Category: Video Games

Mega Evolution has kicked off with a bang thanks to its base set releasing in the US recently, and it’s single card market is doing some strange things right now. One things for sure, the majority of the top chase cards in this set are getting more affordable by the day. It seems that day one stock is getting better across the board, with The Pokémon Company seemingly printing newer sets into oblivion. The long term effects remain to be seen, but more cards being printed means less damage to your pocket.

TL:DR; Mega Evolution Crashers and Climbers This Week

Gold Hyper Rare cards are the highest value cards in this set, with Mega Gardevoir ex (187/132) doubling in price compared to market value and Mega Lucario ex (188/132) kicking off high and currently settling at an insane $650 for the time being. There’s some supprising Illustration Rare price rises in Mega Evolution too, with Helioptile (143/132) rising by 33.6% recently thanks to it’s gorgeous artwork.
One thing is clear with Mega Evolution, Pokémon trainers and collectors aren’t giving in to FOMO. Being able to wait for sealed product and chase cards vs. buying it straight at launch can be a money burner, and it looks like this sentiment is finally sinking in at this point in Pokémania 2025. Let’s get into it:

Pokémon Card Crashers

Mega Lucario ex – 188/132 is currently going for $650 near mint, which is nearly $70 below it’s current market value of $719.37. Whilst it’s only a 9.7% drop, it’s still a great saving right now and a sign that Gold Hyper Rare cards may settle at or below $600 mark throughout the Mega Evolution era of Pokémon TCG.

Mega Brave is a heaby hitter for 270 damage, but can’t be used again next turn, so that’s something to pull out when you’re backed into a corner or need one more knock out. I’d much rather use Mega Lucario ex for energy recycling and building out the rest of my bench whilst dealing a solid 130 damage.

Mega Gardevoir ex – 178/132 is currently the highest valued Secret Art Rare at around $313, which is lower than the current market value of $317.08. That might not sound like a big deal, but these small dips can lead to big crashers and could indicate a price correction over the coming weeks.

Overflowing Wishes is great for getting Psychic energy to your benched Pokémon quickly, and it’s artwork is classicly gorgeous. This is 100% a Pokémon card that would look amazing slabbed or in a chase card binder for sure.

Mega Latias ex – 181/132 is currently valued at a much more modest $168.05, which is around $11 lower than it’s current market value. Again it looks like the fandom are looking towards Gold Hyper Rare cards rather than SIRs in this era, but for me the artwork on this card wins out against the Hyper Rares floating around in this set. Mega Latias’ speed and strength is captured perfectly in this artwork.

It’s Strafe move takes this a step further by causing 40 damage and performing a switch out with a benched Pokémon, perfect for chipping away at opposing Pokémon early game, especially low HP ones. If you follow the switching strategy, Illusory Impulse discards all energy from Mega Latias and deals 300 damage when it counts. Cool or what?

My boy Mega Venusaur ex (177/132) is giving out crashing energy by dropping around 6.2% to $217.97, but that’s still a respectable value for an SIR. However, Mega Venusair is a very playable card, with Solar Transfer allowing trainers to move around grass energy during their turn, which is a fantastic ability and works well with Meganium from the same set.

Jungle Dump is both a hillarious move name and a cracking move, allowing to deal 240 damage and healing 30 damage from Mega Venusaur ex. That’s why I love Venusaur, it’s an absolute troll and always has a long game strategy about it.

Mega Kangaskhan ex (182/132) SIR is also begginign its decent, running in at $91.48 compared to it’s current market value of $94.20. The thing is, Kangaskhan doesn’t have a massive following, so naturally it’s pricing is going to reflect that. It’s not very playable either thanks to trainers relying on coin flips for its main offensive move, however, Run Errand allows trainers to draw two cards per turn which is a bonus.

Pokémon Card Climbers

Mega Gardevoir ex – 187/132 Hyper Gold Rare is currently doubling its market value at $600, which is frankly insane. It would however line up up with the other gold hyper rare in the set which is currently going for $650, which makes more sense. It is a ridiculously rare card all things considered, so this level of pricing just weeks after release isn’t that much of a suprise. Whilst it’s Overflowing Wishes and Mega Symphonia moves are cool, it’s value is purely based of the regal presentation and rarity of this Gold Hyper Rare.

Helioptile – 143/132 is moving at a strong pace for an Illustration Rare. It’s gorgeous artwork is the main draw here, and it’s clearly warrants it’s 50.6% climb to $8.90. It’s a good idea to snap this one up before it gets higher, it’s still a great price for an in-demand Illustration Rare. It’s not got the best moved for a basic Pokémon, so this price hike is all about looks.

Mega Lucario ex (179/132) SIR is my top chase card of Mega Evolution just because it features Mega Lucario and Mega Venusaur in battle, two of my favorite Pokémon. It’s gone up to $330, which is a rise of 14% from its $289.45 current market value. Something tells me i’m not the only one desperate for this chase card in my collection. Although I can’t see anyone using this particular card in a deck, even though Mega Lucario’s Mega Brave and Aura Jab moveset is a corker. Once again, this is all about looks, and the artwork here is spot on.

Bulbasaur (113/132) comes in it’s stunning Illustration Rare format and a Mega Evolution promo stamp alternative. The stamped card can be found as a bonus in upgraded booster boxes, and is commanding around $5 more in value right now, which is just a few dollars over it’s market value. It’s early days for both of these cards, but given Bulbasaurs popularity and the stunning floral and trippy artwork on display here, this is 100% a card to keep an eye on and buy now.

Christian Wait is a contributing freelancer for IGN covering everything collectable and deals. Christian has over 7 years of experience in the Gaming and Tech industry with bylines at Mashable and Pocket-Tactics. Christian also makes hand-painted collectibles for Saber Miniatures. Christian is also the author of “Pokemon Ultimate Unofficial Gaming Guide by GamesWarrior”. Find Christian on X @ChrisReggieWait.

Battlefield 6 launched mere hours ago, and someone has already managed to recreate the iconic Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare map, Shipment, in its Portal mode.

After years of waiting, leaks, and hype, EA and Battlefield Studios launched Battlefield 6 for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S today, October 10. Its promise of a back-to-basics approach for the series has attracted a lot of attention, especially in the Call of Duty community.

Battlefield 6 players can hop into the community tab on the main menu and play on the close-quarters map for themselves right now by simply searching “Shipment” in the Search Experiences or Browse Servers tab. It’s chaotic, noisy, cramped, and constantly riddled with bullets or, in other words, exactly the same as it is in Call of Duty. There are even some Shipment 24/7 servers already live for those looking to dive headfirst into the action.

The most popular result already features more than one hundred likes and sends their thanks to X/Twitter user PR officer at Deep Worlds, Matavatar, who is responsible for bringing Shipment in Battlefield 6 to life. They began posting their progress just yesterday, teasing work on a recreation of another Call of Duty map, Killhouse, as well as a map that could feature a Star Wars Star Destroyer.

With Black Ops 7 a little more than one month out from its November 14 release date, Call of Duty and Battlefield are scrapping to win over the hearts and minds of shooter fans. Now, the Battlefield 6 Portal mode is already seeing fans use their creativity to bridge the gap between the two.

https://t.co/IalNbtfAuY pic.twitter.com/3M9KhhspPF

— Matavatar (@Matavatar) October 9, 2025

Portal is a Halo 3 Forge-like game mode introduced in Battlefield 2042 that allows players to build their own maps and modes. It’s mostly been used to recreate and remix fan-favorite experiences from across Battlefield’s long history, but Battlefield 6 removes many of the restrictions, encouraging imaginative fans to even bring maps from other franchises. Classic Call of Duty map, Shipment, seems to be the first to make waves.

We’ll have to wait and see what other wacky fan-made maps will come to the Battlefield 6 Portal mode. Matavatar, at least, has already teased they’re interested in bringing more classic FPS maps – including Firing Range, Nuketown, Ziba Tower, Metro, and more – to Battlefield 6.

Battlefield 6 has been out for just a few hours and has already seen its queue system reach numbers up to more than 300,000 players, though it shouldn’t take more than a few minutes to actually start playing. For more, you can read up on IGN’s Battlefield 6 multiplayer review in progress and our campaign review. You can also check out what kind of post-launch updates EA and BF Studios have prepared for the future.

Michael Cripe is a freelance writer with IGN. He’s best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).

During its panel at New York Comic Con, Playground Productions not only looked back on the return and relaunch of the beloved Backyard Sports video games, but it also announced it will be completing its Backyard Sports retro collection with Backyard Basketball ’01 and Backyard Hockey ’02 in mid-November, that there are high scores and events coming to Backyard Baseball ’92, and it shared a few new details for the series’ upcoming animated special.

To learn more, IGN had the chance to speak to Playground Productions CEO Linday Barnett and Chief Product Officer Chris Waters about the past and future of this fan-favorite franchise, and we began by chatting about what makes these games so special.

“We think it works because the games have always been character-first, comedy-forward, and accessible,” Waters said. “These games weren’t, ‘Hey, let’s make the most incredibly realistic simulation,’ they were, ‘let’s recreate the experience of what it felt like to go out and pick up a bat and a ball, grab whatever friends you had around whether they’re athletic or not, and go out and play baseball and see what madness ensues.’ That madness transcends time and transcends technology.”

Backyard Sports’ Retro Library Will Be Complete in Mid-November, New Features Headed to Backyard Baseball ’97

Whether you are new to the franchise or returning to it, you’ll be happy to know that the Backyard Sports retro library will be complete when Backyard Basketball ’02 and Backyard Hockey ’02 are released on Steam in mid-November. Oh, and did we mention both will be free to download and keep?

These games, alongside Baseball ’97, Baseball ’01, Football ’99, Soccer ’98, will also be part of the Backyard Sports Retro Bundle, which will be available for $26 – a 40% savings from buying all the games individually. Players will even be able to ‘Complete the Set’ and only pay for the games you don’t have yet at the cheaper price.

Furthermore, the Backyard Soccer ’98 and Backyard Basketball ’02 mobile versions will be free on iOS and Android when that Steam retro bundle goes live later next month.

Speaking of mobile, Backyard Baseball ’97 is getting a new gamification feature in collaboration with Lucra. Fans can now compete against each other in week-long and month-long events like Home Run Competitions or Most Strikeouts.

Global high scores will be tracked in real-time, and the new feature will be free for fans and even includes a chance to win tickets to the 2025 World Series, a Pablo Sanchez trading card, and more. This feature will begin on iOS to start, and players will need to opt-iin and provide some personal information.

“What we want to do is allow that community to grow and for players to be able to engage with each other,” Waters said of the new gamification features. “And again, without the source code, we can’t make these games, but by adding a tournament layer onto them, we’re sort of creating a backdoor co-op mode.”

Fun fact, Playground Productions did not get the source code for most of these games when they acquired the rights, so the team had to hack the old CD-ROMs and rebuilt the games themselves.

“We thought those games were just dead,” Barrnett told us. “And it was an incredible feat that Mega Kat Studios was able to do, which is reverse engineer and hack the CD-ROMs to make them playable. The thing that we didn’t know in all of this, however, was that we’d be able to make the games even better and we were able to remove certain bugs that existed in the original games and add leaderboards and add competitions and just make them playable on systems that didn’t even exist back then, like Nintendo Switch.”

The Future of Backyard Sports Includes an Animated Special That Just Finished Production

We then shifted our talk to the future. While the team wasn’t ready to reveal anything about future games, they did confirm that Backyard Sports officially wrapped production on their new animated special that builds upon the brand’s beloved IP and characters.

This special is being produced by Lighthouse Studios, which is known for its work on Bob’s Burgers and Rick & Morty, and it will feature an “all-star cast” that will be announced in early November. As for when you can see it, the special will be released at Dave & Buster’s in early 2026 and direct to consumer shortly after.

“What makes Backyard Sports special is the characters,” Waters said. “For us, the opportunity to take your favorite characters and bring them to life in a new way was a no-brainer as we’ve already said this is a multi-platform franchise we want to go beyond games. We all loved how beautiful the animation was in the games and how much love and care they put in, and it made you love and understand the characters and made you want to pick a certain character. So, we are really, really humbled to be able to extend that into more animation.

“This special was our way of establishing a tone, establishing a look, and really putting our flag down to say, Backyard is a multi-platform franchise. You’re going to be able to experience it in lots of different ways. I can’t wait until we can say more, but I can promise you that I’ve got a 20-year history in animation and we have pulled out all the stops to make something that captures the tone and magic and comedy of this world.”

With Backyard Sports, the team wants these games and multimedia projects to showcase just how fun sports can be and for this new generation to enjoy all of this alongside those that grew up with them.

“Streamers have picked these games up and people aren’t watching them because they’re amazing video game players,” Waters said. “They’re watching them because they’re bringing these kids to life through their own lens. It reminds you of what it was like to play baseball the first time you picked up a glove and a bat and a ball and you were just playing for fun. I think that’s been the big thing for why this really is a timeless and classic franchise.”

“It is celebrating all of the different characters in your backyard and all their strengths and maybe even some of the weaknesses,” Barnett added. “You laugh and you get through everything together. You play together and you might win, you might lose, but you always had fun doing it. And unfortunately, a lot of sports, not just sports video games, but also just sports in general aren’t really like that anymore.”

Adam Bankhurst is a writer for IGN. You can follow him on X/Twitter @AdamBankhurst, Instagram, and TikTok, and listen to his show, Talking Disney Magic.