Category: IGN

Nintendo’s latest console, the Nintendo Switch, has quickly become one of its best-selling consoles of all-time, surpassing even the likes of the massively popular Nintendo Wii. Since its launch in 2017, it has been heavily sought after by seasoned and casual gamers alike, as well as families due to its massive library of family-friendly Nintendo Switch games.

If you’re looking for the best places to purchase Nintendo Switch consoles online, we’ve got you covered with a full breakdown below, including pricing on current Nintendo Switch consoles, the best time to buy a Nintendo Switch, information on Nintendo Switch Online, as well as where to trade in your exisiting Nintendo consoles and games.

Where to Buy Nintendo Switch Consoles Online

If you’re looking to buy a new Nintendo Switch OLED, Nintendo Switch, or Nintendo Switch Lite, here’s where you can purchase them online in 2024. You can also check out our guide to the best Nintendo Switch deals for potential discounts.

Nintendo Switch OLED

Nintendo’s newest Switch is the Nintendo Switch OLED, aptly named due to its larger 7″ vivid OLED touchscreen display. Nintendo Switch OLED retails for an MSRP of $349.99. Internally, it’s no more powerful than the standard Nintendo Switch, but has double the internal storage at 64GB, an improved kickstand for tabletop mode and better speakers. Here are all of the main retailers currently selling this Switch model:

Nintendo Switch

The base Nintendo Switch is a hybrid console that can be enjoyed on the TV in docked mode, propped up on its kickstand for tabletop mode, and on-the-go in handheld mode. The standard Nintendo Switch retails for an MSRP of $299.99. It features a 6.2″ touchscreen display, 32GB of internal storage, and up to nine hours of battery life. Here are all of the main retailers currently selling this Switch model:

Nintendo Switch Lite

Nintendo Switch Lite is a smaller console designed for handheld play and comes in a variety of different colors including turquoise, gray, yellow, coral, and blue. It features a 5.5″ touchscreen display, 32GB of internal storage, and up to seven hours of battery life. The Nintendo Switch Lite retails for an MSRP of $199.99. It’s worth noting that the Nintendo Switch Lite cannot be connected to a TV and does not feature detachable Joy-Con controllers like the other two models. Here are all of the main retailers currently selling this Switch model:

How Much Does a Nintendo Switch Cost?

The Nintendo Switch family features three current models: Nintendo Switch OLED, Nintendo Switch, and Nintendo Switch Lite. Currently, the Nintendo Switch OLED retails for an MSRP of $349.99, the Nintendo Switch retails for an MSRP of $299.99, and the Nintendo Switch Lite retails for an MSRP of $199.99. These prices don’t usually change much, even for Black Friday.

There are also a number of limited-edition bundles throughout the year that feature either a Nintendo Switch OLED, Nintendo Switch, or Nintendo Switch Lite, often with a unique color or design, and sometimes include a download code for a game or two in the box, as well.

Occasionally, Nintendo will release a special edition console such as The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom special edition, Splatoon 3 special edition, and the Pokemon Scarlet & Violet special edition, although these consoles do not come with any games.

Nintendo Switch Online Pricing

Nintendo Switch Online is an annual subscription that allows you to play games online with your friends and family, as well as gain access to a growing library of classic games across the NES, SNES, Game Boy, and Game Boy Advance Catalogs. Additionally, there’s an expansion pack that provides access to DLC for popular games such as Mario Kart 8, Animal Crossing, and Splatoon 2, as well as adding a library of Nintendo 64, Game Boy Advance, and Sega Genesis titles. There are also family plans for each that allow you to share your membership with up to eight accounts.

Nintendo Switch Online – Individual User

Nintendo Switch Online for a single user costs $19.99/year and allows you to play online with friends, as well as access a growing library of titles across NES, SNES, and Game Boy. You can also opt for shorter plans including $3.99 for a single month or $7.99 for three months. Additionally, you’ll be able to sync your game saves to the cloud and access the Nintendo Switch Online app on your mobile device.

Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack – Individual User

Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack for a single user costs $49.99/year and allows you to play online with friends, as well as access a growing library of titles across NES, SNES, Nintendo 64, Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, and Sega Genesis. Additionally, you’ll have access to the Mario Kart 8: Booster Course Pass, Animal Crossing’s Happy Home Paradise expansion, as well as the Splatoon 2: Octo Expansion DLC. You’ll also be able to sync your game saves to the cloud and access the Nintendo Switch Online app on your mobile device.

Nintendo Switch Online – Family Plans

As previously stated, there are also family plans for Nintendo Switch Online. The base Nintendo Switch Online family plan is $34.99 per year, while the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack for the family costs $79.99 per year. Each plan includes the benefits of the corresponding individual plan above, but allows you to share these benefits with up to eight accounts.

Best Time to Buy a Nintendo Switch

Generally, the best time to buy a Nintendo Switch console is during major yearly shopping events such as Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and the various Amazon Prime Day sales. While Nintendo Switch consoles rarely go on sale, you can often scoop up limited-time bundles that include an additional game or two, a trial of Nintendo Switch Online, and more.

How to Trade in Your Old Nintendo Consoles

If you’re looking to trade in your old Nintendo consoles, you can do so at select retailers in-store and online. Often, the most widely available retailers are GameStop and Best Buy. However, you can also trade your used devices online at retailers such as Amazon and Microsoft.

Some retailers will offer you cash for your used goods, while others may provide you with a gift card that can be used in-store and online. This is a great way to offload your old gaming gear and get some money that you can put towards a newer console and games.

While trading devices in at retailers will often net you the lowest amount for your used consoles, there are also online marketplaces such as eBay, Craigslist, and OfferUp that may fetch higher prices, but you’ll often be responsible for packing and shipping costs, or be required to meet someone in person for the transaction, the latter of which poses its own risks.

Where to Trade in Nintendo Switch Games

Similar to Nintendo console trade ins, you can also trade your existing games in at specific retailers. The most widely available retailer accepting used video games is GameStop, but they are notorious for giving you pennies on the dollar for your pre-owned titles. However, if you’re looking for an easy way to offload some of your library for cash or in-store credit, this is a convenient option. You can always look up the expected trade-in value on GameStop’s website before heading into a store, so you know exactly how much you’ll receive. Additionally, you can trade in your used games online through Amazon in exchange for an Amazon gift card.

Matthew Adler is a Commerce, Features, Guides, News, Previews, and Reviews writer for IGN. You can follow him on the site formerly known as Twitter @MatthewAdler and watch him stream on Twitch.

A Tomb Raider fan who was unofficially remaking the original games was hired as technical director on the Tomb Raider 1-3 Remastered collection.

Timur Gagiev, better known online as XProger, celebrated the accomplishment with a series of posts on X/Twitter. Gagiev addressed fans asking about his unofficial remakes, called OpenLara, explaining they’ve not made any progress on them because of a certain “dream project”, which is the “culmination of the last eight years” of their life.

“I’m grateful to the heads of Saber Interactive for trusting me to lead the project and assemble a dream team of true fans,” Gagiev continued.

“From the beginning we had complete freedom and set ourselves an impossible goal, which could only be approached by a small ‘development team’ of crazy people, ready to work 24/7 [for the] next year with an absolute vision of what and for whom we are doing.

“Thanks to the original developers and community. We eagerly read all your comments, interviews, reviews, and reactions. The responsibility to you all was higher than the fear of deadlines and the insane amount of work.”

Tomb Raider 1-3 Remastered arrived February 13 as an upgraded version of the original trilogy: Tomb Raider and The Unfinished Business expansion, Tomb Rader 2 and The Gold Mask expansion, and Tomb Raider 3 and The Lost Artifact Expansion.

Crystal Dynamics included a sensitivity warning in the collection for what it called “deeply harmful” racial and ethnic prejudices included, but said it didn’t remove them “in the hopes that we may acknowledge its harmful impact and learn from it”.

Its release was followed by the official reveal of protagonist Lara Croft’s redesign, which will presumably debut officially in Tomb Raider Next. The next mainline game in the franchise is currently being developed in Unreal Engine 5, with Amazon Games supporting development.

It will be the first new entry since 2018’s Shadow of the Tomb Raider, which wrapped up a trilogy of games during the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One generation. This series reset Lara Croft’s origins in a grittier setting, but it’s unclear how Tomb Raider Next will fit into the equation.

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

Super Smash Bros. creator Masahiro Sakurai has said the release of the Kingdom Hearts Sora Amiibo marks the end of his work on Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

In a post on X/Twitter translated by Siliconera, Sakurai posted a photo of the Sora Amiibo alongside a statement celebrating its release and confirming the end of his work on the Nintendo Switch game.

“Sora’s Amiibo comes out today,” Sakurai began. “Thank you to everyone who worked on it (this was an amazing accomplishment). The design was always perfect, and the details and the colours look exactly as intended. The pose and sculpting look good as well.

ソラのamiiboが本日発売!
関係者のかた､本当にありがとうございました｡(スゴいことだと思います)
元々の完璧なデザインに､色分けも精細でバッチリ｡
造形もポーズもよいですね｡

全ファイターがamiibo化され､『スマブラSP』仕事もいよいよフィニッシュでしょうか｡おつかれさまでした｡ pic.twitter.com/zUBdMtA29y

— 桜井 政博 / Masahiro Sakurai (@Sora_Sakurai) February 16, 2024

“Now that all of the fighters have an Amiibo, my work on Super Smash Bros Ultimate is basically done. Thank you for everything.”

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate launched in 2018 and Sora arrived as its final expansion fighter in 2021. The Kingdom Hearts character wrapped up an 89 character roster for the game, which includes fighters from The Legend of Zelda, Pokémon, Banjo Kazooie, Dragon Quest, Persona, Mega Man, Final Fantasy, Metal Gear Solid, Minecraft, and many more.

It’s this expansive roster that’s made the future of the franchise somewhat unclear, however. Sakurai said in October 2023 he’s not sure where to take Super Smash Bros. next, because “it’s difficult to imagine an increase of this magnitude happening again”.

Sakurai’s future in video games at all was even in question for a while, after the famed developer started a YouTube channel in August 2022 to reflect on his career and his time making games. Fans’ hope has been restored more recently though, as Sakurai said in January 2024 he’s still focused on making games and will be leaving his YouTube channel behind sometime this year.

These developments, alongside word that Sakurai considers his work on Super Smash Bros. Ultimate complete, will no doubt have fighting game fans looking to the future once again, eager to hear about the next game in the franchise.

If it does exist, Nintendo will perhaps look to line it up with its next console, which will reportedly be released in late 2024. Very little is known about what’s been dubbed the Switch 2, but more and more tidbits are emerging as the expected late 2024 release window approaches.

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

Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead Game Studios has released another patch for the popular co-op shooter which takes aim at the various matchmaking issues that have plagued launch.

While Helldivers 2 is a critical and commercial success, selling over one million copies across PlayStation 5 and PC, and becoming Sony’s biggest ever launch on Steam, its release has been blighted by server problems that made matchmaking a serious issue. Arrowhead even promised to compensate players for lost rewards.

The developer has worked to combat these issues since launch, admitting it was not prepared for the over 360,000 concurrent players it had to deal with. And now patch 01.000.008 is here on PS5 and PC to help in the fight.

According to the Helldivers 2 Steam page, the main areas of focus for the patch are resolving crashes, improving matchmaking, optimising the game’s server, and to update the new Defend event, which has seen new planets open up in the fight against the Automatons.

Helldivers 2 Update 01.000.008 Patch Notes

Fixes

The following issues have been fixed for this version.

• Matchmaking
• Playfab optimization
• Playfab environment optimized – All lobbies now have proper data to run more effective matchmaking
• Filtering optimization
• We are optimizing the filter system when players are searching for lobbies, so that it excludes already full lobbies.
• Stability and crashes
• We have fixed three of our top crashes in the game, including particle renderer crashes and ragdoll crashes.
• Fixed an issue where the application prioritized integrated graphics over some GPU in laptops.
• Defend Events and Major Orders.
• For readability purposes, we added a visual progression indicator to major order defend events

Known Issues

These are issues that were either introduced by this patch and are being worked on, or are from a previous version and have not yet been fixed.

• Players may still experience some instability while matchmaking.
• Background music, Sound effects and JP audio does not play during the opening cutscene. Japanese VO is also missing from the Ship TV.

It’s busy times in the world of Helldivers 2 following its impressive launch. This week, Arrowhead CEO Johan Pilestedt said the developer will “never” add PvP to Helldivers 2 in order to reduce “toxic elements” from the community. Speaking of the community, one of the cool things about Helldivers 2 is that players have established an ‘unspoken’ co-op etiquette, which is useful for a game in which voice comms are rarely used when playing with randoms.

And overnight, Xbox boss Phil Spencer brought up Helldivers 2, which is Sony’s first simultaneous PS5 and PC release, saying in an interview with Game File: “I will say, when I look at a game like Helldivers 2 — and it’s a great game, kudos to the team shipping on PC and PlayStation — I’m not exactly sure who it helps in the industry by not being on Xbox. If you try to twist yourself to say, like, somehow that benefited somebody somewhere.”

Check out IGN’s Helldivers 2 tips and tricks for getting started if you’re jumping in.

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 27th D.I.C.E. Awards have arrived and celebrated the best of the best in the world of video games from 2023. While there were a ton of winners, Baldur’s Gate 3 walked home with Game of the Year alongside Best Role-Playing Game and Outstanding Achievement awards in Story, Game Direction, and Game Design.

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 may not have won Game of the Year, but it did lead the night with six wins – Action Game of the Year and Outstanding Achievement awards in Animation, Character, Original Music Composition, Audio Design, and Technical Achievement.

No other game won multiple awards, but some of the other highlights included Alan Wake 2 winning Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom winning Adventure Game of the Year, Super Mario Bros. Wonder winning Family Game of the Year, and Street Fighter 6 winning Fighting Game of the Year.

You can check out the full list of winners from the 27th D.I.C.E. Awards below.

Outstanding Achievement in Animation

• Final Fantasy XVI
• Hi-Fi RUSH
• Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 – WINNER
• Mortal Kombat 1
• Super Mario Bros. Wonder

Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction

• Alan Wake 2 – WINNER
• Hogwarts Legacy
• Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
• Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
• Starfield

Outstanding Achievement in Character

• Alan Wake 2 – Saga Anderson
• Baldur’s Gate 3 – Astarion
• Baldur’s Gate 3 – Karlach
• Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 – Miles Morales – WINNER
• Thirsty Suitors – Jala

Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition

• Alan Wake 2
• Diablo IV
• Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 – WINNER
• Planet of Lana
• Star Wars Jedi: Survivor

Outstanding Achievement in Audio Design

• Alan Wake 2
• COCOON
• Hi-Fi RUSH
• Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 – WINNER
• Star Wars Jedi: Survivor

Outstanding Achievement in Story

• Alan Wake 2
• Baldur’s Gate 3 – WINNER
• DAVE THE DIVER
• Thirsty Suitors
• Venba

Outstanding Technical Achievement

• Alan Wake 2
• Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 – WINNER
• Hogwarts Legacy
• THE FINALS
• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Action Game of the Year

• ARMORED CORE VI FIRES OF RUBICON
• Dead Space
• Hi-Fi RUSH
• Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 – WINNER
• Remnant II

Adventure Game of the Year

• Alan Wake 2
• COCOON
• DAVE THE DIVER
• Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom – WINNER

Family Game of the Year

• Disney Illusion Island
• Fae Farm
• Hello Kitty Island Adventure
• Midnight Girl
• Super Mario Bros. Wonder – WINNER

Fighting Game of the Year

• Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising
• Mortal Kombat 1
• Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2
• Pocket Bravery
• Street Fighter 6 – WINNER

Racing Game of the Year

• F-ZERO 99
• Forza Motorsport – WINNER
• Hot Wheels Unleashed 2 – Turbocharged
• LEGO 2K Drive

Role-Playing Game of the Year

• Baldur’s Gate 3 – WINNER
• Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty
• Diablo IV
• Final Fantasy XVI
• Starfield

Sports Game of the Year

• EA SPORTS FC 24
• MLB The Show™ 23 – WINNER
• WWE 2K23

Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year

• Against the Storm
• Cobalt Core
• Dune: Spice Wars – WINNER
• The Last Spell
• Wartales

Immersive Reality Technical Achievement

• Asgard’s Wrath 2
• Assassin’s Creed Nexus VR
• Horizon: Call of the Mountain – WINNER
• Vertigo 2
• We Are One

Immersive Reality Game of the Year

• Asgard’s Wrath 2 – WINNER
• Assassin’s Creed Nexus VR
• Horizon: Call of the Mountain
• Vampire: The Masquerade – Justice
• Vertigo 2

Outstanding Achievement for an Independent Game

• COCOON – WINNER
• DREDGE
• El Paso, Elsewhere
• Thirsty Suitors
• Venba

Mobile Game of the Year

• Gubbins
• Hello Kitty Island Adventure
• Honkai: Star Rail
• Terra Nil
• WHAT THE CAR? – WINNER

Online Game of the Year

• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III
• Diablo IV – WINNER
• Omega Strikers
• Street Fighter 6
• THE FINALS

Outstanding Achievement in Game Design

• Baldur’s Gate 3 – WINNER
• COCOON
• DAVE THE DIVER
• Super Mario Bros. Wonder
• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction

• Baldur’s Gate 3 – WINNER
• COCOON
• Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
• Super Mario Bros. Wonder
• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Game of the Year

• Alan Wake 2
• Baldur’s Gate 3 – WINNER
• COCOON
• Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

The 27th D.I.C.E. Awards have arrived and are here to celebrate the best of the best in the world of video games from 2023. The show, which is put on by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) and takes place at the Aria Resort in Las Vegas, will feature 23 categories and 56 games that were nominated by and voted on by game developers.

Going into the show, Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is leading the way with nine nominations, Alan Wake 2 is close behind with eight, Baldur’s Gate 3 is at seven, and Cocoon is at six. Anything can happen when D.I.C.E. begins, however, and we’ll be gathering all the winners here below and updating it live throughout the night, so be sure to keep checking back to see who took home the ultimate prizes!

You can also watch the show above if you’d like as IGN is the official media partner of this year’s D.I.C.E. Awards, which is hosted by IGN’s Stella Chung and Kinda Funny CEO and IGN alum Greg Miller. Good luck to all the games and incredible people behind them!

Outstanding Achievement in Animation

• Final Fantasy XVI
• Hi-Fi RUSH
• Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
• Mortal Kombat 1
• Super Mario Bros. Wonder

Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction

• Alan Wake 2
• Hogwarts Legacy
• Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
• Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
• Starfield

Outstanding Achievement in Character

• Alan Wake 2 – Saga Anderson
• Baldur’s Gate 3 – Astarion
• Baldur’s Gate 3 – Karlach
• Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 – Miles Morales
• Thirsty Suitors – Jala

Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition

• Alan Wake 2
• Diablo IV
• Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 – WINNER
• Planet of Lana
• Star Wars Jedi: Survivor

Outstanding Achievement in Audio Design

• Alan Wake 2
• COCOON
• Hi-Fi RUSH
• Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 – WINNER
• Star Wars Jedi: Survivor

Outstanding Achievement in Story

• Alan Wake 2
• Baldur’s Gate 3
• DAVE THE DIVER
• Thirsty Suitors
• Venba

Outstanding Technical Achievement

• Alan Wake 2
• Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
• Hogwarts Legacy
• THE FINALS
• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Action Game of the Year

• ARMORED CORE VI FIRES OF RUBICON
• Dead Space
• Hi-Fi RUSH
• Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 – WINNER
• Remnant II

Adventure Game of the Year

• Alan Wake 2
• COCOON
• DAVE THE DIVER
• Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom – WINNER

Family Game of the Year

• Disney Illusion Island
• Fae Farm
• Hello Kitty Island Adventure
• Midnight Girl
• Super Mario Bros. Wonder

Fighting Game of the Year

• Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising
• Mortal Kombat 1
• Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2
• Pocket Bravery
• Street Fighter 6

Racing Game of the Year

• F-ZERO 99
• Forza Motorsport
• Hot Wheels Unleashed 2 – Turbocharged
• LEGO 2K Drive

Role-Playing Game of the Year

• Baldur’s Gate 3 – WINNER
• Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty
• Diablo IV
• Final Fantasy XVI
• Starfield

Sports Game of the Year

• EA SPORTS FC 24
• MLB The Show™ 23 – WINNER
• WWE 2K23

Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year

• Against the Storm
• Cobalt Core
• Dune: Spice Wars
• The Last Spell
• Wartales

Immersive Reality Technical Achievement

• Asgard’s Wrath 2
• Assassin’s Creed Nexus VR
• Horizon: Call of the Mountain
• Vertigo 2
• We Are One

Immersive Reality Game of the Year

• Asgard’s Wrath 2
• Assassin’s Creed Nexus VR
• Horizon: Call of the Mountain
• Vampire: The Masquerade – Justice
• Vertigo 2

Outstanding Achievement for an Independent Game

• COCOON
• DREDGE
• El Paso, Elsewhere
• Thirsty Suitors
• Venba

Mobile Game of the Year

• Gubbins
• Hello Kitty Island Adventure
• Honkai: Star Rail
• Terra Nil
• WHAT THE CAR? – WINNER

Online Game of the Year

• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III
• Diablo IV – WINNER
• Omega Strikers
• Street Fighter 6
• THE FINALS

Outstanding Achievement in Game Design

• Baldur’s Gate 3
• COCOON
• DAVE THE DIVER
• Super Mario Bros. Wonder
• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction

• Baldur’s Gate 3
• COCOON
• Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
• Super Mario Bros. Wonder
• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Game of the Year

• Alan Wake 2
• Baldur’s Gate 3
• COCOON
• Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Amid a flurry of Xbox news today, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer confirmed that four Xbox exclusives are headed to other platforms. He’s not, however, expecting other companies to take the same approach.

In an interview for Stephen Totilo’s Game File newsletter, Spencer specifically brought up Helldivers 2, Sony’s first simultaneous PS5 and PC release, while touching on the subject.

“I will say, when I look at a game like Helldivers 2 — and it’s a great game, kudos to the team shipping on PC and PlayStation — I’m not exactly sure who it helps in the industry by not being on Xbox,” he said. “If you try to twist yourself to say, like, somehow that benefited somebody somewhere.”

Still, Spencer relents a little bit, saying, “but I get it”: “There’s a legacy in console gaming that we’re going to benefit by shipping games and not putting them on other places. We do the same thing.”

He also pointed out that that Helldiver 2’s simultaneous release on PC and PS5 is “doing really well,” and he’s not wrong. The cooperative action sequel notched Sony’s biggest-ever game launch on Steam when it debuted last week.

The state of exclusive games

While Spencer doesn’t expect every other publisher to take Xbox’s approach, he did say during an Xbox podcast today that he has a “fundamental belief that, over the next 5 or 10 years, exclusive games – games that are exclusive to one piece of hardware – are gunna be a smaller and smaller part of the game industry.”

“That’s not some great insight, because if you look at the last 10 years and what the biggest games are today, it’s a natural place,” he said. “Whether it’s one console and PC; multiple consoles and PC; mobile, console, and PC; you see big games landing on multiple platforms, and we wanna be a great platform for creators that are trying to realize that potential.”

Spencer didn’t reveal what four Xbox games are headed to other platforms, but he did confirm that that number does not include Starfield and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. Even then, in a separate interview with The Verge, he wouldn’t say they’ll never come to PS5, adding “I don’t think we should as an industry ever rule out a game going to any other platform.”

Altogether, it’s all spawned even more discourse about platform exclusivity, Xbox’s strategy, and a whole lot more. You can see everything we learned from today’s Xbox announcements right here.

In a blog post and podcast today, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer made waves by confirming four Xbox exclusives will be going multi-platform. While he didn’t reveal what those games would be, he did confirm a couple of games that won’t be included in those four titles.

When asked directly by moderator and former IGN editor-in-chief Tina Amini if any of those four exclusives going multi-platform were Starfield or Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Spencer replied, “They are not Starfield or Indiana Jones.”

Spencer, however, is still leaving Xbox’s multi-platform options open. In an interview with The Verge, he stopped short of ruling out Starfield and Indiana Jones ever coming to PS5.

“I don’t think we should as an industry ever rule out a game going to any other platform,” he said. “We’re focused on these four games and learning from the experience. We don’t have work going on, on other franchises. But for anybody to stand up and say something’s never going to happen, I think it feels like creating more certainty in a world of gaming where you really want to respond to what customers want and what our players and creators are looking for.”

Today’s update comes after weeks of reports and speculation swirling about Xbox’s future, particularly surrounding first-party exclusivity. Earlier this month, The Verge reported that Xbox was “weighing up which titles will remain exclusive and others that will appear on Switch or PS5 in the future.” Indiana Jones, per the report, was being considered as the kick-off to this new strategy, with the possibility of it debuting on PS5 shortly after its launch on Xbox and PC this December.

Around the same time, XboxERA reported that Microsoft was considering releasing Starfield on PS5 shortly after the release of the previously announced Shattered Space expansion later this year. Other reports, meanwhile, suggested the Hi-Fi Rush and Sea of Thieves would be headed to other platforms.

So what are the four games?

We don’t know what those four newly multi-platform games will be for sure at the moment. However, The Verge reports that they’ll be Hi-Fi Rush, Pentiment, Sea of Thieves, and Grounded.

Spencer himself dropped a few hints during the podcast, saying they looked at games that were over a year old. Two of them, he said, are “community-driven games,” “first iterations of a franchise that have reached their full potential, let’s say on Xbox and PC.”

The other two, he added, “are smaller games that were not really built to be platform exclusives and all the fanfare that goes around that, but games that our teams really wanted to go build.”

“We love supporting creative endeavors across our studios regardless of size,” he went on. “And as they realize their full potential on Xbox and PC, we see an opportunity to utilize the other platforms as a place to just drive more business value out of those games, allowing us to invest in future iterations of those, sequels to those, or just other games like that in our portfolio.”

With that, let the speculation commence.

For more, check out everything we learned about Xbox’s future today, including hints about the next-generation console.

Xbox revealed its “vision for the future” today in a podcast featuring executives Phil Spencer, Sarah Bond, and Matt Booty, who did their best to articulate the path forward for the platform amid reports of plans to embrace a third-party publishing strategy.

The business update confirmed that four games will be releasing on other platfoms, though Xbox did not provide additional details. It also revealed Xbox’s plans for Activision Blizzard games on Game Pass while teasing the “largest technical leap you will have ever seen in a hardware generation” for its next console.

Here’s everything that was announced.

Xbox reveals its plans for PS5 and more.

The biggest news was Xbox’s confirmation that four games will indeed be going multi-platform. Spencer declined to name the games, saying only, “The teams that are building those games have announced plans that are not too far away. As we know, games teams put a lot of energy into their announcements and partners. So I don’t wanna take anything away from those teams, so I won’t be talking about the titles specifically, but I think when they come out, it’ll make sense.”

Asked whether Indiana Jones and Starfield will be among the games going multi-platform, Spencer said “they are not.” As for the four games that will be going multi-platform, The Verge reports that they will be Hi-Fi Rush, Pentiment, Sea of Thieves, and Grounded.

The Xbox Wire post reads, “To ensure long-term success for both Xbox and the industry as a whole, we must continue to evolve. Today we announced that we will expand the communities we reach: we are currently in the process of bringing four Xbox games to other platforms. These are titles which have been available to Xbox players for at least a year, including hidden gems that deserve to be experienced more widely, and live service games whose communities will benefit from welcoming even more players. We will share more details on these titles soon.

Diablo 4 is coming to Game Pass

The update also confirmed that Diablo 4 will be coming to Game Pass on March 28, with this being “only the beginning” for Activision Blizzard games on the service. Fans have been waiting for Activision Blizzard to arrive on Game Pass since the deal closed last year, with Spencer chalking up the delay to “regulatory challenges.”

Xbox also reaffirmed its commitment to the service, saying that “Game Pass will continue to only be available on Xbox platforms and will have all first-party games available on day one.”

Rumors have swirled concerning Xbox’s plans for more than a month now, with Hi-Fi Rush, Sea of Thieves, Pentiment, and Starfield all rumored to be heading to different platforms at various points. The reports ignited a debate around the value of exclusives within the gaming community as fans argued over the path forward for Xbox, which has lagged behind its competitors in terms of sales and releases this generation.

In a town hall meeting with Xbox employees, Spencer reaffirmed that Xbox would continue to make hardware going forward, seeking to alleviate concerns that Microsoft plans to get out of the console business altogether. Bond, meanwhile, reiterated Microsoft’s desire to “make every screen an Xbox.”

Stay tuned for more analysis of Xbox’s announcements at IGN, including a special episode of Podcast Unlocked and lots more.

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.

The 90s was really the birthplace of the modern board game hobby. Yes, timeless artifacts such as Go, Mahjong, and even Cosmic Encounter pre-exist the post-Cold War decade, yet the groundswell of fresh titles with radical ideas really built the foundation for modern design principles. Germany was popping off with hits left and right, while the collectible card game format changed everything. Beyond the greats, there are several nearly forgotten releases that deserve recognition.

TL;DR The Best ’90s Board Games

• Magic: The Gathering
• Twilight Imperium
• Catan
• Robo Rally
• Modern Art
• Paths of Glory
• For Sale
• Blood Bowl
• Tichu
• High Society
• El Grande
• Ra

Magic: the Gathering

Where else to start than with the game that started the collectable card craze and revolutionized games and game stores in the nineties? There was a time when almost every role-playing and board gaming club switched to playing Magic: the Gathering. And it’s easy to see why with the lure of finding powerful rare cards in hidden packs, planning a deck to construct around them and thrilling to the mix of random draw and strategic combinations during play. It’s a recipe that’s still almost as intoxicating today and the game remains in good health. With high prize money tournaments, online play, and regular expansions to collect there’s never been a better time to get involved.

Twilight Imperium

Many fans of Twilight Imperium would not even recognize its first edition. Fantasy Flight Games founder Christian Petersen brought his vision of a 4X board game to life way back in 1997. Flush with cardboard chits instead of plastic, the spirit of its later iterations was present in this inspired asymmetrical space conflict. Faction favorites such as the Jol-Nar and Emirates of Hacan were there right from the beginning, and the game was packed with an immense amount of setting. Its systems are slow and clunky by today’s standards, but this original release established a legacy that would prove the foundation for one of the strongest board game publishers of the early 2000s. The current fourth edition remains one of the most immersive and rich titles available.

Catan

Catan, known in the ’90s as Settlers of Catan, didn’t sweep the popularity stakes like Magic. Nor has it aged quite as well. But in many respects, it had as much — if not more — long-term influence on the gaming scene. Before Catan, almost all tabletop games were variations on war board games or dungeon crawling. But Catan’s mix of trading resources that players used to build a network of roads and settlements in an attempt to secure as much territory as possible showed us a whole new side to gaming. There was rich interaction without direct fighting or ganging up and rich strategy while still rolling a pair of dice and drawing random cards. It also introduced us to the novel paradigm of board games that existed in Germany, and gaming has never been the same since.

Robo Rally

Richard Garfield is known for more than just Magic: The Gathering. Robo Rally has players programming bots to dart around the factory in a ludicrous race. Each participant secretly chooses which cards they will play simultaneously. Then they are revealed and the robots start zipping around as chaos ensues. The goal is to pass through all of the checkpoints in order, which can prove more difficult than it initially appears. While many games would later nick Robo Rally’s programmed action approach, this was one of the first designs to lean into this creative and zany system. It still holds up and even just received a brand new reboot courtesy of Renegade Games.

Modern Art

Among the top designers who worked in German gaming, the most talented and prolific is Reiner Knizia. His oeuvre is so large that he’s worked on almost every genre but his particular love is for auction games, and his best auction game is Modern Art. Players take the role of dealers bidding to secure artworks based on five different methods of auction, from open bids to hidden values. But there’s a catch: your purchases will only be valuable if they’re popular: in other words, if other players are also collecting paintings by the same artist. This heady mixture of strategy and pointed satire on the art world is leant extra depth in the latest edition, which uses pieces by real-life artists.

Paths of Glory

This wargame arrived at the end of the decade with a splash. Boasting a harrowing playtime of up to eight hours, this beast attempts to simulate the entirety of the First World War. This is one of the early card driven games where players spend cards for flexible action points or to trigger specific narrative events. There is a fascinating element of deck manipulation as participants race to attain new cards, while also thinning their deck through playing events. This creates an interesting ecosystem of turnover that has subtle implications over the length of play. While some may criticize this design as being too complex, and there is a certain truth to the notion that Twilight Struggle later perfected this format, this is still quite the evocative experience that remains available through continual print runs over the years.

For Sale

You’ll rarely see so much game in such a small package as you will in For Sale. The game involves two decks of cards, one of real estate and the other of cheques, which are used in the two phases of play. In the first a selection of real estate cards is revealed each turn and the players bid on them using a limited supply of money. In the second, a selection of cheques is revealed and players secretly choose real estate from their hands to sell for those cheques, the most valuable getting the biggest payout. This simple game is a setup for endless agonising moments of not knowing whether you’re going to be outbid in an auction, or outclassed in the secret hunt for cheque payouts. It’s excitement all the way down to the wire, but is simple enough for kids to play and still rewards canny strategizing.

Blood Bowl

Adding this game here is a bit cheeky: you may have fond memories of the first edition of this crazy game of violent fantasy football, but the current edition is a complete redesign. The good news is that it’s even better: leaner, better looking and more strategic while still being just as crazy and just as violent. The Warhammer-esque underpinnings have been jettisoned in favor of a whole new game concept where your turn ends when you fail an action. That leaves every choice teetering on the precipice of risk and reward as you struggle to decide whether it’s worth prioritizing a dangerous action to advance your game plan. Plus, the old cardboard standees have been replaced with super-detailed plastic miniatures that look amazing on your tabletop.

Tichu

If Tichu didn’t require exactly four to play, it would have conquered the world. It’s not much to look at, essentially a rebranded deck of standard playing cards with four special extras, but there’s a reason for that. It’s actually a tweaked, commercialized version of a family of playing card games widely played in China. You play with a partner and the idea is to try and clear your hand by laying out a higher-value Poker style card combo than is currently on the table. But this basic formula is full of fascinating wrinkles because it’s rarely clear when it’s worth splitting a combo in your hand just to take what’s on the table, especially given the partner element. There’s also a pivotal bidding aspect because calling “Tichu” — betting you’ll be first to empty your hand — is where the bulk of points are won. Accessible, engaging and scarily addictive, Tichu deserves a much wider audience.

High Society

Given this is the second Reiner Knizia auction game on the list you may gather that the good doctor (he’s got a PhD in mathematics) is keen on the mechanic and good at delivering it. This is the lightest and fastest of the three (see one more below) but it still delivers thrills, spills and biting social commentary. Each round is a sequence of bids on some fancy item that indicates you’re part of monied culture. But while your cash reserves range from small to high value, you can’t get change: you’re forced to choose between creeping up your bid or risking being left with only high-value notes to fritter on paltry wins. The other twist is that some cards are negative; for these, bidding works in reverse, with the first player to pass “winning” and everyone else throwing away their cash. You’ve got to keep up with your social circle by spending vast sums on trifles without beggaring yourself, a point of view that’s as fun to play as it is alienating to observe in reality.

El Grande

Of all the games published in the ‘90s, El Grande is perhaps the most enduring and the one that still feels freshest and most relevant today. Which makes it surprising that it hasn’t seen a reprint and remains expensive on the second-hand market. The secret of its success is posing players with a series of circular, but interactive, conundrums to solve as they seek to maximise influence on a map of Spain. You can go early or gain more influence to spend, not both. You can take a powerful action, or you can put lots of influence on the board, not both. And of course you can’t possibly have the majority in all the regions of the board, you’ve got to pick and choose your battles. It’s so well done and pushes so many gaming buttons that it remains thrillingly playable 25 years after it was released.

Ra

Now, we come to another Reiner Knizia classic involving auctions. In Ra, you’re bidding on the history of ancient Egypt. Not in terms of artefacts but the far more abstract concepts of events, monuments, pharaohs and the like. Each type of tile has its own convoluted scoring mechanic, so you want to collect — or avoid — certain combinations. On your turn, you either add a tile to the stack available or start an auction, but currency in Ra is very limited and the winning amount becomes part of the next lot for auction. This makes every tile draw and every bid an excruciating elevator of excitement as you try and force players to bid on tiles they’d prefer to avoid while not getting caught in that trap yourself. This is back in print with a deluxe new edition that is gorgeous to behold.