Video Games | Page 1014 of 1109

Before We Leave devs next chill city builder is set on top of a giant space whale

Before We Leave was a chill, planet-hopping city builder with the occasional space whale who might hoover up your world’s hexagonal tiles. Now developer Balancing Monkey is back for another go at spacefaring management, but this time your city is built on top of a space whale, rather than being terrorised by one. Their follow-up, Beyond These Stars, will be hitting early access on PC later this year.

New Limited-Time Pokémon Scarlet & Violet Distribution Event Announced

Get a special Garganacl this weekend.

Pokémon Scarlet & Violet‘s next distribution event has been revealed, and through it, you’ll be able to get yourself a special Garganacl.

The code will be distributed during the the Oceania International Championships, Serebii shared on Twitter. But don’t worry, everyone will be able to use the code, and we’ll be sure to share it with you as soon as we can.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

You Can Now Buy a PS5 Without Any Stress

After years of almost nonstop scarcity, you can finally just go to Amazon and buy a PS5 or an Xbox Series X. No “request invitation” button. No inflated third-party pricing. You can just buy one. This day has been a long time coming.

This console generation — the PS5, Xbox Series X|S and, to a lesser extent, Nintendo Switch OLED — has been an unusual one, to put it mildly. Finding current-gen consoles in stock, either in brick-and-mortar stores or online, has been far more difficult than usual. For the average consumer who doesn’t follow Wario64 or IGN Deals on Twitter, finding these devices in stock was nearly impossible any point over the past two years.

Sony recently said the PS5 shortage is essentially over, and we’re finally seeing that bear out. Right now, you can order all of the latest game consoles at one retailer or another, and they will ship almost immediately. It’s about time.

Where to Buy Current-Gen Consoles

Where to Buy a PS5 in the UK

PS5 + God of War Ragnarok Bundle – £539.99

For now, you can buy the PS5 standalone, without having to resort to a bundle. But, if you were going to buy God of War: Ragnarok anyway, you might as well consider the bundle that costs $559 instead. Back in the old days, game pack-ins came at no additional cost, but those days are over. (Thankfully, it’s a great game; see our 10/10 God of War Ragnarok review). The PS5 Digital Edition isn’t as widely available as the disc version. It still requires you to request an invitation to order from Amazon, or it ships out in a week from Walmart.

Still, it’s a rare thing to see all models of all the current consoles available to purchase online without any major delays. Let’s hope it stays this way.

I suspect several factors are at play here. By all accounts, the chip shortages that kept these machines scarce before are finally easing up. It’s also likely that demand for these machines is slowing down, as usually happens in the first quarter of the year.

All of which is to say, if you’ve been looking for a new console over the past couple of years and have struggled to find it in stock, this is good news. Now the question is whether stock will stay this easy to find going forward. We can only hope.

Chris Reed is a deals expert and commerce editor for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @_chrislreed or on Mastodon @chrislreed.

UK Daily Deals: Score The Last of Us Part 2 at £8.39 For a Limited Time Only

Here’s a great deal for those who are loving the latest HBO hit, The Last of Us. Yes, this is based on the game as many of us know, and many of us might also know that there’s a sequel to that game. The Last of Us Part 2 is a critically acclaimed darling (with a few controversies thrown in), and it can be picked up for just £8.39 if you’re a PS Plus member right now (down from £34.99).

That’s a huge deal and a tremendous discount for anyone who hasn’t been able to check out the sequel just yet. Not only that, but the game also features a few PS5 upgrades included, such as 4K textures and a consistent 60FPS throughout the whole game. For even more gaming deals, check out all the links just below, or follow @IGNUKDeals on Twitter for more instant updates.

TL;DR – Best UK Deals Right Now

Best Gaming Deals: The Last of Us Games Are On Sale Right Now

If you’re not a PS Plus member, it’s actually quite easy to get a 7-day free trial of the service so you can take advantage of this deal. Otherwise, check your emails for any latest offers from PlayStation, as they’re regularly throwing out personal 50% off membership deals for the subscription recently. The Last of Us Remastered or its next-gen counterpart The Last of Us Part 1 is also on sale right now.

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Best Random Deals I Love Right Now

These are the best random-ish deals that I want to highlight, but can’t necessarily fit anywhere else. A favourite of mine today is definitely the unisex hoodie blanket, down to just £12.99. This is a great price considering you’re looking at £20-30 anywhere else for a similar quality blanket. My top tip for when you buy one, wash it immediately on its own, once it’s dry it’ll be 10/10 comfort.

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Awesome PS5 1TB SSD for £83.72 (Great Deal)

Pick up the perfect PS5 1TB SSD for just £83.72 right now, or upgrade even further and drop £185 on a 2TB SSD instead (that works out at £92.50 per TB).

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Amazon Hogwarts Legacy Console Bundle Deals

There’s some great deals floating around at the moment for PS5 and Xbox bundles, and they even include the hottest game right now, Hogwarts Legacy. You can currently get the PS5 with Hogwarts Legacy Bundle for just £516.98 at Argos. (There’s also a bunch of other superb bundles to check out just below as well).

Overall that works out at £479.99 for the PS5, and just £36.99 for Hogwarts Legacy, about £23 off the new game already. Make sure to just click the ‘Money Off Bundles’ section which will take you to all the current bundle offers Argos has got, including the new Hogwarts Legacy deal. See our full 9/10 review for the game here.

Amazing Discounts on Anker Tech Right Now

There’s some great deals on Anker headphones, USB cables and more at Amazon right now. My favourite is definitely on the Soundcore Q45 Adaptive Noise Cancelling Headphones, dropping down to just £97.99. This is a great option for an affordable but amazing set of headphones (instead of dropping £300 on a Bose or Sony set).

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Amazing Password Manager Deal from Keeper (AD)

With Keeper, you can store all of your passwords, credit card info, and other sensitive data in one secure, encrypted digital vault. Plus, they use top-notch encryption technology to keep your stuff safe and have added bonus features like password generation, password sharing, and two-factor authentication.

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Where to Preorder The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom in the UK

The best Tears of the Kingdom (or Breath of the Wild 2 as many of us called it for years) preorder deal in the UK is still at Hit for £49.85, or ShopTo for the same price. In case you’re wondering, both ShopTo and Hit are 100% legit UK retailers. We’ve linked out to both of them before, and have had no complaints! I’ll leave all the relevant links down below for Tears of the Kingdom preorders.

Where to Preorder Tears of the Kingdom Collector’s Edition and Amiibo

Preorders for the Collector’s Edition are currently sold out everywhere, including Smyths, GAME, and ShopTo. Amazon currently has a listing up, but has not gone live with it yet.

You can also register your interest in the Collector’s Edition, or the Link – Tears of the Kingdom amiibo (£12.99) from Nintendo right now in the UK. Otherwise, follow and set notifications on for @IGNUKDeals on Twitter as we’ll tweet when more preorders go live.

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Metroid Prime Remastered Is Now on Nintendo Switch

After years of rumors, Metroid Prime Remastered is real. If that wasn’t exciting enough, Nintendo has already released the game digitally. But, if you’d prefer to wait for a physical copy, it’s out on March 3, 2023, and can be preorder right now from the links below.

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

Cities: Skylines Remastered Edition Is Now Available (Yes, With 25 Buildable Tiles)

Cities: Skylines is the ultimate city-builder that allows players to create and manage the city of their dreams. Today we are proud to release Cities: Skylines Remastered, an enhanced edition for Xbox Series X|S that aims to provide a better optimized and more fun game experience for console players.

We are thrilled to finally see Cities: Skylines Remastered release on Xbox Series X|S. We want console players to experience Cities: Skylines at its best, and we also want to give back to our supportive and caring community – this project is our love letter to you!

To start, we focused on delivering something that our console players kept asking us: more tiles. Cities: Skylines Remastered finally offers 25 buildable tiles – 16 more than the ones available on Xbox One. We also added a Quick selection tool, improved the User Experience by adding precision placements and distance indicators, and updated the snapping options.

We can’t wait for you to try the new environment coloring tool and the environmental controls panel. The latter allows you to adjust the time of day, so take the most beautiful in-game shots at dawn or sunset – your City will look amazing! But that’s not all, you can now manage atmospheric changes, controlling rain and fog as you please. Last but not least, we’re happy to give you the Map editor to create your own maps and use them in-game.

Thanks to the power of Xbox Series X|S we improved the overall graphics of Cities: Skylines Remastered. We hope you’ll be as amazed as we are to see how beautiful your cities will look now.

To celebrate this milestone for Cities: Skylines we wanted to go further. So, if you already have Cities: Skylines – or any other DLCs – on your Xbox Series X|S, the Remastered Edition of those same products will be available for you for free. We are working on adding the most recent expansions too, so stay tuned on Xbox for more news!

Cities: Skylines – Remastered

Paradox Interactive

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

Get it now

This is ‘Cities: Skylines – Remastered’ for Xbox Series X|S. Purchase of this product also gives you access to ‘Cities: Skylines – Xbox One Edition’.

Cities: Skylines is an award-winning, best-selling management game, now remastered for Xbox Series X|S with all of its robust city-simulation gameplay and unique charm along for the ride.

Cities: Skylines – Remastered puts you in charge of a growing city, from the ground-breaking of its first streets to the ever-changing needs of thousands of citizens. Design, build, and manage the city of your dreams, from public services to civic policies, and challenge yourself to grow from a simple town to a bustling metropolitan hub.

Introducing an enhanced player experience for Xbox Series X|S players, including:

• 25 buildable tiles!
• Quick selection tool
• UX Improvements (such as precision placements, distance indicator and updated snapping options)
• New environmental controls panel (adjust things like time of day, rain, fog, and environment colouring)
• Map editor
• And an overall graphic performance increase for the bigger city builders!

Cities: Skylines Main Features
Build the city of your dreams: plan road networks, bus lines and parks. Bring on a smog-filled industrial revolution or create a quiet beach town ideal for tourists powered by renewable energy. Bring education, healthcare and safety to your citizens. Build it your way!

• Multi-tiered and challenging simulation
Playing as the mayor of your city, you’ll be faced with balancing essential requirements such as education, water electricity, police, firefighting, healthcare and much more, along with your city’s economy. Citizens within your city react fluidly, keeping you on your toes with ever-evolving demands.

• Extensive local traffic simulation
Managing traffic and the needs of your citizens to work and play will require the use of several interactive transport systems – use careful road planning alongside buses, trains, subways, and much more.

• Districts and policies
Be more than just another city hall official! Create a car-free downtown area, assign free public transport to your waterfront, or ban pets in suburbia. Designate parts of your city as a district in order to set policy at the local level, and give different parts of town their own personalities.

• After Dark expansion included
Watch your city become an entirely different place at night: a day-night cycle will have your citizens seeking out places to unwind after work. Add in new policies and zones to create popular hotspots and provide enough taxis and trains to get to and from the clubs!

Pre-Purchase Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom At GameStop And Get A Free Wooden Plaque

Another GameStop “exclusive”.

In the lead up to the release of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, US video game chain GameStop has announced a new pre-order deal.

If you pre-purchase the game from the store now, you’ll not only receive a copy of the game, but you’ll also score a “free exclusive wooden plaque”. Note: If you purchase the plaque online, you’ll need to print your order confirmation and bring it in-store to receive this bonus.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

The Pathless Scores ‘Exclusive Edition’ Physical Release On Nintendo Switch

Pre-orders are now live!

The Pathless made a successful transition across to the Nintendo Switch earlier this month, and if you’ve been holding out for a physical copy, you’re in luck. Pre-orders for a physical edition have now officially gone live on iam8bit’s website.

It’ll set you back $39.99 USD (or your regional equivalent) and comes with a copy of the game, foldout poster, reversible cover sheet, collectible art cards, some exclusive artwork, and is region-free.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

PlayStation Plus Double Discounts promotion comes to PlayStation Store

The PlayStation Plus Double Discounts promotion comes to PlayStation Store February 15. For a limited time*, players can enjoy a variety of games for less, including Gotham Knights, FIFA 23, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and more. PlayStation Plus members will get double the discount percentage for the duration of the promotion.

*The PlayStation Plus Double Discounts promotion runs from February 15 at 00.00am local time until Wednesday March 1 at 23.59pm local time.

First Major Hogwarts Legacy Update is Here, PS5 Patch Delayed

The first major Harry Potter: Hogwarts Legacy patch is here… if you’re playing on PC and Xbox Series X|S. PS5 owners will have to wait a bit longer for an update due to “unforseen issues.”

Warner Bros. released patch notes on its official site, including fixes for performance, cinematics, and saved games. You can find the full patch notes right here.

Xbox Series X and PC players, expect a patch today that resolves a number of bugs and performance issues!

PS5 players, due to some unforeseen issues, we’re targeting later this week to get your patch to you. Thanks for your patience! https://t.co/hPF39oNyGz

— WB Games Avalanche (@AvalancheWB) February 14, 2023

Bug Fixes:

General
- Online
  - Fixed issues with achievement data being properly pushed to Wizarding World portal after linking.
- Gameplay
  - Owl Mail
    - Fixed an issue with mail not properly triggering sequential mission.
  - World Events
    - Fixed rare crash around certain locations where in-game World Events spawning.
  - NPC
    - Fixed a rare crash when respawning NPCs in the world.
    - Fixed crash with some NPC schedules.
  - Characters
    - Fixed issues with flickering occurring with a transparent head while hair is still present.
- UI
  - Updated localization text for additional content items.
  - Added Build version to first time EULA.
  - Fixed rare occurrence of mission descriptions not being displayed correctly.
- Cinematics
  - Corrected VFX presentation of robe transformation.
  - Fixed a stability issue when skipping cutscenes.
  - Fixed a crash when playing cutscenes and cinematics.
- Save Game
  - Fixed error of rewriting last autosave slot.
  - Fixed an issue when restarting from last save around not being able to talk to a vendor after initial conversation. Resolves the following reported issues: HL-412, HL-494, HL-246, HL-1063, HL-590, HL-542, HL-976, HL-965, HL-1158, HL-1184, HL-1089, HL-1240, HL-1031, HL-1490, HL-1433, HL-89, HL-1930, HL-1086, HL-1636, HL-1585, HL-1028, HL-1933, HL-2606, HL-2062, HL-1587, HL-488, HL-498, HL-162, HL-1706, HL-2626, HL-2865, HL-2888, HL-2804, HL-2910, HL-2944, HL-3000, HL-3043, HL-3024.
- Performance and Stability
  - Improved performance on Fidelity mode.
  - Fixed rare crash around hovering over the map.
  - Fixed issue with wind causing distortion and stretching of world assets.
  - Fixed a rare occurrence with material swapping.
  - Fixed a rare crash with map assets state.
  - Fixed Rare crash occurring with in-game world events.
  - Fixed a memory leak with global lighting system HL-313.
XSX
- Performance and Stability
  - Improved crash collection to help chase rare crashes.
PC Steam/PC Epic Games
- Cinematics
  - Fixed audio issues missing or not properly playing.
- Controllers
  - Switch Pro controller support updates HL-346.
- Upscalers
  - Enable frame generation while DLSS is disabled.
  - Anti-Aliasing and Screen resolution settings disabled when using DLSS and not Super Resolution.
- Raytracing
  - Fixed issue with RTAO looking worse than SSAO.
  - Adjusted default setting to Medium Quality.
- Performance and Stability
  - Shader type compilation optimization.
  - Shader compilation performance updates and functionality enhancements.
  - Fixed a crash affecting Text2Speech usability.
  - Resolved issues with world assets abruptly being stretched which resolves the following reported issues: HL-305, HL-265.
  - Resolved an issue with Nvidia GPUs having lower frame rate compared to AMD.
- DirectX Version 12
  - Please note DirectX Version 12 is required to run Hogwarts Legacy on PC. We do not suggest attempting workarounds to run the game with DirectX Version 11 as this can cause stability issues with launching the game and the player experience.

PS5 owners, for their part, will have to wait until later this week for a patch, WB says. It includes a fix for the Collector’s Edition Trophy, which is obtained by completing Hogwarts Legacy’s various collectibles (of which there are many).

Harry Potter: Hogwarts Legacy has seen strong sales out of the gate, but its reception has been controversial owing to series creator J.K. Rowling’s outpoken anti-transphobic views. Our review noted that the game itself is weighed down by technical issues, but that it’s ultimately a well-executed open world fantasy game.

Kat Bailey is a Senior News Editor at IGN as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.

Deal Alert: This 2TB PS5 Compatible SSD with Heatshield Is Only $149.99

Amazon is offering the Patriot Viper VP4300 2TB M.2 2280 PCIe Gen4 x 4 Internal Gaming Solid State Drive, which is compatible with the PS5 console, for only $149.99. This makes it definitely the lowest price we’ve seen for a brand name 2TB PS5 SSD, especially since this one even includes a slim aluminum heatshield.

Patriot Viper VP4300 2TB PS5 SSD for $149.99

The Patriot Viper VP4300 is an M.2 2280 PCIe Gen4 x4 solid state drive with rated transfer speeds of 7,400MB/s read and 6,800MB/s write. That makes it well above the PS5’s recommended 5,600MB/s speed requirement. It also makes the Viper’s performance on par with other high-speed SSDs like the WD SN850 or the Samsung 980 Pro.

The Viper includes two heatsinks: a thicker aluminum one and a thinner graphene one. We recommend using the aluminum heatshield because it offers better cooling, it can be removed if necessary, and most importantly for PS5 gamers, it still fits in the console.

Both the WD SN850X with heatsink and Samsung 980 Pro with heatsink cost $179.99. That’s a great price, nevertheless it’s still $30 more than getting this Patriot Viper right here. Patriot has a good reputation in the enthusiast PC RAM and SSD market, so you won’t go wrong with choosing any of these three brands.

For more SSD deals, check out our best PS5 SSD deals of 2023.