Category: Video Games

Where to Buy Xbox Series X|S Consoles Online (November 2024)

Some people might still line up in front of stores for the day of a new console’s release, but online shopping has definitely become the preferred method for making big gaming purchases. Online retailers generally have more inventory, and you don’t have to leave the comfort of your home. Some stores even offer the option to secure your purchase and then pick it up when you’re ready.

If you’re looking for the best places to buy a new Xbox online, we’ve got you covered. Read on for a full breakdown of pricing on current Xbox consoles, the best time to buy an Xbox Series X or Series S, information on Xbox Game Pass, as well as where to trade in your existing Xbox consoles and games.

Where to Buy Xbox Consoles Online

If you’re looking to buy a new Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, or Xbox One, here’s where you can purchase Xbox consoles online in 2024. If you’re looking for savings, it might be worth waiting for Black Friday Xbox sales, but you can also check out the latest Xbox deals for discounts sooner rather than later.

Xbox Series X

Microsoft’s flagship console, the Xbox Series X, retails for an MSRP of $499.99 and features 1TB of storage and true 4K gaming.

Xbox Series S

The Xbox Series S is the less-powerful, all-digital variant of Microsoft’s current console lineup that starts at an MSRP of $299.99. The base model features 512GB of storage and 1440p resolution gaming in a 60% smaller package. You can also get the Carbon Black Series S console, which starts at an MSRP of $349.99 and comes with 1TB of storage space.

Xbox One

The Xbox One is Microsoft’s previous generation console that released in 2013. While it’s not currently being manufactured, you can still find refurbished models online at some retailers. There are three standard models available: the original Xbox One, a slimmer redesign called Xbox One S, and the more powerful Xbox One X. It’s worth noting that Xbox Series X|S are backwards compatible with Xbox One games, so your money may be better spent on the current generation consoles.

How Much Does a New Xbox Cost?

Xbox has a variety of different consoles at different price points to satisfy the needs of any gamer. The flagship console, Xbox Series X, retails for $499.99 but can also be financed via Xbox All Access at select retailers for $36.99/mo for 24 months which also includes 2 years of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. It’s worth noting that you’ll need to qualify for a line of credit with Citizen’s Pay Line if you opt for Xbox All Access.

Xbox Series S, the smaller, all-digital console, retails for $299.99 for the 512GB model or $349.99 for the 1TB model. Additionally, both can be financed via Xbox All Access starting at $26.99/mo for 24 months.

While Xbox One consoles aren’t currently in production any longer after being quietly discontinued in 2020 to focus on production of Xbox Series X|S, you can find them pre-owned or refurbished at resellers such as GameStop and Amazon, as well as through third-party marketplaces such as eBay, Craigslist, and more.

Additionally, you can often find bundles throughout the year that include either an Xbox Series X or Xbox Series S, sometimes with a unique color or design, as well as an included game, trial of Xbox Game Pass, or in-game content.

Xbox Game Pass Plans and Pricing

Xbox Game Pass pricing was updated with the discontinuation of Xbox Live Gold to feature a streamlined tier list depending on whether you play exclusively on Xbox consoles, PC, or both. As with most subscription services, Game Pass also had a couple of price hikes in 2024, specifically for Game Pass Ultimate. Current pricing plans range from $9.99 for essentialy Xbox Live to $19.99 for the full Xbox Game Pass Ultimate experience. On the plus side, Black Ops 6 did end up being available through Game Pass on Day One.

Xbox Game Pass Core

Xbox Game Pass Core is $9.99/month and includes online multiplayer for Xbox consoles, a catalog of 25 games to play, and exclusive member discounts and deals. This plan effectively replaced what was previously known as Xbox Live Gold. To see what games are available through this plan, make sure to check out our IGN Playlist of Xbox Game Pass Core games.

Xbox Game Pass Standard

The Standard tier of Xbox Game Pass is $16.99/month and includes online multiplayer as well as access to the entire Xbox Game Pass catalog for Xbox Consoles (except day one Xbox first-party titles). It also includes exclusive member discounts and deals.

PC Game Pass PC

The PC equivalent of Xbox Game Pass is $11.99/month and includes access to hundred of games to play on PC including day one Xbox first-party titles, an EA Play membership, and exclusive member discounts and deals. This is a great option if you only play on PC and want access to the Xbox Game Pass catalog of supported games. To see what games are available through this plan at the moment, check out our IGN Playlist of Xbox Game Pass PC games.

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is $19.99/month and combines both Xbox Game Pass Console and Xbox Game Pass PC to provide access to the entire Xbox Game Pass catalog of games on whichever platform you choose, as well as online gaming for Xbox. You’ll be able to play Xbox first-party titles day one, as well as stream hundreds of games over the cloud to compatible devices. Additionally, you’ll be able to play EA titles with an included EA Play membership, and access member-exclusive deals, discounts, and perks. To see the games available to you on this membership, check out our IGN Playlist of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate games.

Best Time to Buy an Xbox

Generally, the best time to buy an Xbox console is during major yearly shopping events such as Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and the various Amazon Prime Day sales. Often times, you can scoop up the console at a discount, or purchase limited-time bundles that include additional games, Xbox Game Pass trials, accessories, or in-game content.

How to Trade in Your Old Xbox

If you’re looking to trade in your old Xbox consoles, you can do so at select retailers in-store and online. Often, the most widely available retailers are GameStop and Best Buy. However, you can also trade your used devices online at retailers such as Amazon and Microsoft.

Some retailers will offer you cash for your used goods, while others may provide you with a gift card that can be used in-store and online. This is a great way to offload your old gaming gear and get some money that you can put towards a newer console and games.

While trading devices in at retailers will often net you the lowest amount for your used consoles, there are also online marketplaces such as eBay, Craigslist, and OfferUp that may fetch higher prices, but you’ll often be responsible for packing and shipping costs, or be required to meet someone in person for the transaction, the latter of which poses its own risks.

Where to Trade in Xbox Games

Similar to Xbox console trade ins, you can also trade your existing games in at specific retailers. The most widely available retailer accepting used video games is GameStop, but they are notorious for giving you pennies on the dollar for your pre-owned titles. However, if you’re looking for an easy way to offload some of your library for cash or in-store credit, this is a convenient option. You can always look up the expected trade-in value on GameStop’s website before heading into a store, so you know exactly how much you’ll receive. Additionally, you can trade in your used games online through Amazon in exchange for an Amazon gift card.

Matthew Adler is a Commerce, Features, Guides, News, Previews, and Reviews writer for IGN. You can follow him on the site formerly known as Twitter @MatthewAdler and watch him stream on Twitch.

Private Division Sold to Unknown Buyer in the Wake of Take-Two Shuttering Two of Its Studios

Take-Two has sold indie publisher Private Division to an unknown buyer in the wake of shuttering Roll7 and Intercept Games, saying that it wants to focus on its core and mobile businesses going forward. While virtually all of Private Division’s live and unreleased games will go to the new buyer, Take-Two says it will continue to support No Rest for the Wicked, the recently-released action RPG from Moon Studios that’s currently in early access.

Take-Two announced the move during Wednesday’s earnings results, saying in a statement, “We are grateful for the contributions that the Private Division team has made to our company and are confident that they will continue to achieve success in their new home.”

The Private Division sale follows Take-Two’s decision to wind down indie studios Roll7 and Intercept Games, both of which operated under the label’s umbrella. An IGN report at the time revealed Take-Two’s plans to offload the label and that it had found interest from a private equity firm, with discussions faciliated by individuals with connnections to Moon Studios leadership. It’s unclear whether that firm ultimately followed through on its interest.

Private Division was founded in 2017 with the goal of provide funding and support to “triple-I” game such as The Outer Worlds. Its upcoming releases include Tales of the Shire, the cozy Lords of the Rings game that was recently delayed into 2025, and an untitled action-adventure game from Game Freak codenamed Project Bloom.

Take-Two has spent much of 2024 trying to sell Private Division, telling employees in April that it would no longer support the label and laying off many of its employees. A small group has remained to continue support No Rest for the Wicked as well as Private Division’s other upcoming games. Take-Two, for its part, is turning even more of its focus toward Grand Theft Auto VI, which it still expects to release in fall 2025.

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.

Foxhole is getting planes next summer and an infantry combat overhaul later this month

Foxhole is one of my favourite games to read about, even if I don’t play it. It’s a massively multiplayer World War 2 game, viewed from above, where battlefield logistics matters as much as aiming and flanking. Its developers have just announced a major new update coming next summer, Foxhole: Airborne, which adds planes to the game for the first time.

Planes, in a topdown MMO? It makes a little more sense if you watch the trailer.

Read more

Mini Review: STALKER: Clear Sky (Switch) – Tighter Shooting But Less Atmosphere

Faction Wars.

Despite releasing just a year after its predecessor, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky makes significant changes to the formula of GSC Game World’s venerable series. There are tweaked visuals, improved shooting, and some added systems crammed into this prequel. As a result, it feels markedly different to Shadow of Chornobyl, but not always in a good way. The shift in focus to faction conflict de-emphasises the persistent atmosphere of dread that permeated the first game.

You fill the irradiated boots of Scar, a Stalker with a mysterious condition that allows him to survive the Zone’s emissions. Rescued from such an event by research group Clear Sky, he is tasked with tracking down a group of Stalkers as a means of repayment. These rogue mercenaries have designs on reaching the secrets at the centre of the Zone… and one of their number is our old friend Strelok.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Misty Has Become Pokemon TCG Pocket’s Greatest Villain

As the current Pokemon TCG Pocket meta continues to shake out, players are quickly figuring out which decks, cards, and strategies are powerful, which are safe, and which are…wildly inconsistent. And there’s one card that everyone seems to agree they hate, whether they’re using it or facing an opponent with it: Misty.

Misty is a Supporter card, essentially a type of card that can be played once per turn to give yourself an advantageous effect. Misty is explicitly designed for use in decks featuring water-type Pokemon, and comes with the following effect: “Choose one of your water-type Pokemon, and flip a coin until you get tails. For each hads, take a water-type Energy from your Energy Zone and attach it to that Pokemon.”

Pokemon need energy to use attacks on opponents, but typically you can only attach one energy to one Pokemon per turn. So the idea behind Misty is to quickly power up a single water-type Pokemon so it can use an Energy-intensive attack right away, rather than having to wait two, three, four, or more turns to blast away.

Unfortunately, Misty’s efficacy depends entirely on coin flips, meaning she can either be completely useless (if you flip tails right away) or so overpowered as to be ridiculous (if you flip more heads than you need). So of course, people who are using Misty in their decks are complaining about constantly flipping tails right away, and people who are facing Misty are posting…well, this:

The frustrations with Misty’s luck-heavy potential are resulting in a lot of discussions as to whether or not the card design needs to be changed. Those discussions have only increased with the release of a special event in the game featuring water-type Pokemon, where players can battle an AI using a deck containing Misty and a few Pokemon that can absolutely destroy an opponent on turn one with lucky coin flips.

On the Pokemon TCG Pocket subreddit, a number of users have made suggestions for how she can be improved, such as limiting the total number of coin flips or placing restrictions on how energy is distributed. The biggest issue players are citing apart from her luck-heavy mechanic is that if a Misty-user gets luck and draws her turn one, they can then use her to potentially attack their opponent on turn one. Typically, players are not able to attack on the first turn due to the game prohibiting attaching an energy on turn one, a fairness mechanic intended to ensure going second isn’t a massive disadvantage. But a lucky Misty draw, a lucky Misty flip, and an Articuno EX is a recipe for disaster.

The problem is so bad that some players are speculating her coin flips are rigged or bugged in some way. Others are just memeing their way through it, pointing out that often, Misty users will simply concede the game immediately after playing her and flipping a single tails first try.

It remains to be seen whether or not Misty will be nerfed, buffed, or adjusted in any other way in response to the player frustration with her mechanic. But if the devs do decide to tweak her, the subreddit is absolutely stuffed with ideas.

Meanwhile, players are filling up their decks not with Misty, but with Farfetch’d, and the two dominant meta decks right now are largely centered around Charizard and Mewtwo. But if you’re trying to build a competitive deck that uses rare cards, don’t be fooled by rumors you can influence what you pull from booster packs. Like Misty, it’s all just dumb luck.

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.

Konami Reveals Voice Actress Behind Eva in Metal Gear Solid 3 After 20 Years, and It Is, in Fact, Ariel From The Little Mermaid

Konami has revealed the voice actress behind Metal Gear Solid character Eva after keeping it a secret for 20 years, and it is, in fact, Ariel from The Little Mermaid.

Part 3 of the Metal Gear Solid Legacy Series documentary, below, features series star David Hayter speaking with Jodi Benson, the voice of the aforementioned Ariel, Barbie from Toy Story, Thumbelina from Thumbelina, and, as it turns out, Eva from Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater.

Eva, a spy who fought alongside protagonist Naked Snake in the third game and also appeared in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, was originally listed in the credits with voice actress Suzetta Miñet.

Fans quickly deduced this wasn’t a real name though, and even though those in entertainment often use pseudonyms, Miñet appeared not to be a real person at all. This set Metal Gear Solid fans on the hunt for the true voice actress, with many suspecting Benson, given the similar sound to Ariel, but the mystery has now, finally, been solved.

The various projects that I am affiliated with in my career are sort of family-based, children-based.

Benson explained why there was so much secrecy around her work on the military stealth action game. “The various projects that I am affiliated with in my career are sort of family-based, children-based,” she said. “It was actually Kris Zimmerman Salter, our director, she kind of sat down with me and she was like, ‘Maybe we need to change your name.'”

Fans can enjoy hearing Benson’s voice again in the upcoming Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater (officially Metal Gear Solid Δ: Snake Eater), though whether or not she’ll be credited herself or as Miñet remains to be seen.

This remake is still listed as a 2024 release despite this growing increasingly (incredibly) unlikely given it’s now November. Whenever it does release, Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater is coming to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, and PC.

Beyond a new first-person perspective, the game is otherwise shaping up to be an exact recreation of the original. “Metal Gear Solid Delta seems more like a very shiny HD remaster than the elegant remake it could have been,” IGN said in our preview. “It’s an admittedly beautiful nostalgia trip, but almost faithful to a fault.”

Photo by Frazer Harrison/WireImage.

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

Vampire Survivors Dev Doesn’t Want A “Dramatically Different” Scope For Future Games

“I want to stay on the same level”.

Last month’s excellent ‘Ode to Castlevania‘ DLC has got us diving into Poncle’s beautiful bullet hell, Vampire Survivors, all over again. We’ve been having such a good time with the latest expansion that we’d be perfectly happy to see waves of DLC added to this one for years to come, but naturally, Poncle may one day want to move on to a new project. And yet, whatever comes next, it seems we shouldn’t expect it to blow the current project’s scope out of the water.

That is according to the game’s creator, Luca Galante, who, in a recent interview with Metro, stated that he wouldn’t want a follow-up game to “try and do something bigger just because it’s what everyone is expecting”. Instead, Galante claims, he’d rather keep working at his own level: “It would have a higher budget,” he told Metro, “but it wouldn’t be dramatically different in terms of scope, than Vampire Survivors”.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Planet Coaster 2 Is Out Now: 10 Tips to Take Your Dream Theme Park to the Top

Planet Coaster 2 Is Out Now: 10 Tips to Take Your Dream Theme Park to the Top

  • Alex BoltonPR Manager, Frontier Developments

Planet Coaster Hero

Summary

  • Planet Coaster 2 is available now on Xbox Series S|X, bringing the ultimate coaster and water park simulation to console!
  • Learn the basics and refine your skills in Career mode, set your own challenges and build with total freedom in Sandbox mode, and join up with friends to compete against players around the globe in Franchise mode.
  • Push the boundaries of creativity with piece-by-piece construction and share your designs with the world, or build your park quickly using blueprints and the Frontier Workshop.

Hayo Park Managers! Planet Coaster 2 is available now and is ready to create a splash on Xbox Series X|S. Build epic rollercoasters and dive into breathtaking water parks, bringing your creations to life with boundless creativity and enhanced management as you design and build the ultimate theme park.

Before you go grabbing your towel and rushing off to the flumes, we’re here with some top tips to help you build a park which will wow your guests:

Dive into water parks and remember those changing rooms!

Brand-new in Planet Coaster 2, water parks are making waves… quite literally, if you put down a wave machine! Create entirely free-form pools, relaxing lazy rivers and spectacular flumes, either as a standalone park, or integrated into your theme park. Place scenery pieces to theme your pools, add heated body dryers and even offer your guests a variety of colourful inflatables to use in the pool at a Queen Splash Emporium. Just make sure you don’t forget changing rooms so that your guests can get pool-ready – no one wants to swim in their park clothes!

Expand your creativity with piece-by-piece construction

Bringing your park to life has never been easier – Planet Coaster 2 gives you all the tools you’ll need to create buildings and displays from scratch, or add the finest details to put the shine on the perfect new attraction. With over 3,000 individual scenery items to choose from, you have more freedom at your fingertips than ever before to help shape your park, whether that’s scaling objects or attaching pieces to your rides and shops to create something truly unique. Once you’ve brought your ride to life, why not jump on board with the first-person camera, and experience your creations from a guest’s point of view!

Find your perfect way to play

We’d recommend starting your journey in Career mode, where the prologue’s tutorials will introduce you to the team from Coaster Coast, committed to helping you create the park of your dreams with a handy introduction to theme parks and water parks. Career mode offers increasingly challenging scenarios, set in extraordinary parts of the world. Sandbox mode is where you can set your own challenge level, allowing you to unleash your imagination and customise your own rules, creating your own gaming experience. Finally, Franchise mode lets you pitch your parks against the best in the world, attempting to earn a spot on the global leaderboards by competing in new online challenges.

Build an attraction’s prestige

Whilst everybody loves a day out at a theme park, we all have a ride that we absolutely need to try before we head home for the day. Each ride, flume and pool which you build will have its own Prestige rating – essentially, how appealing it is to guests. Everything from scenery to the ride’s Excitement, Fear and Nausea (EFN) ratings can draw additional guests into the queue, but if they’re turning away in favour of something else – maybe it’s time to look at a change. Remember that a park needs to cater for lots of different types of guests, you can use heatmaps to quickly assess which areas of your park might need some attention.

Control the flow of your park with paths

Every attraction is linked together with one common thread, vital for getting your guests from A to B… of course, we’re talking about paths! In Planet Coaster 2 you can create tight twisting walkways through your scenery, wide open plazas, and everything in between using a pathing tool redesigned with flexibility in mind. You’ll find a variety of tools to create, edit and connect your paths exactly how you wish, and you can use three different types of path to keep things moving; regular paths to connect every aspect of your park, queues for the entrances to rides and flumes, and staff paths to keep guests away from the inner workings of your theme park machine. Mastering paths gives you even greater control over the flow of guests and the aesthetics of your park.

The Blueprints to success

Blueprints allow you to place a pre-themed ride, slide, shop, even a group of different scenery items. They’re a great place to start when you just want to get things moving. The in-game Frontier Workshop also allows you to save your own creations as a blueprint for other players to drop into their park, so you can share your skills with the world, or add someone else’s creation to your own!

Share the park construction with a friend!

Have a friend who’s the most incredible coaster creator? Or maybe you’re looking for inspiration to take you to the top of the leaderboards? In both Sandbox and Franchise modes, you can team up with up to three other players to create a park together, passing your creation between players to work on one at a time. Whether you choose to build in the same space, or take your own section of the sandbox to sculpt, you’ll have to consider consistent theming and look at the guest experience in the same way real-world park design teams do. Collaboration is key!

It’s all connected… to the Power and Water systems!

As you play Planet Coaster 2, you’ll need to consider Power and Water as you expand your park. Rides and Shops will require Power in order to remain operational, and will need to be within range of a distributor to access the power you’re generating. Pools on the other hand, need a water pump and filter to keep them looking sparkling and ready for your guests to jump into! Connecting your pools and slides to a water filtration system will improve their cleanliness, and similar to power, you can use the radius of the water pump to see what’s covered. After all, no one wants to splash around in grimy water!

Come rain or shine

Dynamic weather also arrives for the first time in Planet Coaster 2, bringing with it new considerations for your guests. If it’s a hot sunny day, you’ll need to provide shade and adequate opportunities for guests to buy suncream. If it’s pouring with rain, an umbrella will keep your guests dry and happy. Make sure your vendors are appropriately priced for the demand and ready to offer the solution, whatever the weather!  

Staff Management

Keeping your guests happy is one thing, but don’t forget to keep the people happy who are… well, keeping your guests happy! Cleaners will keep your park looking at its best, Mechanics make sure everything’s running smoothly, Lifeguards to keep a watchful eye on the pool, even through to Entertainers who can get your guests running for the hottest new food vendor in the park! Your staff members will need a break room, as well as a good salary to keep their morale high!

Ready to build the theme park of your dreams and splash into brand new water rides? You can purchase Planet Coaster 2 on Xbox Series S| X here! Hungry for more tips? (or maybe the mention of our in-game food vendors just made your stomach rumble…) – head over to the Planet Coaster 2 website, where you can find more guides and advice on how you can create your ultimate day out! You can also follow us on TikTok, X, Instagram and Facebook for  more design inspiration.


Planet Coaster 2

Planet Coaster 2

Frontier Developments

☆☆☆☆☆
19
★★★★★

Get it now

Create a splash with Planet Coaster 2 – sequel to the world’s best coaster park simulator!  

Reach new heights of creativity, management, and sharing as you construct the theme parks of your dreams combining epic water rides and coasters to delight and thrill your park guests. 

Dive in now! 

EMBRACE CREATIVITY 

Expand your imagination: Enhanced and improved building and pathing tools let you create spectacular, true-to-life theme parks, complete with sprawling plazas. Make your mark on the world as you shape terrain and populate your park with stunning swimming pools and thrilling rides. It’s never been easier to bring your dream park to life.  

Next-level customisation: Embark on the coaster park experience of a lifetime as you push the boundaries of creativity like never before!  Unleash your imagination as you build the most awe-inspiring themed creations with unparalleled customisation tools! For the first time, intuitively add scalable scenery and objects to every ride to elevate your park and give your guests a day to remember. 

Combine epic water and coaster rides: Create the ultimate experience for your thrill-seeking guests using piece-by-piece construction. Build a vibrant array of exhilarating rollercoasters and jaw-dropping thrill rides. Design a seamlessly interconnected park paradise with glistening swimming pools and twisting water flumes.   

Create unforgettable experiences: Surprise and amaze as you bring the dramatic flair of real-world theme parks to your guests with the brand-new event sequencer tool, while sophisticated global illumination lighting brings the theme park experience to your home with stunning visuals and striking authenticity. 

MASTER MANAGEMENT 

Find the secret to success: Balance thrilling your guests with managing your budget – populate your park with amazing efficiently powered attractions and the right amenities to boost your rating and become a theme park master. 

Take care: Provide for your guests’ health, well-being, and happiness so your park can thrive. With all-new waterparks comes the need for shade, sunscreen, lifeguards, changing rooms, and more to ensure everyone has their best day both in and out of the pool. 

Satisfaction guaranteed: Understanding the wants and needs of your guests has never been easier! The new ‘heat maps’ feature lets you understand the wider park’s needs at a glance before diving deeper into the details -simply select any guest to see how they and their immediate group are enjoying your theme park.  

SHARE THE RIDE 

Create together: Unleash your collective creativity in Sandbox Mode. Take turns to work on building a park with players around the world using a shared cross-platform save! 

Play together: For the first time ever, collaborate with friends in Franchise Mode to create the best theme park empire and compete with others to reach the top of worldwide leaderboards! 

Visit together: Soak up the fun and get up close and personal, as you experience other players theme park creations first hand – explore their worlds in first person as a park guest! 

Share creations: Share anything and everything! Upload coasters, rides, or even full theme parks for other players, and download and delight in other’s creations. All are easily accessible from the cross-platform Frontier Workshop both in-game and online. 

The post Planet Coaster 2 Is Out Now: 10 Tips to Take Your Dream Theme Park to the Top appeared first on Xbox Wire.

Pokémon TCG: Surging Sparks Preorders Are Back in Stock at Amazon

The Pokémon TCG: Scarlet & Violet—Surging Sparks set is now available for preorder at Amazon, bringing an electrifying twist to the TCG landscape ahead of its November 8 release. This expansion merges the highlights of two upcoming Japanese sets, Supercharged Breaker and Paradise Dragona.

At the center of Surging Sparks is a Terastallized Pikachu ex—a classic Electric-type Pokémon now supercharged to boost any deck. Pikachu is joined by Alolan Exeggutor ex, making a grand return with its Stellar Tera Pokémon ex status. With a mix of high-voltage power and formidable dragons, this set promises to be one of the most dynamic additions to the Scarlet & Violet series.

Pokémon TCG: Surging Sparks Preorders

Surging Sparks Elite Trainer Box

Packed with nine Surging Sparks booster packs, this box is a perfect starting point. The exclusive full-art foil Pikachu ex promo card is a must-have for any Pikachu fan, while the 65-card sleeves featuring Pikachu and other iconic Electric-type Pokémon keep your cards safe and stylish. Complete with energy cards, dice, and markers, this Elite Trainer Box has everything you need to electrify your gameplay.

Surging Sparks Booster Bundle

Surging Sparks Booster Bundle gives trainers a taste of the new set without committing to a full booster box. Containing six booster packs, this bundle is perfect for checking out new cards at a more accessible price point. It’s a great way to experience the mix of Electric and Dragon-themed cards that make Surging Sparks a standout expansion.

Surging Sparks Booster Box

Surging Sparks Booster Box holds 36 booster packs, offering a chance to pull some of the set’s most powerful and sought-after cards. Whether you’re chasing down the Stellar Tera Pikachu ex or looking for a new Dragon-type Pokémon, this Booster Box is where it’s at!

Surging Sparks Sleeved Booster

Surging Sparks Sleeved Booster provides one booster pack encased in a protective sleeve. Although we’d recommend a booster box for trainers looking to complete a master set or increase their chances of finding the best chase cards, Sleeved Boosters have an extra layer of protection that’s a massive win for collectors with grading in mind.

Surging Sparks Triple Blister Pack

Surging Sparks Triple Blister Pack combines value and variety with the bonus of an exclusive promo card and a collectible coin. Like the sleeved boosters, these boosters are well protected, and make sure those pulls are in the best shape possible!

We’re looking for the best Pokédeals daily, so don’t forget to stop by our Pokémon TCG and Pokémon Merch pages for the best deals! We’ve also recently previewed the upcoming Stellar Crown sets, and the pull rates are fantastic.

Christian Wait is a UK-based freelancer for IGN, you can follow him @ChrisReggieWait on Twitter/X.