In September, Bandai Namco surprised fans with the announcement of Freedom Wars Remastered for the Nintendo Switch. It will be arriving in January 2025 and is a remaster of Japan Studio’s PlayStation Vita exclusive which is celebrating its 10th anniversary.
Fans have now been given a first look at the Japanese physical box art for the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 5 (thanks, Gematsu). If we hear anything about a local physical release, we’ll let you know.
After the success of Halloween (1978), Friday the 13th kicked off the 80’s by taking the slasher genre to gorey new heights. Jason Voorhees first appeared (sort of) to terrify teens at a Crystal Lake summer camp, and its safe to say the original Friday the 13th is essential viewing for any horror fan. 12 movies and 11 directors later, the hockey-mask wearing horror villain has become a zombie, gone to space, and battled a fellow slasher icon.
For those looking to watch or rewatch the films ahead of Halloween or the next Friday the 13th in December, here’s where you can stream all of the Friday the 13th movies right now.
Where to Watch the Friday the 13th Movies Online
Over the years, the Friday the 13th movies have been pretty hard to find online. This October, the first eight Friday the 13th movies (“the original series,” if you will) have finally found a home at Paramount+. The more recent films, including the 2009 reboot, are available to stream on Max. All of the Friday the 13th movies are available to rent or purchase from digital storefronts, which is unfortunately the only way to get your hands on Jason Goes to Hell (maybe that one’s for the best) and Jason X.
Friday the 13th Movies on Blu-ray
While the Friday the 13th movies may be all over the place online, Shout!Factory released a collected set of all 12 movies on Blu-ray back in 2020. The set also includes what can only be described as a ludicrous amount of bonus features. If you don’t need the Blu-ray or all those extras, you can also grab a DVD set of the first 8 movies for around $20.
What Order Should You Watch the Friday the 13th Movies
The Friday the 13th franchise, like most of the 80’s slashers, has a lot going on. We’re talking spin-offs, reboots, crossovers, and some good ol’ time travel. For those interested in the Jason timeline, we’ve also covered how to watch the Friday the 13th movies in chronological order.
Will There Be More Friday the 13th Movies?
While the 2009 reboot may have intended to bring back the series, complicated legal drama over franchise rights has stalled the production of any new Friday the 13th movies since. Instead, the biggest release the franchise has seen in the past 15 years was Friday the 13th: The Game, which, due to more legal drama, was delisted at the end of 2023.
Still, we may finally get that 13th Friday the 13th movie. Earlier this year, Horror, Inc announced they would be working with some of the original license holders to build up a multi-platform Jason Universe. Yes, of course that’s what they’re calling it. While the Jason-verse will seemingly kick off with a Crystal Lake TV show, hopefully we see Jason back on the big screen sooner rather than later.
Blythe (she/her) is an SEO Coordinator at IGN who is always looking for the next great horror story and turn-based RPG.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is following a recent trend by adding an arachophobia setting to Zombies, but its solution somehow seems even worse.
As part of its blog detailing Black Ops 6’s various acccessibility features, Activision showed off its new arachnophobia mode, explaining, “For the first time in Black Ops 6 Zombies, a new arachnophobia toggle feature will be available. This setting will allow players to change the appearance of spider-like enemies in Zombies without affecting their game play.”
The description is accompanied by a screenshot that shows a spider beast crawling toward the player on one side, and what it looks like when the arachnophobia mode is turned on. It seems the toggle simply removes the spider creatures legs, turning it into a floating torso that resembles a flying leech with huge, spiky teeth. In a word, eww.
With the recent success of Metaphor: Refantazio and Sonic x Shadow Generations, it’s safe to say Sega is having a pretty good year. While those may be the final big game releases from the publisher in 2024, Sega officially caps off its year of releases with a TV show based on the Yakuza game series. That’s a cause for celebration, and, more importantly, some discounts.
$40 Off Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth on PS5 or Xbox Series X
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth is the most recent addition to the Yakuza timeline, and $40 off brings the game down to its lowest ever price. In my experience, 60% off a same-year release of this quality is about as good as video game deals can get.
To clear up some confusion, the Yakuza series rebranded as “Like a Dragon” in English localizations back in 2022. If you’re an OG Yakuza fan, have no fear: The recent Like a Dragon games carry the spirit of the original PS2 series through and through. Here’s what Tristan Ogilvie had to say in his 9/10 review of Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth:
More Yakuza Games on Sale
Yakuza: Like a Dragon (2020) and the spin-off Like a Dragon: Ishin! (2014) are also included in Amazon’s deals. If you want to check out some of the OG Yakuza series, you’re in luck. While not the same level of price slashing, the remastered collection of Yakuza 3, 4, and 5 is 25% off. The collection was released for the PS4 back in 2020, but because of the PS5’s backward compatibility the games work on either console. Same goes for Yakuza Kiwami 2, a remake of the original Yakuza 2, which is also slightly discounted.
Preorders for Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii Are Still Full Price
The one Like a Dragon game that isn’t on sale is, as you could probably guess, the one that isn’t out yet. Preorders for Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii are now live and still full price at $59.99. In better news, the next game is now set to release a week earlier than expected, on February 21, 2025.
Blythe (she/her) is an SEO Coordinator at IGN who is always looking for the next great horror story and fantasy RPG.
I played Balatro for an hour, had a pleasant time, then uninstalled it. I know a trap when I see one. Perhaps you are made of stronger stuff than I am, however. Perhaps you like that monkey on your back. For you, there’s a new free update, which adds a second set of themed card art to the game inspired by the games Binding Of Isaac, Cyberpunk 2077, Stardew Valley and Slay The Spire.
Windblown looks rad. It’s an action-roguelite for 1-3 players in which you dash-and-slash in rapid combat on floating islands, and I am extremely interested in feeling its game-feel for myself. Good news! I can get my game-feelers on it now because it’s out in Early Access today.
If you watch its launch trailer below out of context however, you might be fooled into thinking it’s actually the emo second half of an Isekai anime series.
We’re living in the age of surprising platforming mascots making a return, and Croc — one of the lost icons of the PlayStation era — is the next returning star from that era. Yep, Croc: The Legend of Gobbos is getting a remaster, and it’s been confirmed for all platforms, including Switch.
What’s more, the original developer, Argonaut Games — yes, that Argonaut, the one that worked on Star Fox and the Super FX chip — is the studio behind the remaster.
Almost ten years on, Yooka-Replaylee delivers Playtonic’s true vision for a modern mascot platformer.
Learning and growing from the original Yooka-Laylee through other projects.
Owners of the original Yooka-Laylee get a launch discount.
About ten years ago, a group of former Rare employees with decades of combined experience working on some of the most renowned platformers banded together to form Playtonic with the shared vision to resurrect the 3D platformer. Yooka-Laylee was born out of this vision and now almost a decade and a studio with over 60 employees later, we have refined that vision and morphed it with our learnings working across other projects and feedback from our community to bring you Yooka-Replaylee, the definitive version of the 2017’s indie 3D mascot platformer darling. Staring the buddy duo of Yooka, the green one, and Laylee, the purple one, the epic open world adventure is coming to Xbox Series X|S!
The makings of a great mascot platformer start with no less than, well, memorable mascots, and Yooka-Replaylee has got just that in the forms of the heroic lime-green lizard Yooka and his wisecracking, now fluffy, purple companion Laylee the bat.
Together they go against the comically villainous Capital B and meet a colourful and varied cast of characters along the way, some familiar to fans of the IP and some new ones like Coinelius the piggy bank and Mark the appropriately named bookmark who gives you directions throughout the game. Even some of the enemies you encounter have undergone a full makeover. The bees are fluffy now! Every character has been given a fresh coat of paint and smoother animations to go along with it.
While story of Yooka-Replaylee begins in Yooka and Laylee’s home of Shipwreck Creek and swiftly moves inside the lair of the vicious capital B called the Hivory Towers, a vast majority of the game takes place inside Grand Tomes, each with its unique overarching setting and atmosphere.
Entering the world of Yooka-Replaylee, you will quickly discover that the worlds are now more populated with things to do, enemies with all new attacks to encounter, and collectibles to collect than before. Every single challenge has been improved and some entirely new challenges have been added.
An entirely new currency called Q.U.I.D.S has been added for players to collect and spend on a store run by a franchise favourite character. You no longer have to worry about getting lost in the world either thanks to the brand world map and the aforementioned Mark the bookmark giving you guidance and acting as a handy fast-travel system within the levels. You will also be able to track your progress through a brand-new challenge tracker.
What is a platformer if it does not feel good to play? We have completely redone Yooka and Laylee’s move set and the player camera in Yooka-Replaylee to create a more responsive experience. You can now intuitively chain your moves together, which is something you were not able to do before.
In one of our more surprising decisions, we removed the double jump from the game. Instead, your regular jump now matches the height of the old double jump. This is all to ensure a better gameplay flow for the players. Swim and fly controls have also been redone and to the players’ relief, moves now cost less power to use!
Our colourful cast of characters are not the only ones who have undergone a makeover. Yooka-Replaylee has undergone a full visual upgrade covering every single art asset in the game along with a complete UI and HUD refresh. As you run through the grass at Shipwreck Creek or the snow in Glitterglaze Glacier, the world around you feels truly alive and breathing, creating a fully immersive platforming experience.
And I cannot finish a segment talking about immersion without highlighting the beautifully arranged orchestral score, based on the original score composed by Grant Kirkhope and David Wise, we worked together with the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra to produce.
The founders of Playtonic had a vision for a new mascot platformer that would breathe new life into the 3D platforming genre. The very first Yooka-Laylee (2017) is to thank for the position the studio is in now, doubling as a development studio and a publisher, and for the fact that I get to work at Playtonic.
As we approach our tenth anniversary with more resources, more employees with fresh ideas, valuable community feedback and lessons learned working across other secret projects, we think it is only appropriate to go back to that original adventure and celebrate a whole decade of fun and love for platforming by delivering the true definitive version of Yooka and Laylee’s first adventure. And what better way to kickstart an exciting new beginning for the franchise than this? We cannot wait for you to get your hands on Yooka-Replaylee when it launches on Xbox Series X|S. I am also delighted to announce that owners of the original Yooka-Laylee on Xbox will be entitled to an owner’s discount at launch!
Yooka-Replaylee is the definitive remastered and enhanced version of the 3D indie platforming collectathon darling, Yooka-Laylee (2017), developed by key creative talent behind the Banjo-Kazooie and Donkey Kong Country games. New remixed challenges and old favourites await as you embark to explore the huge, beautiful open worlds as the lovable buddy-duo Yooka (the green one) and Laylee (the purple one) once more, all while backed by a beautiful orchestral soundtrack. Did we mention there is a map now? A shiny new currency? And tons of customisation options? The favourite buddy duo has never moved, looked, or sounded better!
Corporate creep Capital B is on a quest to steal all the books in the world and turn them into cold hard cash. BUT the most powerful book in the universe is right under his crooked nose in the neighbouring Shipwreck Creek, home to our adventurous buddy-duo, Yooka and Laylee! Seeing their prized book stolen pulls them into a wacky adventure across many fantastical & imaginative worlds, full of colourful characters and vault-loads of shiny collectibles.
Can you find all of the magical Pagies from their book and save the day?
FEATURES:
MORE BEAUTIFUL THAN EVER – With an art and animations overhaul and enhanced performance and resolution, the favourite buddy duo has never looked or moved better.
NEW AND IMPROVED CHALLENGES – Improvements to existing in-game challenges and many entirely new challenges to discover and undertake!
NEW COLLECTIBLE CURRENCY – Capital B’s inept minions have dropped their hard-earned coins all over the place. Collect the official currency of Hivory Towers to spend at the video games industry’s most beloved sentient vending machine Vendi!
NAVIGATING THE WORLD – Now you can get lost in the game, not in the world! A brand-new world map and challenges tracker helps you know where you are and what needs to be done. Hooray!
VENDI HAS PLENTY TO OFFER – Tonics are back with all new flavours! With the option to equip multiple game-changing enhancements, you can truly customise your playstyle. And as if that wasn’t enough, Vendi has new lines of merchandise for the modern fashionable adventurer.
REVISED CONTROLS & CAMERA – A new tweaked move set allows you to combine moves more fluidly while the new camera controls make framing the action a breeze.
A DREAMY ORCHESTRAL SOUNDTRACK – The original score from famed video game composers Grant Kirkhope (Banjo-Kazooie) and David Wise (Donkey Kong Country) returns but as a beautifully arranged orchestral score. Now seriously, clean out those ears.
If you’re an IGN Plus member, a new game is available to claim now with IGN Rewards. You can claim a free Rugrats: Adventures in Gameland key for PC via Epic Games Store with your membership while supplies last. If you’re a fan of 2D platformers, this is the perfect game for you to try out.
Claim a Free Rugrats: Adventures in Gameland Key!
Developed as an NES game, indie teams, The MIX Games and Wallride teamed up to make a modern classic game with Rugrats: Adventures in Gameland. The game sees Tommy, Chuckie, Phil, and Lil transform Tommy’s house into a video game world that has all sorts of surprises in store. Each of the babies is playable, meaning you have four unique characters to choose from. Additionally, you’ll find that every character has unique abilities.
Every stage has hidden secrets and collectibles to discover. These include Bottles, Cookies, Reptar Coins, and more. For those who enjoy the 100% grind, Rugrats: Adventures in Gameland is an excellent and challenging game. Plus, there are plenty of boss fights that feature familiar faces.
From the soundtrack to the mechanics, Rugrats: Adventures in Gameland feels like a love letter to platformers of the ’90s. If you want even more retro goodness, you can toggle between either 8-bit or HD graphics. Whether you choose to play alone or with a friend in co-op, Rugrats: Adventures in Gameland is bound to be a great time. Don’t miss your chance to claim a free Epic Games Store key!
Support The MIX team by checking the game out on consoles and Steam:
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