Author: Game Infliction

Balatro Wants You to Play Poker – and Then Break It Apart

Balatro Hero

Balatro Wants You to Play Poker – and Then Break It Apart

When I first heard about Balatro (out now on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One), I wondered how you could make a roguelike deckbuilder – a genre already stacked with greats like Slay the Spire, Monster Train, Inscryption, Hand of Fate, and more – using only poker as an inspiration. After accidentally playing 15 hours of Balatro in only a few short days, I’ve come to realize that this isn’t about playing poker, it’s about breaking poker – and it’s incredible.

Balatro has a simple premise – every poker hand is assigned a points score, and a multiplier for that score. You’re dealt a hand, offered the chance to discard up to five cards at a time, and then try to find the best possible way to hit the highest points total. There are no opponents, per se, just higher and higher points totals you’re tasked with beating (although there are “boss levels” that introduce extra, often painful, mechanics to work around). It’s a simple, elegant set-up. But the ways you can go beyond that set up are anything but simple.

Between each round, you can purchase new cards and abilities from an in-game shop, using money earned by playing each round efficiently, or stylishly. The key to understanding Balatro is to realise that everything you can add to your deck isn’t a way to cheat as such, but a means of literally changing how poker works. The most obvious of these tools comes in the form of Jokers, cards that live separately from your deck, and offer 150 different ways to change how your other cards react – from buffing certain suits, to earning you more money to spend, to truly wild abilities I won’t spoil.

But beyond Jokers there are ways to add extra abilities to your deck as a whole, enhance the potency of certain hand types, add extra cards to your line-up, remove or change suits, and much, much more. It’s overwhelming at first, but as you begin to understand how many variables there are, and how they interact, you start to realise that the game of poker, in Balatro‘s hands, is a mutable, mercurial thing.

I’ve built decks where a simple pair is more powerful than a straight flush. I’ve built decks that mean straights no longer work the way they should, and allow me to create wild combos more frequently. I’ve built decks where I’ve experimented and discovered that there are valid poker hands here that don’t even exist in the real-life game – five of a kind, anyone?

I’ve discovered a new way to play Balatro on every single run I’ve played, quite literally –and I’ve played a lot. This isn’t a game about working within the rules to succeed, it’s about changing the rules to help you redefine what success is. I’ve already hit point scores I didn’t necessarily think were possible when I started playing – and, looking in the unlocks menu, I’ve realised that there are point scores that still feel baffling this far into my time with the game.

Speaking of unlocks, this is where Balatro offers you a meaningful sense of progression. Every new run is a total reset – you can’t keep abilities or receive passive upgrades, but hitting (often very specific) targets will unlock new cards for you to use in future runs. I’m now looking through menus between each run, working out what bizarre goal I want to hit next – a run where I somehow have 30 club cards in my deck? Let’s give it a try.

Perhaps my biggest reservation going into Balatro is that there was no story to anchor this all to – I’ve loved roguelike deckbuilders’ many approaches to slowly but surely offering up a narrative through what amount to simple games of cards. But I’ve come to realise that part of the beauty here is that this game swaps story for atmosphere.

There’s a digital spookiness at work, from the faux-CRT scanlines across the screen, to its heavy reliance on tarot imagery, to the general sense that something is broken about all of this – like we’re playing a virtual poker machine in some haunted casino. I’ll never truly know what’s going on beyond my newest deck’s abilities, and that feels like the point.

Balatro already feels like a game to file alongside the pinnacles of the genre, and I know I’ve only seen a portion of what it has to offer. I can’t wait to see where the cards take me next.

Balatro is out now on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One.


Balatro
Xbox Live

Balatro

Playstack Ltd

☆☆☆☆☆
★★★★★

Get it now

Balatro is a poker-inspired roguelike deck builder all about creating powerful synergies and winning big.

The poker roguelike. Balatro is a hypnotically satisfying deckbuilder where you play illegal poker hands, discover game-changing jokers, and trigger adrenaline-pumping, outrageous combos.

Combine valid poker hands with unique Joker cards in order to create varied synergies and builds. Earn enough chips to beat devious blinds, all while uncovering hidden bonus hands and decks as you progress. You’re going to need every edge you can get in order to reach the boss blind, beat the final ante and secure victory.

The post Balatro Wants You to Play Poker – and Then Break It Apart appeared first on Xbox Wire.

No Rest for the Wicked’s Crunchy Combat is More Dark Souls Than Diablo – IGN First

No Rest For The Wicked sees Ori developer Moon Studios building an action RPG for the very first time. But despite its familiar isometric perspective, the project is very different from popular ARPGs like Diablo and Path of Exile. Combat in No Rest for the Wicked is deliberate, tactical, and every swing of the sword counts. In short: if you like the nail biting experience of Dark Souls boss battles, then it looks like Moon Studios may be making your next favourite game.

“The major goal for our combat was to make it feel super visceral,” reveals Thomas Mahler, Moon Studio’s co-founder and creative director on No Rest for the Wicked. “To make sure that we create a combat system where animations also really matter. That when you press a button, you get really satisfying swings, and that it doesn’t turn into spam.”

That last point is important. The term ARPG, at least in the isometric space, brings to mind high action-per-minute gameplay where you’re hammering left-click and deploying abilities the moment the cooldown counter hits zero. No Rest for the Wicked is nothing like that.

“It’s about making it feel a bit more personal, a bit closer, a bit more focused,” explains Gennadiy Korol, co-founder of Moon Studios and its director of technology. “It’s not this overflow of sensory information where you just cannot really tell what’s going on onscreen. You actually feel every single action of your character.

“It’s up close, it’s focused,” he adds. “It’s not 20 enemies on screen all against you, it’s encounter after encounter. Every single move matters.”

With these goals, it’s unsurprising that Mahler namechecks Dark Souls and Monster Hunter as inspirations. While the team was set on a top-down, isometric camera, they believed they “should probably take a different direction” to most other games using the perspective. That’s resulted in a design document that promises something refreshingly new.

“We definitely also took influence from fighting games,” says Mahler. “We always liked the whole thing where you could do combos, like light punch, fierce kick, Hadouken. We wanted to infuse that a little bit, that you could do combo A, combo B, and then do a kind of overhead slam.”

That fighting game spirit is blended with something much more classically RPG – runes. They provide special abilities, unique to each weapon in the game, which can be weaved into patterns of strikes, dodges, and parries. Korol notes that the runes unlock “really crazy moves” that have been made possible thanks to the top-down camera, where the all-encompassing viewpoint makes certain animations much more readable than they would be with a lower third-person camera.

It’s not 20 enemies on screen all against you. It’s encounter after encounter. Every single move matters.

Of course, all of these fight moves are rooted to your weapon. Moon aims to have a wide variety of armaments, from daggers to hammers to bows, and each will have its own unique moveset. And then, within each discreet weapon, there’s a collection of variations that mean no two versions are quite alike.

“The Blood-rusted Sword is one of the straight swords that we have, but yours could be a fire-enchanted one that gives you more Focus for every hit that you deal,” Mahler explains. “[Your friend] could have a cursed Blood-rusted Sword that deals more damage, but you also take more damage.”

As with all action RPGs, battle in No Rest for the Wicked isn’t just a case of mindlessly holding the attack button. There’s multiple character elements to take into consideration at all times, including health and stamina. The first is handled by what sounds like a robust cooking system that streamlines Breath of the Wild’s buff-providing food mechanic, while the latter seems an effort to combat the attack cadence seen in Diablo-strain ARPGs.

“The idea is that it shouldn’t feel like you’re just running around and spamming all the time,” says Korol. “It’s more strategic and tactical. That is where the stamina system comes in.”

There’s a third resource, too, but it’s not the magic points you may expect. “We don’t have a mana system,” says Mahler, explaining that he wanted something more dynamic than a blue meter that depletes and then is topped back up with a potion. The answer was ‘Focus’, which “increases as you play better in combat.” Focus is used by all character classes, and powers those aforementioned powerful rune attacks.

“It creates this push-and-pull dynamic where you can build up your Focus, then you do a cool special, then you have to build it up again,” says Korol.

For ARPG veterans, Focus is recognisably No Rest for the Wicked’s alternative to Diablo’s second resource globe – the Necromancer’s Essence, the Barbarian’s Fury, or the Druid’s Spirit. And by having a similar dynamic approach to how it replenishes, Moon Studios has been able to craft a mage class with which you don’t “just hang back somewhere and poof fireballs and be able to do that infinitely.”

“We wanted to do something where every class always has to be engaged,” says Mahler.

We want to get your heart rate as high as possible. We want you to feel like, ‘How am I going to do this? How am I going to beat this?’

Health, Focus, rune attacks, and weapon choices all coalesce in No Rest for the Wicked’s boss battles. The first major foe is Warrick the Torn, a man twisted into the form of a grotesque, spider-like monster by a plague ravaing the world. He’s a frantic attacker whose speed defies his enormous size, galloping across the arena and launching himself high into the air for dive-bomb like attacks.

“We want to get your heart rate as high as possible,” Korol says of the battle’s design. “We want you to feel like, ‘How am I going to do this? How am I going to beat this? This is relentless. This is impossible.’ Then, little by little, it’s like a puzzle that you figure out, and you feel empowered.”

Warrick’s relentless strategy is to create distance between himself and you, something that’s made all the more clear by that isometric camera – inches of screen separate him from your hero. In the video above, you can see moves like a forward lunge being deployed to quickly close that distance.

“My favourite part is when he gets angrier and he gets even more relentless, and he starts jumping,” Korol says. “You have this really powerful fantasy thing where it’s not just a creature that’s on the ground, but he also has this crazy mobility to get to you. I think that’s just terrifying.”

Warrick may be terrifying, but as with all bosses of his kind, he has a weakness. “He doesn’t like fire,” reveals Korol. “He really doesn’t like fire, this Warrick guy. Fire is bad for him.” That hatred is clear in the video; we can see the hero setting his sword alight and using it to spread flames through Warrick’s flesh.

“I have an amazing tip,” says Mahler. “You meet Filmore the blacksmith early on. When you talk to him, he will actually sell you some stuff. The scrap bombs that he sells … They’re very good.”

I’ve yet to go hands-on with No Rest for the Wicked, but what I’ve seen so far gives me a good feeling about its ruthless, bloody combat. As someone who grew up with the late ‘90s era of computer RPGs, the isometric camera of Baldur’s Gate and Diablo is something I really value, and seeing them return last year in new versions of those games was a treat. But No Rest for the Wicked’s Soulsian combat looks to set itself apart, and the way Moon Studios seems to be building something that captures the thrill of Elden Ring’s greatest scraps from a whole new perspective really excites me.

It remains to be seen how that promise will play out – as any fan of deliberate combat systems well knows, what can look great on video doesn’t always feel good in the hand. But we’ll soon learn much more about combat as part of Wicked Inside, Moon’s developer stream taking place on March 1. And then, hopefully not too long after, we’ll be able to actually take on Warrick ourselves when the game launches in early access.

Matt Purslow is IGN’s UK News and Features Editor.

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is Currently 50% Off at Best Buy, Down to Just $34.99

Best Buy’s Presidents’ Day sale has been full of some excellent deals, including on a variety of video games. One of our absolute favorites to come out of the sale is the standard edition of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor.

It’s marked down 50% at the moment to just $34.99 for both Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5, which is worth taking advantage of given it usually runs for $69.99. This is a game that’s well worth adding to your collection, especially at this price. Head to the link below to pick up the game for yourself today.

Save 50% On Star Wars Jedi: Survivor at Best Buy

At the time of its release last year, we gave Star Wars Jedi: Survivor a 9/10. In our Star Wars Jedi: Survivor review, we stated that it “takes what Fallen Order achieved and wall-runs with it, then double-jumps and air-dashes straight into an epic lightsaber battle.” We believe that: “it’s a sequel that does virtually everything better than the original – which was already an exceptional Star Wars game.”

This isn’t the only gaming deal going on at the moment. Right now, you can also pick up some select Nintendo Switch games (both physical and digital) for just $40 at Amazon, including Super Mario Odyssey, Metroid Dread, Link’s Awakening, and a few more.

To see even more deals on games, check out our roundup of the best video game deals today where we’ve gathered together our favorite deals for various platforms. If you want to zero in on your preferred console, though, we also have roundups for the best PS5 deals, the best Xbox deals, and the best Nintendo Switch deals that you can check out for more detailed discounts.

Hannah Hoolihan is a freelance writer who works with the Guides and Commerce teams here at IGN.

Helldivers 2 updates could bring back the first game’s sneaky teleporting Illuminate faction

Nose around Helldivers 2‘s Galactic War map and you might notice that there’s a lot of empty space. Around half the celestial sphere is given over to the dominions of the Automatons and Terminids, leaving ample room for another enemy faction to be inserted via free update or paid DLC. What could that next faction be? Surely it can’t be any worse than a horde of giant bugs or a legion of robots. Surely it can’t be, say, a highly advanced elder species of teleporting illusionists equipped with lightning guns and cloaking devices. Oh dear.

Read more

Fallout S.P.E.C.I.A.L. Anthology Out a Day Before the Fallout TV Series

With less than two months to go until Fallout hits the small screens, Bethesda has announced a new compilation based on its popular post-apocalyptic franchise.

Fallout S.P.E.C.I.A.L. Anthology is a compilation featuring seven Fallout games. Like the Fallout Anthology released a few years back, this compilation includes Steam codes for the PC versions of the games, as well as a Mini-Nuke replica. The compilation costs $60, with preorders now available at the Bethesda Gear shop, though the anthology is supposed to be sold at other retailers.

The Mini-Nuke replica is a lovely collector’s item for fans of this nuclear-fuelled franchise that stores the cards and features a sound effect that produces an explosion. Or, if you are really creative, you can use it as a case for a gaming PC.

What’s interesting about the packaging, as seen in the image above, is the compilation includes seven S.P.E.C.I.A.L. cards. Based on the S.P.E.C.I.A.L. cards found in 2018’s Fallout 76, each card is printed with a P.C. code for the seven Fallout games. You can see the complete list below:

Not a bad compilation for newcomers to the series or longtime fans who have yet to collect all the Fallout games in their digital library. Of course, if the only Fallouts you are missing are the classic games like Fallout Tactics, you could wait until later this year when the Epic Games Store gives them away for free.

Fallout S.P.E.C.I.A.L. Anthology releases on April 11 — one day before the Fallout T.V. series premieres on Prime Video.

Taylor is a Reporter at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.

Pacific Drive review: the car’s the star in this atmospheric yet unwieldy survival game

Playing Pacific Drive reminds me of an army recruitment advert shown on British TV about 20 years ago. A group of soldiers are travelling along a road at night in a Land Rover, when suddenly they spot the enemy ahead. The front seat passenger starts barking orders at the driver: “Get off the road! Kill the lights! Through the trees!”. You sense the panic as the camera, inside the vehicle, jolts with the suspension on the rough ground, and the driver fights the steering wheel to stay in control. It’s a scene you reenact quite frequently in Ironwood’s survival game with roguelike trimmings. Well, except, instead of a Land Rover you’re behind the wheel of a rusty station wagon, and instead of military opposition, you’re scarpering from paranormal phenomena.

Read more

Hands On: We’ve Played Princess Peach: Showtime! – Is It Any Good?

Show must go on.

Princess Peach: Showtime! is a game that isn’t going to immediately appeal to many of the fans of big shooty bang-bang games like DOOM Eternal, but there’s a place for it still with an audience as sizeable as that of the Switch. Nintendo invited us to come along and give the game a go for ourselves ahead of its release on 22nd March, and so we did that.

Let’s be very upfront about a very important factor which was probably already made blisteringly apparent in the original reveal trailer: Princess Peach: Showtime! is not a difficult game. Deep breaths, everyone.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Coming to Xbox Game Pass: Bluey: The Videogame, Tales of Arise, Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun, and More

Coming to Xbox Game Pass: Bluey: The Videogame, Tales of Arise, Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun, and More

  • Megan Spurr, Community Lead, Xbox Game Pass

Game Pass February Wave 2 Hero

For the second half of February, we have some surprise games, some not-so-surprise games, Perks, and a DLC – plenty to get you gaming now and to prime your pre-install buttons! Whether you boot up Bluey: The Videogame to play with the family, jump into Madden NFL 24 to try and recreate the big game how you would have played it, or just want to play Maneater to see what it’d be like to be an absolute menace as a shark, we have you covered. Let’s get to the games! 

Available Today 

Return to Grace (Cloud, Console, and PC) 
A daring space archaeologist has just unearthed the ancient resting place of a long lost A.I. god known as Grace. Adventure with various fractured A.I. personalities as you uncover the great mystery of why she was shut down all those years ago in this first-person narrative adventure set in a visually stunning ‘60s retro sci-fi world. 

Tales of Arise (Cloud, Console, and PC) 
As two worlds of conflict converge in Tales of Arise, two people from opposite walks of life join forces to challenge their fates and create a new future. Along the way, meet up with a unique cast of allies, all with their own reasons to fight. Featuring a real-time combat system, battles are energetic and enthralling with countless combinations of skills and abilities. 

Coming Soon 

Bluey: The Videogame (Cloud, Console, and PC) – February 22 
Join the fun with Bluey and her family in Bluey: The Videogame! Play a brand-new story set across 4 interactive adventures. For the first time ever, explore iconic locations such as the Heeler House, Playgrounds, Creek and a bonus beach location. Play your favorite games from the TV show, including Keepy Uppy, Chattermax Chase, and more! 

Maneater (Cloud, Console, and PC) – February 27 
Returning to the Game Pass library, Maneater is a single-player action-RPG, set in the Gulf Coast’s unforgiving waters. Fight to survive in the open ocean, swamps, and rivers with danger lurking at every depth. Your only tools are your wits, your jaws, and an uncanny ability to evolve as you feed. 

Madden NFL 24 (Cloud) EA Play – February 27 
Ultimate members can start their season with Xbox Cloud Gaming on February 27, 2024, courtesy of EA Play. Don’t forget that until March 8, you’ll also score an Ultimate Team Supercharge Pack with your membership. 

Indivisible (Cloud, Console, and PC) – February 28 
Making a return to the Game Pass library, immerse yourself in a fantastical world with dozens of playable characters, a rich storytelling experience, and gameplay that’s easy to learn but difficult to master. With a huge fantasy world to explore and a variety of characters to meet and fight alongside, help Ajna learn about herself and how to save her world. 

Space Engineers (Cloud, Console, and PC) – February 29 
A sandbox game about engineering, construction, exploration, and survival in space and on planets. Players build spaceships, wheeled vehicles, space stations, planetary outposts of various sizes and uses (civil and military), pilot ships, and travel through space to explore planets and gather resources to survive. Featuring both creative and survival modes, there is no limit to what can be built, utilized, and explored. 

Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun (Cloud, Console, and PC) – March 5 
Load up your Boltgun and unleash the awesome Space Marine arsenal to blast your way through an explosion of sprites, pixels and blood in a perfect blend of Warhammer 40,000, frenetic gameplay and the stylish visuals of ’90s retro shooters. 

In Case You Missed It 

Diablo IV is Coming to Game Pass on March 28 

The next-gen action RPG experience is coming to Game Pass with endless evil to slaughter, countless abilities to master, nightmarish dungeons, and legendary loot. Experience a gripping story or jump straight into Season of the Construct to unearth a new threat looming deep beneath the sands of Kehjistan. 

DLC / Updates 

Microsoft Flight Simulator: Dune Expansion – Available now 
In collaboration with Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros. Entertainment, Xbox and Microsoft Flight Simulator are taking you beyond Planet Earth into the harsh deserts of the world of “Dune” and the planet Arrakis. Aviators can put their courage and skills to the test in the cockpit of the Royal Atreides Ornithopter, mastering tutorials, time trials, and a daring rescue mission. See “Dune: Part Two”, only in theaters on March 1 and play the “Dune” Expansion free with Game Pass today. 

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate Perks 

Calm Premium – 3-month trial offer – Available now 
Get 3 free months of Calm, the #1 app for sleep, meditation, and relaxation, now featuring two exclusive Xbox-themed Soundscapes from Halo and Sea of Thieves. Terms and conditions apply. 

Apex Legends: Breakout Supercharge Pack – Available now 
Trick out specific weapons and Legends in special gear with the Apex Legends Breakout Supercharge Pack, available with EA Play! 

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Drakkar Edition Pack – Available now 
Live your own Viking saga with the Drakkar Content Pack.  

Puzzle Quest 3: Green Knight’s Gear Bundle – Available now 
Acquire a full set of exclusive green skins for the original five heroes, along with a piece of gear and additional resources to help you on your quest! 

PUBG: Battlegrounds – Exclusive Survivor Pack – Available now 
Expand your item collection with the Hunter’s Chests, Keys, and Contraband Coupons. 

Leaving February 29 

The following games are leaving the Game Pass library soon, which means it’s a perfect time to plan out your achievement grind with these at the top of your list before they go! 

  • Madden NFL 22 (Console and PC) EA Play 
  • Soul Hackers 2 (Cloud, Console, and PC) 

That’s a wrap! Stay tuned on Xbox Wire for the latest news and be sure to follow us on social at @XboxGamePass and @XboxGamePassPC for updates when these games are ready for your download queue! 

The post Coming to Xbox Game Pass: Bluey: The Videogame, Tales of Arise, Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun, and More appeared first on Xbox Wire.

Best Video Game Deals Today (February 2024): Enjoy Discounts on Console Bundles, SD Cards, and More

Buying new video games, hardware, and accessories for your preferred console doesn’t need to make a massive dent in your wallet. In fact, deals happen all the time for items like these, so you can save money while investing in your favorite hobby.

TL;DR – Our Favorite Video Game Deals

These sales even occur outside of events like Prime Day, Black Friday, or publisher events like Nintendo’s eShop sale in the summer or PlayStation’s Days of Play. And while we’ll always keep you up to date on those sales and what’s included in them, here, we’ll provide you with year-round deals that are worth taking advantage of. Whether you play on PS5, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, or PC, you’ll find the very best deals listed below.

Get Armored Core 6 Fires of Rubicon on PS5 for $37.99 & More Game Deals

One of our favorite deals right now is on Armored Core VI Fires of Rubicon for PS5, which has dropped down to $37.99 after clipping the 5% off coupon. You can also pick up Assassin’s Creed Mirage’s Launch Edition for Xbox Series X for $39.18, and in the world of Nintendo, Super Mario RPG is discounted at Walmart to $48.80 and Super Mario Bros. Wonder is down to $48.99 at Walmart as well! Check out the links below for even more great deals.

More Video Game Deals:

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Get $40 Off the Anker 737 Power Bank (Perfect for Steam Deck)

If you’ve been looking to pick up a power bank to use with your favorite devices, you can never go wrong with options from Anker. To see even more excellent power bank options, check out our picks below.

More Power Bank Deals

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Xbox Console & Bundle Deals

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 $464.50 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.

Perfect Switch SD Card for $25.99 (and More Deals)

The best Switch SD card should be fast, reliable, and as future-proof as possible. That last one is important, as it’s quite likely we’ll be getting a Switch successor / the next Nintendo console within the next year or so (if rumors are to be believed). Therefore, you’re going to want to opt for the latest in SD card tech, which is a micro SDXC UHS-I U3 A2 V30 memory card. That’s a lot of random letters, so to save you a bit of time we’ve left our top suggestions and deals just below for your convenience.

More Switch Micro SD Card Deals

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Get Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 For Free With This PS5 Bundle

You can still save on a Spider-Man 2 PS5 Slim bundle, which includes the brand-new game alongside the new Slim console and a DualSense wireless controller. It’ll set you back $499, which is 11% off its usual price of $559.99. This was the most popular deal for IGN readers over Black Friday, and retailers are finally starting to sell out of the impressive bundle in 2024. Stay tuned for even more amazing PS5 deals and bundles in the near future (and maybe even a PS5 Pro Model?)

Enjoy Discounts On Select Xbox 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.

More Xbox Controller Deals:

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How to Avoid Xbox’s 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 hiked up Game Pass price. 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.

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Amazing 4TB PS5 SSD Deal for $173.66

Could your PS5 use more storage? Prices have been dropping since Sony started letting people upgrade their SSDs. Right now you can get an absolutely massive Verbatim 4TB PCIe Gen4 x4 M.2 SSD for $173.66. This is absolutely worth investing in for your PS5, and you can find even more great SSD deals below.

More PS5 SSD Deals:

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Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Official Guide for $27 (Save $18)

With these, you’ll have a detailed overview of Hyrule, a helpful walkthrough to get you through the game, and much more. Not only that, but they have gorgeous covers as well, especially the Collector’s Edition. The Standard Edition has an MSRP of $29.99 but is on sale for $18.74, and the Collector’s Edition normally runs for $44.99, but you can get it for $26.85. Plus, if you want to complete the set, the Breath of the Wild guidebook is also down to just $22.49 right now as well.

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.

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Robert Anderson is a deals expert and Commerce Editor for IGN. You can follow him @robertliam21 on Twitter.