Dark Horse and Crystal Dynamics are joining forces for another impressive Tomb Raider collectible. Fresh off revealing the Tomb Raider: Lara Croft (Classic Era) PVC Statue, Dark Horse is back with a new piece inspired by the Tomb Raider reboot games.
Check out the slideshow gallery below for an exclusive first look at the Tomb Raider: Lara Croft PVC Statue:
Whereas the first statue was based on the original Tomb Raider games, this new piece takes its cues from the modern reboot series. It depicts Lara bravely making her way through ancient jungle ruins. The statue includes an interchangeable right hand piece, allowing collectors to display her holding either a pistol or a climbing axe.
The Tomb Raider: Lara Croft PVC Statue was sculpted by BigShot Toyworks, with prototyping and paint by Gentle Giant. The statue measures 9.2 inches high and 6.3 inches deep, with a base width of 9.4 inches.
Our Black Myth: Wukong review hails the game as “a generous Soulsy adventure hybrid that works within its limitations and delivers a beautiful challenge to be unpicked with a magical toolbox”. Reviewer Edders went so far as to find the world more engaging than that of Elden Ring – proper defying-the-gods level rhetoric. Players seem to agree – the game launched last night, and has already accrued a concurrent player peak of 1.44 million – Steam’s fourth highest ever, exceeded only by Counter-Strike, Palworld and PUBG. By that metric, it’s the platform’s most popular strictly single player game of all the time.
All that goodwill has been spoiled, however, by a Steam code handout message to streamers and other “content creators” before launch which includes some reactionary, non-binding requests – no mention of “trigger words” like “Covid-19”, no talk of “politics” or “feminist propaganda”, and no mention of “China’s game industry policies, opinions, news, etc”.
Black Myth: Wukong has enjoyed an enormous launch on Steam, where it has overtaken Cyberpunk 2077 to become the most-played single-player game ever on Valve’s platform.
The action RPG, developed by Chinese studio Game Science, launched in the early hours of this morning and quickly shot to the top of Steam’s most-played games list with an incredible 1,443,570 peak concurrent players. That figure will surely grow as the working week heads into the weekend and more people buy the game.
Less than 24 hours after launch, Black Myth: Wukong has already seen the fourth-highest concurrent figure ever on Steam, and is only behind PUBG (3,257,248), Palworld (2,101,867), and Valve’s own Counter-Strike 2 (1,818,773). It is ahead of big hitters such as Dota 2, Elden Ring, and Baldur’s Gate 3. Already the game has nearly 30,000 user reviews on Steam, with a ‘very positive’ user review rating.
Black Myth: Wukong’s launch will be even bigger than Steam suggests. It also released on PlayStation 5 (Sony Interactive Entertainment does not make PlayStation player numbers publicly available), Tencent’s Chinese game portal WeGame, and the Epic Games Store. An Xbox Series X and S version is due out later (find out why here).
IGN’s Black Myth: Wukong review returned an 8/10. We said: “Despite some frustrating technical issues, Black Myth: Wukong is a great action game with fantastic combat, exciting bosses, tantalizing secrets, and a beautiful world.”
This week, IGN verified an email sent from the Black Myth: Wukong marketing team that told content creators who were granted a Steam key that they must not include “feminist propaganda” or use what are called “trigger words” such as COVID-19 in their coverage.
Game Science has yet to respond to IGN’s previous report compiling numerous sexist comments made by the studio’s founders and other developers spanning the last decade.
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.
In the words of Capcom, this is Marvel and Capcom’s “third game effort” – featuring characters like Mega Man, Spider-Man, Venom, and various other all-star heroes and characters. Battles are described as being more intense than ever before in this epic clash. You’ll also be able to hone your skills in the training mode, and view & listen to materials in the museum.
Everything on show during Nintendo’s ‘Museum Direct’.
The Nintendo Museum is finally opening this year and now that Nintendo has given us a preview in the latest Direct broadcast, we’ve put together this gallery capturing its retro history.
As previously revealed, the museum is built on the site of Nintendo’s original factory (the Nintendo Uji Ogura Plant) where it made Hanfuda and playing cards. Quality checks also happened at this location during the Famicom era.
Pokémon World Championships competitor Ian Robb had seemingly defeated opponent Fernando Cifuentes in the quarterfinals of the Pokémon Trading Card Game, advancing to the penultimate round of the Pokémon’s most prestigious competitive event. But when the next round began, Cifuentes was in Robb’s place, sparking confusion among observers and throwing the bracket into chaos.
As it turned out, Robb had been issued a loss over what The Pokémon Company International Global Esports and Events Director Chris Brown called an “unsporting conduct penalty” in a follow-up interview with IGN.
“It was an unsporting conduct penalty,” Brown said. “We applied it to the match that had just occurred and the standard penalty for that’s a match loss.”
Ian Robb 選手の非紳士行為何かと思ったけど、準々決勝の最後に取った自慰行為のジェスチャーがダメだったっぽい。
The unsporting conduct Brown was referring to was a motion that Robb performed after claiming victory that many took to be an offensive gesture. The result was that Robb was removed from the tournament, though he was allowed to keep his prize money for placing in the final eight. Quarterfinalists receive $15,000 while the winner receives $50,000.
The decision was criticized by some fans for altering the tournament, though others came forward to defend The Pokémon Company’s judgment.
“When I first heard about it I assumed Pokemon was being soft, but after seeing the clip I think they made the right call. He should know better. It can’t be emphasized enough how much Pokemon is geared towards children. I fully understand them wanting to discourage gestures like that,” one fan wrote on Reddit.
Robb, for his part, has been mostly silent, though he did post his support for Cifuentes on X/Twitter. “I’m cheering for him today. After meeting him and his dad I could tell how much making cut at worlds meant. He’s a deserving champion.”
Ultimately, Cifuentes won the tournament, defeating runner-up Seinosuke Shiokawa in the Masters division.
Asked for more detail on how the rules are enforced in such situations, Brown said it’s a “little tricky” in Pokémon due to the way the tournament is structured. “Generally the match is not considered to be over until you’ve actually signed your match slip…And so that’s sort of that key moment. There’s other kind of moments, and this is really fine detail and sort of the rules and policies, but in the [Swiss-system tournament] for example, when the information is actually put in the computer could be a factor, because then we have to pair the next round. Single elim is a little different. But ultimately we looked at it as that penalty basically was assessed for the match that was in progress.”
Pokémon World Tournament wrapped up on Sunday, crowning its overall winners while revealing info where the next tournament will take place. The Pokémon Company also shared the release date for Pokémon TCG Pocket and other info. You can find everything announced at the Pokémon World Championships right here.
Kat Bailey is IGN’s News Director as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.
Pokémon World Championship competitor Ian Robb had seemingly defeated opponent Fernando Cifuentes in the quarterfinals of the Pokémon Trading Card Game, advancing to the penultimate round of the Pokémon’s most prestigious competitive event. But when the next round began, Cifuentes was in Robb’s place, sparking confusion among observers and throwing the bracket into chaos.
As it turned out, Robb had been issued a loss over what The Pokémon Company International Global Esports and Events Director Chris Brown called an “unsporting conduct penalty” in a follow-up interview with IGN.
“It was an unsporting conduct penalty,” Brown said. “We applied it to the match that had just occurred and the standard penalty for that’s a match loss.”
Ian Robb 選手の非紳士行為何かと思ったけど、準々決勝の最後に取った自慰行為のジェスチャーがダメだったっぽい。
The unsporting conduct Brown was referring to was a motion that Robb performed after claiming victory that many took to be an offensive gesture. The result was that Robb was removed from the tournament, though he was allowed to keep his prize money for placing in the final eight. Quarterfinalists receive $15,000 while the winner receives $50,000.
The decision was criticized by some fans for altering the tournament, though others came forward to defend The Pokémon Company’s judgment.
“When I first heard about it I assumed Pokemon was being soft, but after seeing the clip I think they made the right call. He should know better. It can’t be emphasized enough how much Pokemon is geared towards children. I fully understand them wanting to discourage gestures like that,” one fan wrote on Reddit.
Robb, for his part, has been mostly silent, though he did post his support for Cifuentes on X/Twitter. “I’m cheering for him today. After meeting him and his dad I could tell how much making cut at worlds meant. He’s a deserving champion.”
Ultimately, Cifuentes won the tournament, defeating runner-up Seinosuke Shiokawa in the Masters division.
Asked for more detail on how the rules are enforced in such situations, Brown said it’s a “little tricky” in Pokémon due to the way the tournament is structured. “Generally the match is not considered to be over until you’ve actually signed your match slip…And so that’s sort of that key moment. There’s other kind of moments, and this is really fine detail and sort of the rules and policies, but in the [Swiss-system tournament] for example, when the information is actually put in the computer could be a factor, because then we have to pair the next round. Single limb is a little different. But ultimately we looked at it as that penalty basically was assessed for the match that was in progress.”
Pokémon World Tournament wrapped up on Sunday, crowning its overall winners while revealing info where the next tournament will take place. The Pokémon Company also shared the release date for Pokémon TCG Pocket and other info. You can find everything announced at the Pokémon World Championships right here.
Kat Bailey is IGN’s News Director as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.
Nintendo held a Direct today, but it wasn’t a traditional presentation filled with new game announcements and release dates. Instead, the company turned to its history by giving us our first look at the completed Nintendo Museum in Kyoto, Japan, which is now scheduled to open on October 2, 2024.
The presentation was hosted by none other than Nintendo legend Shigeru Miyamoto, who walked through the main exhibits and activities museum attendees can expect at the new facility. Read on to learn everything announced at today’s Nintendo Museum Direct, including the existence of enormous Wii Remotes!
Miyamoto Introduces the Museum
The presentation began with Miyamoto sharing the history of the museum site, revealing that the Nintendo museum is built on the same grounds as Nintendo’s original playing card factory, which was then used for quality checks during the Famicom (NES) era. The entrance to the museum greets visitors with a Mario-themed plaza, complete with warp pipes, a question block, and more Super Mario Bros. items.
You Can Play Nintendo Games With Enormous Controllers
The highlight of the presentation was seeing the enormous recreations of Nintendo controllers visitors will be able to use to play a selection of classic Nintendo games from the NES, SNES, Nintendo 64, and Wii eras. While we got an extended demo of Miyamoto playing Super Mario Bros. alongside a museum staff member, the star of the show was undoubtedly watching two museum staff members working together to play Wii Sports Resort using a giant Wii Remote’s motion controls. Just look at it!!
Attractions that Pull from Nintendo’s Toymaking Days
The Direct only showed off three of the eight interactive experiences, but the official Nintendo Museum website details the rest. This is the full list of unique play experiences the Nintendo Museum will offer on the first floor:
Shigureden SP
Explore Hyakunin Isshu poems using smart devices and the giant screen on the floor.
Zapper & Scope SP
Experience shooting using the Zapper and Super Scope in the world of Mario that spreads out on the giant screen in front of you.
Ultra Machine SP
A batting-cage experience inside a room. Hit the balls pitched by the Ultra Machine.
Ultra Hand SP
Use the Ultra Hand to grab the balls rolling down the lanes, and drop them into the pipes.
Love Tester SP
Two people join hands and work together on tests that measure their Love Level.
Game & Watch SP
Play Game & Watch games using your own shadow.
Nintendo Classics
Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Nintendo 64. Choose from over 80 games to play.
Big Controller
Controllers from past hardware generations made giant. Two people must work together to take on challenges in games released back in the day.
Visitors Can’t See Every Attraction with a Single Ticket
One odd wrinkle about the Nintendo Museum is that visitors can’t experience all eight exhibits with a single ticket. As detailed on the official website, digital coins are required to experience the interactive exhibits, and each visitor is only granted 10 coins upon entry. You can’t purchase additional coins once you run out, so as of now it seems you’ll need multiple visits to the Nintendo Museum to get your hands on everything it has to offer. We’ve reached out to Nintendo for comment and clarification on this.
A Rotunda of Nintendo Products
The second floor has a gallery of products created and published by Nintendo from NES to now. This includes games and consoles in Nintendo’s catalog, complete with different iterations of hardware and game boxes to account for differences across Japan, North America, Europe, and other regions. Each section of the exhibit is marked with a big (but not quite as huge) replica of each Nintendo controller and handheld.
There are also exhibits for products played by moving your body, the evolution of the Question Block, the evolution of graphics in games like Mario and Zelda, and an exhibit of products Nintendo made before it entered the video game business, like a copy machine and even a baby stroller.
Make Your Own Hanafuda Cards
The Nintendo Museum harkens all the way back to the beginning of the company with an interactive experience where visitors can design their own Hanafuda cards. This hour-long experience does cost extra, but participants will get to take home the four cards they made. There is also a Play Room where visitors can learn to play one of the most popular versions of Hanafuda.
Along with a museum restaurant and shop Miyamoto teased at the very end of the presentation, that’s what Nintendo fans can expect if they make the long trek to the Nintendo museum in Kyoto. Tickets will cost 3,300 yen (~$23 USD) for adults, with cheaper price ranges for children. Right now, the museum is holding a lottery drawing for the chance to purchase tickets for dates beginning with the museum’s grand opening on October 2, which you can enter here.
What did you think of today’s Nintendo Museum Direct? Did it make you want to take a trip to Japan to see it for yourself? Let us know in the comments. And, be sure to check out the first details on the Donkey Kong theme park expansion at Universal Studios Japan, the next big entertainment endeavor from Nintendo.
Logan Plant is IGN’s Database Manager, Playlist Editor, and Super Ninfriendo on Nintendo Voice Chat. Find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.
“A free Nintendo Account is required to make a reservation”.
Well, we’ve just had our first proper look at the Nintendo Museum, courtesy of Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto and at the very end of the broadcast, an opening date was confirmed.
The official date is now confirmed as 2nd October 2024, following previous statements from Nintendo mentioning how it would be opening its doors in Fall 2024.
Minecraft Realms have been struggling with downtime and other connectivity issues for almost a week now, and fans are taking notice.
Fans trying to access Realms have been reporting long loading times, connection errors, and other problems since at least August 13. It appears to have started around the release of Minecraft update 1.21.20, which included updates to Realms invite links as well as various bug fixes.
On August 15, Mojang tweeted that the Realms team was working “around the clock” to resolve the Bedrock Realms service issues. It subsequently reported that service had been restored, but connectivity issues continued throughout the weekend.
We are still hard at work to bring Realms back online for all players. As of now roughly 70% of players should have access. As part of this work we have had to block traffic to Realms on 1.21.20 on all platforms other than Switch (until Switch gets the hotfix). -DK
“We are still hard at work to bring Realms back online for all players. As of now roughly 70% of players should have access,” Mojang wrote on August 17. “As part of this work we have had to block traffic to Realms on 1.21.20 on all platforms other than Switch (until Switch gets the hotfix).”
Minecraft Realms are personal servers that are available to players via subscription. It’s touted as an area where fans can “easily and safely play online with their friends in shared worlds across devices.”
As of August 19, fans are still reporting connectivity issues with Minecraft Realms, which is corroborated by a large spike on Downdetector. IGN reached out to Mojang representatives for an update, but have not received a response.
Kat Bailey is IGN’s News Director as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.
