Xbox@E3

The 2011 detective game LA Noire, which was published by GTA company Rockstar Games, starred Mad Men actor Aaron Staton as the lead character, Cole Phelps. A writer on the game has now revealed that a different Mad Men actor, Jon Hamm, was considered for the role as well. Staton portrayed Ken Cosgrove on Mad Men, with Hamm playing the show's leading role, Don Draper. Daniel McMahon told IGN that Mad Men and LA Noire had the same casting director, and that Hamm was "discussed as a possibility for the role of Cole Phelps." "It was never said at the time, but now, I understand the vision which was Jon Hamm is a wonderful actor, but he's not Cole Phelps," McMahon said. Aaron Staton as Cole Phelps in LA Noire. McMahon went on to say that Staton was "much better at portraying Cole's fragility." "He's very smart, but he's also young, not very experienced, and he's just trying his best. So, I think Jon Hamm would've been incredible, but expensive, and probably, in the end, not as good casting for that character as Aaron Staton was," he explained. LA Noire was developed by Team Bondi, and it never got a sequel. Earlier this year, Take-Two boss Strauss Zelnick said the company is considering future projects for all of its franchises, and that includes LA Noire. LA Noire was developed by Team Bondi and released in 2011 for PS3, Xbox 360, and PC, with Rockstar publishing it. The game takes place in 1947 Los Angeles, with players taking on the role of the detective Cole Phelps, who is played by Mad Men’s Aaron Staton. The game came to Switch, PS4, and Xbox One in 2017. A VR edition called The Case Files came out in 2019. For his part, Staton said in 2021 that he had “never heard a word” about a sequel to LA Noire, despite the game selling millions of copies. Back in 2012, Rockstar said a sequel to LA Noire was a “possibility.” At the time, the developer said, “We don’t always rush to make sequels, but that does not mean we won’t get to them eventually. We have so many games we want to make and the issue is always one of bandwidth and timing.” If a sequel comes to market, it wouldn’t be from Team Bondi, as the studio shut down amid a flurry of controversy, after accusations of hostile working conditions prompted the International Game Developers Association to launch an investigation into the developer. Additionally, when the developer shut down, it reportedly was $1.4 million in debt. The studio’s assets, including its next project, Whore of the Orient, were acquired by film production company Kennedy Miller Mitchell. View the full article

A special 25th-anniversary Kingdom Hearts panel at Disney's 2026 D23 event has fans of Square Enix's RPG series wondering if major Kingdom Hearts 4 news is right around the corner. Disney doesn't hold a D23 annually (the previous one was held in 2024), and in recent years the fan event has taken on newfound importance as a stage for the House of Mouse to make all kinds of major announcements about upcoming films, shows, and even, occasionally, video games. This year in particular may be worth paying attention to for Kingdom Hearts fans. In an announcement detailing the programming fans can expect from D23 this year, Disney revealed an hour-long panel titled "Deep Dive into Kingdom Hearts," which will celebrate 25 years of the franchise on August 15. "Join us for a journey through light and darkness as we commemorate 25 years of Kingdom Hearts," the panel's description reads. "Discover how this saga united Disney, Pixar, and Square Enix, with insights from the creative minds, character voices, and more behind the magic." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZjagzpvHXU Who, exactly, those "creative minds" in attendance will be remains to be seen. While voice actors and Disney employees are a given, the bigger question is whether anyone from Square Enix will be in attendance. If so, there is no bigger creative force behind Kingdom Hearts than Square Enix's Tetsuya Nomura, who in addition to designing the look of the series' iconic characters has also directed every main entry in the series. Until we know exactly who will be featured as part of the panel, it's hard to say for sure what to expect. The existence of the panel on its own isn't exactly direct confirmation that Kingdom Hearts 4 news, whether it be a new trailer, a release date, or some other announcement, will happen at D23, but it certainly wouldn't be surprising.  It was just last month that a new Kingdom Hearts 4 trailer served as one of the June Nintendo Direct's biggest announcements, breaking years of radio silence and confirming it would launch on Switch 2. Like previous looks at Kingdom Hearts 4, the trailer showed Sora battling against Heartless in a modern day, Japan-esque setting, even as it flashed glimpses of other characters like Donald, Goofy, various hooded figures, and even lesser-known characters from various mobile spin-offs like Kingdom Hearts Union X. View the full article