New arcade shoot ’em up Nidus first caught my eye with its psychedelic bug blast on Screenshot Saturday Monday. Three months later, it has now launched, and for a mere £6 we can all fill our eyes with so many colourful insects. You’d have to pay at least £57 for that sort of fun down the pet shop.
Is there enough in the tank to coast through 2024?
Reports that Nintendo’s unannounced Switch successor may be subject to a behind-the-scenes delay suggest that the current console might have yet another Holiday season all to itself.
In March, Nintendo Switch will enter its eighth year, and scuttlebutt from industry sources had previously pegged 2024 as the year the long-rumoured successor — which we’ve all dubbed ‘Switch 2’ — might finally poke its head above the parapet. Now, though, rumours suggest Nintendo might need to pad things out longer than previously planned. March’s Princess Peach: Showtime! is the only wholly new first-party Switch offering announced for 2024 so far.
A New Villain will be joining My Hero Ultra Rumblefrom February 21, 2024.
A bit high-strung and not overly coherent in word and deed, but he’s a villain who loves his friends – Twice joins the rumble!
My Hero Ultra Rumble has many characters with visuals and Quirks that are faithful to the original manga. Twice is one of them, and players can experience the same skill as shown in the original, including the iconic skill that create alter egos with the Quirk “Twice”.
We’re thrilled to bring this popular character to this battle royale. Here to tell you more is our game producer, Aoba Miyazaki, who has put together some tips and insights on the Twice character development so you can maximize, and dare we say, duplicate your best efforts with his Quirk!
Skill Introduction
Defeat your opponent, get their measurements, and create clones of yourself or your enemies with your Quirk when you choose Twice.
“The charm of Twice in the original story has been incorporated into his techniques as a playable character,” says Miyazaki. “He has a tricky special action that lets him duplicate the enemy, and we hope you will use it to cause mischief and add a new element of excitement to your battles.”
“We put a lot of effort into keeping his voice and visuals to be authentic and just as appealing as the original, and we hope you will connect with him in game!”
Quirk Skill – Dagger Shot
Feature: Long-range attack utilizing multiple thrown knives. Strike your opponent in a burst of blades.
Tips: As you will be throwing multiple knives, it is possible to limit the opponent’s movement by aiming for hit stops with multiple hits.
While the Quirk Skill is hitting, and the opponent’s movement is slowing down, work together with your allies to inflict massive damage.
Quirk Skill – Self Duplicate
Feature: Create a clone of yourself. Clones disappear after approaching and attacking an opponent.
Tips: When fighting in an area with many objects, use them to hide yourself or get out of sight of your opponent, and aggressively use the Quirk Skill to confuse your opponent by attacking in such a way that they cannot tell whether you are the main body or an alter ego.
Quirk Skill – Foot Boost
Feature: Move in the direction of your extended measuring tape and use knife to attack. It can be used as a means of transportation, as it can travel to the tip of the tape measure.
Tips: Since it can also be used to move vertically, this Quirk Skill can be used while looking up to move on top of buildings in the new U.A. Island stage, which has many buildings. The Quirk Skill can be used for both surprise attacks and evacuation, allowing the user to move freely around the stage.
Special Action – Mud Imitation
Feature: Deals the final blow to a downed opponent and creates a clone of them. The clone will remain active until they are defeated or the opponent is revived.
Tips: The HP of the alter ego created by a Special Action is based on the character’s HP. Currently, there is no upper limit to the number of alter egos that can be created by a Special Action, so Twice players can actively aim to create alter egos of characters with high HP and overwhelm the battlefield.
PUR Costume for Twice – Paper Bag Disguise
This costume is from the original anime, and it is faithfully reproduced down to the handles of the paper bag.
The costume also comes in color variations original to the game. We hope players will have fun expressing themselves by unlocking color variations that suit their personal styles.
And there you have it! Confuse your opponents and overwhelm the battlefield with countless imitations of your fallen foes when Twice joins the fray on February 21.
Season 3 is here!
A new stage, U.A. Island, is added in Season 3!
Don’t miss out on battling on a new stage which includes new areas, such as U.A. High School and shopping malls!
Izuku Midoriya’s Quirk skill set, Full Bullet, is now available!
Change Izuku’s Quirk skill set for a new way to achieve victory!
Don’t miss out on Season 3 Licenses and new PUR costumes!
New characters will be added during Season 3!
LET’S GET READY TO RUMBLE!
Leap into the fray with your fellow heroes…and villains! Use communication, tactics, and synergize Quirks with your team of 3 to be the last ones standing in this 24-player Battle Royale!
MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR QUIRK!
Pick up your favorite characters from a quirky roster divided into 5 archetypes: Strike, Assault, Rapid, Technical, and Support. The strengths of each character are completely different depending on their unique Quirk.
COLLECT ITEMS AND GET STRONGER!
Find items, interact with civilians, and defeat opponents to improve your abilities and get the upper hand over other teams!
CUSTOMIZE YOUR EXPERIENCE!
Unlock new characters and customization options by gaining experience and completing missions. Participate in seasonal events and try your luck with tickets to glam up with exclusive items!
The game will be updated each season to include new elements, focusing on new characters and costumes!
Jump in and get a hold of the rapidly changing battle conditions!
*This game is meant to be played online only. It cannot be played in offline mode.
*An internet connection is required to play this game.
*The service and its contents are subject to change or end without prior notice.
Gear up for your first look into the gameplay of the sixth DLC of Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot, officially named Goku’s Next Journey. The DLC retraces the steps of the last episode of Dragon Ball Z, which takes place ten years after the victory of the Saiyan warriors over Kid Buu at the hands of Goku and Vegeta. In this episode, the Martial Arts World Tournament is the main event, gathering all the earth’s warriors together.
While playing this DLC, you can encounter familiar characters who have aged and moved on in their lives, as well as Pan, Goku’s granddaughter. As usual with Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot DLCs, you will experience first-hand the events and battles shown in the series, but also have access to original dialogues, storylines, and more.
Together with the main events of the DLC, you will have access to new sub-quests that will have new, unique rewards. Today, we will give you a sneak peek at one of these Side Quests: A Day in the Krillin household.
The quest revolves around recovering the lost necklace of 18, now Krillin’s wife, after their daughter Marron returns from a shopping spree. True to the tradition of Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot, this quest allows you to peek into the daily lives of the characters living in the Dragon Ball world.
As they search for the necklace, Goku and Krillin discover that it has simply fallen while 18 was returning to Krillin but has been found and taken by two suspicious men. Once confronted, they will use a capsule to summon a squad of Skull Robos, attacking Goku as Krillin chases after the men.
Once defeated, the quest will be complete, and the rewards will be given.
While you will not face any major super-villain or world-ending threat like Majin Buu, but who knows, maybe even harder challenges will await you after the World Tournament?
The end of the quest and what makes it unique is that the epilogue allows you to see deeper into the characters’ feelings, which is a point of view that Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot has at its heart. On this occasion, Android 18 describes her feelings for Krillin, and we can see how much she truly cares about him.
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By recovering a necklace, you can discover the hidden feelings and relationships between the characters of the world of Dragon Ball that only a game like Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot can have the space to express fully.
Invincible has received a surprise mobile game from Ubisoft — out today, February 19.
Invincible: Guarding the Globe is available for both iOS and Android devices and via the Amazon store. It’s a free-to-play idle role-playing game where players build a squad of superheroes to take on the invading Flaxans, Reanimen, and Magmanites.
“Choose from attackers, defenders, and support heroes to create the perfect team to tackle the mission at hand,” Ubisoft said. “Invincible: Guarding the Globe also lets players run multiple battles simultaneously in the background, allowing them to rack up rewards even when they’re not actively playing.
“Set in the same world as the Skybound Comics and Amazon Prime’s Invincible, Invincible: Guarding the Globe features notable characters including Invincible, Atom Eve, Omni-Man, Titan, and more. In this all-new narrative, players will become an agent of the Global Defense Agency, deploying heroes to defend the world against villainy, clones, and… burger meat theft?”
Different chapters will pull players through a narrative with new objectives added each week. Various pieces of gear, items, and artifacts can be unlocked and equipped to characters to customise the experience.
Invincible is the hit superhero comic and show available from The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman. Season 1 and the first part of Season 2 are currently available, with the latter’s second part arriving March 14.
In our 8/10 review of the debut, IGN said: “Invincible Season 1 on Amazon Prime Video is great, thanks to its unique action and strong character-centric gravitas.”
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.
There’s a particular boss encounter in Balatro that always feels like it’s cheating a bit. In this mesmerising poker roguelike, each stage is made up of three blinds – small, big and boss – with the blind essentially being a high score you have to hit by playing different kinds of poker hands – your traditional flushes, straights, pairs and so on. Each hand has its own number of chips and multiplier bonuses associated with it, and Balatro’s whole deal is about shuffling closer to victory by making the most of the cards you’re dealt. While some blinds are tiny, stretching to just 300 or 450 early on in a run, they quickly start ramping up into the tens of thousands as each successfully defeated boss blind ups the ante and the accompanying stakes. Reach an ante of eight, and bingo, you’ve won a run of Balatro.
The boss blind I keep coming a cropper with, though, is The Flint. This sucker not only halves a hand’s chip score, but it also cuts its multiplier in two as well, and I’ve yet to figure out exactly how to defeat it. Sometimes it appears with a blind of just 600, but other times it’s been an enormous 22,000. In fairness, all bosses have little tricks like this. Some will debuff certain card suites, making them useless in your overall score count. Others may only let you play one hand type the entire match, while the cheeky Tooth will deduct you $1 for every card used. But Balatro isn’t simply about beating the odds with smart and intelligent card plays. It’s about bending, twisting and abusing those odds to your will – also through smart and intelligent card plays. Cheating isn’t just encouraged in Balatro. It’s damn near mandatory, and it’s all thanks to the brilliantly conceived joker cards that give the game its Latin-based name.
When it comes to picking up new games, hardware, or accessories for your Xbox, it feels good when you can find those items at a discounted price. Here, we’ll keep you updated on all of the latest deals for Xbox, from games to controllers and so much more. Below, you can find a wide range of items on sale, including some console bundles that are still available and controllers.
In need of another Xbox controller? Well, you’re in luck, as there are quite a few discounted right now. In my opinion, you can never have too many controllers. You never know when someone will pop on by and want to play Overcooked or It Takes Two, or any local multiplayer game.
There are a few console bundles on sale at the moment alongside a great deal on the 1TB Series S and Series X. One of our favorite deals leftover from the Black Friday/Cyber Monday season is on the Diablo IV Xbox Series X bundle, which you can get for $464.54 at Walmart. You can also get the Series S Starter Bundle for just $269.99 at Target. Outside of bundles, the 1TB Series S has a deal at Dell right now, down 14% to $299.99, and the Xbox Series X is $50 off at Best Buy in their Presidents’ Day sale.
Assassin’s Creed Mirage Standard Edition is Down to $29.99 and More Xbox Game Deals
There are several Xbox games on sale right now that are worth adding to your collection. One of our favorite deals at the moment is on Assassin’s Creed Mirage Standard Edition, which is down to $29.99 from its MSRP of $49.99. That saves you $20! To see even more Xbox game deals, check out the links below.
Buying new items for your Xbox doesn’t have to make a massive dent in your wallet, either. Here, we’ll feature a variety of excellent games, accessories, and hardware that are available at more affordable prices regularly or are the just option available when gaming on Xbox.
Get 10% Off the Official Xbox Wireless Headset & More Headset Deals
Does your family complain when you stay up playing loud shooters late into the night? They’ll stop complaining if you pick up anXbox headset that lets no one but you hear the delightful explosions you cause on the screen. Right now, you can get 10% off the Official Xbox Wireless Headset, bringing the price down to $89.99 from $99.99. You can also save 20% on the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wireless Gaming Headset by using the promo code ‘GET20’ at checkout.
How to Avoid Xbox Game Pass Price Hike ($44.99 for 3-Months of Ultimate)
By securing 3-months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for $44.99, you can actually avoid the Game Pass price hike. We recommend securing your current subscription for as long as possible. You can stack up to a maximum of 36 months of Game Pass, meaning you have the option to accumulate 3-month subscriptions up to 12 times.
Admittedly, this approach might put a strain on your wallet, totaling $539.88 if you purchase the 3-month package from the link above. However, when you compare it to the new cost of Game Pass Ultimate for 36 months at $16.99 per month, amounting to $611.64, you’ll realize you’re saving $71.76 on your subscription for the next three years. Otherwise, secure your membership for at least a year to lock in at least some savings overall.
In general, it is advisable to keep an eye out for sales and restocks throughout the year, as availability has improved since the initial launch of the console. Unlike the Nintendo Switch, there is no specific recommendation to wait for a sale regardless of the time of year. Instead, it’s a good idea to monitor various retailers and online platforms for restock announcements and promotional offers.
However, certain events like Black Friday or other holiday seasons may bring about unique bundles, discounts, or promotional deals specifically for the Xbox Series X. These bundles may include additional games, accessories, or exclusive limited editions. While quantities for such promotions might be limited, they can provide an opportunity to get more value for your purchase. See our guide to Xbox Series X prices for more info.
Xbox Series X or Xbox Series S?
Choosing between the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S ultimately depends on your gaming preferences, budget, and specific requirements. Let’s compare the two consoles to help you make an informed decision:
1. Performance: The Xbox Series X is the more powerful option, offering native 4K gaming, higher graphical fidelity, and faster loading times. It has more advanced hardware, including a larger storage capacity. On the other hand, the Xbox Series S targets a lower price point and offers a less powerful performance, targeting 1440p resolution gaming and upscaling to 4K.
2. Price: The Xbox Series S is more affordable compared to the Xbox Series X. If budget is a significant factor for you, the Xbox Series S provides a cost-effective option while still delivering a next-generation gaming experience. For example, the Series S can play Starfield at 1440p 30fps (vs 4K 30fps on Series X).
3. Storage: The Xbox Series X comes with a larger internal storage capacity, allowing you to store more games directly on the console. The Xbox Series S, however, has a smaller storage capacity, which means you may need to manage your game library more actively or rely on external storage solutions.
4. Disc Drive: The Xbox Series X includes a disc drive, enabling you to play physical game discs and enjoy a wider range of media options, including Blu-ray and DVD playback. The Xbox Series S, in contrast, is a digital-only console, meaning you can only play games downloaded from the digital store.
5. Graphics and Performance: While both consoles support ray tracing, the Xbox Series X provides a more immersive and visually impressive experience due to its superior hardware capabilities. If you prioritize cutting-edge graphics and want the best performance available, the Xbox Series X is the preferable choice.
Consider your gaming preferences, budget, and whether you prioritize top-of-the-line performance or cost-effectiveness. If you have a 4K TV, want the most powerful console, and are willing to invest more, the Xbox Series X is the recommended option. If you have a lower budget, a 1080p or 1440p TV, and don’t mind sacrificing some performance, the Xbox Series S offers excellent value for money.
With how expensive gaming is getting in 2024, we’re trying to save you as much money as possible on the games and other tech you actually want to buy. We’ve got great deal roundups available for all major platforms such as Switch and Xbox, and keep these updated daily with brand new offers. If you’re trying to keep costs down while maintaining your favorite hobby, stay tuned for more incredible discounts.
Robert Anderson is a deals expert and Commerce Editor for IGN. You can follow him @robertliam21 on Twitter.
Every weekend, indie devs show off current work on Twitter’s #screenshotsaturday tag. And every Monday, I bring you a selection of these snaps and clips. This week, my eye has been caught by handcrafted art, intense fighting game violence, cosy management, and heaps more attractive and interesting indie games. Check these out!
Changes to the Steam listing for Dragon’s Dogma 2 suggest it will get a demo.
Redditor CannedBeansofDeath spotted changes made to the game’s listing on Steam via SteamDB that reference ‘free on demand. .This is believed to be a demo for the $69.99 action role-playing game, due out March 22.
Dragon’s Dogma 2 developer Capcom has form when it comes to demos, of course. It released one for its hugely popular Resident Evil 4 remake in the run up to its March 2023 launch. Thoughts now turn to the form the Dragon’s Dogma 2 demo might take, given its massive map. And it’s worth noting Capcom likes to hide secrets within its demos. Resident Evil 4 remake’s included a cheat code to unlock ‘Mad Chainsaw’ difficulty mode, so fans will no-doubt dig into the Dragon’s Dogma 2 demo for similar secrets.
Not only is Dragon’s Dogma 2 one of the more promising games of 2024 but it’s also Capcom’s first $70 game. It seems likely it won’t be its last, either, after Capcom said it’s now considering a video game price review amid rising development costs.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
Helldivers 2 is turning out to be an absolute laugh riot of a co-op shooter; it may even have the potential to rival Deep Rock Galactic on good vibes and teammate deaths as accidental comedy masterstrokes. Even ongoing server connectivity issues haven’t done much to spoil the sense of fun, which incidentally, can also be shared on the Steam Deck.
Indeed, following a quick Proton update on Valve’s part, its previously SteamOS-incompatible anti-cheat will no longer put the kibosh on you dropping into Helldivers 2 via your Deck. I’ve been testing on both an original 512GB model and the newer Steam Deck OLED, and as long as you don’t mind dropping the quality settings, it can usually run tidily above 30fps.