Category: IGN

Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth will be the longest Yakuza game to date, with the boss of developer Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio saying “if you go at it continuously, you’ll get sick”.

As reported by Japanese outlet Game Watch and translated by Automaton, RGG studio head Masayoshi Yokoyama said Infinite Wealth, essentially Yakuza 8, is a “monster class” video game.

“The games take a long time to clear, don’t they? [Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name] not so much, but Infinite Wealth is a monster-class game longer than anything we’ve made so far,” Yokoyama said.

“If you go at it continuously, you’ll get sick, and it won’t end with just one or two all-nighters. This means that a lot of people are going to hesitate to play the game or will end up having it wait on their shelves. I found the possibility of that kind of outcome sad, so I thought, we have to get everyone hyped up enough to play it.”

Yokoyama, as the boss of a studio known for its colourful statements, therefore said RGG had to create a “festival-like atmosphere” around Infinite Wealth so people are excited to play through it as quick as possible, “even at the cost of their health.”

He continued: “We have to get people to play the game in about a week or a month, even at the cost of their health, which is why it’s our duty as creators to generate enough to be excited about. I’ve thought this way for the past year or two. For a game like Infinite Wealth, we have to get a festival going on. It would feel kind of rude to just drop such a long game and be done with it.”

The Yakuza games, now titled Like a Dragon, are notoriously difficult for completionists looking to do everything, as ticking every box can take three or four times as long as doing just the main story and some side content.

Yakuza 5, for example, takes around 37 hours to complete the main story, 65 hours to do the side stories too, but 156 hours to reach 100% completion. Yakuza: Like a Dragon, which saw the series switch to its new turn-based role-playing game combat, balanced things a little with a 46-hour completion time for the main story, 68 hours for the side stories too, and 103 hours to do everything.

As Infinite Wealth continues the slower RPG gameplay it will likely fall more in line with Like a Dragon’s ratios, but given Yokoyama’s comments about it being even longer, fans could easily be in store for a main story of 50 hours or more and 160 hours to do everything, since it exceeds Yakuza 5 too.

This comes in contrast to RGG’s latest release, Like a Dragon Gaiden, which is a lower-priced spin-off to the series that connects the events of Yakuza 6 and Infinite Wealth from a different character’s perspective. It just takes 10 hours to finish this entry’s main story, 19 hours to add all the side content, and 31 hours to do everything.

Infinite Wealth launching on January 26, just around two months after Like a Dragon Gaiden launched on November 9, has some fans a little conflicted about Yokoyama’s comments on its length.

“I am feeling extremely cynical about this,” said potato_nugget1 on Reddit. “Gaiden’s story worked because of how short it was, it was focused on one story line instead of throwing in 50 different plot points that contradict each other, make no sense, or get forgotten about; which is exactly what happened in Yakuza 5, and now they’re saying this is even longer than 5. Best case scenario, this has a lot of filler.”

DuffelBagCollector agreed: “That’s not what I’m really into but okay. If the content is good, great. I always found Yakuza 5 over bloated with content of various degrees of quality.”

Plenty others can’t wait to get their hands on the lengthiest Yakuza game to date though. “Yakuza 5’s main problem is that it suffers from horrible pacing so you feel every minute of its 50 hour length,” said NotEvenEvan in response. “Yakuza: Like a Dragon is basically double the length but because it’s paced so much better it doesn’t feel as long as it is. If Infinite Wealth is more akin to Yakuza: Like a Dragon than Yakuza 5, then I will be happy.”

Infinite Wealth takes the series out of Japan for the first time, instead being set in Hawaii with players taking on dual protagonists in Ichiban Kasuga and Kiryu Kazuma.

In our preview of the game, IGN said: “[Our] time with Infinite Wealth was about as brief as Ichiban’s board shorts, but it left [us] to ponder the infinite possibilities for fun that might be hidden around its sizeable Hawaiian island expanse.”

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

Lies of P update 1.3.0.0 is out now and makes some significant changes to gameplay.

Highlights include the addition of new costumes, which can be found in the equipment and bag menu, a new category to the costume menu so players can equip masks and accessories together, and significant balance changes.

The field difficulty has been decreased, with the attack speed of some monsters adjusted to make their attack more intuitive. Meanwhile, Rising Dodge is now a default ability so players have access to it from the start of the game.

Earlier this month, Lies of P publisher Neowiz teased the game’s first DLC and confirmed plans to release a sequel. Lies of P sold one million copies in less than a month after developer Round8 Studio’s well-received soulslike launched on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and S, PC via Steam, and Mac via the Mac App Store on September 18. It reimagines the classic fairy tale of Pinocchio in Bloodborne style gameplay.

IGN’s Lies of P review returned an 8/10: “Lies of P might not branch out particularly far from its soulslike inspiration, but it plays the part extremely well.” Lies of P has a “very positive” user review rating on Steam too.

If you’re currently playing through the game, be sure to check out IGN’s Lies of P walkthrough.

Lies of P Update 1.3.0.0 patch notes:

New Features and Content

New costumes have been added to the game.

After installing the latest update, the following items can be found in the ‘Equipment’ and ‘Bag’ menu.

• ‘Alchemist’s Hat’
• ‘Treasure Hunter’s Mask’
• ‘Treasure Hunter’s Hunting Apparel’
• ‘Illusory Emerald Glasses’

Added a new category to the Costume menu.

• Now players can equip the ‘Mask’ and ‘Accessory’ together in the Hair section in the costume menu.

Short Grey Hair’ has been added to the game.

• Available after reaching any of the game’s ending for the first time.
• Available at ‘Geppetto’s Tools’.

Add a new option to adjust the Subtitle’s size.

• Can be adjusted by [Settings -> Gameplay -> Subtitle size]

Balance and Content Improvements

Decreased Field Difficulty

• Adjusted the attack speed of some monsters to make their attack more intuitive.
• Increased the duration of stance breaks for some monsters.
• Adjusted the spawn locations of some monsters and traps to fit better with the flow of the game.

The P-Organ, ‘Rising Dodge’ has been changed to a default ability

• Retain Guard Regain upon Pulse Cell use’ has been added to the P-Organ system to replace ‘Rising Dodge’.

Combat Balance Adjustments

• Increased the damage of some weapons.
• Increased some weapons to trigger stance breaks to monsters more frequently.
• Now relatively lighter Blades will gain more ‘Guard Regain’, while heavier Blades gain less ‘Guard Regain’.
• Decreased the delay after an attack and the time to charge a ‘Charge Attack’ for some heavy handles.
• Now some heavier handles will have a faster attack speed depending on the assembled blade.
• Adjusted the ‘Destruction Damage’ inflicted to monsets by a ‘Perfect Guard’.
• The weapon ‘Puppet’s Saber Blade’ will now have increased stats after enhancing.
• Increased the movement distance while using the ‘Proof of Humanity’ weapon’s attack skill.
• Increased the damage reduction rate while guarding the weapon ‘Etiquette’ but reduced the fable’s charge amount for a set period of time when attacking.
• Enhanced the attack tracking mechanism after successfully performing the Fable Arts, ‘Guard Parry’.
• Increased the damage buff of ‘Bell of Provocation’ to the player.
• “The Attribute Status Ailments will now stack faster for the following Fable Arts:
  • ‘Thunderstrike’
  • ‘Flamestrike’
  • ‘Acid Slash'”
• Increased the damage of Fatal Attacks to better scale with the players stats.
• Increased the attack radius and tracking mechanism of the Legion Arm, ‘Aegis III – Counter Charge’.
• The pillars in the ‘Kill King’s Flame, Fuoco’s room will now only be destroyed by Fuoco’s Fury Attacks.

Added new itmes to the NPC ‘Polendina’s Shop.

• Two more Quartz can be purchased during the early stages of the game.
• After expanding the shop for the 1st time, one additional ‘Quartz’ can be purchased. (Yes, one more Quartz.)
• After expanding the shop for the 3rd time, two additional ‘Full Moonstone of the Covenant’ can be purchased.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed a bug that sometimes caused the character to shoot into the sky while using the Legion Arm ‘Puppet String III – Attack Link’.
• Fixed a bug while continuously pressing the guard button during the Guard stance Legion Arm ‘Aegis’ would trigger Perfect Guards every time.
• Fixed a bug that allowed some weapons to perform Perfect Guards unintentionally.
• Fixed a bug that caused some Electric Blitz attacks to be unguardable even with Perfect Guards or Guard Parry.
• Fixed a bug in which the Guard Regain would not reset after performing a successful counter-attack with the weapon ‘Two Dragons Sword’s charge attack.
• Fixed a bug in which arrows fired from traps could not be guarded.
• Fixed a bug in which the ‘Monnphase Pocket Watch’ could be used during boss fights.
• Fixed a bug in which attacks from some monsters would not register correctly to the player character.
• Fixed a bug in which the P-Organ ability ‘Naturally recovers Durability of inactive weapons’ reduced the weapon’s durability while inactive during certain situations.
• Fixed a bug in which having the P-Organ ‘Lower Damage while Dodging’ activated and a specific Amulet equipped would trigger the player’s stamina regain earlier than intended.
• Fixed a bug in which the deceased NPC ‘Belle’ at the ‘Attacked Hotel Krat’.
• Fixed a bug in which players were able to abnormally approach certain areas of the map.
• Adjusted the Camera Rotation speed while using controllers to be not affected by the framerate.
• Specific for Asian Regions: PS4 Controller Settings Resetting Issue has now been fixed and can be save regardless of the PS4’s system settings.
• Updated some translations and typos for the following languages:
  • ‘English’
  • ‘Chinese’
  • ‘Japanese’
• Updated a typo in the in-game EULA.
• Improved game stability and bugs related to in-game UI.

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.

Amid the ongoing controversy surrounding Mortal Kombat 1’s monetized Fatalities, Warner Bros. Games has confirmed the price and release date for its Seasonal Fatality Bundle, which will feature unique Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Winter Fatalities.

In a statement to IGN, a Warner Bros. Games confirmed that the seasonal bundle will cost 1,200 Dragon Krystals. Currently, Dragon Krystals — Mortal Kombat 1’s premium currency — can only be purchased in packs of 1,250 and above, which means the bundle amounts to about $9.99. It’ll be available on November 17.

You can see the Thanksgiving Fatality included in the bundle, which was uncovered by a dataminer, below (warning, it’s quite disgusting).

Happy Thanksgiving 😋🍗🐲

MK1 Thanksgiving Fatality#MK1 #MortalKombat1 pic.twitter.com/5OuzbZy8D5

— thethiny 🐰🍉 (@thethiny) November 10, 2023

The announced price of the bundle is considerably cheaper than the $30 that some Mortal Kombat 1 fans speculated it might cost — a number based in part on Mortal Kombat 1’s Halloween Fatality being 1,200 Dragon Krystals as a standalone release. Warner Bros. Games has lately been backpedaling in response to criticism over its monetization, offering players who purchased the $10 Halloween Fatality access to the full seasonal bundle for free.

Despite the lower-than-expected price, the bundle is still more expensive than the popular DLC character Omni-Man, who costs $7.99. Omni-Man also comes with two unique Fatalities of his own.

Mortal Kombat 1’s premium Fatalities are a series first, making them controversial among fans. Mortal Kombat 1 has also drawn criticism for its poorly-reviewed Switch port, various bugs, and other issues. It has sold more than 3 million units since launching in September, but its sales in Europe appear to be down compared to Mortal Kombat 11.

We wrote in our review, “Mortal Kombat 1 is another great entry in this legendary series, but it’s not one without issues. The new Kameo system is excellent, there are smart changes to the fighting mechanics that address many of the fundamental issues that cropped up over Mortal Kombat 11’s life, and predictably, the fantastic single-player story mode that continues to be the gold standard of the genre. But certain elements of online play are starting to feel dated, and Invasions mode is not nearly engaging enough to hold my attention for as long as is needed to unlock a majority of the goodies hidden behind its many treasure chests and gimmicky battles.”

For more, check out our guide to unlocking Mortal Kombat 1’s Fatalities as well as our full walkthrough.

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.

With the news that Nintendo is finally making a live-action movie adaptation of The Legend of Zelda, it’s not hard to theorize where it’d look to take inspiration from. With over 30 million copies sold, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is the most successful Zelda game ever made, released on one of the most successful Nintendo consoles ever released. Why wouldn’t the live-action movie try and adapt the most successful Zelda game of all time?

To which I say: Nintendo, don’t. It’s a trap.

It’s not been confirmed that Nintendo, Arad Productions, and director Wes Ball are looking to adapt Breath of the Wild, though Ball has tweeted a lot about that game and its sequel, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. So at the very least the director is a big fan of these specific games in the series.

Since I could never even hope to have the chance to direct it… the next big mo-cap Avatar-like movie should be… THE LEGEND OF ZELDA.

— Wes Ball (@wesball) January 29, 2010

And he should be, they’re amazing. Two of the best Zelda games of all time, even. But the very thing that makes Breath of the Wild one of the best Zelda games is the same reason why it wouldn’t make for a great movie adaptation.

Let’s Start With the Story

Before we address the gameplay-sized elephant in the room, let’s get this out of the way first. As far as stories go, Breath of the WIld is probably the most straightforward Zelda story you could tell. While other Zelda games rely on time-travel, dream worlds, or alternate dimensions, Breath of the Wild tells the story of a knight who must rescue the princess with the help of four mystical allies and their powers.

Sure, all the Zelda games are about rescuing the princess with the help of new powers in one form or another, but Breath of the Wild is especially straightforward in terms of narrative, in a way that’s almost like a cut-and-paste from other fantasy stories. If you’re going to make a Zelda movie, I’d adapt one of the games where the story is a bit more center-stage, whether it’s the pirate adventures of Wind Waker, the classic sword and sorcery of A Link to the Past, or arguably the most cinematic Zelda game of all-time, Twilight Princess.

But on the chance the studio looks to adapt the single most successful Zelda game of all time, the reason why it’d be a mistake is…

You Can’t Play a Movie

Between Breath of the Wild and its sequel, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, these two games contain some of Nintendo’s boldest, most sophisticated gameplay designs and physics in the history of the company. I remember the first time in Breath of the Wild I started running through a thunderstorm with a metal weapon raised, only to accidentally turn Link into a lightning rod. Or using stasis on a boulder to catapult Link miles towards a destination like a makeshift teleporter. Moments like these are Breath of the Wild.

The creativity on display is so vast that years later we’re still convinced there’s more to be found in Nintendo’s 2017 Zelda game. We’re still kitbashing barrel airplanes, or utilizing the forces of nature against enemies. And that lightning rod thing from before? It didn’t take long for players to discover throwing metal at enemies in a storm created improvised lightning missile strikes.

Game devs have marveled at the power of Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom’s engineering, calling the way its systems interact with each other near-magic. It’s not just showing audiences Link’s cool abilities but playing within an entire world, with its own laws of nature that just simply cannot be conveyed by looking at a screen alone. While there are plenty of fun moments a Breath of the Wild movie could include as fun easter eggs — like Link discovering he gets a stat bonus when he cooks during the blood moon for example — the game’s sense of discovery can never truly be captured on camera. Breath of the Wild’s moments of emergent gameplay are why these specific Zelda games in particular are so beloved, more so than any other game in the series. Past Zelda games like Wind Waker and Ocarina of Time turn players into heroes on an epic adventure, but Breath of the Wild turns players into theoretical physicists, experimenting with how the interlocking rules of the game play off one another – which, unless the director plans on making a movie similar to Oppenheimer, would make for not a lousy Zelda movie

Recency Bias

The same thing about Breath of the Wild’s gameplay could be said about Mario and the subsequent Mario movie adaptation though, no? While short on story, the joy of the Mario games exist in the gameplay and the animated movie still did a pretty good job of evoking that, right?

First, I’d argue that despite all of the things the Mario movie got right, translating the gameplay was not something the movie did particularly well. While the training montage was meant to capture the excitement of a classic 2D Mario platformer level, I don’t think it succeeded in making me feel the same level of excitement I’d get from if I actually just went home and started playing a Mario game.

But you don’t necessarily need to translate gameplay to make a successful video game adaptation. HBO’s The Last of Us series did away with gameplay features like Joel’s echo-location and was all the better for it. Instead, it focussed on the things that would translate well.

Of course, The Last of Us had a lot of material to mine beyond just gameplay. The characters of Joel and Ellie, as well as its vision of post-apocalyptic America, was full of such rich details that the creators of the show were able to effectively jettison much of the game aspect of The Last of Us and focus on its world and characters to prop up its successful TV adaptation.

Breath of the Wild, by contrast, is almost solely about its gameplay. There is very little in terms of actual story to draw upon, which could be seen as an obstacle or an opportunity depending how you look at it. Also, its stunning visual style would surely look amazing were it an animated movie, but as a life-action film? I cannot see it.

It feels cynical to write-off a potential adaptation of Breath of the Wild even though we just got the announcement a live-action movie is in production. But my gut reaction comes from a place of love. Not only are there more suitable Zelda games to adapt, or better yet an original story within the game’s universe ready to be told. But adapting Breath of the Wild would do a disservice to one of the best Zelda games of all time.

Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom epitomize Nintendo’s play-first philosophy and what stayed with me years after finishing Breath of the Wild wasn’t the story, but how I experienced its adventures first-hand — interacting with the world and uncovering its many laws of nature. Strip all that away and you’re left with Breath of the Wild’s least memorable part to then turn into a movie.

Matt T.M. Kim is IGN’s Senior Features Editor. You can reach him @lawoftd.

Happy Indie World Showcase day! We just saw a Nintendo Indie World Showcase that included over 12 indie games coming to Nintendo Switch in 2023 and 2024, including several brand-new game announcements. Major reveals include the reemergence of a lost Shantae game, Outer Wilds’ long-awaited Switch debut, and much more.

If you missed it, here’s a quick rundown of everything we just saw at Indie World:

Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution

Announced earlier this year, Shantae creator WayForward has reached deep into its vault of canceled titles and brought back something we never thought would see the light of day. Back in 2001, WayForward was working on a GBA Shantae game called Shantae 2: Risky Revolution. The game was never finished, never released. But now, the studio has brought back much of the original development team to complete what’s now known as Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution, for a 2024 release. It’s built on the original game but with a restored/remastered look and a new, four-player local battle mode. It’s coming in 2024.

Core Keeper

Core Keeper, a top-down sandbox game set in an underground world, has been in early access on Steam since March of last year. It’s now coming to NIntendo Switch with a full release in 2024, including an online multiplayer for up to eight players.

On Your Tail

Newly revealed at Indie World, On Your Tail is a sleuthing game set in the seaside town of Borgo Marina, where anthropromorphic animals are enjoying holidays by the sea. Town exploration, minigames, fishing, and other life sim elements are interspersed with detective work as the main character tries to uncover the mystery behind a strange masked figure appearing in the town. On Your Tail is a timed console exclusive coming to Switch in 2024.

Howl

Howl is a turn-based, tactical folktale set in medieval times when a strange, sound-based plague called the “howl” is ravaging the land. The main character is a deaf prophet trying to save the locals as they search for a cute. Howl is out later today.

The Star Named EOS

The Star Named EOS is a narrative puzzle game where players use photography to explore the world and uncover the truth about the disappearance of the protagonist’s mother. It’s coming out in the spring of 2024.

Backpack Hero

If you like inventory management, this is the game for you. Backpack Hero is a roguelike about collecting items, organizing a bag, and using your organization skills to fight off enemies more effectively. It previously released in early access on Steam in 2022, and is coming to Switch later today.

Blade Chimera

Newly-announced sidescrolling 2D action game Blade Chimera has you wielding the Lumina Sword, which isn’t just a weapon to repel deadly demon attacks. It also can interfere with time itself, such as restoring broken platforms to help you make your way through the city you’re tasked with protecting. Blade Chimera is a timed console exclusive coming in spring 2024.

A Highland Song

From the studio behind 80 Days, A Highland Song is a narrative adventure about exploring the highlands of Scotland, where the paths you choose to take will impact how the story plays out. Set to Scottish folk music, A Highland Song intersperses open platforming with rhythm sections. It’s coming out on December 5, 2023.

Moonstone Island

Previously released on PC via Steam in September, Moonstone Island is finally coming to console in spring of 2024 as a timed Switch exclusive. Moonstone Island is a creature collection life sim game set in an open world of sky islands. There are over 60 different monster spirits to collect via card-based combat, alongside crafting, farming, befriending villagers, and exploring.

Death Trick: Double Blind

When a circus’ star magician goes missing, a pair of unlikely partners must team up and track down what happened to them. Death Trick: Double Blind is a detective game, an investigative visual novel set in a circus with point and click exploration and an emphasis on speaking to suspects and finding contradictions in their stories. It’s coming out in 2024.

Outer Wilds: Archaeologist Edition

Developer Mobius has been teasing us on a Nintendo Switch release for Outer Wilds for a long time now, and it’s almost here. The Archaeologist Edition for Switch is coming out on December 7, 2023, with a physical version planned for sometime next year. It includes both Outer Wilds, and the Echoes of the Eye expansion.

And more!

Today’s Indie World Showcase ended on a montage of other games coming to Switch, including:

• Enjoy the Diner, out today
• Heavenly Bodies, coming February 2024
• The Gecko Gods, coming spring of 2024
• Passpartout 2: The Lost Artist, out today
• Urban Myth Dissolution Center, coming in 2024
• Braid: Anniversary Edition, coming April 30, 2024.

And that’s it for Nintendo Indie World. And if this wasn’t enough, while you wait for some of these to come out, we’ve got a list of the best indie games of all time that’s full of gems you can play right now.

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.

Buying one of the best graphics cards is already an expensive endeavor, but thanks to Moore’s Law having one foot in the grave, there are a lot of hidden costs to upgrading your gaming PC, thankfully Black Friday GPU deals are right around the corner.

While you’re probably not going to see any super-flashy 50% off deals for a graphics card like the RTX 4080, you’ll be able to find offers that cut a good $100-$200 off of its steep asking price, especially if you know where to look.

And even if you don’t feel comfortable digging around the guts of your computer to make the upgrade, you should be able to find plenty of Black Friday gaming PC deals that also use these shiny new GPUs.

When Do Black Friday GPU Deals Start?

Black Friday 2023 arrives November 24, though a lot of retailers have either already started their sales, or will long before the 24th. For instance, Amazon’s Black Friday extravaganza officially kicks off on November 17th, so you should be able to find some time to snag a great deal on GPUs sometime during the week. There are even some early GPU deals already available thanks to other retailer sales.

Early Black Friday GPU Deals

Black Friday isn’t quite here yet, but if you just need a graphics card right now, you can find several on sale. Again, don’t expect to slash any prices in half, but these deals will make your graphics card a bit more affordable. Both Newegg and Amazon have discounts right now:

What About Cyber Monday?

Cyber Monday typically falls on the Monday after Black Friday, which is November 27 in 2023. In years past, this second sales holiday stood on its own, but it’s been increasingly absorbed into Black Friday over the last several years. Cyber Monday is as good as Black Friday when it comes to GPU deals, and you should have no problem finding a sale.

The Best Black Friday GPU Deals – What to Expect in 2023

As Black Friday approaches, we’re going to see a ton of graphics cards go on sale. However, while TVs and other gadgets will usually get huge doorbuster discounts, we usually don’t see that happen with graphics cards, and they usually sell out anyways.

That doesn’t mean we won’t see any deals at all, though. You can expect to find graphics cards at every price point with a decent discount on Black Friday, likely around 10-20% at most. That doesn’t seem like a lot, but when it comes to something like the RTX 4080, which costs a good $1,200, that’s $120 that stays in your wallet.

We’ll also likely see a lot of graphics cards from older generations go on sale. And just because the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 and AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT have newer versions on the market, it doesn’t mean they’re magically not good graphics cards anymore. A 1-generation-old graphics card is a great value, especially if you can find it listed at a significantly lower price than its current-generation counterpart. After all, both Nvidia and AMD have been in hot water for not improving enough on last-generation’s performance. You should absolutely take advantage of that on Black Friday.

Tips for Shopping Black Friday GPU Deals

Buying a graphics card is almost as complicated as the GPU itself. There are so many numbers and teraflops flopping around that it can be hard to focus on what you actually need to look out for. Here’s some Black Friday shopping tips so you can be prepared ahead of the sales event.

1. Set a budget: Just because the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 is the best card around, you don’t need to drop $1,600 to have a good time. Even if you just have a couple hundred bucks, you can get a great graphics card, especially if you’re content with 1080p gaming. Setting a budget before you set out to buy a card will help you focus and cut through the temptation of more expensive cards.
2. VRAM matters: One of my biggest pet peeves about graphics cards marketing is sometimes two graphics cards will share the same name but will have less VRAM (video memory). The best PC games are eating up more memory every single year, so you want to make sure you have enough for the games you want to play.
3. Be honest to yourself: It can be easy to tell yourself that once you have a fancy new graphics card that you’re going to play all the biggest AAA games with all the eye candy cranked up to 11. If you really think you’re going to do that, great! But don’t let yourself get sucked into that hype if you know the games you enjoy are esports games that generally take less horsepower to run. The RTX 4060 isn’t exactly sexy, but it makes much more sense for most people than a Radeon RX 7800 XTX.

Jackie Thomas is the Hardware and Buying Guides Editor at IGN and the PC components queen. You can follow her @Jackiecobra

Activision’s yearly festive treat is back. The IW engine, now in its ninth iteration, remains relatively static since the start of the current generation. There has been some regression on consoles at least, with Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War’s ray traced shadows no longer present. The PC offers DLSS and FSR options, which are necessary, even on my RTX 3080, if you want to hit 4K/60fps on Extreme settings. All three consoles offer two performance modes: a high resolution 60fps mode and a reduced quality 120fps mode. The real difference between the modes are as follows.

Xbox Series X and PS5 are identical in their base 60Hz modes. They both output at a full 3840 x 2160 with identical settings, and this is reconstructed from a base of 1920 x 2160, as per the previous two games. Xbox Series S sports a close match, visually, aside from small reductions on textures, alpha effects, bloom and shadows, but the biggest reduction is resolution, with it targeting a 2560 x 1440 output and then scaling or reconstruction from a 1280 x 1440 base.

The 60fps mode on PS5 and Series X is boring from an analysis perspective but great from a gameplay one. In one of the heaviest levels at the start of the campaign, we get a locked and stable 60fps readout from both Series X and PS5. Even when swamped with post processing effects, alpha, enemies and multiple shadow-casting lights, we get no deviation from that flat line, with later levels backing this up. All versions likely run an adaptive V-sync that helps any moments that dip below the required 16ms frame time, ensuring it still feels as fluid as possible. The Xbox Series S is the only one that registered tearing in my testing, as it struggles to stay close to that 60fps target on some levels. The opening, and largely most impressive mission, is the worst case tested. This is likely due to being bound on bandwidth and fill-rate in the heavy rain, bloom, lights, shadows, and action. In these situations, it can tear aggressively over the height of the screen, leaving performance around the mid 40s to low 50s but dipping more in worse case sections.

Later levels revert to larger, more open areas and fewer scripted sections, many of which are simply Multiplayer Warzone maps being reused within the campaign as a “mission”. The AI is terrible, and it plays like a standard Warzone game with Bots, but these are not as taxing on the GPU and possibly lean more on the CPU. Due to the open, wide levels, you get high geometry when in the faster 120Hz mode. At 60fps though these missions present a much better job keeping within the 16ms frame time, and with variable rate refresh enabled at 60fps, we only drop a handful of frames, which resolves the tearing whilst maintaining fluid controls.

Going Pro

High refresh rate is the real MVP of such a high octane, fast-paced shooter, especially when playing online, and this is where the 120Hz mode comes in. All three consoles offer the mode, but you need to enable it within your operating system menu. Repeating the opening level on both PS5 and Xbox Series X, we now see frame rates hover between the 70s and 90s, but with some dips into the 60s in the worst case. Both consoles see almost identical GPU-limited performance here, and although not a huge increase over the 60fps mode, the visuals are close to identical, albeit at a lower resolution.

The open levels lean a little less on the GPU, and we see faster performance as such. It’s much harder to align the action between both consoles, but following the same benchmarking route, both consoles average into the 100fps range on frame rates, with the Xbox Series X offering slightly better performance – on average in these tests it was up to 12% faster. Although this is a real advantage, at these high frame rates it is more academic, as both feel very smooth and responsive to play and the difference largely goes unnoticed. This is where Variable Refresh Rate shines, as without it this mode can tear constantly on all formats. Turning VRR on is an obvious choice to make if you can. Even if there is a bit of a noticeable impact to image quality, it is a worthy cost for the performance gain.

While I wouldn’t say that Variable Rate Refresh is required on all consoles, the Series S really benefits from it in both modes as it can struggle to hit 60fps in some levels. Although these open-ended, Warzone-like missions are less taxing and we do get much better performance, tearing is constant, meaning VRR offers a tangible boost to input times and image quality.

Across the current Generation consoles, Modern Warfare 3 stands as a game that really benefits from 120Hz and a VRR screen, especially on the Xbox Series S. The PS5 and Series X remain the best place to play on consoles, with the Series X just pipping the PS5 in that 120Hz screen. My recommended way to play is with that enabled alongside VRR and in both single and multiplayer, you will have your feet firmly on the ground, even if it feels like we have walked in these boots for a million miles already.

Microsoft has announced the second wave of games coming to Xbox Game Pass in November 2023, taking subscribers up to the end of the month.

Available today, November 14 is Coral Island (Cloud and Xbox Series X|S), a farm sim game about island living from Stairway Games. Here’s the official blurb: “Coral Island is a vibrant and laid-back reimagining of farm sim games. Be who you want and experience enchanting island living at your own pace — live off the land, nurture animals, build relationships with a diverse cast of townsfolk, and make the world around you a more vital and harmonious place.”

Persona 5 Tactica (Cloud, Console, and PC) launches day one into Game Pass on November 17. This tactical spinoff of Persona 5 was briefly made available on Steam last week in an apparent error.

Here’s a surprise: Dune: Spice Wars is available now via PC Game Pass and coming to Xbox consoles and Cloud Gaming on November 28. This 4X real-time strategy game developed by Shiro Games and published by Funcom is set in Frank Herbert’s Dune universe. You lead your faction and battle for control and dominance over the harsh desert planet of Arrakis. IGN’s Dune: Spice Wars review returned a 9/10: “Dune: Spice Wars is a clever, multilayered, challenging RTS that skillfully translates so much of what is cool about Frank Herbert’s universe in its interesting mechanics.”

And finally, Rollerdrome (Cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X|S) hits Game Pass on November 28. Rollerdrome is the well-received third-person action shooter from Roll7, the British game developer behind the OlliOlli series. It launched last year on PC, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5 to critical acclaim. IGN’s Rollerdrome review returned a 9/10: “Rollerdrome’s unexpected blend of skating and shooting is a joy to master, backed by an arresting art design, thumping soundtrack, and a surprisingly layered story.”

Here’s what’s coming next to Game Pass:

• Persona 5 Tactica (Cloud, Console, and PC) – November 17
• Dune: Spice Wars (Cloud and Console) – November 28
• Rollerdrome (Cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X|S) – November 28

Meanwhile, seven games leave Game Pass on November 30. They are:

• Anvil (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Battlefield 1943 (Console) EA Play
• Battlefield: Bad Company (Console) EA Play
• Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (Console and PC) EA Play
• Disc Room (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Eastward (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Grid (Console) EA Play

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.

Microsoft has created what it’s calling the “first ever official edible controller” to go alongside a Willy Wonka inspired Xbox Series X.

Revealed on the Xbox Wire, the latest in Xbox’s weird and wacky gamepads takes inspiration from the upcoming Wonka film by giving fans the chance to win an (X)box of chocolates and other goodies.

The edible gamepad doesn’t actually work, of course, but is an Xbox controller replica made entirely of chocolate. For those worried about how they’d control the giant chocolate bar themed console, Xbox is packing an actual controller in the box too. This one comes in a burgundy colour inspired by Wonka’s coat.

The box also includes five video game themed and slightly suspicious sounding chocolates:

• Achievement Hunting: Delicious chocolate with a boost of energy ingredients, which helps with long-term gaming focus. Time to rack up that Gamerscore.
• Button Masher: Buzzing with bold espresso to keep your reactions crisp and your head in the game.
• Your Citrus Sidekick: Chocolate and orange team up for a sunny burst of flavour, in honour of the fruitful variety of games available on Xbox Game Pass.
• Xtra Kick: Balances out the sweet with just the right amount of heat. Just like any end boss, this gets you a little fired up but yields sweet rewards.
• Wonka for the Win: Sometimes the greatest joys in life are also the simplest. So, this treat focuses on the essence of what makes a great truffle: the chocolate. 100% pure, decadently delicious chocolate.

Fans can attempt to win the package, which includes the Xbox Series X, controller, chocolate controller, and the five sweets, by following Xbox on X/Twitter and retweeting the official Xbox sweepstakes post before December 14.

Microsoft makes these special controllers quite regularly, with Xbox Series X generation highlights including red and blue fluffy Sonic the Hedgehog gamepads and one made out of actual Jade.

Its more regular line of controllers including the sexy Gold Shadow, cosmic Stellar Shift, dusty Stormcloud Vapor, and even an Earth Day one made partly from recycled CDs, water jugs, and other Xbox controller parts.

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