growth across the game, there’s also the ‘man this poor thing had it hard and it’s terrible what the humans did and I’m going to help’ element that propels the narrative and, we hope, player engagement.”

You can follow the development of Darkborn on the studio’s Twitter and Facebook page, or even contact them via email – the studio is eager to know what people think of its little monster!

Brandin Tyrrel is IGN’s Xbox Editor. You can find him on Unlocked, or chat over on Twitter at @BrandinTyrrel.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Norco kept rolling this week to top three California schools among the first eight in the USA Today Sports/NFCA High School Super 25 poll.

The (11-0) Cougars have outscored opponents 41-5 over their last four games, including Saturday’s doubleheader sweep of Diamond Ranch by scores of 13-4 and 14-1.

Second-ranked Spain Park (22-1), meanwhile, beat rival Oak Mountain, 2-1, on Monday before suffering its first loss in Tuesday’s 14-7 slugfest with Hewitt-Trussville. No. 3 Hendrickson (20-0) stayed perfect with a 9-6 victory over Round Rock on Tuesday.

In a top-five showdown, No. 4 Pinnacle (18-1) dealt No. 5 Desert Ridge (11-1) its first loss on Tuesday in stunning fashion, 12-0 in five innings, while Lakewood Ranch (10-0) remained unbeaten on the strength of its stellar pitching (0.67 ERA) and solid hitting (.387).

In all, 20 of the 25 ranked teams have one or fewer losses so far this season, including No. 10 Willis (21-1), which beat Brenham, 3-2, on Tuesday in the bottom of the seventh, and reigning Kentucky state titlist Scott County (3-0) at No, 20, which has outscored its three opponents 27-0 and allowed just one hit in each contest.

State rankings submitted by NFCA member coaches are used to compile the USA Today Sports/NFCA High School Super 25.

USA Today Sports/NFCA High School Super 25 Poll – March 23, 2017

Rank Team 2017 Record Previous 1 Norco (Calif.) 11-0 4 2 Spain Park (Ala.) 22-1 NR 3 Hendrickson (Texas) 20-0 NR 4 Pinnacle (Ariz.) 18-1 25 5 Desert Ridge (Ariz.) 11-1 NR 6 Lakewood Ranch (Fla.) 10-0 NR 7 Amador Valley (Calif.) 6-0 NR 8 Cape Fear (N.C.) 8-0 NR 9 Westminster Christian (Ala.) 27-1 NR 10 Willis (Texas) 21-1 NR 11 Hamilton (Ariz.) 16-3 9 12 Los Alamitos (Calif.) 8-2 1 13 Sheldon (Calif.) 6-1 NR 14 Bishop O’Connell (Va.) 4-0 13 15 La Habra (Calif.) 8-2 NR 16 D.H. Conley (N.C.) 6-0 NR 17 Coral Springs Charter (Fla.) 14-1 NR 18 Johnson (Texas) 17-1 NR 19 Deer Park (Texas) 14-3 11 20 Scott County (Ky.) 3-0 22 21 Mater Dei (Calif.) 10-2 NR 22 Clovis (Calif.) 7-1 NR 23 Immaculate Heart Academy (N.J.) 0-0 18 24 Orange (N.C.) 5-0 NR 25 South Granville (N.C.) 6-0 NR

DC is going all-out when it comes to celebrating Batman’s 80th anniversary this year, and that includes inviting 1.5 million actual bats to the party.

Today DC shed light on some of the Bat-themed festivities going on during 2019. In addition to the release of the landmark Detective Comics #1000 this month (which features the comic book universe debut of the Arkham Knight), the company will be hosting several Batman panels at events like SXSW, Emerald City Comic-Con and WonderCon, as well as celebrating another annual Batman Day on September 21.

DC also revealed this new anniversary logo designed by artist Jose Luis Garcia-Loez and painted by Admira Wijaya:

Among other events at SXSW this year, DC will host a gathering as attendees watch 1.5 million bats fly over Congress Bridge in Austin, TX.

This year’s Batman Day will be even more ambitious than usual, as multiple cities will shine Bat-signals and host 5K and 10K marathons.

Other Batman events in 2019 will include:

• The Madame Tussauds locations in Orlando and Sydney will host a Batman-themed exhibit in September.
• Six Flags theme parks will have a #LongLivetheBat event, featuring extended hours, new events and exclusive Batman merchandise.
• Austin-based art gallery MONDO will host a Batman art exhibition in May.
• The LEGO exhibition The Art of the Brick: DC Super Heroes will kick off a new touring Batman exhibit in September, beginning in Sao Paolo, Brazil.
• DirecTV will air a special Batman-centric TV channel.
• Both Rome and Shanghai will play host to unique Batman exhibits.
• Batman will be featured in a new campaign for National Boys & Girls Clubs Week in April.
• Genetic Disorders UK will release a new Batman shirt as part of Jeans for Genes Day in September.

Batman’s official 80th anniversary happens on March 30, with Batman Day scheduled for September 21. Detective Comics #1000 will hit stores on March 27.

Jesse is a mild-mannered writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter, or Kicksplode on MyIGN.

The country’s first municipal vote to be held under a ranked-ballot system was finally decided on Tuesday, with a mayor declared after 14 rounds of counting.

Under the system, in which voters picked their top three candidates in order of preference, Ed Holder was declared winner over his closest challenger about 18 hours after polls closed Monday evening.

This was the first provincewide election in Ontario in which municipalities were allowed to choose using ranked ballots rather than the traditional first-past-the-post system that rewards a person with the most votes, regardless of whether that translates into a majority.

Other communities mull switching to ranked ballots

Only London opted to go that ranked-ballot route after public consultation and passage of a bylaw. Two other communities — Cambridge and Kingston — asked voters during Monday’s election whether they should move to ranked ballots in 2022. Voters in both centres said yes but Cambridge didn’t have a large enough turnout to make the result stick.

Under the ranked system, votes are counted and the last-place person is dropped from the ballot. However, their votes are distributed according to the second and third-place choices voters indicated, provided those candidates have not been eliminated.

To win, Holder had to win a simple majority.

He started off strong, taking about 33,000 votes — or roughly one third of all ballots cast — to lead the balloting on the first round. However, despite coming out as the front-runner through subsequent rounds, he was unable to make much headway through round 11, where he still led against three other challengers.

It was only in the following few rounds that he finally powered his way to more than 57,000 votes and a solid victory over his second-place rival, Paul Paolatto.

Holder, 64, a former Conservative MP, takes over from Matt Brown, a former one-term city councillor and teacher.

Brown had been elected mayor in 2014 on a platform of integrity and teamwork but scandal marred his tenure. Among other things, he admitted to an affair with the deputy mayor, leading to a split with his wife. He announced in April he wouldn’t run again.

The mayor-elect campaigned on a platform that included his opposition to a $500-million bus rapid transit project. He said it would cost too much for not enough benefit, and would create traffic chaos during a decade of construction.

In Kingston, almost 63 per cent of those who cast ballots voted to move to a ranked-ballot system. In Cambridge, the split was closer. About 57 per cent were in favour and 43 per cent opposed. However, overall turnout in Cambridge was a low 33 per cent, election officials said, invalidating the result, which required a majority of voters to have weighed in.

Earlier: Toronto councillor says cutting the council will cost more

An Ontario cabinet minister toted his take on a favourite phrase of gun-rights activists during question period at the legislature on Thursday.

“It’s not guns that kill people,” Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services Michael Tibollo said. “It’s the people who have guns illegally that kill people.”

Gun rights organizations often say, “Guns don’t kill people. People kill people,” putting the onus on criminals and people with mental health issues, and diverting attention away from gun control laws.

Tibollo was responding to Scarborough-Guildwood MPP Mitzie Hunter, who asked the government if it would support Toronto’s call to ban the sale of handguns within city limits.

The Minister added that his government has invested $25 million to help police and courts fight gang violence. The province made the announcement after a string of high-profile shootings in Toronto, including the Danforth shooting that killed 10-year-old Julianna Kozis and 18-year-old Reese Fallon, and the Scarborough playground shooting that sent 5 and 9-year-old sisters to hospital.

It’s impossible to know what proportion of guns used in homicides in Canada are possessed illegally. That type of data isn’t collected nationally, a spokeswoman for the RCMP told HuffPost Canada by email.

Gun-related murders are on the rise, however. In 2016, the last year statistics are available for, 223 Canadians were killed with firearms, 44 more than the year before. It was the third year in a row to see an increase.

The vast majority of gun-related deaths in Canada are suicides. Of the 13,168 Canadians killed by guns between 2000 and 2016, 75 per cent shot themselves intentionally. There are also accidents — about a dozen people die in Canada every year after being shot by accident.

Hunter said she was shocked by Tibollo’s answer to her question.

“I feel like this minister and the Ford government is not listening,” the Liberal MPP told HuffPost Canada in an interview.

The day before, 18-year-old Elliott Reid-Doyle was killed in a shooting in Hunter’s borough. Reid-Doyle was the 83rd Torontonian to be killed in a homicide this year. A funeral for another teenager shot dead in Toronto, 15-year-old Mackai Bishop Jackson, was also held Wednesday.

The government’s investment in police and crown attorneys is too little, too late, Hunter said.

“That’s after the fact. We need to stop this issue at its source and at its roots.”

She asked Tibollo if he’d support a bill she brought forward, which would let Toronto and other municipalities ban the sale of handgun ammunition within their boundaries. He didn’t answer her question, but called gun violence a “menace” to Ontarians and said the Progressive Conservatives are the only MPPs committed to taking it on.

Tibollo looks at gun violence with too narrow a lens, Hunter said.

“Gun violence is not just about gangs. Gun violence is a public health issue. It’s used in domestic violence, it’s used for suicides, things like that. The government and the minister can look at this much more broadly.”

Are you in a crisis? If you need help, contact your local crisis centre. If you know someone who may be having thoughts of suicide, visit suicideprevention.ca to learn how to talk about suicide with the person you’re worried about.

With files from the Canadian Press

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Humboldt State continued its hold on the No. 1 ranking in the NFCA Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll for games played Feb. 27 through March 5. As the majority of the poll continues to see significant shuffling, the top five program held steady to their respective rankings.

Despite suffering their first defeat of the season, the Jacks (12-1) received 14 first-place votes and 397 out of a possible 400 points. In California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) play, HSU took three-of-four from Stanislaus State (4-1, 7-2, 2-6, 4-3) as they improved to 7-1 in league play.

Making the biggest leap this week is a red-hot Angelo State (264) squad as it knocked off then-No. 22 Lubbock Christian in a non-conference doubleheader by the scores of 10-0 and 7-1. The Rambelles (19-1), who have won 15 straight, made a nine-position move to No. 8.Southern Arkansas picked up the other two first-place votes and totaled 381 points. The Lady Muleriders (18-2) took care of business by outscoring Oklahoma Baptist, 50-6, in a four-game Great American Conference series sweep.

St. Mary’s (17-3 / 366 points) split a mid-week twinbill at Tarleton State (5-0, 4-5), while No. 4 North Georgia (350) and No. 5 Valdosta State (343) reached the 20-win plateau with 3-1 and 4-1 weeks, respectively. The Nighthawks (21-6) swept Lincoln Memorial in non-conference action and split a Peach Belt doubleheader with Armstrong State. After a mid-week split at Flagler, the Blazers (20-4) posted three Gulf South wins over West Alabama.

Chico State (294) and Lenoir-Rhyne (288 points) each moved up three spots this week. The Wildcats (12-1) swept Cal State Dominguez Hills by a score of 39-10 in CCAA action, while the Bobcats (21-2) also reach the 20-win mark with a 5-0 showing at the Shaw Challenge, which saw them outscore their opposition 56-4.

Idle Central Oklahoma (9-3 / 253) entered the top 10 at No. 9, while Saint Leo (16-6 / 245) dropped two spots to No. 10 after falling twice at Nova Southeastern in Sunshine State Conference play.

Returning to the poll after a three-week hiatus is No. 22 Wayne State (Mich.). The Warriors (11-4) have won nine of 10 after starting 2-3 at the NFCA Division II Leadoff Classic. Making its first appearance of 2017 is Southern New Hampshire, who is off to a 5-1 start.

The NFCA Division II Top 25 Poll is voted on by 16 NCAA Division II head coaches with two representing each of the eight NCAA regions. Records reflect games played through Sunday, March 5.

 

 

 

 

2017 NFCA Division II Softball Coaches Poll
Week 4 | March 8, 2017

RANK TEAM TOTALS 2017 Record Last Poll 1 Humboldt State (14) 397 12-1 1 2 Southern Arkansas (2) 381 18-2 2 3 St. Mary’s 366 17-3 3 4 North Georgia 350 21-6 4 5 Valdosta State 343 20-4 5 6 Chico State 294 12-1 9 7 Lenoir-Rhyne 288 21-2 10 8 Angelo State 264 19-1 17 9 Central Oklahoma 253 9-3 11 10 Saint Leo 245 16-6 8 11 West Texas A&M 238 18-4 6 12 Dixie State 237 18-3 12 13 West Virginia Wesleyan 204 4-0 15 14 UAH 184 16-5 16 15 Pfeiffer 166 16-2 18 16 Southern Indiana 162 9-3 13 17 Harding 150 15-3 19 18 Caldwell 122 0-0 20 19 Indianapolis 114 9-4 21 20 Lubbock Christian 76 16-4 22 21 North Alabama 70 16-7 23 22 Wayne State (Mich.) 54 11-4   23 Missouri Western 52 15-3 24 24 CSU Monterey Bay 36 13-4 25 25 Southern New Hampshire 34 5-1 RV

 

Dropped Out: No. 7 Grand Valley State, No. 14 Colorado Mesa

New to Poll: No. 22 Wayne State (Mich.), No. 25 Southern New Hampshire

Receiving Votes:  Limestone (33), UMSL (16), LIU Post (11), Cameron (7), Kutztown (5), Tampa (5), Minnesota State (4), Grand Valley State (4), Colorado Mesa (2), UC San Diego (2), Le Moyne (1).

The NFCA Division II Top 25 Poll is voted on by 16 NCAA Division II head coaches with two representing each of the eight NCAA regions. Records reflect games played through Sunday, March 5.

 

Microsoft has announced ID@Xbox Game Pass; a new series of livestreams to showcase indie games coming to Xbox Game Pass. The first broadcast will be on Tuesday, March 26.

Announced on the Xbox Wire blog, the first episode will premiere at 9:00am PT (12:00 ET, 04:00pm UK, 02:00am AEST), and offer new dives into After Party, Void Bastards, and Supermarket Shriek.

There will also be a behind-the-scenes element to the stream, with a segment featuring Afterparty and Oxenfree developer Night School Studio.

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The blog posts promises new reveals, gameplay highlights, and conversations with developers.

The announcement comes just hours after Sony revealed their own new live broadcast series, State of Play, meaning all of the big three platform holders now have their own livestream programming. ID@Xbox appears to be closer to Nintendo’s Nindie Direct, while State of Play is more in the vein of a traditional Nintendo Direct.

Matt Purslow is IGN UK’s News and Entertainment Writer, and his calendar now has more livestream alerts than Twitch. You can follow him on Twitter.