Author: Game Infliction

The First 1,000 Diablo 4 Players to Hit Level 100 on Hardcore Will Be Immortalised on a Giant Demon Statue

Diablo IV’s Hardcore mode now has even higher stakes – immortalizing the first 1,000 players to reach level 100 by adding their names to a statue of Lillith.

“Think you can cheat death?” asked Blizzard in a tweet (below). “Reach level 100 on hardcore mode and tweet #Diablo4Hardcore with proof to have your username immortalized on a statue of Lilith.”

Diablo’s infamous hardcore mode has the highest stakes of all – a single character death will permanently delete that character. But if you can rush through without succumbing to any of Diablo IV’s monstrous bosses, you could have your BattleTag immortalized forever.

As well as reaching Level 100 in hardcore mode, players will also need to submit proof, in the form of a photo or video, to Blizzard.

The terms and conditions also state that you’ll need to tweet at the official Diablo account about your accomplishment using #Diablo4Hardcore while also mentioning your Battle.net BattleTag. Of course, you’ll also have to have the Tempered Champion in-game title, but that’s awarded automatically when you reach level 100 in hardcore mode.

The contest begins when Diablo V early access launches on June 1 and ends when the first 1,000 names are gathered or by September 1 if fewer than 1,000 players reach this point.

IGN’s Diablo IV beta impressions said: “Having focused on the Druid and Necromancer classes during the second beta weekend, this one open to more than just those willing to buy an appropriately unholy chicken sandwich, I’m more convinced than ever that this hellish action RPG is on track to deliver something truly special.”

Want to read more about Diablo IV? Check out how Diablo IV’s gothic style reclaims the franchise identity as well as the accessibility features you can find in the upcoming sequel.

Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

System Shock remake review: Nightdive rebuilds the immersive sim mothership just as it was

Sometime before SHODAN’s ethical constraints were removed and the rogue AI set about converting the people of Citadel Station into cyborgs, a researcher named Stacy Everson found a smoking gun hidden among the blinking servers of the spaceship’s library. Not an assault rifle or mini-pistol, but a decades-old email chain between her TriOptimum bosses and a psychologist named Jeffrey Hammer. In the early stages of Citadel’s construction, Hammer suggested that each level of the station be designed in such a way as to induce stress and anxiety, so that experts could study their impact on the human psyche during space travel.

“I always knew something was off about this place!”, wrote Stacy to a colleague. “We are just rats in a maze.”

Read more

Sega Announces Summer Showcase From Yakuza Developer RGG Studio

Yakuza fans desperate for more information on Lika a Dragon 8 could hear more at RGG Summit: Summer 2023, which Sega has announced will take place on June 15.

Revealed in a tweet (below), the showcase from Yakuza developer Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio will be available to stream at 8pm Pacific / 11pm Eastern, meaning June 16 at 4am UK / 1pm AEST.

Sega has yet to reveal how fans can watch along but, as was the case last year, it will likely be streamed on its official Twitch channel.

The publisher didn’t share any information on what fans can expect, though RGG Studio primarily focuses on the Yakuza franchise (which has been rebranded as Like a Dragon in the west) and it’s likely we’ll get an update there.

Last year’s event saw the full reveal of Like a Dragon 8, which confirmed the return of Kazuma Kiryu alongside an early 2024 release window. Not shy about sharing major updates at the RGG Summit, the developer also announced Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name as a spin-off coming in 2023.

Details are otherwise sparse on the next mainline entry, with RGG Studio more or less remaining quiet since last year’s event. The RGG Summit taking place in June could therefore be an ideal time to reveal more of the game, perhaps through a first look at gameplay or a solid release date.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer and acting UK news editor. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.

Random: Zonai ‘Airbike’ Is The Perfect Custom Vehicle In Zelda: TOTK

Sorry, Master Cycle Zero.

Traversing across Hyrule in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is always a joy, but doing it on foot is not always the most efficient means of doing so.

Sure, you could hop on a horse or craft yourself a nice little cart, but wouldn’t it be great if you could literally just fly wherever you want? Well, you can! And it’s remarkably simple, too, thanks to a YouTube guide from 2uncle2dane.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Best PS5 and PlayStation Memorial Day Deals Right Now: Save on Games, SSDs, Headsets, and More

If you’re looking for a deal on PS5 games, controllers, headsets, SSDs, and more over the Memorial Day weekend, you’ve arrived at the right place. Below, we’re tracking all the best deals on everything PlayStation, including new releases, older favorites, and even top premium items like the best OLED TV or soundbars for PS5.

TL;DR – Best PS5 Deals Right Now

If you don’t like what you see, you can always come back another time! We frequently update this page with all the best PS5 deals, so you’re more than likely to find something you love when returning. For now, here are all the best PS5 and PlayStation deals right now.

Best PS5 SSD Deals Right Now

The MP600 Pro is Corsair’s fastest M.2 SSD and the “LPX” model is “optimized for PS5” because it includes a rugged preinstalled heatsink that is slim enough to fit in the PS5 bay without any issues. We like this RAM so much, we rated it the best PS5 SSD for 2023. For even more PS5 SSD deals, check out our full roundup here.

Best PS5 Video Game Deals Right Now

If you’ve got the console, you’ll need the games as well. Video game deals can come and go a lot, so I’d also highly suggest following @IGNDeals on Twitter where we’ll regularly post all kinds of discounts on the stuff you really want to buy (including PS5 games!) For now, here’s the best PS5 video game deals you can find in 2023.

Best PS5 Accessory Deals Right Now

To get the most out of your hardware, you’ll want to consider picking up a few accessories for the PS5. When we find worthy deals, here’s where we’ll put them. But, if you’re just looking to pick up an extra controller, for example, see our best PS5 accessories roundup for more recommendations!

Best PS5 Headset Deals

Gaming on your PS5 can be taken to the next level with a decent headset. Whether you’re looking for immersive 3D audio, or just a decent headset and mic to chat to your friends over a game of Warzone, then you’ve come to the right place. If you’re looking for a few more options (or some additional advice) check out our full best PS5 headset roundup here as well.

Best PS5 and Gaming Soundbar Deals

If you’ve got a killer living room set up, you may want to consider the next best thing to upgrading your space, a decent soundbar. Some of the most immersive elements of gaming can be from the incredible soundtracks, and often enough our TV speakers just aren’t good enough to pick up some of the most intricate sounds. This is where soundbars come in.

Best OLED TV for PS5

This enables seamless 4K gaming at 120Hz on consoles like the PS5 or Xbox Series X. It also supports variable refresh rate (VRR), auto low latency mode (ALLM), and even HGiG, making it a comprehensive choice. These televisions are so exceptional that the smaller 48″ and 42″ sizes are also highly recommended as the best gaming PC monitors available. Check out our own IGN LG Evo C2 OLED TV review for our hands-on experience with this TV, or have a browse through our full OLED TV deals roundup for more options.

Where to Buy a PS5 in 2023

It’s a wonderful time to be alive in 2023, as PS5 consoles are reguarly available to buy! It was a long time coming, but we’re all incredibly thankful to finally turn off those stock trackers! For now, here’s where you can pick up a PS5 console or bundle. But, keep an eye out for offers in the near future, as Sony has already started experimenting with discounts on the console bundles (such as the recent $50 off the God of War bundle).

PlayStation VR 2 is Now Available at Amazon

For those who have been excitedly waiting to get their hands on it, the PlayStation VR 2 is now live on Amazon. For $549.99, you’ll be getting the headset (with a 4K HDR screen, a 110-degree field of view, and many more features), alongside two Sense controllers with adaptive triggers and haptic feedback.

Our review of the PSVR 2 awarded it with an incredible 9/10, calling it a “quantum leap over the original PSVR in terms of ease of use, visual quality, and immersion,” and that, “any PlayStation owner who loves VR should upgrade as soon as possible.” Below, you can find the link to Amazon’s website for it.

All the Best Memorial Day 2023 Deals

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

What Tears of the Kingdom Gets Right – and Wrong – About Accessibility

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom launched to immense praise from critics and players alike. IGN scored the sequel to Breath of the Wild a 10, stating “The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is an unfathomable follow-up, expanding a world that already felt full beyond expectation and raising the bar ever higher into the clouds.” It’s a title that will be discussed and played for months after its initial release. Yet, with its support comes the cyclical arguments that Nintendo is leaving disabled players behind.

With every successful game comes warranted criticism from disabled individuals examining its accessibility. These discussions almost always scrutinize the options, or lack thereof, available within menus. Can subtitles be adjusted? Is there an option to turn off quick–timed–events? Are there aural indicators for blind/low vision individuals? Questions posed by disabled players come from a place of necessity. Without these tools, many of us can’t play critically acclaimed games. However, conversations about Nintendo and their accessibility efforts fail to explore a facet that Nintendo games have incorporated for generations – family design practices.

What Tears of the Kingdom Gets Wrong

If I’m going to argue for Nintendo and Tears of the Kingdom, I need to first acknowledge the Bokoblin in the room – the accessibility options with this game are sorely lacking. You cannot map buttons within the game directly, a crucial feature for any physically disabled player like myself. This is especially problematic with the strange and often uncomfortable control scheme that requires people to hold odd combinations of buttons, forcing them to warp their hands into claw-like shapes. Couple that with no toggles for important actions like switching weapons or fusing objects to arrows, and energy levels are quickly depleted. There are no blind/low vision accessibility settings like screen readers or navigational assistance especially in dark areas like The Depths. And for deaf and hard of hearing players, there are none of the usual settings players may expect to find, such as subtitle presentation adjustments, audio sliders, or mono support.

From an accessibility options analysis, Tears of the Kingdom is an absolute and complete failure, a stark contrast to most AAA games released in the past year.

Even players with varying cognitive disabilities may struggle to play due to the sheer size of the sky islands, Hyrule, and The Depths. Not only are these areas entirely unique to each other, they also include new items that players must incorporate into their inventories. Further, weapon durability – an often-precarious topic that rivals discussions about difficulty modes – cannot be turned off under any circumstance, though fusing does increase each use. From an options analysis, Tears of the Kingdom is an absolute and complete failure, a stark contrast to most AAA games released in the past year. But as I’ve discussed before in previous articles, options alone do not make an accessible game.

What Tears of the Kingdom Gets Right

For all its failures, Tears of the Kingdom is an excellent demonstration when exploring the benefits of accessible design. While the barriers faced by disabled players will undoubtedly cause immense frustration and fatigue, Link’s adventures in Hyrule aren’t totally unplayable.

Physically disabled players can enjoy simplistic combat scenarios, as many encounters can be resolved with just the ‘Y’ button, albeit with good armor and high damaging weapons. Even with Ultra Hand, a core mechanic of this entry, individuals can build designs that automatically eliminate targets. And if the resources are available, players can save their creations and quickly construct them with the press of a button.

Deaf and hard of hearing players have access to fantastic subtitled dialogue, with particular emphasis on important points and people of interest. Further, the game actively visualizes enemy attack patterns, important locations, and objects, providing necessary information to the individual. And even with specific audio-based quests, the game actively guides people toward the objective with contextual clues and enclosed spaces. As for blind/low vision players, they have access to auto-pathing on horseback, and a plethora of audio indicators for low health, destroyed weapons, and even defeated enemies. All these tools are inherently layered into the design of the game, not within a menu labeled accessibility.

These design practices do not fix the glaring issues that continue to plague this game. Tears of the Kingdom can and should be criticized for its lack of accessibility care and detail. Yet, it’s unfair to automatically write off the entire experience as inaccessible without understanding the primary selling point of Nintendo games. Despite the overall size and relatively in-depth plot of Tears of the Kingdom, these games are meant to be played by everyone. From seasoned fans to newcomers to gaming alike, the simplistic nature of Nintendo and subsequently Zelda titles can appeal to a vast array of people, including disabled individuals.

Individualistic Experiences

I firmly believe no studio or publisher can be labeled as “The Worst” when discussing accessibility from a general sense. The individualistic nature of the disabled experience means any game or system is playable, and by making absolute statements, we are actively erasing the real and valid feelings of those who can play these franchises. That’s not to say you can’t be upset with the lack of accessibility, but there are other AAA games that have done far worse even with the inclusion of an accessibility menu, like the initial release of Gotham Knights.

For those disabled individuals who can enjoy the game, it’s proof that accessibility is not one-dimensional.

After reading this you may be wondering if I can even play Tears of the Kingdom, and the unfortunate truth is I can’t, at least fully. I have not played a Zelda game since Breath of the Wild released in 2017. In fact, my frustration with that game led me to become a journalist focusing on accessibility. And as I’ve learned about the intricacies of accessible game design and the disabled perspective, I realized I was allowed to feel angry, but not discredit those who could enjoy Link’s adventures. Throughout my career, which earnestly began in 2019, I’ve interviewed disabled players who can only play the Nintendo Switch, and others who have never had the capability to play games with award-winning accessibility. It doesn’t mean those titles are failures, but that no disabled experience is the same.

Tears of the Kingdom is an absolute success for Nintendo, but it’s one rife with legitimate questions about its future, specifically for accessibility. And as publications, content creators, and fans continue to share their excitement, it’s understandable that many disabled players feel left out of conversations. But for those disabled individuals who can enjoy the game, it’s proof that accessibility is not one-dimensional, and there is still so much more the industry needs to learn.

Grant Stoner is a disabled journalist covering accessibility and the disabled perspective in video games. When not writing, he is usually screaming about Pokémon or his cat, Goomba on Twitter.