As the price of RAM, GPUs, and even SSDs climbs ever higher off the back of AI data centre demand, it’s causing a significant price crunch for hardware manufacturers. “It is such a volatile situation at this point in time it is hard to figure out pricing,” Razer CEO Min-Liang Tan said in a recent episode of The Verge’s Decoder podcast. “I don’t know if I can pick a number right now as I speak with you and [be confident in it] by the end of the podcast.”
The rapidly increasing prices mean the company are keeping schtum on how much their next round of gaming laptops will cost. “This is something that concerns me,” Tan explained. “The RAM prices are going up and we want to be able to make sure our laptops remain affordable and in the reach of gamers out there.”
But it wasn’t all doom and gloom during the CES podcast recording.
Final Fantasy VII Remake! Escape from Ever After! Dynasty Warriors: Origins!
The latest Nintendo Download update for North America has arrived, and it’s bringing new games galore to the eShop in your region. As always, be sure to drop a vote in our poll and comment down below with your potential picks for the week. Enjoy!
Switch eShop – Highlights
DYNASTY WARRIORS: ORIGINS(KOEI TECMO AMERICA, 22nd Jan, $59.99) – Play as a nameless hero as you fight fiercely, making bold choices to restore peace and shape history in this tactical action game set during China’s Three Kingdoms period. With the most intense combat and largest armies in Dynasty Warriors history, your choices will influence the story and could alter historical events. With the paid DLC1 launching alongside the game, you can choose a different path and experience new developments that weren’t in the main story. – Read our DYNASTY WARRIORS: ORIGINS review
Free Play Days – Sherlock Holmes Chapter One, South Park: Snow Day, This War of Mine: Final Cut and Cult of the Lamb
Kyle OceanMarketing Manager, Xbox
Try something new this weekend with Free Play Days! Sherlock Holmes Chapter One, South Park: Snow Day, This War of Mine: Final Cut and Cult of the Lamb are available this weekend for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, Premium and Essential members to play from Thursday, January 22 until Sunday, January 25.
How To Start Playing
Scroll down and find and install the games on each of the individual game details page on Xbox.com. Clicking through will send you to the Microsoft Store, where you must be signed in to see the option to install with your Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, Premium and Essential membership. To download on console, click on the Subscriptions tab in the Xbox Store and navigate down to the Free Play Days collection on your Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S.
Keep The Fun Going
Purchase the game and other editions at a limited time discount and continue playing while keeping your Gamerscore and achievements earned during the event! Please note that discounts, percentages, and title availability may vary by title and region.
Sherlock Holmes Chapter One Optimized for Xbox Series X|S Sherlock Holmes Chapter One lets you step into the shoes of a young Sherlock Holmes, long before he became the world’s greatest detective. Drawn back to a Mediterranean island by the mysterious death of his mother, Sherlock takes on what may be the first—and most important—case of his life, one that will shape his future. Explore a vibrant city marked by crime, corruption, and moral ambiguity, gather clues from across the island, and solve cases using deduction, disguise, or force. Try it during Xbox Free Play Days and save 90% on the full game for a limited time.
South Park: Snow Day Optimized for Xbox Series X|S Play as the New Kid in South Park and join Cartman, Stan, Kyle, and Kenny, in three-dimensional glory, to celebrate the most magical day in any young child’s life – a snow day! Grab up to three friends, in this four-player co-op, and battle your way through the snow-piled town of South Park on a quest to save the world and enjoy a day without school. It’s a Snow Day, dude!
This War of Mine: Final Cut Optimized for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox Play Anywhere The critically acclaimed indie bestseller, This War of Mine, puts you in the role of a group of civilians trying to survive in a besieged city, struggling with lack of food, medicine, and constant danger from snipers and hostile scavengers. The game provides an experience of war seen from an entirely different perspective. This War of Mine: Final Cut contains all the updates and free expansions released and is 90% off during the Free Play Days.
Cult of the Lamb Optimized for Xbox Series X|S, Smart Delivery Start your own cult in a land of false prophets, venturing out into diverse and mysterious regions to build a loyal community of woodland Followers and spread your Word. Crusade through dungeons, slay heretics, build your cult, and seek new powers together. But there’s more. As well as the addition of co-op play, the Unholy Alliance expansion also adds new tarot cards, relics, buildings, fleeces, follower traits, follower quests, and other secrets to discover!
Don’t miss out on these exciting Free Play Days for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, Premium and Essential members! Learn more about Free Play Days here and stay tuned to Xbox Wire to find out about future Free Play Days and all the latest Xbox gaming news.
Amazon has produced yet another brilliant Pokémon TCG deal ready for the weekend, and it’s once again on the latest Mega Evolution set, Phantasmal Flames.
While we’re looking forward to Ascended Heroes at the end of the month, it’s a mighty bit of fresh air to finally get some reasonable prices on boosters for the popular Mega Charizard sporting set from last year.
While stock lasts, at least, as this is such an excellent deal, and below market price, I fully expect these to fly off the digital shelves. Other Phantasmal Flames deals include that UPC for $145 at Amazon or TCGplayer, or you can pick up the Elite Trainer Box for just $79.94 at Amazon as well.
All around, these are pretty excellent deals, and hopefully a sign of things to come when Ascended Heroes and Perfect Order.
Best Phantasmal Flames Cards Chase Cards
According to marketplaces like TCGPlayer, certain Phantasmal Flames cards have already skyrocketed further in price, and, following up from our Mega Evolution round-up, we’ve ranked the ten most expensive cards so far just above. From aggressive Mega attackers to powerful evolution support, Phantasmal Flames brings a fiery mix of competitive threats and high-demand pulls.
Robert Anderson is Senior Commerce Editor and IGN’s resident deals expert on games, collectibles, trading card games, and more. You can follow him @robertliam21 on Twitter/X or Bluesky.
Out today in early access, Turnbound is a tile and turn-based autobattler about mythical heroes trapped in a haunted boardgame, where the starting player is chosen by flipping a coin bearing a picture of a cat’s anus. It’s saying a lot for Turnbound’s mellow, fairytale ambience and rich, rosy tile designs that I consider the cat’s anus a positive – a touch of whimsy, rather than just, well, that feeling you get when you’ve been flashbanged by a picture of a cat’s anus. Rare indeed are the videogames that contain a cat’s anus, and rarer still are the videogames in which the cat’s anus isn’t grounds for a refund.
Pokémon Go looks set to add another battle currency to the ever-popular mobile game, this time focused around raids for Mega Pokémon.
As Pokémon Go prepares to roll-out the first of Pokémon Legends Z-A’s new wave of Mega Evolutions next month as part of its upcoming Go Tour Kalos event, the game also appears to have a major rework of its Mega Raid system in the offing.
Datamined information published by The Pokémod Group have spilled details of Link Charges, a new in-game resource that the game’s files refer to as “enhanced currency.” An in-game description states that Link Charges “can be used to enter Mega Raid in place of Raid passes” and will now be “required to enter Mega Raids remotely.”
The addition of a new type PVE battle resource for Mega raids comes as something of a surprise, as Mega battles have existed in the game for years, accessible simply via regular raid passes.
While details remain unconfirmed and subject to change, Link Charges sound like something of a cross between existing raid passes and the Max Energy system introduced more recently specifically for use in Dynamax/Gigantamax battles. The introduction of Link Charges would certainly also delineate Mega raids from regular raid battles — similar to how the use of Max Energy sets Max battles apart.
Unreleased in-game text states that players will be able to “earn Link Charges from activities such as Weekly Challenges, Campfire Check-Ins, and opening Gifts,” all of which are free. That said, images showing the Link Charges themselves (which look like futuristic USB sticks) in various bundles suggest the resource will, of course, also be sold via the game’s in-game shop.
A new item called “enhanced currency” has been added, along with some variations featuring “RRP” (remote raid pass? idk). It looks like something that could be sold in the shop, but we’re not sure what it does yet.
As ever, Pokémon Go’s highly-engaged community have been reacting to the datamined details with their usual mix of excitement and healthy scepticism.
“Are we cooked?” wrote Kind_Cheesecake_8297 on top Pokémon Go reddit The Silph Road. “Asked the frog in the pot,” replied EquivalentReality988. “This is just another temperature increase, we’ve been boiling for years.”
But while the introduction of another PVE battle resource has naturally prompted questions over how plentiful it will be (and how much it will cost via the in-game shop), many others have agreed that the game’s Mega raids do need some form of shakeup.
Following their most recent rework years ago, Mega raids typically provide enough in-game resource to Mega Evolve a specific Pokémon within a few battles. After that, Mega Pokémon can be set as a Buddy Pokémon to generate Mega Energy for free. Beyond hunting for a Shiny or better stat version of a particular creature, there’s little need to then continue raiding — and as an active player, I have to say I don’t consider Mega creatures when deciding what to spend my daily raid pass on.
While this is fine for players who have all Mega Pokémon unlocked already, this leaves newer players without others to battle Mega raids alongside (and most Megas require multiple people to take down). Providing an additional resource to battle Mega raids means players can choose to take on the battles in addition to regular raids — just as the Max Particle system works for Dynamax and Gigantamax battles now.
“I don’t actually hate this (depending on how easy they are to get for free),” said TheWiseMountain. “I feel like Mega raids can get dead very easily because you can just walk Pokémon for more energy. If they’re free and give normal raid rewards though? Seems like a win for newer players who might need help with those raids.”
“Yeah as a F2P [free-to-play player] who can hardly remote anyways this sounds great,” Mushimishi agreed. “I haven’t done a Mega raid outside of new debuts and raid days in almost 2 years, since getting enough energy for everything.”
Pokémon Go has so far introduced all Mega Pokémon species released prior to last year’s Pokémon Legends Z-A other than the highly-anticipated Mega Mewtwo X and Y. The game has officially confirmed the introduction of both Mega Malamar and Mega Victreebell from Legends Z-A next month. As for Mega Mewtwo, while there’s no word on its arrival just yet, the same datamine includes an all-new Tier 7 difficulty Mega raid egg — suggesting that players may finally see it arrive in the future, once this Mega raid rework has been introduced.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
Fine, we’ll let you hop in whatever the MMO equivalent of Superman’s phone booth is for a single round of free outfit transmog just before the launch of March’s Midnight expansion. So have degreed World of Warcraft makers Blizzard, in the face of vocal vexation among players unhappy about a sudden hike in clothes changing prices that arrived with the game’s latest patch.
Nintendo has just confirmed a release date for Super Mario Bros. Wonder’s expanded Switch 2 Edition, which will include a suite of new minigames and the ability to play as Rosalina, ahead of her big screen debut in The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Meetup In Bellabel Park, to give its full name, will arrive on March 26. As that extremely lengthy title suggests, the upgraded version of Nintendo’s 2023 platformer includes the additional Bellabel Park area to explore, which comes stuffed with extra activities.
The Switch 2 Edition will be available to purchase separately, or existing Switch owners of the game can alternatively purchase an upgrade pack.
#SuperMarioBrosWonder – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Meetup in Bellabel Park arrives March 26!
Look forward to new boss courses with all 7 Koopalings, two new playable characters, Rosalina, and Co-Star Luma, and more!
Bellabel Park’s Local Multiplayer Plaza features 17 new co-op or versus minigames, with support for up to four local players (and yes, your pals can join even if they don’t have the game, via GameShare). Game Room Plaza, meanwhile, features six minigames for either local or online play — with the latter option supporting up to 12 players.
A third area, Camp Central, features the adorable Captain Toad and his Toad Brigade, who set challenges based on existing courses. Complete them all and you’ll become an elite Toad Brigade explorer yourself. Lastly, the Koopalings are also back — having stolen treasure from Bellabel Park, you’ll need to search through the game’s levels and defeat them.
Helpful additions to the game include Co-Star Luma, who offers a way for a second player to join in as an assist character, while Assist Mode lets you explore the game without fear of damage or falling down a pit. Handy!
Three new amiibo figurines will launch alongside the game on March 26: Elephant Mario, Poplin & Prince Florian, and Captain Toad & Talking Flower. Yes, Captain Toad has a dedicated amiibo figurine at last — and quite right too.
Speaking of Super Mario Bros. Wonder’s chatty/annoying Talking Flower, Nintendo is continuing its plans to launch a real-life Talking Flower desk accessory. Available on March 12, this thing will spout out random phrases “roughly twice every hour” or when prompted with a button press. Holding down its button will mute it “for a while.” I have no idea why this exists.
Pricing details for all of this are still to follow, as Nintendo’s pre-order links don’t yet seem to have gone live. We’ll keep an eye and update when we know more.
Brighten your day with Talking Flower, straight out of Super Mario Bros. Wonder!
This little character will spontaneously speak throughout the day sharing quips, words of encouragement, and more.
Often, the gaming internet depresses me with *gestures expansively*, but sometimes, it delights me with some relatively specific and impassioned Thing like, in this case, a single-player aerobatics sim dedicated to formation flying. Created by Japanese indie CloveTek, Dancing Wings – The Aerobatic Simulator is as far from yer Ace Combats and Delivery Must Completes as you can get while still having wings. A bunch of wise guys have tagged it “Automobile Sim” on the Steam page, but ignore them! I expect they’re just sore about never having performed a genuine Immelmann turn. Here’s a trailer.
Publisher Silver Lining Interactive and developer Sunny Lab are bringing The Witch’s Bakery to Switch 2 in addition to Switch, with the cosy RPG arriving on both consoles in Q2 2026.
Imagine opening a bakery in modern-day Paris — not easy, right? Well, as Lunne the witch, that’s exactly what you’re doing. But this slice-of-life adventure is more than just making Mont Blancs and macarons; being a witch, Lunne has the ability to see inside people’s hearts and heal their emotions. Anyone getting some Kiki’s Delivery Service vibes from the premise alone?
