Atari Goes Celestial In New ‘Lunar Lander Beyond’ Narrative Trailer

Touching down Spring 2024.

Publisher Atari and developer Dreams Uncorporated have revealed a brand-new narrative trailer for the upcoming Lunar Lander Beyond, a revival of the classic 1979 arcade title.

It’s all very dramatic stuff, with distress calls, rescue missions, and mass evacuations, but at its core, the gameplay itself looks to retain the classic mechanics from the original. Let’s just hope our heroic pilots don’t stumble across some mysterious alien pods, hm?

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Bulletstorm VR: sci-fi shooter’s PS VR2 features detailed

Welcome to Stygia! Stroll along the tranquil corridors of this once luxurious resort planet, serenaded by the sweet sounds of explosions and gunfire. Sit back and take in the vivid colors of the sunset – the secret ingredient is gamma radiation! Why not make some new friends? Our friendly cannibal gangs would kill to meet you.

Bulletstorm VR invites you to a blood-soaked and adrenaline-fuelled story with guns, gore, and gruesome enemies. Playing as Grayson Hunt, former elite mercenary and current space pirate, you are marooned on a hell planet and the only way out is through – through a hail of bullets, that is. You and your squad must survive not only the horrors of the planet’s inhabitants but also exact vengeance on the man who put you there – your ex-commander, General Victor Sarrano.

The secret to any good vacation is packing smart, and your trip to Stygia would be incomplete without a kick-ass arsenal you can wield with your own two hands. Yes, two – give it to your enemies with both hands with Bulletstorm VR’s exclusive and full support for dual-wielding weapons. Like everyone else, you too must have wondered, in moments of quiet reflection, what does it feel like to lasso a bloodthirsty mutant with an energy leash and sling them into a razor sharp cactus? Well, wonder no more! The energy leash in Bulletstorm VR is a dynamic weapon that lets you pull, push, trap, and even explode enemies up close and far away.

A resort getaway is the perfect place to explore a different side of yourself. Who are you when you’re not a space pirate, grinding away at your day job, shooting up skull-faced goons? Maybe you’re a baddie with an attitude and brand new energy blades. Bulletstorm VR lets you play two brand new levels as Trishka Novak and dual-wield energy blade weapons as sharp as her tongue.

Of course, you always need familiar favorites on holiday, just in case you start feeling homesick. And what’s more familiar than the comforting heft of a good old-fashioned gun? Nothing quite like a rifle with a 100-round magazine to help you lie back in peace (and your enemies in pieces). We have rocket-launching revolvers, multitasking high-speed drill blasters, and bazookas with exploding footballs. Or, how about a four-barrelled shotgun? After all, if you can’t go a little overboard on holiday, when can you?

Sounds like a dream vacation? With the PS VR2, dreams become a virtual reality – or as real as cutting-edge haptics and visuals allow. A 110-degree field of vision lets you take in Bulletstorm’s next-generation visuals – and keep an eye on enemies and traps. The 2000 x 2040 resolution rate per eye brings the grit of Stygia’s badlands and terrordomes to life while the six-axis motion sensing system lets you embody Grayson Hunt as he shoots, punches, kicks, and drinks his way through the planet’s underbelly.

With the PS VR2 Sense controllers, each action immerses you deeper into the world of Bulletstorm. Explosions reverberate not only in your ears but also in your hands. Each weapon in your arsenal feels different in your hands – letting you instinctively know when to reload and how to adjust your aim.

So join us this January 18 for the trip of your dreams – and your enemies’ nightmares. See you in Stygia, boners!

Disney Lorcana Announces World Championship

Game publisher Ravensburger announced new details about upcoming competitive events for the popular Disney Lorcana Trading Card Game, including the first-ever World Championship in 2025.

“As we move into 2024, we will continue to support our growing and diverse community through new discoveries for collectors, organized play and competitive events for players and new products that help beginning fans take their first steps into trading card games,” said Ravensbuger’s Global Head of Games Filip Francke in a press release. “We’re only just getting started, but consumer feedback and industry data supports our belief that this game will be around for a very long time.”

Lorcana launched in September 2023 with a hobby store program but no official competitive events. The highly-anticipated competitive circuit begins in May 2024 for North America and Europe. There will be regional-level tournaments called Disney Lorcana Challenges, where the top four competitors earn invites to the North American or European Championship, respectively. The North American and European Championships will be held in Q4 2024. Top players from those Championships will earn invites to the World Championship 2025. Even though the Disney Lorcana World Championship is invite-only, there will be a larger competition open to other players at the event.

Ravensburger promised details on event dates, prizing, and more in March 2024.

In the meantime, there will be new competitive events for the local scene called Set Championships. The first of these will be the Into the Inklands Championship, named after the upcoming set releasing in February. These organized play events are hosted by local hobby stores and award a new Enchanted Stitch – Rock Star Promo card as the first place prize, with the first and second place players receiving a playmat also featuring Stitch – Rock Star (both prizes shown below). Details on how stores can host these events will be announced in late February 2024.

In other Lorcana news, a new product designed to teach beginners the game was announced called Disney Lorcana TCG Gateway. It’s a two-player game that starts both players out with basic 30-card decks and then progressively adds different card types and mechanics until they have a full 60-card deck. Expect Disney Lorcana TCG Gateway to hit stores August 9, 2024 with a retail price of $24.99.

Ravensburger also unveiled the release dates for 2024’s four expansions.

Into the Inklands will be released in hobby shops and Disney parks February 23, 2024, with mass retail stores and shopDisney getting it on March 8, 2024. Into the Inklands is the third set of Disney Lorcana.

The next three sets of the year haven’t had their titles revealed yet, but the release dates will be as follows:

  • Disney Lorcana Set 4: May 17, 2024/May 31, 2024
  • Disney Lorcana Set 5: August 9, 2024/August 23, 2024
  • Disney Lorcana Set 6: November 15, 2024/November 29, 2024

For more on Disney Lorcana, check out our positive first impression of the game, as well as an in-depth interview with the co-creator of the game.

This roguelike deckbuilder is software development meets Inscryption

Hey! How would you like to contribute to the downfall of society? I do so by regularly tuning into Love Island and/or Married At First Sight. For those of you who’d like to do your part in videogame form, dev_hell looks to be the answer. It’s a first-person deckbuilding roguelike where you play as a software developer employed by a shady corporation to “reshape the future”, and it’s giving off strong whiffs of Inscryption. As much as I know dev_hell will be incredibly unsettling… I’m in.

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Ace Combat 7 Deluxe Edition Announced for Nintendo Switch With DLC and More

Bandai Namco is putting the Nintendo Switch on the highway to the danger zone, announcing that Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown Deluxe Edition will be coming to Nintendo’s hybrid console on July 11.

According to the official release, the Switch version will include “all original content and faithfully recreates the fast-paced action of the original.” It will also include the original release’s 2-8 player multiplayer gameplay, and will bring with it six DLC packs and bonuses from the original game.

In addition to the base game, the full list of content available for Nintendo Switch includes:

  • Three original aircraft sets + three single-player missions
  • Part 1 “ACE COMBAT 7: SKIES UNKNOWN – ADF-11F Raven Set”
  • Part 2 “ACE COMBAT 7: SKIES UNKNOWN – ADF-01 FALKEN Set”
  • Part 3 “ACE COMBAT 7: SKIES UNKNOWN – ADFX-01 Morgan Set”
  • Part 4 “ACE COMBAT 7: SKIES UNKNOWN – Unexpected Visitor”
  • Part 5 “ACE COMBAT 7: SKIES UNKNOWN – Anchorhead Raid”
  • Part 6 “ACE COMBAT 7: SKIES UNKNOWN – Ten Million Relief Plan”
  • Bonus Music Player Mode
  • Playable Aircraft F-104C – Avril
  • Playable Aircraft F-4E Phantom II
  • Three aircraft skins from past entries
  • 8 emblems from past entries

Originally released back in 2020, Ace Combat 7 is the latest entry in the acclaimed aerial combat series. We awarded it a 7 in our original review, writing, “Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown is a great-looking arcade flight combat game, and zipping over high-quality terrain trying to establish missile locks and evade pursuers can be a lot of fun. But the experience often gets weighed down by its weird and convoluted but persistent story and poor communication of objectives. It’s enough to prove that there’s room for the series to make a comeback, though this game will be not the one to jumpstart it.”

Nintendo Switch ports have proven problematic at times due to the platform’s aging hardware, which in many ways struggles to live up to the standards of even the PS4. To allay concerns, Bandai Namco released a trailer featuring side-by-side comparisons of the Switch and PS4 versions. It doesn’t look too far off from other versions of the game, minus a handful of environmental details, but we’ll see when it’s released in July.

Ace Combat 7 is currently available on PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC via Steam, and has sold more than 5 million units to date. There have been no updates on the next entry in the series, but Bandai Namco said that “additional DLC not included in the Deluxe Edition is planned to be available to purchase after launch” on July 11.

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.

Call of Duty Anti-Cheat Tech Will Now Close the Game Down if a Mouse and Keyboard Player Activates Aim Assist

Activision has issued a warning to Call of Duty players: it will now close the game down it it detects aim assist on mouse and keyboard.

In a tweet, Activision said Call of Duty’s anti-cheat tech, dubbed Ricochet, will now close the game app on PC if it detects if a mouse and keyboard player activate aim assist. This works across Modern Warfare 3, Modern Warfare 2, and Warzone.

“Our security detection systems now target players using tools to activate aim assist while using a mouse and keyboard,” reads the statement. “The Call of Duty application will close if detected. Repeated use of these tools may lead to further account action.”

Aim assist is one of the hottest topics within the competitive shooter space. It is designed to offer a helping hand to console players when it comes to keeping their reticle on target, and, depending on its severity, can see the reticle move about quite a bit as it tracks enemy players. Aim assist, generally speaking, is not meant for mouse and keyboard players, who benefit from the increased speed and accuracy their PC-focused control scheme provides.

Call of Duty players have used unauthorised third-party hardware such as XIM and Cronus Zen to benefit from aim assist and reduced recoil while using mouse and keyboard for years. Last year Activision said Ricochet would detect their use and bans would follow for repeat offenders. This latest development is thought to target reWASD, an increasingly popular gamepad mapper software used to reassign the keyboard, mouse keys, and controller buttons. It creates a virtual controller, which in turn convinces the video game to enable aim assist.

Activision’s warning comes as the Season 1 Reloaded update prepares for launch across Warzone and Modern Warfare 3.

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.

SteamWorld owners Thunderful to fire 20% off staff due to “over-investments made in the last few years”

A round of videogame company layoffs following a period of “unsustainable” spending? It must be a Wednesday. Swedish conglomerate Thunderful Group AB – whose corporate possessions include Somerville developer Jumpship and several teams working on the SteamWorld games – have announced that they will lay off around 20 percent of their staff as part of a restructuring program that “stems primarily from over-investments made in the last few years”.

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Review: Golden Sun: The Lost Age – More Of The Same, Which Is No Bad Thing

The return of the prodigal sun.

This review originally went live in 2014, and we’re updating and republishing it to celebrate the game’s arrival in Switch’s Game Boy Advance library via the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack.


Back in 2001 (2002 in Europe) some players were left feeling short-changed when Golden Sun reached its abrupt ending. Developer Camelot – perhaps better known for the Shining Force series and, more recently, its Mario sports titles – expanded on its original plan and split the game into two parts. Those who’d already invested in the story had to wait nearly a year and a half for part two, Golden Sun: The Lost Age, to witness the proper ending. Fortunately, newcomers to these JRPGs don’t have to face the same agonising wait to see the story through to its conclusion.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 Ranked Play Won’t Be Available Immediately After Season 1 Reloaded Update After All

Activision has warned Call of Duty fans anxious to jump straight into Modern Warfare 3 Ranked Play after the Season 1 Reloaded update goes live that the new feature will not be available immediately.

In a tweet from the official Call of Duty Updates account, Activision said Ranked Play will not be available immediately after the Season 1 Reloaded update goes live today, January 17, at 9am Pacific / 12noon Eastern / 5pm UK across all platforms. The developers want to “perform checks” before enabling the mode, Activision said.

Heads up competitors, Modern Warfare 3 Ranked Play will not be available immediately after players receive the Season 1 Reloaded update,” Activision said. The Ranked Play team will be performing checks before enabling the mode for all players. Stay tuned for more updates.”

It’s unclear how long players will have to wait before Ranked Play is made available after Season 1 Reloaded goes live, but hopefully it won’t be a significant delay.

Modern Warfare 3’s Ranked Play, when it does go live, lets players rise through the ranks and skill divisions in four versus four competitive play featuring the same ruleset (settings, maps, and modes) used by the Call of Duty League.

Here’s how it works, per the Call of Duty blog: Ranked Play becomes available after players reach at least Level 55. All unrestricted gameplay items are unlocked for use in Ranked Play, regardless of how much you’ve previously unlocked. Some weapons, Killstreaks, Equipment, and gameplay content are restricted in Ranked Play to match CDL competitive rules. As you’d expect, Friendly Fire is enabled in all Ranked Play matches.

You begin at Rank 1. Your rank represents your Ranked Career. Win matches to earn stars and rank up. Rank is permanent and persists across seasons. You start your first Season in Bronze I. Advance through eight Skill Divisions and Tiers by earning SR (Skill Rating). SR is awarded when you win based on personal and team performance. In subsequent seasons, you will be dropped back three Tiers.

The highest Skill Division you can start a new season in is Diamond I. (SR penalties will result from being inactive, disconnecting from matches, and engaging in repeated friendly fire.) Win three matches in a row to earn a flaming rank. Continue winning to progress the Hot Streak flames. The flames expire if you lose or after 72 hours.

And here are the Ranked Play maps and modes:

  • CDL Search & Destroy: No respawning; 1.5-minute round timer; Friendly Fire enabled. Supported maps include Highrise, Invasion, Karachi, Skidrow, and Terminal.
  • CDL Hardpoint: 5-minute time limit; 250 score limit; 60-second objective rotation; Friendly Fire enabled. Supported maps include Invasion, Karachi, Skidrow, Sub Base, and Terminal.
  • CDL Control: 30 lives per team; 1.5-minute time limit; 3-round win limit; Friendly Fire enabled. Supported maps include Highrise, Invasion, and Karachi.

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.

Diablo 4 Season 3 revealed, introducing WASD controls and a customisable robot pal

What the hell is going on in Diablo 4 these days? “Devilish machinations”, would you believe. Blizzard have formally unveiled the brooding action-RPG‘s Season 3, aka Season of the Construct, which launches at 6pm GMT and 10am PST on January 23rd, and features a new quest line in which you investigate an ancient technology, the Loom, created by the mage Zoltun Kulle, which has now been purloined by the demon Malphas.

Along the way, you’ll both fight deadly arcane constructs or fantasy robots, and enlist one called Ayuzhan as your Seneschal Companion. These machinations aren’t just devilish, in other words. They are literal machinations, with all manner of automated foe awaiting beneath the deserts of Kehjistan.

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