Nintendo Switch Online is a subscription-based online gaming service for the Nintendo Switch gaming platform. Memberships include online functionality, allowing you to compete or cooperate with friends, as well as a collection of classic Nintendo games spanning four decades, including titles from the NES, SNES, Game Boy, Nintendo 64, and, most recently, the new GameCube library. A free seven-day trial is also available.
We thought Chibi-Robo! was great when it released way back in 2006, awarding it an IGN’s Editor’s Choice award and scoring it a healthy 8.2/10, imploring you to: “Give [it] a chance.”
“I expect that too many people will glance at this game and conclude that it’s not for them, simply because it’s either too weird or too cute,” we wrote in IGN’s Chibi-Robo! review. “Truthfully, it’s both, but it’s also a very enjoyable, fun, and rewarding puzzle-platformer.”
Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world’s biggest gaming sites and publications. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
We’re slowly learning more about the upcoming live-action Legend of Zelda movie, and following the reveal of the first cast members in July, it appears an official social media account has now been opened on the platform X (formerly known as Twitter).
It’s tagged as @The_Zelda_Movie and in the bio mentions how the film is coming “exclusively to theatres in 2027”. This follows the previous confirmation that the film would arrive on 7th May 2027.
Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons is the gift that keeps on giving, with Maximum Entertainment and developer Secret Base today adding two more playable characters to the beat ’em up as a free DLC update.
This time it’s the “Evil Marian” and “Super Anubis”, which follow on from the release of Jeff and Abore earlier this year in April. Here’s the official rundown about each fighter:
Since the arrival of Game-Key Cards on the Switch 2, there has been ongoing discussion about the future of third-party physical releases. Even during the Switch generation, certain hard copy releases didn’t always live up to expectations, opting to include a download code instead of the actual game.
Fortunately, some companies are still making an effort, and with this in mind, there’s news today that Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto: Trilogy is now available as a proper physical release on the original Switch platform after all this time.
We’ve covered a few keyboards recently, and while those are great for work and play, the Logitech G Pro X 60 is all about maximising your efforts in whichever competitive title you’re playing.
I must admit, Magic: The Gathering’s new Edge of Eternities surprised me. I felt it was going to be a relatively soft follow-up to the game’s most popular set ever, Universes Beyond: Final Fantasy, and yet it feels like another home run.
A great new setting, unique designs, and some big chase cards have seen stock selling out fast, particularly when it comes to Collector Boosters. As a result, you can still find them, but you’ll need to brave the secondary market – and pay over the odds, sadly.
Where To Find Magic’s Edge of Eternities Collector Boosters
Because they contain a higher chance of opening chase cards worth hundreds (and maybe even thousands), Collector Boosters cost more than Play Boosters and are also unlikely to be reprinted. Once they’re gone, there’s a good chance they’re gone for good.
Thankfully, Play Boosters are looking much more likely to be found closer to MSRP for months. The set is standard legal for a long time yet, meaning you can reasonably expect Play Boosters (and the set’s pair of Commander Decks) to be reprinted pretty regularly.
Lloyd Coombes is an experienced freelancer in tech, gaming and fitness seen at Polygon, Eurogamer, Macworld, TechRadar and many more. He’s a big fan of Magic: The Gathering and other collectible card games, much to his wife’s dismay.
Blizzard’s Story and Franchise Development team (SFD) has voted in favor of unionization with the Communications Workers of America, according to a press release shared today.
SFD consists of Blizzard workers producing in-house cinematics, animation, trailers, promotional videos, in-game cutscenes, and other narrative content across Blizzard franchises, in addition to archival workers and historians.
“After more than a decade working at Blizzard, I’ve seen all the highs and lows,” said organizing committee member and principal editor Bucky Fisk. “For years, Blizzard has been a place where people could build their careers and stay for decades, but that stability’s been fading. With a union, we’re able to preserve what makes this place special, secure real transparency in how decisions are made, and make sure policies are applied fairly to everyone.”
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
Of all the art styles in video games, none has a stronger chokehold on developers and players alike than the humble pixel. Whether it’s a fantastically detailed modern take on what is possible in pixels, or something made in homage to NES and SNES games of yore, pixel art can be found everywhere — in every genre of game, on every console (no matter how powerful), and in every generation of games, too.
Ra Ra Boom is finally in your hands. I’m excited for you to check out all the hard work and love the team at Gylee Games has put into Ra Ra Boom, which is now available on Xbox Series X|S.
Ra Ra is a side-scrolling beat ‘em up and I thought I’d tell you a bit about some of the enemies that you’ll be beatin’ up. I’ll get into the thinking behind the design behind three of my favorite enemies in Ra Ra Boom.
Making the early choice to add lanes to the environment gave us a fun playground in which to design different combat scenarios for enemies.
The Brute
The Brute is an homage to our favorite roller coaster at our favorite amusement park. We loved the idea of utilizing train tracks as the lanes in the arena. By creating a transforming monster that turns into a coaster cart, it allowed us the diversity needed for a full boss fight.
In Brute mode, we gave a fierce pouncing attack that requires the player to catch his tell before he jumps. That, coupled with a chomp gave The Brute a pretty menacing amount of attacks to begin with. Then he transforms into the coaster and replicates! This forces players to dodge the carts by jumping into different lanes, or take them head on with ranged attacks. We had set out to make a boss fight with different phases, and different options for each player, and I think we succeeded.
Martin
Martin was the very last enemy created for Ra Ra and lives in the Arcade level. As a team, we felt we were missing the opportunity to force the player to do some sort of jumping attack. A flying enemy could solve that. However, the huge challenge with creating floating characters in beat ‘em ups is you have no idea where they are in relation to your own environment.
We found this out the hard way by creating a flying enemy and realizing that it was insanely frustrating to fight. So, we cut it and moved on, until the very end of production.
Thankfully, we had learned a lot through the production process and realized that if we give the enemy some holographic legs, the player can understand where he lives in space because he’s tied to the ground. So, we put a little goofy toddler robot on top of giant legs, laughed at how he looked, and Martin was born.
Bruce
Bruce has been, by far, the most challenging boss to perfect. We’ve gone through many iterations of this boss fight, trying to fine tune the fun. Since the fight was a chase scene, we immediately ran into our first challenge: motion sickness.
It took weeks of fine tuning the parallax background before I could even play it without getting sick! Once that was resolved, the boss fight was really just the chase, with players required only to run away and dodge obstacles. We took this version to GDEX and PAX, and realized quickly that the fight was too simple, and pretty boring to be honest.
This led to the addition of Eugene, a quirky, anxiety driven robot that ran beside your character. Initially, the player used exploding Eugene’s to damage Bruce, but that still didn’t feel like enough. It wasn’t until we slowed down the chase, and gave players back some agency that the fight became fun. After adding a few more phases with attack escalation, we finally landed on a Bruce fight that was worthy of his grand entrance.
Find Your Favorite
And now it’s your turn. Check out Ra Ra Boom today and tell us which enemy you like punching best.
Gear up for 4-player co-op action with a modern twist! Ra Ra BOOM rockets you to a future Earth overrun by rogue AI. Battle waves of enemies and upgrade your ninja cheerleader’s skills as you beat ‘em up, shoot ‘em up, and smash through the chaos!
Even ninja space cheerleaders know you don’t bring a pom-pom to a boss fight. Whether you’re cracking skulls with close combat or blasting bots from across the screen, Ra Ra BOOM has your back. Play it like a classic side-scroller, treat it like a shooter, or mix it up for combos so smooth, even evil AI can’t keep up. The only wrong way to fight is not bringing your A-game—because these overlords don’t mess around.
HOMEWORK CAN WAIT
Who needs perfect grades when rogue AI is trashing Earth? The planet’s in pieces, robots are running wild, and only four ninja space cheerleaders have the moves to save it. Silly when it can be, heartfelt when it needs to be, Ra Ra BOOM delivers a beat ‘em up with a story that hits harder than your math final.
PLAY THE LANES
Why settle for chaos when you can dominate with precision? Ra Ra BOOM’s combat lanes make every fight smarter and slicker. Dodge fire like a pro, pick your targets with ninja-like accuracy, and decide where to strike for maximum impact.
BECOME THE ULTIMATE NINJA CHEERLEADER
Aris, Saida, Ren, and Vee are more than just pompoms and sass—they’ve got branching skill trees that let you mold them into your perfect hero. Customize your squad to fit your playstyle, because the fate of the world—and your team’s vibe—is in your hands. NBD.
Walmart is offering a steep discount on one of the most recently released themed Xbox Series X wireless controllers. For a limited time, the Xbox Wireless Controller Doom: The Dark Ages Limited Edition is on sale for $54 with free shipping. It is sold by Walmart directly and not a marketplace vendor. Even if you don’t own an Xbox, this is still a great deal, since it’s also one of the best PC gamepads for the price.
Get Doom: The Dark Ages Limited Edition Xbox Controller for $54
This Xbox controller is themed after the new Doom: The Dark Ages, which we recently reviewed. Specifically, it’s modeled after the Doomslayer’s blood-splattered matte green armor with 3D elements like silver helmet spikes and plated sheathing across the top case, a blood red thumbstick, and rubberized grips made to feel like leather. The green buttons replace the traditional XYAB letters with Sentinel symbols, and the right trigger is bright orange.
Aesthetics aside, these Xbox wireless controllers are identical to the ones bundled with the Xbox Series X and S consoles. Standard features include textured grips, a hybrid D-pad, button mapping with the Xbox app, a 3.5mm audio jack that works with any wired headset, and a Share button to upload screenshots and videos.
The controller supports both Xbox wireless and Bluetooth connectivity. That means you can use it for your PC or mobile device. In fact, we think this is the best PC controller you can get. If your PC doesn’t have Bluetooth, you can still use it in wired mode with a USB Type-C cable or go out and buy a Bluetooth or Xbox wireless adapter.
Doom: The Dark Ages was released on May 15 and is easily one of the best shooters of the year. The game is a prequel to the original 2016 Doom game and explores more of the lore behind the Sentinels and the Maykrs. It’s available for PlayStation 5, Xbox, and PC and it also happens to be on sale right now.
Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn’t hunting for deals for other people at work, he’s hunting for deals for himself during his free time.
