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Xbox Black Friday Deals: Early Sale is Officially Now Live

As previously reported, Xbox’s Black Friday deals are now in full swing, and there’s plenty to check out. Plus rival console PlayStation’s Black Friday deals starting as well, so there’s never been a better time to be a gamer looking for a deal. Black Friday 2023 sales are very much live right now, with up to $30 off Xbox Controllers, some of the best Xbox Series X bundle deals we’ve ever seen, and the standalone console for just $449 ($50 off) if that’s more your speed. If it’s Xbox deals you’re after, you can already save some serious cash, check out all the deals below.

TL:DR – Best Xbox Black Friday Deals

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Xbox Series X and Series S Black Friday Deals

If you’re in the market for a new Xbox Series, you can save a bundle on new console… bundles… at Walmart. Check out what’s available above and grab whichever one strikes your fancy. There’s even an Xbox Series X and Diablo 4 bundle for just $439 which is excellent. If you’re a Best Buy Plus/ Total member you can currently also get a Series X for $399.99 + a Best Buy $50 Gift Card. We’re not done yet either, as we’re also featuring the Xbox Series S Starter Bundle for just $249, which also includes 3-months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for free alongside, which is another $45 in savings as well.

Black Friday: Xbox Controller Deals

While we originally thought Xbox controllers would only be getting a small $10 discount at most retailers, the deal is actually a lot better than that and well worth considering if you’ve been after an additional gamepad. The cheapest controller you can get right now is for $39.99 at Best Buy (see here), and its the Stellar Shift Special Edition with an MSRP of $69.99.

This will likely sell out as its such a good deal, so let’s get into what else is available in the deal as well. By the looks of things, most other controllers have dropped to at least $44.99, which is a decent $20 off the standard Xbox controller and a reasonable deal for Black Friday. Plus, this includes some of the newer color variations as well like the Astral Purple design. We’ll leave all the links you need just below.

Black Friday: Xbox Accessory Deals

Games are huge these days, so if you’re running low on storage on your Xbox Series X or S, you’re far from alone. Amazon is offering the WD Black C50 1TB Expansion Card for Xbox Series consoles at just $124.99. This marks a 17% off price reduction from its original $150 MSRP, making it the best deal we’ve encountered for a 1TB storage add-on for Xbox. It’s also currently $25 cheaper than the Seagate 1TB Expansion Card.

Xbox expansion cards are essentially NVME SSDs encased in a specialized Xbox-compatible shell. Unlike the more complex PS5 SSD installation process, which involves opening up the PS5 to access the SSD slot, the Seagate expansion card simply plugs into its dedicated port on the back of the Xbox. With this deal, you can add 1TB of storage that acts just like regular internal storage, for cheaper than normal.

Black Friday: Xbox Game Deals

Xbox Game Deals at Amazon

Amazon’s Black Friday sale is ramping up, but we’re not seeing tons of Xbox games on sale yet. We’ll keep updating the above below as new deals come online.

Xbox Game Deals at Best Buy

Best Buy has kicked off its official Black Friday sale, and as luck would have it, lots of Xbox games are on sale. See all the top deals just here.

Digital Xbox Game Deals

Microsoft’s official Xbox Black Friday sale has also gone live, dropping prices on tons of digital games.

Best Xbox Game Pass Deals for Black Friday

We all heard about the Xbox Game Pass price hike that Microsoft implemented recently. A month of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate now costs $16.99, a hefty fee. But, if you weren’t aware, you can actually still circumvent this change by buying Game Pass codes from retailers like Amazon who haven’t yet increased their prices to reflect the change. Paying $44.99 isn’t a huge discount versus the $50.97 Microsoft charges, but it’s not nothing. Also, it’s very possible the price drops lower at some point during Black Friday.

Xbox Black Friday Timeline: Now Live

Starting November 17:

Save up to 50% on digital games
Save up to 65 % on select games from Xbox Game Studios
Save up to 67% on select PC digital games

Starting November 18:

$50 off select Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S consoles
Save $10 on select Xbox Wireless Controllers

Starting November 23:

Get free engraving on the Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 created with Xbox Design Lab

Where to Find Xbox Deals on Black Friday

When it comes to hunting for Xbox deals on Black Friday, you have a multitude of options. Retailers like Amazon, Best Buy, and similar stores are sure to offer enticing discounts on Xbox games and accessories. If you prefer digital titles, the Xbox Store will have its share of deals too. Look out for upcoming sales from Best Buy, Walmart, and Amazon to score the best deals.

Here’s a guide on where to buy Xbox Series X and S consoles.

Xbox Black Friday Shopping Tips

Before you dive into the Black Friday shopping frenzy, keep these Black Friday shopping tips in mind:

Plan Your Spending: Set a budget and stick to it. Only buy games or accessories you genuinely intend to use.
Create a Wishlist: Make a list of the items you want to buy and stick to it to avoid impulsive purchases.
Compare Prices: Double-check deals at different retailers to ensure you’re getting the best price.
Act Swiftly: Exceptional deals may sell out quickly, so don’t hesitate to grab them.
Don’t Worry If You Miss Out: If you miss a deal, it might come back on Cyber Monday or during the next Prime Day.

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

Nintendo Announces Brand New Switch OLED Bundle Ready for Black Friday

After several years of consistently offering the same standard Switch Mario Kart bundle for Black Friday, Nintendo has finally introduced a new Black Friday bundle for Switch. After Nintendo’s Black Friday announcements last week, the new Switch OLED and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate bundle is now available at select retailers (see here).

This new bundle offer includes a Switch OLED model, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (digital download), and three months of Nintendo Switch Online. It will cost $349.99 MSRP, with around $67.98 in savings. This offer marks it as one of the hot items to consider for Switch Black Friday sales (which are officially kicking off from today). While the bundle only includes a regular dock, unlike the original Smash Bros. Bundle, this is the first time the gray and silver Joy-Con are back on the market in years. See all special edition Joy-Con variants here.

Also revealed was the Super Mario Party + Red & Blue Joy-Con bundle which is now available for $99.99 from Best Buy. This party pack features a full Super Mario Party game download and two Joy-Con controllers in red and blue, and is an overall saving of $39.98. Note that this is the first time the right version of the Blue Joy-Con is made available in the US. It was previously only available as a pack-in with a custom Nintendo Store order in Japan. If you want to complete a blue set, here are all the existing Joy-Con colors and how to get them.

Finally, for the eager Black Friday shoppers, from November 19, Nintendo is discounting select Switch games by $20 or more. This will include popular titles like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Luigi’s Mansion 3, Xenoblade Chronicles 3, and Super Mario Odyssey. We’ll also be seeing Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, Kirby’s Return to Dream Land Deluxe and Minecraft Legends: Deluxe Edition for $29.99 and Everybody 1-2-Switch! for just $19.99.

To explore additional Nintendo holiday bargains, be sure to peruse our comprehensive Switch Holiday Gift Guide, which can assist you in discovering the ideal gifts in the weeks ahead.

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

Minecraft Unveils Trial Chambers And New Mischievous Mob

Coming in the Version 1.21 update.

Following Minecraft Live last month, Mojang has now shown off the new “Trial Chambers” as well as the new hostile mob known as “The Breeze”.

The Trial Chambers are a new procedurally generated structure, crafting different challenges each time you enter. Each room contains something helpful or hostile.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Reminder: The King Of Fighters XIII: Global Match Is Now Available On Switch

The king of fighters is back.

It’s another week of game releases and in case you missed it, SNK has also launched The King of Fighters XIII on Switch.

This title was first revealed in April, with the announcement it would include a “rollback netcode overhaul” to improve online functionality. SNK also previously confirmed a physical, deluxe and collector’s edition packed with all sorts of extra goodies.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

The Best Black Friday SSD Deal for Your PS5: 2TB for $100 (Updated)

The Amazon Black Friday Sale has officially started, and currently the best deal on a PS5-compatible solid state drive is this Nextorage Japan 2TB PCIe Gen4 x4 M.2 solid state drive for only $99.99. Not only is the Crucial P5 Plus fast enough to exceed the specs of the PS5’s stock internal SSD, it also has a preinstalled heatsink that’s slim enough to fit and does a fine job of keeping things cool.

Nextorage 2TB PS5 SSD with Heatsink for $99.99

This SSD fulfills all the requisites that make it PS5 compatible. It boasts sequential read and write speeds of 7300MB/s and 6900MB/s, which is much higher than the minimum recommendation of 5,600MB/s. It also includes a robust double-sided aluminum heatsink that’s preinstalled on the SSD. This is much better than some of the cheaper SSDs that only include thin graphite heatspreaders.

There’s an interesting story behind Nextorage Japan. Nextorage describes itself as a company that was “created by a group of ex-Sony engineers and staff with over 20 years of experience in the development of memory and storage products”. Nextorage was actually originally created by Sony in 2019 as an SSD sub-division about a year before the PS5 was released. Presumably this was to be the basis for an official SSD sold by Sony themselves. For whatever reason, Sony decided to ditch that idea and sold this business to another stakeholder in the company, Phison, in 2022. Phison is another large reputable company that specializes in solid state memory controllers. You’ll find their controllers in name-brand SSDs like Seagate, Corsair, and Sabrent. Under Phison, Nextorage Japan eventually accomplished the goal of releasing an SSD catered specifically for the PS5 console in the form of this product right here.

Looking for more Black Friday deals like this? Check out our guide to PS5 Black Friday deals for 2023.

All of Half-Life’s textures were created by a single person, new making-of documentary explains

Half-Life turns 25 years old tomorrow, with new maps and updates to celebrate. Valve also reunited the game’s original developers for an hour-long making-of documentary in which its original programmers and artists reminisce about creating the first-person classic at a time when many of them had never shipped a game before.

Chief among the revelations within is that all of Half-Life’s textures were created by a single person, Karen Laur.

The New Sims Game Is Using Animal Crossing’s Multiplayer As A Source Of Inspiration

“It is such a good example”.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons took the social simulation to new heights when it launched exclusively on the Switch in 2020, and it’s apparently become a source of inspiration for the team at Maxis, who is currently working on the next entry in The Sims series (codenamed “Project Rene“).

Speaking on a Radio Times podcast recently, vice president of franchise creative Lyndsay Pearson mentioned how the development team discussed Animal Crossing “all the time” when talking about The Sims 5’s multiplayer feature. Nintendo’s island entry is supposedly a “good example” of personal spaces and other inventive ideas bringing players together (thanks, IGN):

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

The Best Audible Black Friday Deal Is Live at Amazon (Updated)

Amazon is offering one of the best subscription deals we’re going to see for Black Friday and the holiday season. First time Audible subscribers can get 4 months of Audible Premium Plus membership for only $5.95 per month. That adds up to $23.80. You also get a free $20 credit that’s good for any audiobook at Audible, which means you actually only end up paying about $4 for your entire 4 month subscription. If you’re not sure whether or not you’re eligible, simply click on the link; if you see the promo then you’re eligible and if you don’t then you’re not. This deal ends on Cyber Monday, November 27, so you better hurry!

4 Months of Audible Premium Plus + $20 Audible Credit for $23.80

Audible is a subscription service that gives you access to hundreds of thousands of the best audiobooks without ever having to purchase them. There are two paid membership plans: the lower tier Audible Plus ($7.95/mo) and the higher tier Audible Premium Plus ($14.95/mo). The biggest difference between the two is the size of the audiobook library. Whereas Audible Plus only lets you listen to a selection of about 10,000 audiobooks, the Audible Premium Plus plan gives you access to a whopping 500,000 audiobooks. These include all-time classics like Harry Potter, Game of Thrones (A Song of Ice and Fire), Witcher, The Sandman Series, The Lord of the Rings, Brandon Sanderson’s The Stormlight Archives, Mistborn, and much more.

Although the seriously expanded library is the main draw of the Audible Premium Plus membership, there are some other nice perks as well. Every month Premium Plus members get to pick one audiobook to keep in their library indefinitely, even after the membership expires. Also, Premium Plus members can get 30% off any additional audiobooks they wish to purchase, in addition to exclusive limited-time discounts.

On a regular day, new subscribers are eligible for a 30-day free trial of either Audible membership. But why settle for one month when you can get four months? If you were planning to purchase a couple of audiobooks anyway, then it makes more sense to jump on this deal and enjoy the subscription at least for a little while.

Looking for more Black Friday deals like this? Check out our guide to Amazon Black Friday deals.

First-person wizard shooter Immortals Of Aveum now has a demo

Immortals Of Aveum never looked like it was going to be successful, and it wasn’t. I root for it, however. In an industry where big budget blockbusters are most often sequels, or boringly safe, Aveum feels comparatively bold just by being a self-evidentaly daft first-person mashup of Call Of Duty and Doctor Strange magic powers.

Now it has a demo, so you can try it for free.

Score a 2TB PS5-Compatible SSD for Under $100 for Black Friday (Updated)

The Amazon Black Friday Sale has officially started, and currently the best deal on a PS5-compatible solid state drive is this Crucial P5 Plus 2TB PCIe Gen4 x4 M.2 solid state drive for only $94.99. Not only is the Crucial P5 Plus fast enough to exceed the specs of the PS5’s stock internal SSD, it also has a preinstalled heatsink that’s slim enough to fit and does a fine job of keeping things cool.

Crucial P5 Plus 2TB SSD with Heatsink for $94.99

The Crucial P5 Plus meets all the requirements for your PS5 SSD upgrade. It supports transfer speeds of up to 6,660MB/s which is well above the 5,500MB/s minimum threshold. Yes there are faster SSDs out there, but if your intention is to put this in your PS5, then that extra speed is worthless because you’re bottlenecked by the original PS5 SSD. The integrated heatsink is robust and entirely made of aluminum for effective heat dissipation. It’s also slim enough to fit in the PS5 bay with the cover on. If you’re worried about opening up your PS5 case, don’t worry it’s very easy. Crucial has an official YouTube PS5 SSD install guide.

Looking for more Black Friday deals like this? Check out our guide to PS5 Black Friday deals for 2023.