Best Video Game Deals Today (September 2024)

Buying new video games, hardware, and accessories for your preferred console doesn’t need to make a massive dent in your wallet. Deals happen all the time for items like these, so you can save money while investing in your favorite hobby. Some of our favorite deals right now are on the 3 month Xbox Game Pass Ultimate membership at Woot, which is discounted again to just $33.49, and Black Friday has come early for Switch fans as the Nintendo Switch Mario Kart 8 Holiday Bundles are already live at Best Buy!

These deals just scratch the surface of what’s out there, though. Whether you play on PS5, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, or PC, you’ll find the very best deals listed below. And if you’ve taken advantage of lots of these deals, see our roundup of game storage ideas.

Best Xbox Game Pass Deals

One of our favorite Xbox Game Pass Ultimate deals has returned at Woot, providing another opportunity for users to stack their membership at a discounted rate. You can get three months of the service for just $36.49, which is a great price on its own, but by using the code ‘ULTIMATE‘ at checkout you can knock off an extra $3 to bring it to $33.49. This price won’t stick around for long, so act fast to secure your membership.

Considering the new price of Game Pass Ultimate is $19.99/month, you’re saving $26.48 with this 3-month deal. This is the best way to avoid the Xbox Game Pass price hike. By stacking these codes you can set yourself up for success to play all of their upcoming releases at a lower price.

Nintendo Switch Mario Kart 8 Holiday Bundles Are Live

Black Friday has arrived a little early for Nintendo fans. For the past few years, Switch holiday bundles with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe have dropped during the holiday sale event. If you’ve been itching to pick up one of these bundles, you thankfully don’t need to wait until November as the Standard and brand new OLED bundle are already live at Best Buy! With these bundles, you’re essentially getting the game for free, which is totally worth it.

Best PC Game Deals

There are plenty of excellent deals for PC players to enjoy right now, including a discount on the biggest single-player game of the year, Black Myth: Wukong, and a discount on the newly released Space Marine 2. You can also score a fantastic deal at Fanatical right now on Elden Ring’s Shadow of the Erdtree expansion. There’s truly no better time to journey to the Realm of Shadow. You can check out even more of our favorite PC game deals below.

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Best Physical Game Deals

Fall weather has kicked in and so have a variety of video game deals. At the moment, some of our favorite discounts are on Super Mario RPG (down to $31.99), Star Wars Jedi: Survivor for Xbox Series X (down to $29.99), and Persona 3 Reload: Standard Edition for PS5 (down to $39.88), but there’s plenty more where those came from.

More Physical Game Deals:

Lenovo Legion 7i Gen 8 RTX 4080 SUPER PC for $1999

Do you prefer to play on a dedicated PC tower? Navigating the options online can be quite the ordeal. Desk space, portability, and price point are often factors in the decision. However, there are some great PC deals that pop up every now and again that are worth jumping on. One of our favorite deals at the moment is on this Lenovo Legion 7i Gen 8 RTX 4080 SUPER PC for $1999 (with code ‘CRAZYLEGION2‘). To see even more PC deals, check out our roundup of the best gaming PC deals.

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Our Favorite Micro SD Cards for Switch and Steam Deck Are On Sale

The best Switch SD card should be fast, reliable, and as future-proof as possible. That last one is important, especially with the Switch successor on the horizon. Therefore, you’re going to want to opt for the latest in SD card tech, which is a micro SDXC UHS-I U3 A2 V30 memory card. That’s a lot of random letters, so to save you a bit of time we’ve left our top suggestions and deals just above and below for your convenience (like this excellent deal on a Lexar 1TB PLAY microSDXC Memory Card for $74.99). To see even more SD card deals, make sure to check out our roundup of the best SD card deals.

More Switch Micro SD Card Deals

Perfect PS5 2TB SSD with Heatsink for $139.99

SSD prices have been rising in 2024 but, with significant discounts available, now is the perfect time to buy. This is one of the best deals on a 2TB SSD at the moment: You can score the 2TB Seagate FireCuda 530R PS5 SSD with Heatsink for $139.99 at Amazon and Best Buy. This deal isn’t the only one worth checking out right now, either. You can see even more of our favorite SSD deals below.

Best Power Bank Deals

Looking for a new power bank? This incredible deal on the Anker PowerCore 737 is absolutely worth checking out. Featuring a spacious 24,000mAh capacity and a hefty 140W charging output, it’s a fantastic pick for your Nintendo Switch. We also featured it in our list of the best power banks for 2024, so it’s well worth investing in.

Save on Select Xbox Controllers

There are a few Xbox controller deals that are worth taking advantage of right now. At Amazon, you can save on a variety of different color controllers (including Shock Blue, Robot White, Velocity Green, and Pulse Red), which are down to $44. While not as low as they were during the two-day Prime Day sale event, they’re still worth picking up at these prices. Check those deals out and more at the links below.

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

God Of War Ragnarok review: calm down now, I’ve known this wolf for ninety seconds

Spoilers throughout. TLDR: fun, generous, beautiful animation and cinematography. Worked mostly fine on my PC. I would not have given it the best narrative award if it were up against Gran Turismo 7.

Writing of the frigid framing of Clockwork Orange’s atrocities, the film critic Pauline Kael asked: “is there anything sadder – and ultimately more repellent – than a clean-minded pornographer?” The lavishly directed and animated universe of God Of War Ragnarok is far from repellent, but it also feels spiritually squeegeed; a world of pulpy violence so chirpy and chaste as to strain belief that the scars that haunt its reformed anti-hero could have ever been inflicted there.

PS5 Slim 30th Anniversary Bundle Price Reportedly Revealed

The price for the PlayStation 30th Anniversary PS5 Slim bundle as well as the PlayStation 30th Anniversary DualSense controller have reportedly been revealed.

In an article on Dealabs, reliable PlayStation leaker billbil-kun said the limited edition PS5 Slim console bundle will cost $499.99. Billbil-kun estimated that the bundle will cost around €519.99 and £449.99 in Europe.

The DualSense 30th Anniversary controller, meanwhile, costs $79.99, which is the same price as the recently released DualSense Astro Bot controller. Billbil-kun estimates the price of this controller in Europe is €79.99 and £69.99.

Last week, Sony announced new limited editions of the PS5 and the PS5 Pro that in design terms are reminiscent of the very first PlayStation console to launch on December 3, 1994. This limited edition offering utilizes the original PlayStation color design and integrates it into the latest line of PS5 hardware products. Sony warned the PlayStation 30th Anniversary Collection will be sold in “highly limited supply.”

The PlayStation 5 Digital Edition – 30th Anniversary Limited Edition Bundle includes the limited edition PS5 Digital Edition console with 1TD SSD and matching limited edition accessories – DualSense wireless controller and a Console Cover for a Disc Drive (the Disc Drive is sold separately). It also includes a Vertical Stand and the following special collector’s items:

Original PlayStation controller-style cable connector housing
Four PlayStation Shapes cable ties
PlayStation sticker
Limited Edition PlayStation Poster (1 of 30 possible designs)
PlayStation Paperclip

Billbil-kun does not have pricing information for the PlayStation 5 Pro Console – 30th Anniversary Limited Edition BundIe, the PlayStation Portal Remote Player – 30th Anniversary Limited Edition, or the DualSense Edge Wireless Controller – 30th Anniversary Limited Edition. They said to expect a final price on September 26, when pre-orders open on PlayStation Direct. Sony has yet to officially announce any pricing.

The PlayStation 30th Anniversary Collection will be released on November 21. There will be 12,300 units of the PlayStation 5 Pro Console – 30th Anniversary Limited Edition Bundle available, with limited edition numbers etched onto the unit. The number represents the month and date of the first PlayStation console launch.

The PS5 Pro was one of the industry’s worst-kept secrets for months before its official reveal earlier this month. The console is priced at $700, doesn’t come with a disc drive, and launches on November 7 of this year. PlayStation fans reacted to the high price point with surprise when it was announced, and our own polls only between 10 and 15 percent of respondents indicated they would buy the console, largely put off by its expense. Sony has since announced it will sell “certified refurbished” PS5s for half the price of a PS5 Pro, and PS5 Disc Drive sales have increased in the wake of the announcement as well.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

I didn’t play Shadowgate, but this skeleton reminds me of HeroQuest and that’s good enough for me

Raise your thumb if you’ve ever impaled it on a HeroQuest skeleton’s scythe. Country’s gone soft these days, I tell you. I’ve seen those new Heroquest skellies. You couldn’t injure yourself on those scythes if you tried. It’s polearm-ical correctness gone mad! Well, good news if you’re nostalgic for a simpler time, where tiny scythes could maim you for life, and binary digits came in lots of eight and not a binary digit more. RPG Beyond Shadowgate is a vastly-expanded, modernised sequel to the classic NES adventure, created by the original’s designers, and it just released last week.

Success of Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 ‘Changes Everything,’ Dev Says — and Yes, There Are Ideas for Space Marine 3

The success of breakout hit Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 ‘changes everything’ for developer Saber Interactive, it’s said.

Speaking exclusively to IGN as part of a sweeping post-launch interview just over two weeks after Space Marine 2’s record-breaking launch, Saber Interactive Chief Creative Officer Tim Willits said the success of the game would even positively affect its future projects.

While neither Saber nor publisher Focus Entertainment have announced a sales figure for Space Marine 2, Focus has confirmed over two million played at launch. In fact, Space Marine 2 is the most-played Warhammer video game of any type ever released on Steam, with 225,690 peak concurrent players on Valve’s platform.

Willits won’t go into hard numbers for Space Marine 2’s success, either in revenue or profit terms, but did tell IGN that the budget for the game was less than half that of Doom Eternal, the last game he was id Software studio director on before leaving to join Saber in 2019. The suggestion here, of course, is that Space Marine 2, which launched priced $59.99 on Steam and $69.99 on console, has already provided a highly profitable endeavor for all involved.

While Space Marine 2 leans on the power of Games Workshop’s Warhammer 40,000 brand, its back-to-basics approach to the action genre and eye-catching alien swarm tech that puts hundreds of Tyranid creatures on-screen at once has wowed critics and gamers. Just shy of three weeks from release, Willits is hopeful Space Marine 2 will end up seeing the sort of player numbers Saber’s co-op zombie shooter World War Z has. World War Z, whose zombie swarm tech was used as the basis of Space Marine 2’s Tyranid swarm tech, has seen 25 million players since going on sale in 2019.

“With Space Marine 2, it really does change everything,” Willits said. “During our company party, I gave a little 30-second speech and I told the whole team, this changes everything we do moving forward, from our small games like our third-party publishing games, to A Quiet Place next month. We have Toxic Command coming up with Focus soon. Everything that we do now, this changes.

“And as employees, and I know this firsthand, when you have a big hit and you have that internet kind of popularity, there’s more passion and there’s more responsibility for the quality that you do. And you look at yourself through a different lens. And sometimes that success lens can be a little dangerous because then you get so paranoid about making sure everything is great that you overstress about things, but it’s that success lens that really drives amazing games into the future. So I do believe that through the success lens that we have, we will just make far better products in the future.”

In practical terms, the success of Space Marine 2 means Saber staff can now “dream bigger,” Willits said. Saber will make good on its original post-launch plan, which involves new missions, modes, maps, enemies, and weapons, but it will also make “adjustments” fueled by Space Marine 2’s now confirmed success — once the dust settles.

There is now the possibility of story DLC, Willits confirmed, with ideas floating around for a potential Space Marine 3. Without spoiling the Space Marine 2 campaign, it strongly suggests a continuation (IGN has reported on the probably new enemy faction we’ll see in Space Marine 3), and given the success of the game, this is now a case of when, not if.

“Our game director Dmitry Grigorenko, he has proposed some story ideas that could either be DLC or a sequel,” Willits said. “We’re literally just catching our breath. This is two weeks out. We just need to get the dust to settle. But I can confidently say that we will not disappoint our Warhammer fans in the future. It’s too big of a success! I know that’s an obvious thing to say, but hopefully we’ll be working on Space Marine content for a long time.”

For Space Marine 3, Willits said, Saber would need to work with publisher Focus as well as Games Workshop once again. “We just have to figure it out. I would love to do it, yes,” he continued. “Yes, yes, yes! There’s so many different factions… there are other chapters, too, that are interesting…”

In the shorter term, Saber is working on adding new classes, which will be released for free and, hopefully, will add some variety to Space Marine 2’s gameplay. Willits wouldn’t be drawn on which classes are coming, though fans are hopeful for a Chaplain or an Apothecary. The post-launch plan, though, is informed by the continued success of World War Z, which has retained a loyal player base through the release of new and free classes in the years since launch.

“One of the reasons why we got 25 million people in World War Z is because every time we release a new DLC pack or a free class and we had a sale, people buy it. We literally see a spike,” Willits said. “We put out a video promoting a new character pack, we see a spike in sales. So it just drives attention and drives awareness.

“There’s always one guy that says, ‘guys, come on, there’s new stuff coming up.’ And then, ‘okay,’ so three other people are like, ‘it’s only five bucks, let’s buy it.’ And so you get this kind of group FOMO thing going on that really helps. And we had so much success with that model. That’s what we’ll do.”

We are focused on development. We look forward to sharing more when the time is right. There you go, brother.

Saber is already thinking about its other announced games in development as it continues to shift staff from projects ramping down to projects ramping up. Willits has already mentioned A Quiet Place The Road Ahead, a video game based on the hit horror movie franchise it’s publishing next month, and John Carpenter’s Toxic Commando, another co-op focused shooter that makes use of Saber’s swarm tech. With Space Marine 2 out the door, expect to hear more on Toxic Commando soon.

Then, there’s Jurassic Park Survival, a single-player action adventure game set on Isla Nublar the day after the events of the beloved 1993 Jurassic Park film. There’s no release date on that one. And, further ahead, the big one: Saber’s troubled Star Wars The Knights of the Old Republic remake, which the company continues to insist is in development.

When asked if the success of Space Marine 2 had increased the likelihood of KOTOR becoming a reality, Willits, expecting to be asked about the MIA remake, turned to a prepared statement:

“Right now, we are focused on development. We look forward to sharing more when the time is right. There you go, brother.”

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Standing on the Shoulders of Giants: How Iconic RPGs of the Past Led Me to Create Beyond Galaxyland

Category: Games

September 23, 2024

Standing on the Shoulders of Giants: How Iconic RPGs of the Past Led Me to Create Beyond Galaxyland

Sam EnrightCreator, Beyond Galaxyland

Summary

Take to the stars in this planet-hopping adventure-RPG.
Battle strange creatures and bosses in active turn-based combat.
Beyond Galaxyland launches for Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One tomorrow!

Tomorrow’s launch of Beyond Galaxyland marks the end of a personal journey that’s far older than the six years it’s taken me to develop the game itself. In fact, my fascination and love for the turn-based RPG genre started way back in the late 1990s, with one game in particular: Square’s iconic Chrono Trigger.

I have very fond memories of growing up and watching my cousins play the game on their consoles; it helped break new ground and – alongside a small number of its contemporaries – set the foundations for the genre for years to come. So I knew when I was developing Beyond Galaxyland that it was important I understood what made that game so special to me 20 years previously.

Firstly, it has a great story… who doesn’t want to experience a fantasy time-travelling adventure to stop the end of the world? And secondly, it has impeccable pacing – despite being a turn-based RPG, a genre typically known for extended campaign lengths, Chrono Trigger is just 15 hours long. It also has a depth behind its apparent simplicity and shows that more doesn’t always equal a better experience for players.

These two pillars were critical and inspiring to me. I knew I wanted to tell a grand and epic story, while also ensuring Beyond Galaxyland had a pacing similar to my favourite game, while perhaps making the runtime closer to that of a movie (or limited TV series).

It’s why the story of Beyond Galaxyland is arranged into two distinct parts: the story that occurs before our hero – high schooler Doug – and his newly formed party of pals return to [redacted] and battle [more redaction], and after, when the story sees them take the fight to [even more redaction] in a valiant attempt to save Earth. (You didn’t think I’d spoil some of the key story elements of the game in this post, did you?)

Turn-based RPGs lend themselves so perfectly to stories of this nature. In addition to the RPG classics of the mid-to-late-1990s, I was influenced by some classic TV shows and movies: Alien, Aliens, Star Wars, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy… Actually, this list could go on and on. While I wanted it to feel epic and cinematic, mixing light-hearted humour with serious moments and themes, I simultaneously wanted to ensure Beyond Galaxyland was pacey: as such, it’s a game with no filler, level grinding, or artificially extended storylines.

Another childhood favourite that went on to inspire me is the original Final Fantasy VII, which I think gets its battle pacing so, so right: the combat in the game is quick, snappy, and rewarding. It’s something I’ve tried to pay homage to in Beyond Galaxyland, all the while adding my own spin on things. Beyond Galaxyland has an active battle system that requires players to press the attack button with every strike against enemies, as well as the need to time their defence when under attack themselves. It’s also why players have the ability to capture and then unleash any of the creatures collected during the adventure (including some of the 25 bosses strewn across the zoo-like collection of planets that make up Galaxyland itself) against their opponents.

Most of all, I hope Beyond Galaxyland doesn’t just feel like a nostalgic experience for players. When I set out to make it, I wanted to push the boundaries of this genre in ways it might have developed if more people had seen in Chrono Trigger what I saw, back at my cousins’ house over 25 years ago: Beyond Galaxyland is fast-paced and compact (for the genre), and avoids grinding gameplay. It also combines gameplay from other genres, including puzzles and platforming, photography, and even retro-style racing!

Don’t get me wrong, I do want this game to also feel nostalgic for those who fell in love with those classic games just as I did. It’s a bit of a contradiction, but I hope Beyond Galaxyland feels both familiar and also new, innovating within the confines of this classic genre. Most of all, I just hope it transports players to another world as all those games did for me.

Beyond Galaxyland

United Label

☆☆☆☆☆

★★★★★

$17.99

$14.39

Pre-order

Inspired by classic sci-fi movies, Beyond Galaxyland is an intergalactic, 2.5D adventure-RPG set among the stars. Step into the sneakers of high-schooler Doug, as he’s whisked away to ‘Galaxyland’ – a zoo-like solar system of planets – on an epic quest to save Earth itself.

An all-new take on the beloved RPG adventures of old, prepare for a journey like no other, skyrocketing through teeming jungles, neon-lit cities, and cybernetic casinos, with each new planet brimming with intriguing characters, fiendish adversaries, and many other surprises.

Accompanied by Doug’s pet guinea pig – the pistol-wielding Boom Boom – and a sentient robot called MartyBot, together you must defend the world against an all-powerful entity known only as ‘The End’, before it conquers the Universe itself…

No pressure.

A Bold New Take on the Classic Sci-Fi Caper!
Experience firsthand all the thrills and spills of a retro sci-fi adventure, in an all-new take on the fish-out-of-water tale that sticks you right in the centre of the action! Laughter, loss, peril and friendship, Beyond Galaxyland has it all and then some, dipped in a dazzling layer of neon-tastic pixels.

Explore a Solar System of Extraordinary Worlds
From the blizzard-swept planes of Arcos to the tropical jungle ravines of Erros, the neon-buzzing cities of Neo to the arid sand dunes of Xalm, explore a cosmic cluster of unique worlds, each with its own quests, environmental puzzles, and out-of-this-world characters.

Overcome Cosmic Foes in Tactical Turn-Based Combat
Engage in strategic turn-based battles against a vast range of galactic nemeses, with time-responsive defensive gameplay to minimise damage. Each party member has a range of unique abilities at their disposal, but for an additional tactical advantage, sneakily scan your enemy pre-battle to discover their strengths and weaknesses.

Experience Epic Boss Battles
Each planet boasts its own distinct perils, but none more so than the epic bosses you’ll encounter throughout your extraterrestrial travels, including colossal space dragons, flesh eating flowers, and the all-knowing bionic behemoth that is Mother Brain.

Capture Enemies to Use in Battle
Successfully capture the many weird and wonderful creatures you encounter, to later unleash them in battle, with each possessing a number of exclusive abilities. Will you acquire every last one?

The post Standing on the Shoulders of Giants: How Iconic RPGs of the Past Led Me to Create Beyond Galaxyland appeared first on Xbox Wire.

Stardew Valley Creator Confirms Version 1.6 Console Release Date

Clear your calendar this November.

After rolling out earlier this year on PC, it looks like the Version 1.6 Update for Stardew Valley is finally on the way to consoles.

In a short post on the Stardew website and social media today, the game’s creator Eric ‘ConcernedApe’ Barone has revealed the release date for the Stardew Valley 1.6 update on console (and mobile devices) will be 4th November 2024. This console update will “release at Version 1.6.9“, which comes to PC around the same time.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Light The Beacons! ‘Tales Of The Shire’ Gets Cosy On Switch In March 2025

We’re going on an adventure!

After being slapped with a delay earlier this month, Private Division and Wētā Workshop took to today’s Hobbit Day showcase to reveal that Tales of the Shire: A The Lord of the Rings Game will arrive on Switch on 25th March 2025 (which is, canonically, the day that Frodo and Samwise destroyed the One Ring — the more you know).

Today’s showcase gave an in-depth look at the game, examining all of the cosy aspects the developers have added, the inspirations they took from Tolkien’s work and the Hobbit-sized stories you’ll come across along the way.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

What’s on your bookshelf?: why have you put pumpkin spice in my grandfather’s ashes edition

Hello reader who is also a reader, and welcome back to Booked For The Week – our regular Sunday chat with a selection of cool industry folks about books! Once again, the dastardly autumn breezes have blown my schedule all out of whack, so no cool industry person this week. Instead, here is a short excerpt from another weird story I starting writing, also containing poultry for some reason.

Feature: Catch-Up Crew: Donkey Kong Country – “I Liked His Big Red, Er, Ribbit-Bag?”

Catching up with the DK crew.

Welcome aboard once again for this edition of Catch-up Crew, the series where the senior staff of the USS Nintendo Life do what every good crew should do on a seat-of-your-pants cosmic adventure – adjourn to the observation lounge for a conference.

Yes, we’re back at the table to discuss a classic video game that at least one of us hasn’t ever played. Last month we looked at F-Zero X. This time, we’re heading further back – Rareware’s Donkey Kong Country for the Super Nintendo is the subject of illumination. Available to play on Switch for anybody with a Nintendo Switch Online subscription, will it hold up nearly 30 years on from its 16-bit debut?

Read the full article on nintendolife.com