Category: Video Games

Persona 3 Reload’s Super Stylish Opening Cinematic Revealed

Content Warning: The following article contains mentions of themes some readers may find distressing, including those of self-harm and suicide.

Atlus has released the super stylish opening cinematic for Persona 3: Reload ahead of its February 2 launch.

The two minute movie, which can be viewed below, is everything you’d expect of a Persona game, featuring a bright and colourful aesthetic over some incredibly dark themes.

Persona intros, which appear before the main menu when booting up the games, usually feature an upbeat pop track too, and Persona 3: Reload’s is no different. Protagonist Makoto Yuki even boots the tune up on an MP3 player in the beginning of the cinematic, which also acts as a quick reminder that Persona 3: Reload is set in 2009 and won’t feature smartphones as Persona 5 does.

The dark themes present in the trailer include suicide, headlined by Persona 3’s controversial method of summoning Personas that has characters put gun-like items called Evokers to their heads.

This method of summoning, which is regularly featured in the game as both a plot point and battle animation, has been debated for years, but Atlus opted to include it in the remake of the 2006 game.

Persona 3: Reload is a full recreation of the original, meaning it doesn’t include the additional features and options in the likes of Persona 3: FES or Persona 3: Portable. It also features a brand new English voice cast. The game was finally announced at the 2023 Xbox Games Showcase following a string of rumours and one final leak ahead of the event.

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

Monster Hunter Series Producer Shares New Year’s Message Ahead Of 20th Anniversary

Fan-favourite monster results arriving in March.

Capcom has been gearing up for the 20th anniversary of Monster Hunter for a while now and today’s New Year’s video message from series producer Ryozo Tsujimoto gives some indication of what’s in store for 2024.

To be clear, the message is not packed with information on anniversary plans, though Tsujimoto does confirm that the results of the fan-favourite monster voting will be revealed to mark the occasion this March. We can expect to see a new piece of artwork featuring the three most popular monsters too.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Kojima says horror game OD is as “experimental” as Boktai, so here’s a quick overview of solar powered gaming

Hideo Kojima’s new Xbox Game Studios project OD is a horror game that is “also a movie, and at the same time a new form of media” and who knows, perhaps it also runs on solar power. That’s the extremely direct and literal reading of Kojima’s latest social media tease, in which he compares his latest endeavour to Boktai: The Sun Is In Your Hand, an isometric vampire-hunting game for Game Boy Advance, which Kojima worked on while at Konami in the early noughties. Boktai stands apart to this day for making use of solar energy. There’s a sun sensor built into the cartridge, which allows you to re-energise your weapon by using the console in sunlight, though this isn’t outright necessary to prevail.

I doubt OD employs a similar peripheral, though a Steam Deck verified horror game that can only be played outdoors in pleasant weather would be an… interestingly contrary experience. But it’s an opportunity, at least, to jump aboard one of my personal hobby horses and give you a scrappy rundown of older and recent games that employ similar functionality.

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IGN UK Podcast 730: Flo Rida’s Christmas Catch-Up

Christmas has come late. A new IGN UK Podcast episode has arrived as Cardy, Dale, and Mat have a big ol’ catch-up and chat about all the games, movies, and TV shows that were enjoyed (and some not so much) over the festive break. We’ve got everything from God of War Ragnarok: Valhalla to Cobalt Core. Big blockbuster hits like Godzilla Minus One to French new wave noir. A bit of something for everyone innit.

What are you most excited about watching or playing in 2024? Get in touch at ign_ukfeedback@ign.com.

IGN UK Podcast 730: Flo Rida’s Christmas Catch-Up

Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom Nominated For Another ‘Game Of The Year’ Award

Winners to be revealed at the New York Game Awards.

Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom received a lot of nominations last year, and now to top it off it’s been nominated for another ‘Game of the Year’ award, this time by the New York Videogame Critics Circle.

The main event will take place on 23rd January 2024 where the winners of the 2024 New York Game Awards will be announced. Apart from a ‘Game of the Year’ nomination, Tears of the Kingdom has also been nominated for “best music” and “best kids game”.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Taiko no Tatsujin: Rhythm Festival Scores Music Pass And Winter Song Update

Available next week.

To celebrate the new year, Bandai Namco has announced its next wave of songs coming to Taiko no Tatsujin: Rhythm Festival.

These songs will be made available to Taiko Music Pass users and are timed in with the Winter Season. This service is available to subscribers only. Here’s what’s arriving next week on 11th January:

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

New JAWS Pinball Machine from Stern Has Original Movie Footage, Shark Toys, and Lots of Blood

The next game from Stern Pinball Inc. will be JAWS, a machine based on the 1975 Steven Spielberg film and featuring many sights and sounds from the horror flick. JAWS pinball also features the original John Williams score, new callouts from original JAWS star Richard Dreyfuss, and seemingly lots of movie footage incorporated into its HD screen. Shockingly, aside from a goofy ’70s knockoff machine and Zen Pinball’s virtual JAWS games, there’s never been an official JAWS pinball machine.

JAWS is designed by Keith Elwin, who was also behind the well-received Stern games, Godzilla and Iron Maiden. Its main features on the playfield include a chum bucket you can bash to “release blood” onto the playfield, represented by LED lights, which then raises a moving shark fin target to shoot. The fancier Premium and Limited Edition versions of JAWS feature a great white toy that pops out of the playfield from beneath a tiny boat that you can target, and a small replica of the Orca boat as a single-flipper mini playfield in the upper left.

There are three versions of JAWS, like many recent Stern releases, the Limited Edition and Premium Edition share similar playfield features and toys, but the Limited Edition has unique art and side armor. The Pro version has simpler playfield – it’s missing the upper Orca boat playfield and replaces the transforming shark bash toy with a simpler shark mechanism with a captive ball.

Stern has also teased a mode where you can play as the Great White, and a 3D video mode to discover.

Stern games now feature a QR reader and are connected to the Stern Insider Connected system via your phone to register high scores, tackle achievements, and, for JAWS, there are some unique features like “Shark Teeth” to collect for unlockables, and a “Career System” that allows for some sort of progression system via the Insider Connected setup.

JAWS is available now with the Pro Edition MSRP set at $6,999, Premium Edition set at $9,699 and Limited Edition set at $12,999. We hope to playtest it soon at our local pinball joint!

Samuel Claiborn is IGN’s managing editor and a fixes/breaks ancient arcade and pinball machines in his garage. TCELES B HSUP to follow him @Samuel_IGN on Twitter.

MapleStory Developer Nexon Fined Nearly $9 Million for Deceptive Loot Box Practices by Korean FTC

MapleStory developer Nexon is being hit with a sizable fine by the Korean Fair Trade Commission over what the body says are deceptive loot box practices.

As reported by the Korean Times and Business Korea, Nexon is being fined some $8.85 million (about 11.6 billion won) for allegedly lowering the probabilities of some loot box items capable of upgrading player equipment,, known as Cubes, without telling players According to the Korean Times, it is the largest fine of this type levied to date.

The judgment claims that Nexon engaged in these practices for more than 10 years in a period dating back to 2010, including secretly lowering the loot box odds for some items to near zero. The findings were reportedly based on internal documents obtained from Nexon.

“Nexon made announcements about changes to the games hundreds of times from 2010-21, but it omitted the information about the probability adjustment,” the KTFC said in a statement. It added, “Our judgment is that the company had aimed to lure customers by giving them false information and used deceptive means.”

Loot boxes have become less popular in recent years owing to the intense backlash from fans. Instead, developers are more likely to favor the battle pass model pioneered by the likes of Dota 2 and Fortnite. However, loot boxes remain prevalent in mobile games and sports games, and they are a hot button issue for regulators.

Nexon in particular has become known for its aggressive monetization practices. Last year, IGN reported on MapleStory’s controversial “New Age” update, which made it more difficult for players in certain regions to farm a key currency while the price of some items were inflated. The update led to large-scale protests throughout the community.

Our judgment is that [Nexon] had aimed to lure customers by giving them false information and used deceptive means

MapleStory is a free-to-play 2D MMO that first launched back in 2003. It has purportedly raked in some $418 million [550 billion won] in sales from its loot boxes in the period between 2010 and 2021.

The Korean Times reports that Nexon apologized in its statement but that it will appeal the decision. IGN has reached out to Nexon representatives for a full statement.

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.

Hideo Kojima Compares OD to Boktai, Says It Will be Just as ‘Different’

What is OD? We don’t know much save that it’s being made in collaboration with Jordan Peele, and that it will feature a lot of familiar Hollywood celebs screaming silently into the screen. Probably.

Predictably, creator Hideo Kojima is calling it a game, a movie, and a “new form of media.” He’s also comparing it to Boktai: The Sun Is in Your Hand, a cult favorite series on GBA and Nintendo DS that was a big departure at the time for Kojima, who is best-known for his work on Metal Gear Solid.

In Boktai, you play a vampire hunter named Django (no, not that Django) who battles the undead with the help of a solar gun powered by real-life sunlight. The cartridge famously included a solar sensor that charged up the in-game weapons needed to defeat Boktai’s vampires. Writing on X/Twitter, Kojima recalled the “fierce opposition” he received when he first pitched Boktai.

“It seems I have been acknowledged by creating games that go against the current of the times, such as ‘hide-and-seek’ games where you sneak into a building without being detected by the enemy, or ‘delivery games’ where you enjoy moving around in an open world,” Kojima wrote. “For me, the most experimental game was ‘defeating vampires outside your house’ using actual sunlight around you. It was met with fierce opposition from the staff and even within the company. In that sense, OD is just as different.”

It’s just one more teaser for OD, which remains as mysterious as Death Stranding when it was first revealed. Peele, meanwhile, has claimed that OD will be “immersive” and “utterly terrifying.” We don’t know much else about OD, save that it’s being developed on Unreal Engine 5 and that will feature Sophia Lillis, Hunter Schafer, and Udo Kier. It will apparently “explore the concept of testing your fear threshold.”

As for Boktai, the series hasn’t been seen since 2007, but it did manage to get two sequels on GBA and a DS release titled Lunar Knights. The final game notably dropped the sun sensor that made the original so unique.

OD does not yet have a release date. For more, check out all the biggest games of 2024, which will apparently include Metal Gear Solid Delta.

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.

GTA 5’s Michael Voice Actor Praises Introduction of GTA 6’s Lucia as ‘Huge’

The actor behind Michael in Grand Theft Auto V, Ned Luke, openly endorsed Lucia, the playable female protagonist, in the highly anticipated GTA 6.

As part of our IGN’s GTFM video series, Luke was seen chatting with my colleague Akeem Lawanson. During the interview, Luke described the significance of Lucia as one of the two playable protagonists in GTA 6 while also addressing the claims that Rockstar has gone “woke” for adding her as one of the playable characters.

“Lucia’s hard, man. In the trailer, she looked good. You get a lot of these clowns out here going, ‘Rockstar’s going woke, they’re caving into the wokeness of the world,'” Luke said. “First of all, there’s been other female protagonists in the past, but not in something as huge as this.”

As Luke points out, it is a well-documented fact that a few games in the Grand Theft Auto series offered a female protagonist. Outside of the obvious one being the female custom character you can make in GTA Online, both Grand Theft Auto and the Game Boy Color (GBC) version of Grand Theft Auto II had at least one female protagonist in each game you could play as.

Yet, Luke’s point of mentioning the significance of Lucia in the next installment is still significant. Beyond what has already been pointed out, since jumping into the third dimension, the Grand Theft Auto series has been a critical and commercial hit for Rockstar, with GTA 5 being a major success since its release in 2013.

GTA 6 is currently in development with a 2025 release window. Beyond the name of our two protagonists and the confirmation that it will be set in a fictionalized version of Florida called Leonida, Rockstar has yet to share more in-depth details. Until then, check out 99 details we discovered in the first GTA 6 trailer.

Taylor is a Reporter at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.