Category: Video Games

While there are clearly many millions of players who have secured their own PS5 and Xbox, lots are still looking. Whether you are trying to figure out which outlets have them available, which console and accessories you should actually buy, and what the pros and cons for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S are, we’ve got you covered. Read on to find all that and more.

Where to Buy a PS5

Walmart has PlayStations available right now, while Amazon is still requiring you to apply for an invitation. However, the turnaround for those invitations is getting faster and faster.

Where to Buy Xbox Series X

Should I Buy a PS5 or an Xbox?

That’s a complicated question that has a lot of answers. First, what types of games do you like? If you like single-player games with more serious tones, PlayStation arguably has the lead (at least right now), although some feel that there is a degree of “same-ness” to them, which is something to keep an eye on.

Xbox currently has what some consider to be less compelling single-player exclusives, but Xbox is arguably better for those who love multiplayer games, with better chat integration, cross-platform functionality with PC, and several exclusive games that feature multiplayer prominently. PlayStation 5 has some of the most celebrated and popular exclusive franchises, like Last of Us and God of War, while Xbox has heavy hitters like Halo, Forza and Flight Simulator, to name a few.

You should also keep in mind how important multiplayer games are to you on a friend level. Do your friends all have PS4/PS5, and you will play games with them regularly? You should probably get a PS5 and stick together. Same goes for Xbox. If your Destiny clan or Call of Duty friend group is all on Xbox, you should probably stick together. If that isn’t important to you, look at the games that have come out, and the ones that are announced, and see which platform has more you are interested in.

Finally, a big factor is controller comfort. Personally, I’ve been a PlayStation guy for a long time, but I find the DualSense very uncomfortable, so I find myself playing much more often on PC or Xbox using the (for me) vastly superior Xbox Series X/S controller. There are workarounds for this if you want to stick with a particular platform (like a Brooks converter), but those can introduce input latency, so keep that in mind as you weigh your options. But again, it mostly comes down to personal preference. The DualSense has some pretty cool haptic feedback, which has to be experienced to be truly appreciated, but it comes at the expense of battery life.

Services are another huge contributing factor to which platform is superior. Personally, I’m squarely in the Xbox Game Pass camp. With every first-party Xbox game included, the ability to get a higher tier to play those games on PC too (with most save games moving back and forth with you), and an incredible swath of awesome AAA and indie games, it’s a value proposition that simply can’t be beaten. Xbox backward compatibility also reaches all the way back to the original console in some cases.

However, the success of Game Pass caused Sony to take notice, and it introduced new tiers to its PlayStation Plus service that introduce the first steps toward a “Game Pass-like” service on PlayStation. The PS5 features backward compatibility with basically every PS4 game, and signing up for PS Plus at the Premium tier gets you access to streaming PS3 games. It’s not as robust, or as simple, as Xbox Game Pass, but the newly revamped service is still in its early stages.

Exclusive games VS services. PlayStation’s popularity VS Xbox’s budget-friendly nature. There is a lot to consider, and you honestly can’t make a bad decision, regardless of which you choose.

What’s the Best 4K TV for Gaming?

There are tons of great gaming TVs, and right now the best is the LG C2 OLED Evo, but whether you want to spend a chunk of change and grab the best TV you can, or just get something you can use for less cash, we have tons of great recommendations.

Generally, you want to go for a TV that has a low input latency, a screen big enough for your play space, compatibility for high refresh rates and resolutions, and HDMI 2.1. If the screen has all of those, and the number and type of ports you need, you’re golden.

What PS5 Accessories Should I Get?

There are tons of great PS5 accessories that will help you make the most of your new console. From extra controllers to gaming headsets, high capacity internal NVMe drives, and more, we’ve got you covered.

What Xbox Accessories Should I Get?

There are tons of great Xbox Series X/S accessories, but here are some of the best. Whether you need a great chat headset for when you hop online with friends, new expansion cards to hold all your favorite games, racing or fighting game controllers, or controller charging stands, we’ve got everything you need to make your awesome Xbox experience even better.

Is the PS5 Shortage Over?

Essentially, yes. While PlayStation 5 has been tricky to acquire, there have been several avenues for those who have been keeping their head on a swivel.

Sony has also confirmed that it has sold over 30 million PS5 consoles, and Sony Interactive Entertainment president Jim Ryan said, “Everyone who wants a PS5 should have a much easier time finding one at retailers globally, starting from this point forward.”

Brian Barnett writes reviews, guides, features, & more for IGN & GameSpot. You can get your fix of his antics on Twitter (@Ribnax) and Twitch (Ribnax) or check out his fantastic video game talk show, The Platformers, on Twitch & Apple Podcasts.

Turtle Rock Studios announced that it will not be adding any more content to Back 4 Blood and will be focusing on its next big game. The game has already received three expansions: Tunnels of Terror, Children of the Worm, and River of Blood.

“Turtle Rock Studios is actually pretty small for a studio making AAA games,” Turtle Rock Studios said in a statement. “We don’t have quite enough folks to continue working on Back 4 Blood content while we spin up another game – yes, another game! Given this, it’s time for us to put our heads down, get back in the lab, and get to work on the next big thing.”

Turtle Rock Studios continued, “While we may be a bit quieter in the short term we promise that we’ll be Back, bigger, bolder, and better than ever!

Turtle Rock Studios working on next game as it confirms Back 4 Blood won’t receive new content https://t.co/4zTLrAMSIQ pic.twitter.com/yn3dao6w7F

— Wario64 (@Wario64) February 2, 2023

The studio said that it will continue to support the game and noted that it is available to play via PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium as well as Xbox Game Pass.

Turtle Rock Studios was part of Valve until 2010 but was recently acquired by Tencent back in 2021.

In IGN’s Back 4 Blood review, we said, “Back 4 Blood doesn’t nail all the twists it attempts, but a creative card-based progression system, fantastic campaign, and lighthearted tone make it a fun spin on a familiar genre.”

George Yang is a freelance writer for IGN. He’s been writing about the industry since 2019 and has worked with other publications such as Insider, Kotaku, NPR, and Variety.

When not writing about video games, George is playing video games. What a surprise! You can follow him on Twitter @Yinyangfooey

Double Fine Productions founder Tim Schafer will be inducted into the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) Hall of Fame this month at the 26th annual DICE Awards, in recognition of his over 30-year impact on the games industry.

Schafer’s career began at LucasArts in 1989 as a programmer working on games including Indiana Jones and the last Crusade and Maniac Mansion. He was eventually invited by Ron Gilbert to work on The Secret of Monkey Island and its sequel, both of which received massive acclaim. Schafer went on to design games such as Day of the Tentacle, Full Throttle, and Grim Fandango before eventually leaving LucasArts in 2000 to found Double Fine Productions and create Psychonauts, Psychnauts 2, Brutal Legend, and Broken Age.

AIAS Hall of Fame status is given to “game creators who have been instrumental in the development of highly influential games and moving a particular genre forward.” Schafer will join past honorees such as Ed Boon, Connie Booth, Bonnie Ross, Todd Howard, Hideo Kojima, and others.

“Tim has been a beacon of creativity and innovation in the games industry for decades,” said head of PlayStation Creators Greg Rice, who will be presenting the award. “Since the early days of LucasArts he’s been setting the benchmark for storytelling in games, and with the formation of Double Fine he created a place that not only allowed him to continue to deliver incredible games, but also inspire and support others doing the same. He truly is a legend.”

We praised Double Fine’s most recent work under Schafer, Psychonauts 2, for its “weird and wonderfully written story” and its expansion of its predecessor “toward both grander and more intimate threats without losing the joyous childhood adventure vibes of the original.”

The 26th annual DICE Awards will take place on Thursday, February 23, in Las Vegas as a part of the 2023 DICE Summit.

Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.

The difference between PlayStation and Xbox over the past generation-plus isn’t just the quantity of exclusives, it’s the quality of them. Microsoft has had precious few exclusives at all, which in and of itself has been a big problem. But worse, the number of those that have been not just good but fantastic is embarrassingly small. And that’s why last week’s surprise reveal and immediate shadow-drop of Tango Gameworks’ rhythm-action game Hi-Fi Rush was so huge for Xbox. It surprised, it delighted, and it’s a viral hit – and it’s exactly what Xbox needs right now.

Rhythm-action games aren’t new. But they’ve also never really been “hit” games. We’ve enjoyed a steady diet of them over the past few years, likely from game developers who themselves are, like many gamers, mourning the seemingly permanent death of the plastic-instrument genre that Guitar Hero and Rock Band pioneered in the late-2000s. And while a number of the new-age rhythm-action games have been good – last year’s Metal: Hellsinger leaned hard into its theme and was an incredibly fun game for doing so – there’s something more approachable and appealing about Hi-Fi Rush. Maybe it’s the literal-cartoon art style and its equally cartoonish plot about a teenager who cuts the line at Vandelay Technologies to get his disabled right arm replaced with a functioning robotic limb, only to end up getting rockstar powers courtesy of the iPod that gets mistakenly fused to his chest during the automated, factory-like procedure.

Hi-Fi Rush makes this silly-sounding premise sing though, with humor, liberal use of the entire color palette (recalling past Xbox cult classics like Jet Set Radio Future and Sunset Overdrive), and gameplay that rewards combo moves and special attacks pulled off to the beat of its incredible soundtrack – including cuts from Nine Inch Nails and The Black Keys – but, crucially, doesn’t penalize you for failing to stay in rhythm. Every moment literally exudes joy, as even the normally boring bits of the environment bop to the beat as your rockstar avatar Chai snaps his fingers or taps his foot.

The result is an instantly lovable game that feels fresh and has taken the gaming community by storm. And Bethesda knew it had something special. Everyone has been talking about Hi-Fi Rush for the past week, and deservedly so. It’s also the beneficiary of great timing; the only other significant release around the same time was the Dead Space remake, which, while outstanding, is hardly gunning for the same audience. Dead Space and Hi-Fi Rush couldn’t be more opposite if they tried!

Furthermore, to be blunt, both Microsoft and the Xbox community needed this. We thought the cloudy days were gone forever in 2021, but the dark skies returned last year, with even Xbox boss Phil Spencer acknowledging the dearth of exclusive game releases over the past 12 months. Xbox’s no-show at The Game Awards in December only further tested fans’ patience. And so, the fact that Microsoft didn’t just give us release dates for key first-half-of-the-year exclusives at its recent Developer_Direct broadcast but also released a kickass new game that very day was a jolt of positivity, enthusiasm, and downright fun that Xbox has been lacking in for much of the early part of this new console generation.

So where are we now as we head into the second month of a critical year for Xbox? Forza Motorsport seems to be pushed to the second half of 2023, and Starfield is still something of a question mark, release-date-wise, but for the moment Xbox fans are eatin’ good thanks to a joyous, totally-out-of-left-field surprise from one of the studios it acquired to solve its first-party game problem. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some more evil corporate bosses to beat down with my robot guitar arm…

Ryan McCaffrey is IGN’s executive editor of previews and host of both IGN’s weekly Xbox show, Podcast Unlocked, as well as our monthly(-ish) interview show, IGN Unfiltered. He’s a North Jersey guy, so it’s “Taylor ham,” not “pork roll.” Debate it with him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan.