Category: IGN

As we approach the end of the year, and with Black Friday sales right around the corner, there’s never been a better time to find top Switch discounts. We’ve gathered the best Switch deals currently available, including a great discount on Mario & Luigi: Brothership, and the Switch Black Friday bundles are already up and available at Best Buy. Check out our favorite deals at the moment below, and for more updates on the latest discounts, follow @IGNDeals on Twitter/X.

Best Nintendo Switch Game Deals

There are plenty of great Switch deals right now, but one of our favorites is on Mario & Luigi: Brothership. The new release has gotten its first discount at Woot, dropping its price by $10 to $49.99. Alongside that, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door drops to $42.99 at Walmart as part of its early Black Friday deals and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is down to $44.99 at Woot.

Best Switch Micro SD Card Deals

The best Switch SD card should be fast, reliable, and as future-proof as possible. That last one is important, especially with the Switch successor on the horizon. Therefore, you’re going to want to opt for the latest in SD card tech, which is a micro SDXC UHS-I U3 A2 V30 memory card. That’s a lot of random letters, so to save you a bit of time we’ve left our top suggestions and deals below for your convenience.

Nintendo Switch Mario Kart 8 Holiday Bundles Are Live

Black Friday has arrived a little early for Nintendo fans. For the past few years, Switch holiday bundles with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe have dropped during the holiday sale event. If you’ve been itching to pick up one of these bundles, you thankfully don’t need to wait until Black Friday as the Standard and new OLED bundle are already live at Best Buy. With these bundles, you’re essentially getting the game for free, which is totally worth it.

Best Switch Power Bank Deals

Looking for a new power bank? This incredible deal on the Anker PowerCore 737 is absolutely worth checking out. Featuring a spacious 24,000mAh capacity and a hefty 140W charging output, it’s a fantastic pick for your Nintendo Switch. We also featured it in our list of the best power banks for 2024, so it’s well worth investing in.

Best Nintendo Switch Accessory Deals

Whether you’re looking for a new controller or a new deck for your Switch, there are quite a few different accessory deals that are worth checking out. Here, we’ve listed just a few of our favorite discounts at the moment, including a deal on the CRKD Nitro Deck and a nice little deal on Neon Purple/ Neon Orange Joy-Con.

More Accessory Deals:

• PowerA Joy Con Comfort Grips for Nintendo Switch – Black for $9.88
• CRKD Gear Bag Protective Carry Case for $29.99

When Should You Buy a Nintendo Switch?

The short answer is that you should buy a Nintendo Switch whenever there’s any kind of sale, regardless of the time of year. Amazon will likely offer the same console bundles on any other sale as it will on Black Friday or Amazon Prime Day, so there’s no real reason to wait if you’re in need of a Nintendo Switch.

That being said, there are sometimes some unique bundles and promotions during Black Friday that you won’t find any other time of the year. They usually includes additional games (like the infamous Mario Kart 8 bundle) or Switch accessories for free, but quantities tend to be limited. As always, do your research into the seller before you make a purchase and keep in mind that the Nintendo Switch 2 is coming out next year.

Where to Buy a Nintendo Switch in 2024

• Nintendo Switch Console for $299.00
• Nintendo Switch Lite Console for $199.00

With how expensive gaming is getting in 2024, we’re trying to save you as much money as possible on the games and other tech you actually want to buy. We’ve got great deal roundups available for all major platforms such as PlayStation and Xbox, and keep these updated daily with brand-new offers. If you’re trying to keep costs down while maintaining your favorite hobby, stay tuned for more incredible discounts.

Robert Anderson is a deals expert and Commerce Editor for IGN. You can follow him @robertliam21 on Twitter.

Veteran fans of all-encompassing battle royale Fortnite have a treat in store: the original “OG” version of the game re-launches next month.

In a tweet, developer Epic Games announced the OG Fortnite experience returns on December 6, but this time is “here to stay.”

That means players can relive Fortnite battle royale from the start when it launched in September 2017 and explore the OG map, collect OG loot, and relive OG seasons.

Epic had said that Fortnite OG and the original map would return at some point this year after relaunched in limited-time form back in November 2023. Enthusiasm for Fortnite OG was overwhelming and saw Fortnite enjoy its “biggest day” ever with over 44.7 million players jumping in to take a trip down memory lane.

Last month, Epic boss Tim Sweeney insisted the company was “financially sound” after a tumultuous period in which 830 staff were laid off. In September 2023, the North Carolina studio behind Fortnite and Unreal Engine suffered a significant round of layoffs that saw 830 employees, about 16% of its workforce, lose their jobs.

Separately, Epic divested music service platform Bandcamp and spun off most of SuperAwesome, a kid-safe technology company. These were acquired by Epic Games in 2022 and 2020, respectively. Around 250 people left Epic through the divestitures.

At the time, Sweeney said the company had been spending “way more money than we earn, investing in the next evolution of Epic and growing Fortnite as a metaverse-inspired ecosystem for creators.”

He also pointed to a “major structural change to our economics” after Fortnite growth transitioned from the explosively popular and highly profitable battle royale that funded its initial expansion, to the lower margin business that came from creator content with significant revenue sharing.

Speaking during a presentation at Unreal Fest 2024, Sweeney said that Epic “spent the last year rebuilding and really executing solidly on all fronts.” He added: “I’m happy to tell you now that the company is financially sound, and that Fortnite and the Epic Games Store have hit new records in concurrency and success.”

On that front, Fortnite hit 110 million monthly active users over the 2023 holiday season, an impressive milestone for a game now seven years old. To put that into context, in August 2018 Fortnite hit 78.3 million MAUs.

Epic rarely makes Fortnite player numbers public, and when it does so it uses various metrics that make direct comparisons difficult. Last year’s Season OG, which brought back the Chapter 1 Season 5 map and with it classic areas like Tilted Towers, Pleasant Park, and Risky Reels, saw Fortnite hit a new peak of 44.7 million players in just one day. Epic previously said Fortnite saw a concurrent player record of 15.3 million players for the December 2020 end-of-season live event, which saw players teaming up with Iron Man, Wolverine, and other Marvel heroes to defeat Galactus.

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.

Rockstar issued a surprise update for GTA Trilogy Definitive Edition today, November 12 — nearly two years since the last one.

GTA Trilogy Definitive Edition, a 2021 compilation of 2001’s Grand Theft Auto 3, 2002’s Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, and 2004’s Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, was heavily criticized upon launch on PC and console. IGN’s GTA Trilogy Definitive Edition review returned a 5/10. We said: “GTA Trilogy Definitive Edition is defective, disappointing, and surprisingly disrespectful to three classic games and their many legions of fans.”

In contrast, the mobile versions of Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition, released in December last year, met with critical acclaim. Players praised the ports for fixing several issues found on the console and PC versions, including lighting, shadows, reflections, and draw distance. A Rockstar Games blog post published at the time mentioned that these ports include a new classic lighting mode “that restores the look and feel of the sky in the original games.”

Now, finally, this classic lighting option is in Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition on PC and console. Early reports indicate sweeping visual improvements across the board that are already going down well with fans.

The #GTA Definitive Editions just got an update which added the classic lighting option.

Not gonna lie, it actually looks nice on a screen bigger than a phone.

I’ll test now to see if the same problems still exist with it though like they did on mobile a year ago… pic.twitter.com/Qv5J68hYos

— TJGM (@TJGM_) November 12, 2024

I just checked it!
Also they readded the ambient clouds high up in the sky pic.twitter.com/YHBrX6NEUr

— /V@|₹¡0 ßμ†∅†∅ (@MarioButoto99) November 12, 2024

Reports also indicate Grove Street Games, original developer of Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition, is no longer mentioned in-game. The mobile versions were developed by Video Games Deluxe, the Australian studio behind L.A. Noire VR Case Files.

Looks like mentions of Grove Street Games and their logos have been removed from the splash screen and main menu of the #GTA Definitive Editions as well. pic.twitter.com/ZmXpccyiyS

— TJGM (@TJGM_) November 12, 2024

If you are diving in to GTA 3, GTA Vice City, or GTA San Andreas in the GTA Trilogy, here’s a cheat code refresher for each: GTA San Andreas Cheats, GTA Vice CIty Cheats, and GTA3 Cheats — and how to enter cheats on every platform, including mobile.

It’s a busy time in the world of GTA, with Rockstar continuing work on GTA 6. Parent company Take-Two recently doubled down on GTA 6’s promised fall 2025 release window for what will no doubt be the biggest video game launch of all time.

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.

One Legend of Zelda cosplayer struggling to unsheathe Link’s sword has received advice from an unlikely source: Smash Bros. creator Masahiro Sakurai.

Cosplayer Sakigake posted some sleek images of their Breath of the Wild Link outfit on X/Twitter before showing the impracticalities of pulling a sword from a scabbard on one’s back. “It was impossible,” they said. “I will practice.” As spotted by Automaton, however, Sakurai appeared to save the day, revealing how he and his team at Nintendo fixed this issue in the Super Smash Bros. games.

“In Smash Bros. Ultimate, Link pulls the scabbard down when sheathing his sword,” Sakurai said. “That alone didn’t quite reach the mark, but I think that’s as far as we could go with our ingenuity and still replicate the action and equipment from the original.”

スマブラSPのリンクは､納刀時に鞘を下に引っぱるようにしました｡
それだけではまだ届かなかったのだけど､原作のアクションと装具に合わせるのであれば工夫はここまでかなあと｡ https://t.co/hVlmYte0C7

— 桜井 政博 / Masahiro Sakurai (@Sora_Sakurai) November 12, 2024

Sakigake and Sakurai continued their wholesome interaction, with the cosplayer saying they’d use Super Smash Bros. as a reference going forward. Sakurai responded again too, complimenting Sakigake’s Link cosplay. Check out how Breath of the Wild Link gets on in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate in the video below.

Sakurai seems to be enjoying his time outside of video game development, having also run a YouTube channel talking about his work until very recently. This wrapped in October, with the famed developer leaving YouTube while teasing a mystery new game.

Whether or not it’s a Smash Bros. entry remains to be seen though, as Sakurai has previously said he doesn’t know how to make a game bigger and better than the one on Nintendo Switch.

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

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 has a new update (patch 4.5) out now across all platforms, adding the hotly anticipated Neo-Volkite pistol to the game.

Saber Interactive’s explosive third-person melee / shooter set in Games Workshop’s grimdark sci-fi universe set records for a Warhammer video game upon its release in September, and has sold an impressive 4.5 million copies so far. Saber has continued to update it since, with today’s patch notes revealing yet more balance changes ahead of a larger update set to add Dark Angels cosmetics.

Let’s start with the Neo-Volkite pistol, which is a powerful thermal ray weapon that shoots lethal beams that burns enemies to ash. It’s available now for the Assault, Vanguard, and Bulwark classes, but is limited to Operations mode only. Operations is the three-player co-op focused PvE mode designed to be played long-term after the campaign is completed.

Unlike other weapons, the Neo-Volkite pistol blasts a heat ray onto your enemies, dealing accumulative thermal damage. Focusing on one enemy ramps up the damage until it generates a localized explosion for huge damage to your target and all nearby enemies.

The Neo-Volkite pistol makes its entry in the #SpaceMarine2 armoury

In Operations, blast heat rays onto your enemies, inflict accumulative damage and blow up those xenos! pic.twitter.com/HmkZEjPmBi

— Focus Entertainment (@Focus_entmt) November 12, 2024

Publisher Focus Entertainment said it’s limiting the Neo-Volkite pistol to Operations mode for now “as we continue to experiment with balancing in PvP.” It will be added to Eternal War mode in Space Marine 2’s next major update alongside a new Operations map, a new enemy, and the Dark Angels cosmetics. Until then though, you’ll be able to try it out against your friends in the Battle Barge’s Sparring Arena.

Moving on, there are a number of balance changes for Operations mode only, including buffs to the Plasma Incinerator, Bolt Sniper Rifle, Occulus Bolt Carbine, Bolt Carbine SMG, and the Auto Bolt Rifle. There are general fixes and tech improvements, too.

In September, Saber Chief Creative Officer Tim Willits told IGN how the breakout success of Space Marine 2 had “changed everything” for the company. Eagle-eyed fans have spotted the Space Marine chapter now all-but confirmed to get a cosmetic pack after the Dark Angels, too.

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 Update 4.5 patch notes:

BALANCING TWEAKS

Weapons (Operations mode only)

PLASMA INCINERATOR

👉 Slightly reduced amount of heat generated by normal and charged shots for versions:

– Master-Crafted – Alpha

– Salvation of Bakka – Alpha

– Gathalamor Crusade – Alpha

👉 Fixed a bug that would cause several versions not producing heat at all.

BOLT SNIPER RIFLE

👉 Fire rate increased from 50 to 60 rounds per minute.

👉 Headshot bonus increased from x2 to x2.5.

OCCULUS BOLT CARABINE

👉 Scope added

👉 Headshot bonus increased from x1 to x1.33

BOLT CARABINE (SMG)

👉 Adjusted damage falloff curve: Base damage increased by 50% for the first 10 meters, after that, the damage drops to the original pre-patch value.

AUTO BOLT RIFLE

👉 Max ammo increased by 1 magazine for each version.

GENERAL FIXES

– Fixed a bug causing unlocked DLC cosmetic items to get locked again after a restart.

– Fixed a bug causing the Sniper perk “Targeted Shot” to not work after swapping weapons.

– Fixed a bug causing the Sniper invisibility not getting removed after a shot in rare cases.

– Fixed a bug preventing players from muting the others in PvP.

– Fixed several perks not triggering correctly from enemy kills.

– Fixed a bug that prevented certain weapon perks from triggering correctly when reaching a specific HP threshold.

TECH IMPROVEMENTS

– Crash fixes and general stability improvements.

– Fixed server disconnects with unstable user connection.

– General connectivity improvements.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

In The Valley of Gods, the hotly anticipated follow-up to Firewatch from developer Campo Santo, was put on hold after Valve acquired the company back in 2018. Now, years later, it remains on hold, but one Valve developer has given fans a glimpse at what might have been.

Announced during the 2017 Game Awards, In The Valley of Gods is set in Egypt during the late 1920s. It stars Rashida and Zora, a pair of documentary filmmakers who accidentally made it big with a hit movie but have since seen their careers go off a cliff. They reunite years later after receiving information about the lost Tomb of Nefertiti, with a goal of reigniting their careers by documenting their trip to Egypt.

Valve visual effects developer Matt Wilde took to Bluesky to publish a six second water test created by Camp Santo before the studio’s move to Valve. It shows the player character bobbing in impressively realistic water while looking out from inside a cave at the other protagonist from a first-person perspective. “I do often tend to work on liquidy things,” Wilde said.

Matthew Wilde, the Valve developer behind the water shader for Counter-Strike 2, has shared a rare gameplay footage. It shows the water technology that was tested for In The Valley of Gods before Valve acquired the company Campo Santo. Team shelved the game not so long after… pic.twitter.com/wIs6Im8KYx

— ‎Gabe Follower (@gabefollower) November 11, 2024

That’s a reference to Wilde’s work on Valve’s 2020 virtual reality exclusive Half-Life: Alyx, which caught attention for ultra realistic liquid in glass bottles. More recently, Wilde worked on Counter-Strike 2’s water and effects.

Spent a good chunk of lock-down doing this important work. Boozy liquid shader, now available in the latest update for Half-Life: Alyx pic.twitter.com/Iw9h98pmEg

— Matthew Wilde (@skilful) May 28, 2020

Wilde’s In The Valley of Gods clip obviously sparks questions about whether Camp Santo / Valve will one day return to the game. “To fans looking forward to In The Valley of Gods, it’s probably clear that the optimistic ‘2019’ at the end of the announcement trailer isn’t going to be accurate,” Campo Santo co-founder Jake Rodkin said when it was announced that In The Valley of Gods had been put on hold.

“In the end, Valve Time makes fools of us all. But yes, developers from the former Campo Santo team have joined other projects at Valve, including Half-Life: Alyx.

“So to answer your question as of today, In The Valley of Gods development is on hold — but it certainly feels like a project people can and may return to. And when that happens, we’ll find an exciting way to let fans know.”

It’s worth noting that In The Valley of Gods’ Steam page is still live — with a December 2029 release window. Perhaps that will end up being true.

Image credit: Matthew Wilde / Bluesky.

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.

Hideaki Itsuno, famed former director of the Devil May Cry and Dragon’s Dogma series, has joined Tencent Games subsidiary LightSpeed Studios.

Itsuno, who left Capcom earlier this year after over 30 years at the Japanese games company, announced the formation of a new developer called LightSpeed Japan Studio, with offices in Tokyo and Osaka. Most exciting for fans, however, is Itsuno’s plan to focus on developing original AAA action games, something he built his career doing at Capcom.

Itsuno’s long list of credits includes the likes of Rival Schools, Power Stone, the Devil May Cry series, and most recently, the Dragon’s Dogma games. He was the director of Dragon’s Dogma 2, which launched earlier this year and goes down as Itsuno’s final game for Capcom.

Overwatch 2 is taking a page from WoW Classic and returning to the beginning, announcing a brand-new Overwatch Classic mode featuring the original 21 heroes and 12 maps from the 2016 release.

The nostalgia mode, which launches Tuesday and continues over the course of three weeks, will feature key moments from Overwatch history, Blizzard says. It’ll begin with the original 1.0 version from launch, with no limits on which characters you can pick, meaning you can theoretically have a team full of tanks or Torbjörns. And yes, it will be 6v6, though Blizzard says it’s unrelated to its experiments with bringing the format back to Overwatch 2.

“Overwatch Classic is separate from our broader 6v6 plans. Overwatch Classic is meant to be a nostalgic experience, taking heroes, players, and the game back to moments in the game’s history for limited time events,” Blizzard explains in its official FAQ about the event.

Overwatch Classic’s gameplay will largely match up with the original game’s mechanics, with characters regaining their original abilities and Ultimates charging up much more quickly. However, maps like Dorado, Numbani, Route 66, and Watchpoint: Gibraltar will retain their changes from Overwatch 2, including match timing and how elevator platforms work.

As the event progresses, Blizzard plans to progressively layer in changes, including single hero limits. Future updates will return to “popular moments in the game’s history,” with Blizzard citing the 2017 Moth Meta — in which Mercy was one of the most powerful characters — and the triple-tank, triple-support style of “Goats” as two examples.

Potentially the best Black Friday deal on a high-end OLED gaming TV is already avaialble. Right now, Best Buy, Amazon, and Samsung are offering the 65″ Samsung S90C 4K OLED Smart TV for just $999.99 after an absolutely massive $1,600 price drop. This is an excellent TV to pair up with your PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X. In fact, some critics rate the S90C as a better gaming TV than the LG C4. RTINGS writes that “the LG (C4) is noticeably dimmer in Game Mode while the Samsung (S90C) isn’t, making the Samsung the better choice for gamers.”

Note: The best vendor to get this TV from is Samsung because you get a bonus $50 Best Buy gift card. However, most zip codes show this TV is out of stock. If so, then get it from either Amazon or Best Buy.

65″ Samsung S90C 4K OLED Smart TV for $999.99

The Samsung S90C is a 2023 model (superseded by the S90D for 2024) and was considered one of the best OLED TVs on the market last year, superior to even the LG C3. The S90C uses Samsung’s proprietary quantum dot (QD) OLED panel. QD OLED panels are brighter than traditional OLED panels without losing the color accuracy, range, and wide-viewing angles that OLEDs are known for. Compared to a traditional LED LCD TV, an OLED TV offers superior image quality, near-infinite blacks, near-infinite contrast ratio, and near-instantaneous response times.

OLED technology aside, the Samsung S90C also has all the features you’d want in a gaming TV. It has a native 120Hz panel that can be pushed to as high as 144Hz (rare in a 2023 TV) as well as four total HDMI 2.1 ports for running 4K at 120Hz on a PS5 or Xbox Series X. The S90C also supports variable refresh rate and auto low latency mode. This is an especially good complement to the Playstation 5 Pro console that was just released.

Should You Buy Now or Wait for Black Friday?

Although this is an extremely good discount for one of our favorite gaming TVs, you may be wondering if you should wait until Black Friday to make a purchase. Black Friday 2024 will definitely have more options available, but if you’re looking for a 65″ OLED TV, this is an outstanding deal and we doubt you’ll find anyhthing better. It’s the best TV deal right now and I bet it will be one of the best TV deals for Black Friday as well.

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 Persona 5 battle theme, officially called Last Surprise, has been nominated for a Grammy award thanks to a cover by jazz orchestra The 8-Bit Big Band.

Charlie Rosen, who arranged the cover alongside Jake Silverman, celebrated the nomination on X/Twitter. “Just nominated for my fourth Grammy in a row,” he said. “So thrilled to be nominated alongside [Silverman] for our co-arrangement of Last Surprise from Persona 5 for The 8-Bit Big Band. Long live video game music.”

Last Surprise has been nominated for Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals and is up against the likes of John Legend’s Always Come Back, Willow’s Big Feelings, and more. The winner will be announced on February 2.

Fans of Persona 5 will be familiar with Last Surprise because, as mentioned, it is the main battle theme of the 100 hour plus role-playing game. Those who’ve played through even a small portion of it will therefore recognise its jazzy beats, and it’s also featured in Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight and Persona 5 Strikers.

Persona 5 arrived in 2016 and, despite its critical acclaim, with the enhanced version being dubbed a masterpiece in IGN’s review, developer Atlus hasn’t released another entry since. The team behind Persona 3, 4, and 5 did recently release Metaphor: Refantazio, however, a very Persona-esque RPG set in a fantasy world.

Nothing has been announced regarding the next mainline Persona game, but a somewhat bizarre and incredibly subtle tease seemingly alludes to a green color theme for the next game.

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