Category: IGN

Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket developer Creatures Inc. has finally unveiled how the incoming trading feature will work, but the community response was so poor it had to release a follow-up response.

As expected, and perhaps feared, by the Pokémon TCG Pocket community, there are fairly severe restrictions on the incoming trading mechanic, which still lacks a release date despite being confirmed for January. Creatures Inc. announced these on X/Twitter.

Complaints are headlined by the inability to trade cards of 2 Star rarity or higher. This means no ex level alternate art cards can be traded, not in their basic forms, rainbow bordered forms, immersive forms, or gold (Crown rarity) forms.

Creatures Inc. said only “certain cards from the Genetic Apex and Mythical Island booster packs will be able to be traded,” though it’s unclear if this solely refers to the 2 Star or higher restriction or if there are further cards banned from trading.

This all but confirms trading will arrive alongside the next full set, however, which is also due in January. Creatures Inc. is likely emphasizing that those new cards cannot be traded upon their release, but will seemingly be opened up to the feature later when it’s less relevant. It also means the often timed exclusive Promo cards cannot be traded.

Other restrictions to trading apply too. Cards can only be traded between friends, which the community has deemed makes sense, and only cards of the same rarity can be traded, which has been accepted too. The last element that’s frustrated many, however, is that “items must be consumed in order to trade.”

It’s unclear what this means exactly. Pokémon TCG Pocket uses Hourglasses to pace certain features including pack opening, wonder picks, and event battles. One booster pack can be opened for free once every 12 hours, and one Pack Hourglass, for example, reduces that amount of time by one hour.

It’s therefore possible Trade Hourglasses will be implemented as an item, essentially restricting how often players can trade without spending real-world money. Another popular theory is that Shinedust, an item considered by many to have little value as it solely changes the visuals of cards, will work for trades too.

Pay Day

This mechanic, alongside the other restrictions, are likely being implemented to encourage (and maintain) player spending, as Pokémon TCG Pocket arrived October 30 and is estimated to have made $200 million in its first month alone.

This huge amount of money comes as the digital TCG follows the standard mobile and free-to-play game model, flooding players with rewards in the first few days before soon drying up, with spending real-world money the only real way to re-experience that early thrill outside of the occasional set drop like Mythical Island.

Completing Genetic Apex, the first set of cards which totals 226 officially but also contains 60 rare alternate art cards, will take players not spending money around two years according to one estimate, while those looking to make it rain can wrap up the collection after dropping around $1,500.

Trading is undeniably a strong addition to Pokémon TCG Pocket that will improve the overall player experience, but fans have complained it’s also fairly clearly being implemented as a means of increasing revenue too. Items being consumed in order to trade certainly alludes to this, as whether it’s Trade Hourglasses or Shinedust or something else, players wanting to trade more regularly than the game deems okay will have to pay real money to do so.

It’s also evidenced in the inability to trade cards of 2 Star rarity or higher, which after almost three months of play for dedicated fans, are the majority of cards they are still missing. But making these cards available to trade would be a threat to Creatures Inc.’s revenue; if players could immediately trade for their missing cards, they wouldn’t need to spend $10 or $100 for a random chance of getting them.

As noted by the player who spent $1,500 on completing the first set, it’s these final few pieces that are most difficult to get and thus require the most money spent. The standard $9.99 purchasing option grants 57 PokéGold, an item which can be used to replace any of the Hourglasses otherwise available but at an increased rate. One PokéGold replaces two Pack Hourglasses, for example.

Spending $9.99 therefore lets players open 28 booster packs for a total of 140 cards. Booster packs work in the same as their real-world counterparts, or in digital terms, loot boxes, meaning nothing of (relative) value is guaranteed, never mind the specific card players are looking for.

Pokémon TCG Pocket does offer a mild alternative to finding these cards in the form of Pack Points; players earn five for every pack opened, and these can be exchanged for any card in the set.

Exchanging a 2 Star rarity card costs 1,250 Pack Points, however. This means players must open 250 booster packs in total, or around $220 worth of PokéGold, for a single card. Considering there are 29 different 2 Star rarity cards in the first set alone, plus three 3 Star rarity cards which cost 1,500 Pack Points and three Crown rarity cards which cost 2,500, there are fairly sobering restrictions to this mechanic.

Trading Complaints

Trading was therefore seen as a saving grace for players looking to collect every card (which is encouraged in-game via missions and rewards), but those hopes are all but dashed given Creatures Inc.’s announcement.

“Not being able to trade 2 Star at least really makes me want to drop the game,” said lilgalois on Reddit. “Trash system,” said Ashamed-Teaching6837. “So extra 3 Star cards are just dead cards. What a crock,” said Analogmon.

Social media is full of such complaints, which seemingly grew so excessive that Creatures Inc. had to issue a rare response.

“Thank you, everyone, for your immediate thoughts on this topic,” Creatures Inc. said in a follow-up X/Twitter post. “Your concerns are seen. Once this feature becomes available, I’d like to invite everyone to try it and provide feedback. This way, the game can continue to evolve in an enjoyable way for everyone.” Crucially, Creatures Inc. failed to say it would consider this criticism and aim to make changes.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.

It’s been six years since Team Cherry announced Hollow Knight: Silksong, the eagerly awaited sequel to 2017 Metroidvania masterpiece Hollow Knight. In those years fans have seen Silksong pop up and fail to pop up at various shows, and at one point Microsoft even appeared to confirm the game would launch before June 2023. The Game Awards have been and gone with no Hollow Knight: Silksong. But could the just-announced Nintendo Switch 2 Direct finally be the one?

Fans think so, and it’s all because of a picture of a cake. Allow me to explain.

Supersleuths on the Hollow Knight subreddit noticed that on January 15, co-director of Team Cherry William Pellen had changed his Twitter/X profile picture to a picture of a chocolate cake. Pellen tweeted: “something big is coming. keep your eyes closed tomorrow.”

something big is coming. keep your eyes closed tomorrow

— little bomey (@everydruidwaswr) January 16, 2025

At the time, Nintendo’s Switch 2 reveal was rumored for January 16, and so it proved. That was the day Nintendo finally announced the Switch 2, although there are still a number of burning questions we have about the next-gen console. Had Pellen really asked followers to keep an eye out for the Switch 2 reveal? If so, why?

This is the point where the Hollow Knight community went into overdrive — or off the deep end, depending on your point of view. Fans reverse-searched the picture of the cake, which led them to a recipe for Brooklyn Blackout Cake on cooking website Bon Appétit. The date the recipe was published: April 2, 2024.

Edit: The story has been updated to report that Bluepoint’s canceled live-service game was a God of War title.

Sony has reportedly canceled two unannounced live-service games that were in development at Bend Studio and Bluepoint Games, respectively.

Bloomberg reports that Sony has ended production on two live-service games that were in the works at Bend Studio, best known for the zombie game Days Gone, and another separate game in the works at Bluepoint Games, best known for their remasters of games like Shadow of the Colossus and the Demon’s Souls remake. The Bluepoint game was reportedly a live-service God of War game according to Jason Schreier.

A Sony spokesperson confirmed the cancellations to Bloomberg. Sony also added that neither studios will be closed and that they will work with them “to determine what are the next projects,” from the two studios will be.

This is another blow to Sony’s ambitious live-service game plans. In 2022, Sony acquired Destiny 2 developer Bungie and announced plans to have 12 live-service games running by the end of the 2025 fiscal year. Those plans have failed to materialize after Sony revised that number down to just six, of which Bend and Bluepoint’s games were likely two of them.

Sony also closed down Concord developer Firewalk Studio, oversaw layoffs at Bungie, and canceled numerous online projects like Naughty Dogs’ The Last of Us PvP game, a rumored Spider-Man online game, a live-service Twisted Metal game, and a third-person Destiny spinoff titled Payback.

This leaves just Bungie’s Marathon and Haven Studios’ PvP project still in the works, alongside continued support for Helldivers 2 which Sony is publishing. There are also rumors of two online Horizon games, one co-op experience and another being an MMO.

It’s clear now that Sony seems to be rethinking its live-service strategy, but whether that means backing online projects it believes will succeed or abandoning the space altogether remains to be seen.

Matt Kim is IGN’s Senior Features Editor.

X/Twitter owner Elon Musk lit up social media feeds today when he launched a wave of posts publicly criticizing Twitch streamer and content creator Zack Hoyt (a.k.a. Asmongold) following controversy regarding the tech billionaire’s high-level gameplay of Grinding Gear Games’ Path of Exile 2.

Musk first shared his thoughts in a reply to a post from YouTuber Screamheart, who published a two-minute clip from a new video that dives into the allegations surrounding the X owner’s Path of Exile 2 gameplay. The full video totals eight minutes and includes approximately 20 seconds of footage from Asmongold’s livestreams where he alleges that Musk is not totally responsible for the progress made on his level 97 Path of Exile 2 character.

“There is no way he played that account. Like, I’m sorry,” Asmongold says in the clip. “I think he bought the account, or somebody played it for him. A hundred-f***ing-percent.”

Asmon behaves like a maverick “independent”, but in reality has to ask his boss for permission before he can do anything. He is not his own man.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 16, 2025

Musk’s response includes a series of replies where he calls the streamer “not his own man.” The billionaire also took the opportunity to post what Asmongold is calling a picture of “leaked” direct messages shared through X where the two previously spoke about how the streamer manages his YouTube account. It was a moment that has led to a messy back-and-forth between the two social media giants, and it’s preceded by in-depth investigation into Musk’s involvement in the gaming space.

Musk has long been championed as a gaming enthusiast. For years, he’s mentioned his appreciation for Blizzard Entertainment’s work on titles like Overwatch, and just yesterday, he said he still plays games “as my one recreational activity to quiet my mind.”

However, Musk’s self-proclaimed gaming prowess has been brought into question in recent months as players began to take a closer look at his performance and knowledge of the games he plays.

One title that has seemingly taken up hundreds of hours of Musk’s time is 2023’s Diablo 4, though as he’s climbed leaderboards and chatted with developers on X, many have commented on how much time he might be dedicating to Blizzard’s dungeon-crawling experience. In November of last year, the billionaire boasted about his place as one of the top 20 Diablo 4 players in the world, and he reached the number one spot a few weeks later. While others spend hundreds if not thousands of hours merely chipping away at the never-ending faucet of content available, Musk has maintained his gaming status while juggling his responsibilities as a figurehead of companies like X, SpaceX, Tesla, Neuralink, and more.

Leaking my DM’s is one thing but this is absolutely uncalled for https://t.co/I4eRo2QPKF

— Zack (@Asmongold) January 16, 2025

Discussion about Musk’s abilities as a gamer reached a new level after a recent, early January livestream that saw Musk tackling endgame tasks in Path of Exile 2 drew criticism from fans. Videos like those from content creators such as Quin69TV, penguinz0, and Asmongold have garnered millions of views as action RPG veterans analyze footage and commentary posted by the tech giant. One specific point of contention revolves around his (now deceased) level 97 Hardcore character, Percy_Verence.

“Two weeks into the league, when people are playing the game, literally, they are staying up 40 to 50 hours without sleeping, only playing Path of Exile – and they are the most try-hard guys in the world – the highest-ranked player in the Hardcore trade league was level 93,” Quin69TV explains in his video ‘Elon Musk is Lying About Being Good at Video Games.’

“You’re thinking to yourself, ‘That’s kind of close to 97.’ Every time you level up, it becomes exponentially harder to gain experience. A lot harder. So, these players, to get to level 97, had to be playing the game every day for the majority of their day.”

Musk’s stream features a number of moments that players are pointing to as signs he may not be quite as familiar with Path of Exile 2’s endgame mechanics as one might expect him to be after spending so much time in its world.

Seemingly struggling to access Maps, strange tab names, illogical inventory management, leaving behind rare loot, and a disregard for notoriously powerful weapons is just some of the evidence from Musk’s stream that players are using to accuse the billionaire of not playing nearly as much as he says he is.

Normally, when a sequel is announced that’s a wild departure from the original, I welcome it with open arms – look no further than my inexplicable but everlasting love of Banjo-Kazooie Nuts N Bolts as evidence. But after just a day with Hyper Light Breaker – a follow-up (though not a proper sequel) to one of my all-time favorite indie games, Hyper Light Drifter – I feel like Vito Corleone telling y’all to look at how they massacred my boy. I’ve only sunk six hours into this incredibly challenging co-op roguelike so far, and although there’s clearly the skeleton of a good action-RPG in here somewhere, it’s currently buried deeper than the sun can see under sloppy combat mechanics, shallow and frustrating exploration, and scant content that began to feel repetitive only two hours in. Of course, this is its early access launch, so there’s always hope an initially rough package will transform into something much better with enough time – but in terms of what’s here right now, my disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined.

The goal of a run is to hunt around a randomized map for better gear and key items before taking on three highly deadly and supremely irritating bosses hiding out on each map, then extract yourself back to base to regroup, buy some upgrades, and do it again. I’ve already bested a couple bosses, which summon minions endlessly and flop around erratically to do massive damage, but have yet to complete a map in its entirety, which I’m assuming won’t happen until I near the end of what’s currently available in early access.

Maybe the combat will grow on me once I get deeper in, but it makes an absolutely terrible first impression. There isn’t anything interesting about the melee hack-and-slash attacks you are given, the alternative third-person shooting option has very limited ammo, moving and dodging feel unresponsive and inconsistent, and the lock-on system constantly toggles itself off unexpectedly and gets me killed.

All of these things are especially frustrating when Hyper Light Breaker is immediately difficult – and I mean extremely difficult, and that’s coming from someone with all the achievements in Sekiro – but doesn’t bother to explain its rules and often punishes you with an onslaught of enemy attacks that feel cheap. It’s also extremely funny that you start with no healing items (and are only given them at great expense and extremely sparingly) when you’d think you would need them most at the beginning when you’re learning. Instead, you basically have to throw yourself at impossible odds until you can unlock the bare minimum you need to survive.

So I’ve spent most of my time running around procedurally generated worlds that at least look quite pretty, using a unique art style that channels Hyper Light Drifter in 3D quite well. But these repetitive areas are extremely irritating to navigate, filled with awkward cliffs and crooked landscapes that feel like I’m not actually supposed to be climbing them but offer me no other choice. On the bright side, they at least give you a neat hoverboard to ride around on and do tricks, and although the controls are as sloppy as everything else, hoverboards are indeed still dope as hell and there are definitely some good times to be had there.

I’ve got a whole lot left to do and see before I’m ready to finalize my review sometime next week, and it’s a little encouraging that combat is becoming a bit more bearable as I start to understand its unpolished ways and gain more than zero healing items. But so far I’m not having a good time, and that’s not what I was expecting from this long-awaited follow-up, even taking into account this is its early access launch.

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The Yakuza series has no shortage of weird and wonderful games. From the serious but goofy at times mainline entries to its plethora of historical spinoffs, prequels, and side stories. There’s something for everyone here, really. Whether you’re looking for the next installment in the long running Like a Dragon series, or just want to play something a little different, our last hands-on with Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii ahead of release suggests that it’s shaping up to be another solid spin-off that will plunder dozens of hours from you.

Ever since Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag dropped way back in 2013, I’ve been itching for another worthy pirate adventure. While there have been a few decent attempts released since then, none of them managed to capture my attention and made me excited to get to pirating until I got the chance to play Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii. At first glance, Pirates and Yakuza may seem like a combination that’s about as compatible as oil and water. But upon closer inspection, Like a Dragon’s world, eccentric main character, and not too overly serious presentation makes for a surprisingly competent and fun pirate adventure.

In Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii you assume the role of longtime series favorite Goro Majima after he loses his memory and winds up on an Hawaiian island. From everything I saw during my few hours of hands-on time, the series’ weirdness is cranked up to 11 here. Outside of beating up roving gangs of pirates and the occasional bounty with my small tiger companion, I found myself recruiting a wide assortment of weirdos to my pirate crew, playing a plethora of fun and surprisingly addicting minigames – such as a home run derby, karaoke, and sailing the pacific ocean in my pirate ship, complete with ship-to-ship combat and aggressive weather. To put it bluntly, there’s a lot to do here.

Island Time

During my preview I spent a lot of time in the pirate city of Madlantis, an area overrun by pirates, criminals, and some genuinely strange people even by Yakuza’s standards. I was able to participate in numerous minigames and side activities such as claw games, ports of classic SEGA arcade games like Virtua Fighter, and the Pirates’ Coliseum, an area where I was able to engage in ship-to-ship combat to battle it out with an assortment of unique pirate crews, as well as other combat-based minigames.

Speaking of combat, in main gameplay, it strays away from the JRPG turn based style of the two previous Like a Dragon games in favor of a more traditional beat-’em-up combat style. Majima has two fighting styles: Mad Dog and Sea Dog. While both fighting styles are rooted in the standard “heavy and light attack mixed in with dodges” formula, both styles play differently enough that I found myself swapping between them in order to keep the momentum on my side and deal out as much damage as possible. In Mad Dog mode, Majima will don his familiar getup and use a plethora of fast combos to quickly dispatch an enemy. Sea Dog, on the other hand, has Majima wearing a pirate getup and relies on pirate-themed weaponry such as two cutlass swords, a pistol, and a grappling hook. While Mad Dog was fun to play, the majority of my combat time was spent in Sea Dog due to its diverse assortment of weapons and abilities. Regardless of what fighting style I had selected, though I found myself having a ton of fun beating up dozens of rival pirates.

That’s not to say combat didn’t have its shortcomings, though. Blocking and dodging took a bit of practice to get used to, and the enemies can range from a total pushover to a challenge that had me seeing the game over screen more times than I had expected to in a Yakuza game. Still, once I figured out how to effectively switch between fighting styles and take advantage of every tool and ability I had available, the combat became a challenging but rewarding experience.

Set Sail

Naval combat is a welcome addition to the Like a Dragon universe. While some games tend to over complicate ship combat, Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii goes with a “less is more” approach to its maritime warfare sections. My ship had a few methods of destroying enemy vessels the port side of my pirate ship was donned with short-range flamethrowers that could deal immense damage as long as I was close to my target, while the starboard side of my ship was equipped with long-range cannons. Firing off these two options in addition to the front-facing machine guns is how I spent most of my time in ship-to-ship combat. The third option was to leave the helm of my ship and use Majima’s rocket launcher. While this didn’t do as much damage as the other options, it was pretty fun to jump around my boat and take pot shots at enemy ships. Regardless of which method I chose to engage in, I found myself having fun drifting my boat around and sinking enemy vessels.

Based on everything I’ve played so far, Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii is definitely shaping up to not only live up to the high standards of the Like a Dragon series, but it also has the potential to become one of the better pirate games released since Black Flag. With its fun and creative combat, intuitive ship warfare, and genuinely interesting and wacky world, you’re going to want to pack your Hawaiian shirt.

Nintendo has officially revealed the Nintendo Switch 2 and Mario Kart 9 alongside it, which appears to confirm 24 person races for the first time in series history.

A brief reveal trailer for the Nintendo Switch 2 mostly focused on hardware but also unveiled its first confirmed game: Mario Kart 9. While Nintendo only shared a relatively tame look at what’s likely the opening track and characters, something new was seemingly confirmed.

In the opening shots of the race, a total of 24 starting positions could be seen on the track, twice the amount of the standard 12 used in previous games. And while this could solely be an aesthetic choice, the closing gameplay shots appear to show at least 14 individual racers on the track at once.

Not only this, but the track shown in the trailer looks excessively wide, likely to compensate for this increased number of racers (and chaos) Nintendo is deploying in Mario Kart 9.

It’s made similar moves in the past alongside leaps in technology too, as its fighting game Super Smash Bros. for Wii U introduced eight person brawls for the first time, twice the number possible in previous titles.

Fans will likely get a greater look at Mario Kart 9 and its number of racers in the Nintendo Switch 2 Nintendo Direct in April. The brief trailer has already confirmed a few things about the new hardware, of course, such as backwards compatibility features and the addition of a second USB-C port.

Most details, such as its other games and what the heck the mysterious new Joy-Con button does, were left out, though the Joy-Con mouse theory did gain a little traction.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.