Category: IGN

Auto Added by WPeMatico

Helldivers 2’s Killzone Crossover Is Real — and It’s Out Now

Helldivers 2’s leaked Killzone crossover is real, and developer Arrowhead has released it. But be warned: these cosmetics are only available for five days.

Hot on the heels of the Omens of Tyranny update, which added the Illuminate faction, Helldivers 2 has its first official crossover. Part one of the Helldivers 2 x Killzone crossover is out now, and includes a Killzone-themed armor set, assault rifle, banner, cape, and player title. Part two hits Helldivers 2’s store on December 23, Arrowhead said.

In a blog post, Arrowhead announced that Helldivers 2 x Killzone 2 belongs to a new tier of special premium content “reserved for collaborations and other uniquely-themed work,” so expect to hand over plenty of Super Credits if you want the lot.

The developer added that it plans to offer players “something distinct and special” with the content, and teased an additional Killzone 2 reward for all players depending on their success in the Galactic War.

Meanwhile, Arrowhead outlined plans to improve the way Helldivers 2’s in-game store works. “Right now, many of you feel the items are in rotation for too short a time, and that you sometimes miss out on that killer look you had your eyes on,” Arrowhead said. “At the same time, the more things we add to the store the longer it takes to come back into rotation.

“As we’re not quite ready to roll out a full redesign, we’re going to temporarily test longer rotations with Killzone, which will stick around for five days per page instead (there will be two pages of items to explore).

“After this, the page rotation will go back to its usual cadence and we will be asking for your feedback on our test. If you think this is too short, or you want us to look into bringing items back for longer periods, we’ll ask again in future surveys.”

Last month, Arrowhead CCO and Helldivers 2 creative director Johan Pilestedt cautioned against doing too many crossovers, saying “it would dilute the IP and make it a ‘not Helldivers’ experience.” In its blog post, Arrowhead reiterated the point, insisting Killzone makes “perfect sense for the game.”

This crossover already has fans wondering if Sony may finally be ready to return to the Killzone franchise with a brand new release. Original developer Guerrilla Games has its hands full with the Horizon Online project and the inevitable Horizon 3, so any new game would probably have to come from another developer.

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.

Need for Speed Turns 30: The Lasting Legacy of EA’s Fastest Franchise

It’s December 1994. The Santa Clause, Miracle on 34th Street, Pulp Fiction, and Forrest Gump are duking it out at the global box office. Boyz II Men’s On Bended Knee is about to (temporarily) cede the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 to Here Comes the Hotstepper by lyrical gangster Ini Kamoze. In video games, the original PlayStation has just launched in Japan.

But forget the PlayStation for a moment, because December 1994 also marked the arrival of another interactive icon: The Need for Speed, on the ill-fated 3DO home game console. The 3DO, despite being lauded as Time Magazine’s 1993 Product of the Year, was ultimately a flop. There was no ‘3DO II’. The Need for Speed, however, was not a flop. There was a Need for Speed II. And III. And a fourth, fifth, sixth, and so on.

In fact, 30 years later the Need for Speed series is still with us.

And it’s become one of the best-selling game series of all time.

3DOh Yeah

“Need for Speed is actually one of the most successful game franchises ever,” notes Criterion Senior Creative Director John Stanley. Stanley has been with Criterion for 14 years working across multiple EA series, from Battlefield to Battlefront, but his predominant focus is Need for Speed. “So it’s a very big honour and mantle to be lifted each time.”

15 years ago, sales figures for the franchise hit 100 million copies. A decade ago they’d rocketed past 150 million. Precisely what they sit at today is not known, but what’s clear is Need for Speed’s success and longevity make it a monster within the racing genre.

Need for Speed is actually one of the most successful game franchises ever.

It certainly got off to a flying start. The original Need for Speed was an immediate critical hit, despite the 3DO’s own particular woes. Fortunately, subsequent ports to PC, PlayStation, and Sega Saturn would go on to make The Need for Speed a commercial smash as well.

Presented by Road & Track Magazine and developed by EA Canada, The Need for Speed’s 3DO debut boasted just eight cars – a modest mix of European exotics and 1990s sports icons from the US and Japan. It also featured a total of three tracks. Yes, that’s paltry by later standards, but it’s worth keeping in mind that this was entirely typical for the time – at least, until the original Gran Turismo arrived several years later with a garage pumped up to unprecedented proportions.

It’s also important to note that EA Canada had previously been known as Distinctive Software. Prior to its acquisition by EA in the early ’90s, Distinctive Software was responsible for the influential original Test Drive, its follow-up The Duel: Test Drive II, and cult, early 3D racing favourite Stunts (known as 4D Sports Driving in some regions). That high-speed experience was abundantly evident in The Need for Speed. Like the early Test Drive games that came before it, The Need for Speed asked players to dodge traffic as fast as they dared while outrunning the pursuing police. Electronic Gaming Monthly called it “the racing game to beat on the 3DO.” Edge Magazine declared it featured “the richest 3D environment ever seen on a home system.” GamePro was similarly full of praise, positing that “[i]f you dream of racing exotic sports cars, it doesn’t get any better than this incredible game.”

Raising the (High) Stakes

Of course, it did get better. Need for Speed built itself into a true racing juggernaut throughout the remainder of the ’90s, and it lapped Test Drive as the premier purveyor of playable police pursuits and illegal street racing. The series became the place to find the greatest exotics of the era: the Lamborghini Diablo and Ferrari 512TR. The Jaguar XJ220 and McLaren F1. Down in my own native Australia, the games were even localised with their own, regional-exclusive covers, and injected with the hottest homegrown sports sedans of the time. That was truly something, as a teenager; to be stalking a games store and see the sickest Australian cars on the street staring back at me from the shelves. That was unique to Need for Speed during this era.

But perhaps more than anything, Need for Speed carved itself out a reputation as a series that celebrated not just racing, but risk.

“I argue it’s the forerunner, or has been and still is the forerunner, in the only franchise really delivering on consequence,” says Stanley. “That thrill of the chase. I think nothing else out there in the racing game genre does that.”

By asking people to outrun police, and eventually even place their pink slips on the line, Need for Speed was a series that pushed its players to take risks. For clarity, by the time Need for Speed came around, we’d admittedly already faced the long arm of the law in 1987’s Test Drive, and many of us would’ve already lost rides to rivals after racing for slips in 1989’s Street Rod. But even if it wasn’t the first, Need for Speed was an extremely early adopter of these philosophies of risk – and it certainly became the most recognisable.

Tuna, No Crust

As the years went on, the property eventually found itself taking risks of its own. Firstly, with 2003’s radically reinvented Need for Speed Underground, and then with 2005’s Need for Speed Most Wanted – which is still the best selling game in the whole series.

“Oh man, they’re my beloved,” grins Justin Wiebe, who jokingly describes himself as the “old fossil” EA dug up for this chat. Currently Studio Design Director at Ripple Effect, Wiebe’s history with the Need for Speed series dates back to Hot Pursuit 2 in 2002.

“They’re like my crown jewels, to be honest with you,” he continues. “I’ve had a long career here and boy am I proud of having a chance to work on those games.”

On Underground, Wiebe explains the team didn’t quite know what they had on their hands at the time, but they were all hooked.

“It was so addictive to play,” he says. “It was the introduction of things like drag racing for the first time, where it was a completely new way of playing at high speed. And we were starting to explore other new, emerging racing genres – like drift racing and stuff like that – and starting to bring all of these new and cutting edge ideas, and then mixing in customisation. We were pioneering at that time.”

EA followed Underground with a direct, open-world sequel – the first open world in the series – but the bigger question was where to take it next.

“We kept asking ourselves, ‘Well, what do we do now? How do we one-up this? What are we gonna do?’” says Wiebe. “And we had an exceptional executive producer at that time, Mike [Mann], who came in and he basically said, ‘I want to make it the most elicit experience that we’ve done to date. I want to bring in the cops, and I want to make them feel so threatening, like they are the real world.’”

So that was the mandate to me: take these cops and make everyone absolutely terrified of them.

“So that was the mandate to me: take these cops and make everyone absolutely terrified of them.’ And I said, ‘Then, Mike, I gotta take away people’s cars that they earned; I’m gonna impound them, and they’re gonna lose them for a while.’ And he’s, like, ‘Do it.’

“[Need for Speed is] a franchise which is big, but it’s also unafraid to try to take risks. To do things differently. To challenge the norm. And that’s what I love about working on the franchise.”

In an entertaining twist, Wiebe even found himself in Need for Speed Most Wanted as the racer Taz – number 14 on the Blacklist – after one of the actors failed to show up for a photoshoot.

“They started wandering around the office trying to see, like, ‘Who’s the most shifty-looking person we have here?’, and then they’re, like, ‘You!’” chuckles Wiebe, stabbing his finger in the air. “So yeah, they just grabbed me and did a couple of shots and there I am. It was a good time.”

According to Stanley, within the corridors of Criterion, Most Wanted remains a revered example of the series at the peak of its power.

“I cite Most Wanted so much within the studio,” he says. “Just around the way that it managed to weave together the narrative, the gameplay, the progression. Everything comes together in this.”

“A term that I use a lot, and now I’ll have to drink a shot for this: ludonarrative harmony. Because actually executing on that in a game? So important. And Most Wanted is a masterclass in that, and something that I definitely cite a lot.”

On: The Run

It’s been almost two decades since Need for Speed Most Wanted, and the series has continued to evolve.

“If you look at it, Need for Speed’s never remained the same,” says Criterion Producer Patrick Honnoraty, who’s worked on every Need for Speed since 2012 – from Criterion to Ghost and back to Criterion. “From one iteration to the next, it’s always had something that was different.”

“For good and for bad – because those things don’t always work and they don’t always resonate with players – but we guarantee that we’ll always be doing something different.”

Things don’t always work and they don’t always resonate with players – but we guarantee that we’ll always be doing something different.

“‘For good and for bad’ is a great example,” says Wiebe. “For example, my experience on creating Need for Speed: The Run. We really tried to break some new ground there. We talked about getting out of the car, and we had all these grandiose visions for how it was going to be more than just racing; the character’s going to get out of the car. But then we realised very quickly, ‘Well, we can’t really do that’, so we introduced some quicktime events.”

“Yeah, we all love quicktime events, right?” he adds with an ironic smile.

However, Wiebe believes they ultimately created “a grand racing adventure.”

“We wanted it to feel like your life is on the line,” he says. “That it’s more humanised than ever before about the character and the story that they’re in, racing from coast to coast. I’ll be the first to stand up and say that didn’t really work, but I’m proud of the fact that we tried it.”

“I was actually on a fan forum a few months ago and I actually was shocked at how highly-rated some of the fans actually made that game. I had thought, ‘Well, that’s a bit of a lump of coal in my resume.’ But it turns out that it actually has a massive cult following, and there are certain people that absolutely adore that game. And that brought a little joy to my heart; that we took a risk and there are some people that really found something to love about it.”

That brought a little joy to my heart; that we took a risk and there are some people that really found something to love about it.

Honnoraty has noticed the same thing.

“I think every Need for Speed I’ve worked on, when it’s come out it’s been, ‘Oh my god, it was no good; it was rubbish,” he says. “People didn’t like it. And then years pass and it’s, like, ‘Ah, it was so good! It had these great elements to it. It was the best Need for Speed. Why don’t you go and make one back like that?’”

“Need for Speed is always too ahead of its time, is my thing. Every time we bring one out. Every time we bring one and it doesn’t strike, people look back on them so fondly.”

Defining the Series

30 years on, building a Need for Speed game is an exponentially more complicated task than it ever was, and more challenging than ever. For Senior Vehicle Artist Frankie Yip the work required is significant, but he wouldn’t have it any other way.

“The cars in Need for Speed are far more intricate now compared to the earlier days of the franchise,” explains Yip, who has worked on the franchise for the entirety of his 20-year career in the gaming industry. After picking up a copy of Need for Speed Underground for PlayStation 2 as a teenager, Yip got so hooked he took a 3D modelling course and was soon living his dream, making cars for Need for Speed Underground 2.

“I actually thought I was going to fail in the 3D school,” says Yip. “All the assignments? All I did was just model cars. And they’re, like, ‘That’s not part of the assignment.’ I don’t care; I like cars. So my portfolio was just all cars.”

I actually thought I was going to fail in the 3D school. All the assignments? All I did was just model cars.

According to Yip, dealing with the vast amount of content produced for each car is not as straightforward as it may seem.

“I’ll give you an example, just to break it down,” he begins. “Bodykits, for example. Say a car has three bodykit designs. That’s three front bumpers, three rear bumpers, three sideskirts, three front fenders, so on and so on. That tallies up to 15, 20 individual parts. But allowing the player to seamlessly and smoothly mix and match those parts? Yeah, it sounds simple, but it actually involves a significant amount of work. You run into issues; like, this part doesn’t fit with this. This part doesn’t fit with that.”

“There’s different variations in bumper widths, fender shapes, fender sizes; the list goes on. Panel lines, shut lines; nothing lines up. So, how do we make this all work? We actually have to build out every single part combination out there. You take that 15 to 20 individual parts I mentioned, and you multiply it to an additional 60, or well over a hundred. It depends on the car. Like, every car is a different shape. It is a ton of work, but what this does allow is it allows the player to have thousands of part combinations. And who doesn’t want that?

“So now you know why, in earlier Need for Speed titles, we just restricted the body kit to be equipped as one whole unit. But honestly, where’s the fun in that?”

For Criterion Vehicle Art Director Bryn Alban, there’s a bigger-picture challenge; that is, what defines Need for Speed to its massive and multi-generational audience.

“It means so much to so many people, and everybody’s got a different opinion as to what a good Need for Speed is,” says Alban, who’s been around since the days of Need for Speed Shift and brings the experience of building his own Skylines over the past 20 years to his role on the franchise. “So trying to appease everybody at all times is super difficult. Even down to the nitty gritty details of what customisation we put on our cars; it’s so divisive a subject for our players that it’s almost impossible for us to get it a hundred percent right, all the time.”

“So when we do get things somewhat correct, it’s great. But when you see those comments where you’ve missed something, it really hurts. It hurts to your core. You’re, like, ‘Oh yeah, I forgot that we should’ve added that to the game.’ So, yeah, it’s really tricky and tough to get that balance of making the perfect Need for Speed, really.”

So when we do get things somewhat correct, it’s great. But when you see those comments where you’ve missed something, it really hurts. It hurts to your core.

For what it’s worth, I’ve been missing Australian cars in the Need for Speed series since they stopped featuring back in the early 2000s, and Alban agrees it could be time for the series to circle back and include them again.

“Yeah, that’s a very valid point, and I think it’s true that Australian cars have been underrepresented in Need for Speed in its most recent history,” he says. “I can’t give you a reason why that is the case, but it’s definitely something that we should take a look at in the future moving forward, to see if we can redress that balance a little bit.”

“When you look at things like Holden, they’re very iconic within Australia,” adds Honnoraty. “They’re very interesting things; the utes that you have. So I think those are interesting examples for us to look at. And I’m sure, Bryn, you’d tell me there’s plenty of them in the drift scene as well?”

“Yeah, you see them crop up,” Alban responds with his finger clearly on the pulse. “I mean, just this last week there’s the Drift Matsuri that’s happening in Japan, and I saw that there were a couple of Ford Falcons over there in Japan doing their thing. So there’s definitely opportunities to tap into that, I think.”

It’s obvious Alban knows his cars. There’s also a fun synergy in the fact that the first Instagram video I’d watched of the very Falcons Alban is referencing features one cruising through a Tokyo tunnel to Get Low by Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz. It should go without saying that anyone who played Need for Speed Underground has that song seared into their synapses.

To the Window, to the Wall

Need for Speed itelf has cruised both high and low over the last three decades but, while the team seems conscious that the series hasn’t always been at its best, there’s a clear feeling that it’s always remained faithful to being fun and approachable above all else.

“I think the trajectory has been bumpy, actually, in some cases,” admits Honnoraty. “But what’s happened – and I think what’s been most important – is if you think about the first inception of what The Need for Speed was, it was really accessible.”

“I remember going to what was probably the local video game shop, or computer shop, at the time, and me and my friends saw it on the 3DO. We were like, ‘What’s this?’ We all jumped on it, on the 3DO, and you felt badass. Being able to drive it, being chased by the cops; there wasn’t an experience that was really like it at the time.

I think today the biggest challenge we face is literally the age of the franchise, and what it’s been.

“I think it’s really tried to stay true to that formula. It’s still accessible today; a lot of car racing games are not so easily accessible, so people still have the option to jump in and have fun with a Need for Speed game. It makes you feel like you’re just a bad-arse… It’s really inside of the DNA; it’s always there.

For Honnoraty, what makes handling Need for Speed tricky today are the side effects of how long the series has survived.

“I think today the biggest challenge we face is literally the age of the franchise, and what it’s been,” Honnoraty continues. “It’s been so many different things and appeals to so many different people.”

“We even see the debates between players: which is the best game, and why is it the best game? You look at [Underground and Most Wanted]. The divisive debate that happens between which one of those is better and why – and how different they really are and what they were looking at – means that we sit in a place where Need for Speed means many different things to many different people.”

Honnoraty gives an example where, after speaking to attendees of the Need for Speed Payback booth at EA Play, some players compared the demo to Most Wanted, and others were adamant it reminded them of Underground.

“And I’m, like, ‘How? What? They’re completely different!’ he says. “So I think it’s just that people carry with them the feeling that they had when they played those games… I think that’s the hardest thing today; it’s honestly reconciling what Need of Speed means to players. And you’ve seen it; when we go in one direction with something that doesn’t quite work, and it doesn’t appeal to certain sorts of players. Or we go in another direction, so it’s a real thing that we have to tackle with, day in and day out. But John [Stanley] and I work with it constantly. We think we’ve nearly cracked it, so we’ll see.”

“Don’t forget the Porsche Unleashed crowd that would argue that that is the number one Need for Speed of all time!” adds Wiebe.

“Exactly! Exactly!” smiles Honnoraty. “We have a very vocal member in our player council that’s very vocal on Porsche Unleashed.”

“And then the Carbon crowd, the ProStreet crowd,” lists Stanley.

“The list goes on,” replies Honnoraty.

The list goes on indeed. So too, we hope, will Need for Speed.

To the window, to the wall, ‘til the sweat drop down… well, you get the idea.

Luke is a Senior Editor on the IGN reviews team. You can track him down on Bluesky @mrlukereilly to ask him things about stuff.

These Last Minute Video Game Deals Will Ship to You By December 25: Super Mario, Sonic, Star Wars, and More

If you’re shopping for last minute video games for the holidays, surprisingly you’re not too late. There are plenty of deals on PS5, Xbox Series X, and Nintendo Switch video games that can still be delivered to you before December 25. Many (but not all) of these deals are actually as good as the ones we saw during Black Friday and Cyber Monday. They’re mostly limited to retailers that have nearby retail locations like Best Buy and Target, but you should still be able to choose delivery and receive it with time to spare.

Nintendo Switch Video Game Deals (Arrives by 12/25)

PS5 and Xbox Video Game Deals (Arrives by 12/25)

Super Mario RPG

Super Mario RPG is a remake of the 1996 SNES classic. It was one of the best games to grace the console back then amidst a sea of other incredible titles, and Nintendo did a great job of staying faithful to the game’s charm and fun factor. A whole slew of improvements have been implemented to bring this game up to modern day standards, including updated visuals, music, gameplay mechanics, and several small yet welcome quality-of-life UI improvements. In our Super Mario RPG review, Tom Marks wrote that “Super Mario RPG is considered a classic for a reason, and this faithful remake makes it easy for anyone who missed it in the SNES era to see why.”

Pikmin 4

Pikmin 4 for the Nintendo Switch is the latest in the Pikmin franchise and arguably the best one. Pikmin 4 is incredible, and feels like the full realization of where the Pikmin franchise started heading in Pikmin 3. It has tons of content, is insanely charming, and is just overall a blast to play. In our Pikmin 4 review, Jada Griffin wrote that “Pikmin 4 adds variety to the series’ traditional gameplay by offering options other than the grab-and-throw formula of the past, and brings an extra helping of top-tier levels after the credits roll.”

Super Mario Odyssey

Super Mario Odyssey is still one of the best games available on Nintendo Switch. From the stunning Kingdoms to the numerous new gameplay elements, this is a title any Switch owner should have in their collection. Odyssey is best known for its Capture mechanic, which allows Mario to use Cappy and take over different enemies and objects in the environment. In our Super Mario Odyssey 10/10 review, Ryan Mccaffrey wrote that “Super Mario Odyssey is a brilliant adventure and love letter to the series that made Nintendo a household name.”

Ring Fit Adventure

Do you want to work out but simply don’t enjoy working out? Ring Fit Adventure is one way to get around this hurdle. Ring Fit incorporates a huge variety of excellent workout exercises disguised as an RPG game. An epic adventure awaits you slaying monsters and dragons, tackling new levels, traversing different environments, acquiring powerups and skills, all the while toning your abs and burning calories. In our Ring Fit Adventure review, Jonathon Dorbush wrote that “Ring Fit Adventure is a marathon, not a sprint, just like adapting a healthy lifestyle should be. The last couple of weeks haven’t altered my life or made me look like The Rock all of a sudden, but as a way of getting into (or back into, in my case) a pattern of healthy living, it’s been a solid push in the right direction.”

Star Wars Outlaws

Star Wars: Outlaws was released only three months ago and it’s already 33% off for Black Friday. Maybe Ubisoft is trying to boost sales after a lackluster launch, but that means you get to enjoy a AAA title at a great discount. IGN’s Tristan Ogilvie gave it a 7/10 review, which is still good, but I’ve beaten the game and immensely enjoyed it, so I would have given it an 8. It definitely has an “Assassin’s Creed game in a Star Wars skin” vibe, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

Metaphor: Refantazio

Metaphor: ReFantazio is the latest game from Persona 3, 4, and 5 Director Katsura Hashino and the team at Atlus’ Studio Zero. For the first time since launch, you can score the game at a discount, saving $20 this Black Friday. In our 9/10 review, Michael Higham wrote that “Refining the Atlus RPG formula of weaving tough turn-based combat into compelling social sim mechanics, Metaphor: ReFantazio doesn’t just send a powerful message across its political drama, it becomes a beautiful expression of the real impact storytelling can have on all of us.”

Sonic X Shadow Generations

Sonic X Shadow Generations is easily one of the best Sonic games in recent history. In our 9/10 Sonic X Shadow Generations review, Jada Griffin wrote that “Sonic X Shadow Generations takes an already excellent game and spring jumps it to new heights with a creative Shadow campaign and an appreciable graphical upgrade.” This game is actually a collection of two games in one: a remaster of the 2011 Sonic Generations and – the highlight – a brand new, original campaign starring Shadow the Hedgehog.

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.

The Best Black Friday Xbox Controller Deals Are Back (Including the Xbox Elite)

Today, Best Buy and Target are matching the lowest prices I saw for Xbox Series X|S wireless controllers on Black Friday. Right now you can get one in either Carbon Black or Robot White for only $34.99. Best of all, your order will arrive by December 25. These controllers are compatible with Xbox Series X and S and PC.

Xbox Controllers for $34.99

Aesthetics aside, these Xbox wireless controllers are identical to the one that’s bundled with the Xbox Series X and S console. Standard features include textured grips, 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 video.

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 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.

Xbox Controller Ghost Cipher Edition for $45.49

If you want a color scheme that’s sure to grab yours and other people’s attentions, check out the Ghost Cipher Limited Edition Xbox Series X|S wireless controller. It’s down to $45 at Target and arrives by December 25. The Ghost Cipher Edition is an absolutely gorgeous controller, with a translucent clear top case, rubberized ash gray grips, metallic bronze triggers and D-pad, and a solid white back. The interior components are colored silver to match the overall theme.

Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 for $124

Includes component pack

Want something even more premium? Right now, you can pick up the professional-grade Xbox Series X Elite Series 2 Wireless Controller for only $124.00 after a 30% off instant discount. That’s a great deal for the original Elite Series 2 controller that includes the component pack. The newer Elite Series 2 Core controllers in White, Blue, and Red do not include the component pack and they normally retail for $140. The component pack itself retails for $59.99.

The Xbox Elite Series 2 Core controller features better build quality and lots more customizability than the stock controller that comes with the Xbox Series X console. Some of the more significant pro gaming features include adjustable-tension thumbsticks, wrap-around rubberized grip, and shorter hair trigger locks. The component pack, which is bundled with this controller, includes an extra sets of paddles, thumbsticks, D-pad, and case.

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.

Pre-Order the Helldivers 2 Original Game Soundtrack Vinyl Now on IGN Store!

The battle for democracy in Helldivers 2 made it one of the biggest games of 2024. Many fans found the gameplay and multiplayer nature of the game fun, enthralled by the fast action and triumphant soundtrack. For the first time ever, you can take home the sound of freedom with the Helldivers 2 Original Soundtrack Vinyl, which is available to pre-order now at IGN Store.

Pre-Order the Helldivers 2 Original Game Soundtrack Vinyl Now on IGN Store!

This vinyl is the ultimate collector’s item for any Helldivers fan. Composed by Wilbert Roget, II with additional music by Ross Tregenza, the Helldivers 2 soundtrack is the perfect soundtrack to listen to in the fight for freedom. A total of 11 tracks are included on this 1LP release, which we’ve outlined below.

Side A

1. Ode to Liberty
2. Welcome to the Fight
3. The Super Destroyer
4. Hellpods Primed
5. A Cup of Liber-tea (Helldivers 2 Main Theme)
6. The Terminid Horde

Side B

7. Track 11
8. The Automaton Legion
9. No Diver Left Behind
10. March of the Helldivers
11. Super Earth National Anthem

The yellow translucent vinyl is unmistakeably Helldivers, and the front of the package features the key art from the game. The vinyl is packed in a single-pocket jacket with a credit insert, which includes a note from the composer Wilbert Roget, II. The Helldivers 2 Original Soundtrack Vinyl will ship out starting February 2025. Pre-orders are now open on IGN Store, so don’t miss your chance to grab this unique collector’s item!

About IGN Store

IGN Store sells high-quality merch, collectibles, and shirts for everything you’re into. It’s a shop built with fans in mind: for all the geek culture and fandom you love most. Whether you’re into comics, movies, anime, games, retro gaming or just want some cute plushies (who doesn’t?), this store is for you!

Masayuki Kato, Founder of Ys and Legend of Heroes-Maker Nihon Falcom, Dies at 78

Masayuki Kato, the founder and former president of Ys and Legend of Heroes developer Nihon Falcom, died on Sunday, December 15 at the age of 78, according to an announcement from the company today.

Kato got his start as a computer technician working in the auto industry, but fell in love with personal computers and their capacity for games and entertainment. He founded Nihon Falcom in 1981 originally to publish games for Japanese personal computers in partnership with Apple, making Nihon one of the oldest video game companies still in existance today. He named his company after the Millenium Falcon from Star Wars, but with a “com” at the end for computers.

Over time, Nihon Falcom under Kato’s leadership became known as one of the pioneers of the action-RPG genre, beginning with Panorama Toh in 1983, Dragon Slayer in 1984, and Xanadu in 1985. Nihon Falcom gradually became a full-fledged developer in its own right, creating long-running series such as Ys and The Legend of Heroes.

The studio continued to stay in the lane of Japanese PC games for the first two decades of its history. But that changed in the early 2000s, when Nihon Falcom began working with PlayStation to bring games such as Ys I & II Complete and The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky to PlayStation devices such as the PS2 and PSP. Ever since then, the company has continued to release action RPGs cross-platform and globally with some third-party support, even more recently expanding to Nintendo platform releases.

Kato stepped down from his role as president of Nihon Falcom in 2001 as part of a larger restructure, and was succeeded by Shinji Yamazaki and, later on, the current president Toshihiro Kondo. Kato remained involved with the company as chairman of the board of directors until his death. He is credited as a producer on a number of more recent Ys and The Legend of Heroes games, including the company’s most recent global release, Ys X: Nordics.

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.

Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance Going Offline After 3 Years

While Baldur’s Gate 3 arrived in 2023 as seemingly the perfect Dungeons & Dragons adaptation from tabletop to video game, its predecessor Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance is being shut down and removed from storefronts just three years after it launched.

The game’s Steam page was updated to announce servers will be taken offline and the game removed from sale on February 24, 2025.

“We will be shutting down the Dark Alliance servers on February 24, 2025 and it will no longer be available to purchase starting that day,” reads the note from developer Invoke Studios. “The base game and all DLC are still available to play in offline single-player by anyone who currently owns it.”

Dark Alliance launched on June 22, 2021 as a promised “exciting, action-driven, hack-and-slash adventure filled with iconic monsters, legendary characters, and epic loot,” but was received poorly by players and critics.

“Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance is a tedious co-op adventure with lots of goblins and even more bugs,” IGN said in our 4/10 review, and the game sits at a “mixed” rating on Steam with only 50% of reviews being positive.

Invoke Studios, which was known as Tuque Games at the time but later rebranded, is now working on another entry in the D&D franchise. Details are still slim, but publisher Wizards of the Coast confirmed it as an Unreal Engine 5 title and said it will be “a triple-A game derived from the Dungeons & Dragons universe.”

Wizards of the Coast is all in on D&D video games at the moment, likely due to the astounding success of Baldur’s Gate 3, as five games are currently in development.

Alongside Invoke Studios’ new game comes a D&D survival role-playing game life simulator from the Disney Dreamlight Valley developer, a virtual reality game from the creators of Demeo, a co-op game from Payday 3 developer Starbreeze, and a mysterious entry from Hasbro.

Baldur’s Gate 3 arrived in July 2023 and became the surprise hit of the year, with players obsessing over its seemingly infinite number of playstyles and story outcomes. It was incredibly successful commercially, pulling in $90 million for Hasbro and even more for developer Larian. Somehow, it’s more popular this year than last.

In our 10/10 review, IGN said: “With crunchy, tactical RPG combat, a memorable story with complex characters, highly polished cinematic presentation, and a world that always rewards exploration and creativity, Baldur’s Gate 3 is the new high-water mark for CRPGs.”

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

CD Projekt Announces Concert Tour for The Witcher 3 10-Year Anniversary

CD Projekt has announced a concert tour to celebrate the 10th anniversary of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.

The concert tour features “an innovative blend of cutting-edge visuals and gameplay” that plays alongside the original soundtrack performed by a live orchestra. It kicks off with anniversary concerts in Poland and Boston, Massachusetts in May 2025, before a tour of Europe in the fourth quarter of 2025 and then the U.S. in the first quarter of 2026. CD Projekt’s new U.S. hub is in Boston, which explains why the initial anniversary concert takes place there.

Tickets go on sale soon, CD Projekt said. The full scale of the concert series — as well as ticket information — will be unveiled over time, with more information to be revealed through the official website and newsletter.

Here’s the official blurb:

The experience features select tracks from the game and its expansions, arranged for the occasion by The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt composer Marcin Przybyłowicz, who will also join select stops as a special guest. The live celebration is further bolstered by Polish folk metal band Percival, co-composers of the game’s soundtrack, known for their iconic contributions to the game’s sound. Alongside a skilled orchestra, they will bring to life beloved tracks from Geralt’s journey through the continent.

It’s a busy time for CD Projekt. It currently has 400 developers working on The Witcher 4, the majority of its 650-person total development staff. 64 are working on Orion, the sequel to Cyberpunk 2077, 42 on Sirius, The Witcher game developed by The Molasses Flood, and 18 on Hadar, CD Projekt’s brand new IP. It’s also found time to update Cyberpunk 2077 to 2.2.

The announcement of The Witcher 3 concert comes hot on the heels of CD Projekt’s release of the debut trailer for The Witcher 4 at The Game Awards 2024. IGN has loads of exclusive features on The Witcher 4, including Inside The Witcher 4: CD Projekt Red’s Plans For Its Next Big RPG, The Witcher 4: 12 Vital Trailer Details Revealed by CD Projekt Red, and Why CD Projekt Went With Ciri Over Continuing With Geralt as Protagonist.

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.

The Best Nintendo Game of 2024

2024 will likely be remembered as a transitional year for Nintendo. Last year saw heavy hitters like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Super Mario Bros. Wonder while next year is all about the Nintendo Switch 2, leaving this year in kind of an awkward middle ground. Even so, Switch owners still had a ton of great games to play during the aging console’s eighth year on the market as Nintendo somehow managed to publish a game every single month, while third-party and indie developers continued to support Switch with awesome series revivals and clever new ideas.

While many fans were begging to turn the page to the next generation, Nintendo proved Switch still had enough in the tank for one more year with a surprise Zelda game where you actually play as Princess Zelda, our favorite Mario Party in years, and a whole lot more. These are the best Nintendo games of 2024, starting off with the honorable mentions.

Honorable Mentions

A couple of titles just barely missed out making our top tier or picks for the year. For years, the concept of a Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door remake felt as mythical and unattainable as opening the titular door itself, but Nintendo finally listened to this RPG’s extremely vocal fanbase and delivered a near perfect retelling of Mario’s iconic GameCube quest. It’s remarkable how well The Thousand-Year Door holds up 20 years later, with its hilarious script, satisfying combat, lovable party members, and memorable locations.

Mario literally climbs the ranks of a pro wrestling league set on a floating island in the sky, and that’s just the setting for one chapter of this epic adventure. And, following the last few Paper Mario entries that traded in unique, original characters in favor of hordes upon hordes of samey Toads, it’s a complete delight to see the slimy city of Rogueport and its surrounding areas peppered with fresh personalities. Simply giving The Thousand-Year Door a gorgeous new coat of paint and sprinkling in a few quality-of-life improvements has instantly placed it on the list of the best RPGs on Switch.

And then there’s Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble, a stunning return to form for a series that had completely lost its way for the better part of the last two decades. After several misguided attempts to get the monkey ball rolling again, the pieces finally fell into place in Banana Rumble thanks to the tightest controls, physics, and level design the series has seen since Super Monkey Ball 2 in 2003. Tilting the stage to roll your monkey to the finish feels right again, and the new spin dash ability significantly opens up speedrunning and trick shot techniques without feeling like a betrayal to Monkey Ball’s core mechanics like some past gimmicks did.

It doesn’t hold back by the end either, with devilish late-game obstacles that will throw your monkey off the stage dozens of times before you finally break through that sweet, sweet goal. It’s also a fantastic game to play with others, as you can tackle all of Banana Rumble’s 200+ stages in local or online co-op with up to four players. It may not quite soar to the lofty heights of the GameCube originals, but it’s undeniable that Super Monkey Ball is back after years of fall outs, and I’m both shocked and overjoyed I get to say that in 2024.

Runner-Up: Super Mario Party Jamboree

Now we move onto the runner-ups – the games that narrowly missed out on the top spot. First is Super Mario Party Jamboree, one of Nintendo’s finest efforts of 2024, which simultaneously became a go-to multiplayer game on Switch and a standout entry in the longrunning dice-rolling, backstabbing series. It has pretty much everything you’d want from a great Mario Party: a wonderful set of seven boards each with their own unique wrinkles, an incredibly fun and varied set of minigames you’ll want to return to again and again, and a huge roster of 22 playable characters filled with both fan favorites and deep cuts. Plus, if you’ve been on the wrong end of one too many Chance Times or Bowser Revolutions and just can’t take it anymore, the all-new optional Pro Rules offer an alternative take on Mario Party that lessen the luck-based elements and emphasize skill and strategy.

Jamboree is particularly exciting because it’s easily the best original Mario Party game developed by Nintendo Cube, the studio that’s been in charge of the series since 2012’s Mario Party 9. The developers spent years trying to completely transform the Mario Party formula – from putting all four players into a car, to having everyone take their turn at the same time – and it just never really worked. But the Switch era represents a comeback story for the Mario Party series, beginning with Super Mario Party which was a step in the right direction, but still not entirely there. Then, Nintendo Cube returned to the franchise’s greatest hits in Mario Party Superstars, which was a ton of fun, but it wasn’t original content. Finally, the Mario Party comeback arc is complete with new boards, items, and minigames that stand side-by-side with the greats and cement Jamboree as a modern multiplayer classic.

Runner-Up: Lorelei and the Laser Eyes

If you like head-scratching, mind-bending puzzle games like Return of the Obra Dinn and The Witness, then Lorelei and the Laser Eyes is a must-play to add to your Switch wishlist. Created by Sayonara Wild Hearts developer Simogo, Lorelei and the Laser Eyes features the same unrivaled presentation and atmosphere with a tantalizing mystery to match. The story begins with Lorelei arriving at a creepy, surreal hotel and within minutes you’ll be enraptured by unraveling its greatest mysteries and discovering why she was summoned there in the first place. Our reviewer Tom Marks called it “the closest thing I’ve played to a modernization of what a point-and-click adventure could be,” saying “Its story is enticingly fresh, its vibes perfectly eerie, and the desire it evokes to uncover every inch of its intricately interwoven mystery is irresistible.”

It’s also not afraid to scare you. While it never treads too far into horror game territory, it effectively keeps you on edge with a handful of frightening moments as you dive deeper down its ever-expanding rabbit hole. As Tom said, “Lorelei and the Laser Eyes does do a fantastic job of unsettling you as you go, using its beautiful black-and-white visual style with pops of neon to create haunting, abstract imagery that can sometimes be as anxiety-inducing as any monster.” This is one of the best examples of a small developer bringing a brilliant set of ideas to Switch in 2024, resulting in an unforgettable journey that’s not quite like anything else on the console.

Runner-Up: Unicorn Overlord

It’s been a phenomenal year for RPGs, and Unicorn Overlord is a big reason why. This is a superb high-fantasy strategy RPG from 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim developer Vanillaware, and the developer’s iconic art style is on full display with Unicorn Overlord’s beautifully animated characters and backgrounds, along with some of the most unnecessarily good-looking food we’ve ever seen in a video game. Our reviewer Eric Zalewski said Unicorn Overlord has one of his favorite strategy RPG combat systems ever, praising its unique blend of real-time strategy and turn-based RPG mechanics that result in something entirely new and delightfully deep. You’ll need to expertly maneuver your squads and fully engage with its complex ability system to succeed on the higher difficulties, and our review praised the scenarios you’re thrust into across Unicorn Overlord’s diverse maps, calling the mechanics and gimmicks presented some of the very best in the genre.

Unicorn Overlord’s fairly stereotypical story about a prince fighting to take back his kingdom is immaculately presented across five separate arcs that each add vital context to the tale, with Eric saying, “Rather than lengthy exposition or 30-minute lore dumps, its wonderfully realized world is gradually fleshed out by the people you interact with, providing interesting perspectives as you learn the stories of both your allies and your enemies. Its overarching plot may be rather simple as a result, sticking closely to genre tropes, but when paired with a beautiful presentation, even familiar stories manage to feel fresh.” Unicorn Overlord is a special RPG in a year full of them, and proof that some third-party developers are still bringing the good stuff to Nintendo Switch.

Winner: The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom

There were a lot of great Switch games this year, but in the end it’s tough to beat The Legend of Zelda, and Echoes of Wisdom is IGN’s pick for the best Nintendo game of 2024. Echoes of Wisdom marks a lot of exciting firsts for the series: It’s the first new top-down Zelda game on Switch, the first time a Zelda game is played largely without a sword, and most importantly it’s the first time Princess Zelda is the playable character in a mainline entry.

However, this isn’t just a traditional adventure where Zelda simply takes the place of Link. Instead, Echoes of Wisdom carves out its own niche in Hyrule’s history thanks to its central copy-and-paste gameplay mechanic where Zelda can summon Echoes of objects and enemies she encounters to solve puzzles and take down powerful foes in unique ways. From plopping down a bed to restore her health with a quick nap whenever and wherever to finally turning the tables and commanding enemies that have been nuisances for years, there’s no shortage of fun, innovative uses for the dozens of Echoes at Zelda’s disposal. It takes a page from Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom by setting players loose to find their own solutions, where the only wrong answers are the ones that don’t work. It only took hours after Echoes of Wisdom’s launch to see crazy improvisational combinations surfacing on social media, like tornado beds and crows endlessly chasing after a chunk of meat just out of their reach, leading to a pretty reliable form of flight.

Echoes of Wisdom doesn’t entirely return to the classic top-down setup that a lot of longtime fans miss, but it takes several half steps that bridge the gap between the modern formula and the old favorites. Hyrule is littered with Heart Pieces to find, warm orchestral melodies accompany nearly every step of the journey, and many characters, locations, and other references make Echoes of Wisdom feel like a love letter to cherished Zelda games like A Link to the Past, Ocarina of Time, and many others. With Echoes of Wisdom, Nintendo once again took the Zelda series in a bold, unexpected direction, giving Hyrule’s princess her long-awaited starring role with new gameplay concepts we never could have imagined beforehand, and that’s why it’s our pick for the best Nintendo game of the year.

Let us know what your pick is for the best Switch game of the year, and be sure to check out all of the other categories for the 2024 IGN Awards.

Yakuza / Like a Dragon Dev Seemingly Teases Snoop Dogg Appearance in Project Century

Yakuza / Like a Dragon developer Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio appears to be teasing a Snoop Dogg appearance in its mysterious new game Project Century.

RGG Studio posted a photo of Snoop wearing the distinctive jacket worn by the protagonist in the Project Century trailer. At the same time, studio director Masayoshi Yokoyama posted a photo of himself in the jacket, mirroring the pose of Snoop.

The Snoop photo has the teasing caption “…yet,” while Yokoyama’s, in Japanese, said: “please wait a bit, yeah?” It’s not the tease RGG Studio fans were expecting of Project Century, which appears to be a new series potentially connected to Yakuza / Like a Dragon but set in 1915, given it was only revealed at The Game Awards 2024 a few days ago, but there are some elements which aren’t completely bizarre.

Snoop was also at The Game Awards 2024, for example, where he performed a medley of songs to the developers and press in attendance. It’s therefore likely the photo was taken there, and could be as simple as him liking the jacket and wanting a photo in it.

But this isn’t the first time Snoop Dogg’s name has been brought up in relation to the Yakuza / Like a Dragon series. Following on from Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, which featured Danny Trejo as the likeness and voice for villain Dwight Méndez, publisher Sega asked fans which other celebrities they’d like to appear in the series going forward.

Alongside video game adjacent stars such as Keanu Reeves, Mark Hamill, Jack Black, Rami Malek, and David Hayter came other celebrities, one of which was none other than Snoop Dogg. This tease could therefore be the end result of this poll, though nothing is confirmed yet.

Snoop would likely appear as a new character and not just as a cameo of himself, especially if he does show up in Project Century since it’s set 56 years before he was born. Little is known about the game, however, so anything is possible.

RGG Studio fans are already deep in the theorizing phase to figure out what the heck Project Century is, of course, and already have ideas on where it’s set, if it’s connected to the Yakuza / Like a Dragon franchise, who it’s main character is, and if it’s using the developer’s Dragon Engine.

They’ll have to be patient for these answers though. Project Century is probably still a while away given it doesn’t have a title yet, and RGG Studio is currently developing Virtua Fighter 6 and Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii alongside it.

It is known for its unbelievably speedy development times, however. In the last five years, for example, its released Yakuza 4 Remastered, Yakuza 5 Remastered, Yakuza: Like a Dragon, Judgment Remastered, Lost Judgment, Like a Dragon: Ishin, Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name, and Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, alongside three Super Monkey Ball Games and an enhanced remaster of Virtua Fighter 5. That’s 12 games in total.

In our 9/10 review of the last RGG Studio release, IGN said: “Sprawling, enthralling, and packed with dynamic brawling, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth isn’t just the best turn-based Like a Dragon game, it’s one of the greatest games in the entire series.”

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