Try before you party.
Ahead of the launch of Super Mario Party Jamboree later this month on 17th October 2024, it’s been revealed a demo of the game has been added to in-store Nintendo kiosks across the US.
This demo is available at select GameStop, Best Buy and Target, and allows you to party for 10 minutes in total. As highlighted by Nintendo Wire, you’ll be able to try out two game modes: the Koopathlon and Minigame Bay. Here’s a bit more about them:
Read the full article on nintendolife.com
Here’s your chance to get one of the best Micro SD cards for your Steam Deck or Nintendo Switch. As part of the October Prime Day Event, Amazon is offering a 1TB TeamGroup Pro Plus Micro SDXC card for only $59.99. Besides being compatible with gaming handhelds, the Pro Plus has a faster speed rating than most Micro SDXC cards in this price range and would make an excellent card for 4K action cameras and DSLRs.
The Nintendo Switch and Switch OLED have 32GB and 64GB of internal storage, respectively, some of it reserved for the OS. To give you an idea of how paltry those capacities are, Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom uses up 16GB and Breath of the Wild about 13.5GB. If bought digitally, those two games alone would take up all of your internal storage on the OG Switch console. If there’s any one Switch accessory that we think is absolutely required, it’s a high-capacity memory card.
The Steam Deck is equally space constrained. Although it starts out with more base storage (64GB to 512GB), Steam games can easily take up far more space than that base storage. For example, the best games to play on Steam Deck take up over 60GB each. Even if you opted for the 512GB model, you’re going to run out of space sooner than you think. For more information, check out our Steam Deck review or, for that matter, our ASUS ROG Ally review.
The TeamGroup Pro Plus card offers an extra 1TB of storage on top of your base capacity. It’s compatible with virtually any device that accepts the Micro SDXC card standard including the Nintendo Switch, Steam Deck, and the ASUS ROG Ally for that matter. The Pro Plus is a U3 A2 V30 rated card with read speeds of up to 160MB/s and write speeds of up to 110MB/s, which means it is faster than most Micro SDXC cards at its price point. That makes it a good option for devices with hefty transfer requirements, like 4K action cameras and DSLR cameras.
This is easily one of the best Steam Deck deals and Nintendo Switch deals available for October Prime Day, and absolutely worth considering if you find yourself short on space all too often. For more deals, check out our definitive Prime Day article for current news on everything related to the upcoming October Prime Day Sales event, including what deals to expect and whether or not you should wait for Black Friday.
Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn’t hunting for deals for other people at work, he’s hunting for deals for himself during his free time.
The Tetris community has reached another major milestone, with 16-year-old Michael “dogplayingtetris” Artiaga becoming the first player to clear level 255 and achieve the mythical “rebirth” — community parlance for reaching the game’s highest possible level and looping all the way back to the beginning.
As reported by Ars Technica, Artiaga accomplished the feat in front of hundreds of Twitch viewers, clearing some 3,300 lines over the course of 80 minutes. It’s an achievement that was thought to be impossible until techniques like rolling and hypertapping came into play, inspiring a new generation of Tetris pioneers.
35 years after its release, @dogplayingtris just became the first person to get the NES Tetris rebirth. He made it all the way to level 255, then the game wrapped around and restarted from level 0. pic.twitter.com/Igwa2fIrmJ
— SummoningSalt (@summoningsalt) October 6, 2024
Notably, Artiaga was playing on a special version of the Tetris NES rom that keeps it from crashing after passing level 155. Earlier this year, Tetris expert and fellow teen Willis “Blue Scuti” Gibson managed to beat Tetris for the first time by hitting one of these crashes on level 157, marking the first ever instance of a human player getting one over on Alexey Pajitnov’s classic. After level 157, the crash points continue to proliferate, making them virtually impossible to avoid.
Still, that doesn’t make Artiaga’s feat any less impressive. As Ars Technica notes, the NES version of Tetris actually has a glitch in level 235 that results in it taking an incredible 810 lines to clear — an eternity when you’re playing at the fastest possible rate. Artiaga spent 20 minutes on this level alone, finally proclaiming that he had “seen the light” when it was finished.
Artiaga went on to clear level 255 and finally pull off the “rebirth,” sending the game all the way back to level 0. Then, incredibly, he kept right on playing, continuing all the way to level 91 before finally giving up. His final score was 29,486,164, breaking the previous world record by Alex Thach by more than 12 million points.
“Oh my god, I’m so glad that game is over, bro,” Artiaga said. “I never want to play this game again, bro… I was starting to lose my mind.”
Fans hailed Artiaga’s accomplishment online, not just because he pulled off a world first rebirth, but because he proved that endless play was indeed possible. Now speculation has already begun on who might pull off the first “double rebirth.” If records keep falling at the pace that they have been, it shouldn’t be long. After all, it’s been less than a year since Blue Scuti beat Tetris, and he’s now crashing it for fun.
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.
The cool thing about board games is the emphasis on playing with other people in real life. You call over your friends and gather around the table and have a grand old time. Thanks to Amazon’s October Prime Day, you can snag a bunch of cool board games on sale right now. That is, assuming you’re a Prime member (sign up here if not). One of the most popular board games on sale is Splendor, which you can pick up for $17.99 when you clip the $6 coupon on the page. That’s a massive discount off the $40 MSRP, so grab it before the deal goes away.
Splendor transports you back to the Renaissance era, where you and your opponents play as merchants trying to build your own individual empires. Your job is to collect gems, build shops, and make partnerships with wealthy citizens on your way to commercial dominance. It’s an engine-building game (in fact, it’s on our list of the very best engine-building board games), so you build up various money-making schemes that keep on chugging when you’re not paying attention to them. Next step, take over the world.
It’s not one of those heavyweight games in terms of systems that take forever to learn how to play. It’s more beginner-friendly. In fact, if you have older kids, you could even play it as a family board game.
Splendor is always one of the more popular board games for the IGN audience, and for good reason. If you’re looking for a game with a bit of strategy that a wide range of players can play, it’s a rock-solid choice. And now it’s available for cheap, so pick it up before the deal ends. Amazon’s sale event only runs two days, and even though this deal isn’t explicitly a part of it (you don’t need Prime to take advantage), that doesn’t mean it’ll last.
Chris Reed is a commerce editor and deals expert for IGN. He also runs IGN’s board game and LEGO coverage. You can follow him on Threads.
We’re now properly into the month of October, and that means that some of 2024’s biggest game releases are starting to roll out.
Monday morning saw several big reviews go live, including very positive reviews for Metaphor: ReFantazio (currently a 94 on Metacritic) and Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero (our review is currently in progress, but we feel like it’s a labor of love). That’s on top of Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred, the Silent Hill 2 remake, and more.
Here are some of the biggest games coming out this week
It’s a busy week in what looks to be a customarily busy month for games, with Dragon Age: The Veilguard and Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 also due to release (the latter just got a brand-new trailer).
So the question is: Which of these games are you planning to play first? Silent HIll? Dragon Ball? Metaphor? All of the above? Answer the poll and share your thoughts in the comments.
In meantime, make sure to keep it locked on IGN for lots of coverage around all of these releases, including why Silent 2 Hill is powerfully miserable and why Metaphor: ReFantazio is a brilliant evolution of Persona and Shin Megami Tensei.
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.
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom pushes players to use creativity, rather than brute force, to solve its most tricky puzzles and even boss fights. But while most dungeons and boss fights are a breeze as long as you’ve been keeping your collection of Echoes up to date, there’s one ultra-challenging roadblock that more and more players are reporting is stumping them. No, it’s not a super-hard enemy…it’s a horse race.
Over the last week, player after player has posted on the Echoes of Wisdom and Zelda subreddits complaining about the game’s horse races, and specifically the “short race” in particular. The short race, which Zelda can enter once she passes a point in the game where she gets her own horse (as opposed to a rental) is supposed to be simple. Ride the horse around a circular track exactly one time, and do it in under 17 seconds. Basic stuff.
But for some reason, this particular horse race is a nightmare to do in that amount of time. The track is littered with crates (which Zelda’s horse can jump) and trees (which it cannot jump) to trip you up, making it hard to gain and maintain speed. Post after post has appeared with players finishing the race in just over 17 seconds or even 17 exactly…but needing under 17 to win. Even players who have passed the other horse races with flying colors are struggling with the short race.
Fortunately, some players are finding creative solutions. One player posted a clip of Zelda using Echoes of lava rocks to build little staircases allowing the horse to jump over the tree obstacles, meaning they could get past them without swerving and losing speed. Another popular tactic was even simpler: just use Tri to move the trees out of the way as you ride past, avoiding them entirely. That method in particular is saving other players already:
If you need more tips to beat the horse races yourself, we’ve got a guide to all horse races in Echoes of Wisdom right here. You can also check out our wiki guides to everything else in Echoes of Wisdom, and our interactive map to help you track down heart containers, might crystals, and more.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
Found a dead rat in my inbox this morning. When I examined the entrails it spelled out the following: PaThoLoGiC 3 aNnOuNcEd ToDaY. Ah, I see. Developers Ice Pick Lodge are working on a sequel to their infamously oppressive plague town simulator, only this time the follow-up will feature “a time-travel mechanic, allowing players to go back and see how their decisions change the lives of the townspeople.” It will also put you in the fancy-schmancy shoes of the Bachelor, a doctor fond of quoting Latin phrases, who will have the ability to order quarantines and request patrols of entire areas of town. There’s no firm release date yet, but we’re told it’ll be ready some time next year.
And it has landed a new R&D division.
Monolith Soft, the studio behind the Xenoblade Chronicles series, is expanding its in-house engine for use on future titles thanks to its newly-founded R&D department (thanks, Automaton).
That is according to the company’s Chief Creative Officer Tetsuya Takahashi and lead programmer Michihiko Inaba, who, in a recent interview with Japanese outlet CGworld, spoke about the company’s plans for the future as it plans to tackle bigger development projects.
Read the full article on nintendolife.com
Wave after wave of enemy forces advance, seemingly without end. Attacks arrive from every angle at once. The lives of innocent Eliksni captives hang in the balance. In response, Guardians do what they do best: take up arms and run headlong into the fray.
One of the major features introduced in Destiny 2’s latest Episode, Revenant, is Onslaught: Salvation. A defensive wave-based activity that pits three-Guardian fireteams against increasingly intense waves of enemies, Onslaught also allows Guardians to purchase powerful defensive units to use against the invading hordes. In its original form (introduced in Destiny 2: Into the Light), Onslaught was a packed and intense mode, full of ratcheting tension and ‘Did you see that?’ moments. Now, with Onslaught: Salvation, the development team is raising the bar.
“There were a lot of great and constructive feedback from the community with the original Onslaught,” said Destiny 2 designer Clayton Kisko. “The one we heard most often was that they wanted Bungie to invest in the mode with new maps, new enemies, and new defenses, and that is exactly what we are doing with Onslaught: Salvation.”
From a thematic perspective, Onslaught: Salvation’s three new maps – Widow’s Court, Eventide Ruins, and Kell’s Grave – are leaning into the gothic horror that is fitting with Revenant’s chilling visual theme. If the original Onslaught was about protecting the Last City from the forces of the Witness, this time around the theme leans into slaying monsters, fighting evil, and saving the innocent.
By their nature, Onslaught maps need to pack a lot of punch into some relatively tight spaces to provide maximum tension and action. The three new maps each have their own unique layouts, while also building on lessons learned from earlier Onslaught maps.
“This time around we were able to identify the design pain points early and got ahead of the enemy teleporting issues,” said Kisko. “We ensured that there were at least three wide lanes for each Advanced Defense Unit (ADU) location. For Eventide Ruins, the larger map, we took our learnings from Mothyards (from the original Onslaught) and set out to make sure enemy spawn locations were closer to the ADU to ensure a closer time-to-complete to the other two maps.”
Alongside the new maps, Guardians will be pleased to know that they’ll have new defensive countermeasures available this time around. The new Air Strikes will rain down retribution on humanity’s enemies and, for those who want to get a bit more hands on, there’s the Rideable Turret.
“The Rideable Turret is good at mowing down clumps of enemies or damaging a single heavy unit like those deadly Demolitionists who like to attack the ADU,” said Kisko. “It can overheat, though, so players will need to balance when they fire and for how long. The defensive upgrades increase the health of the turret and the damage. The final upgrade will add scorching rounds to the bullets. What is so cool about that is the sandbox team was able to design it so the turret will combo with any of the rider’s Solar fragments or buildcrafting around scorching rounds.”
While defending the ADU is one of the key mission components in an Onslaught: Salvation game, it’s certainly not the only thing that will keep Guardians moving. Augmentation waves and bonus objectives will take players out of their comfort zones (and away from the safety blanket of relying on defensive countermeasures). This time, players will be infiltrating the Revenant Nest to free captured Eliksni. For one bonus objective, new shielded enemy units will appear, requiring Guardians to use special ether-light cannons to stop them.
Jonathan To, narrative lead for Destiny 2, said the team has worked hard to include narrative hooks in Onslaught: Salvation to keep things moving from a story and character standpoint.
“The main writers for Onslaught: Salvation created some excellent character-building and exchanges between Spider, Crow, Eido, Eramis, and others. Crow is figuring out a new role for himself in the City, Eido is the player’s partner this Episode in a role we can’t wait to share more about, and who knows what Eramis will be up to when she returns, having both helped and fought against us in the past. Fans of the Eliksni and the saga of the Fallen up to this point in Destiny will love what the team has done here.”
Onslaught: Salvation is playable with the release of Destiny 2: Revenant, starting October 8.
Halo creators 343 Industries are having a bit of a glow-up. They’re now calling themselves Halo Studios, a piece of rhetorical doubling-down that reminds me of those dril tweets about “James Bond, author of James Bond”. They’ve also abandoned the proprietary Slipspace game engine used by Halo Infinite in favour of Epic’s Unreal Engine 5, which will be the basis for “multiple new games”. To celebrate the occasion, Halo Studios have released some footage of Project Foundry, an expansive Unreal Engine 5 prototype and spawning vat for actual Halo games, which is billed by the Xbox Newswire as a kind of ur-Halo – “a true reflection of what would be required for a new Halo game using Unreal, and a training tool for how to get there”.
