Author: Game Infliction

Doctor Who Magic: The Gathering Cards Are Up For Preorder

To celebrate 60 years of Doctor Who, Magic: The Gathering is releasing four ready-to-play Commander decks and a Collector Booster box (and individual packs) for Whovians to enjoy. They’re set to release this year on October 13, so you can pick them up before the show returns for the anniversary specials in November.

Below, you can find links to all of the Commander decks and Booster packs that are up for preorder on Amazon, along with where to pick up a Starter Kit if you’re new to the world of Magic!

Magic: The Gathering Starter Kit

For those who want to learn the basics of Magic, this is another excellent preorder to jump on. This 2023 two-player Starter Kit serves as an easy and fun introduction to the game with everything you need to learn how to play, including two ready-to-play decks and two codes to play online. It’s set to release on September 8, 2023, so you can have it before the new Doctor Who set drops, too.

Doctor Who Magic: The Gathering Collector Boosters

Magic: The Gathering has revealed a Doctor Who Collector Booster box of 12 packs and a single Collector Booster pack of 15 cards for the show’s anniversary. According to their website, the Collector Booster box features “your favorite Doctor Who characters with 12 boosters full of Rares (7-14 in every pack!), TARDIS Showcase frames, and more shiny foils than you can shake a sonic screwdriver at.” You can see links to both below.

Doctor Who Magic: The Gathering Commander Decks

And for those who want to jump right in, Magic: The Gathering has also revealed four ready-to-play Commander decks. These decks are called Masters of Evil, Blast From the Past, Timey-Wimey, and Paradox Power. According to MTG’s website, “each deck will contain 50 new cards and a new set of Planechase cards featuring famous locations from the Doctor Who universe.”

For more from the world of Magic: The Gathering, you can also preorder the brand new The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth Commander decks, set boosters, jumpstart boosters, collector boosters, and more on Amazon. These are set to release on June 23 this year.

Hannah Hoolihan is a freelance writer who works with the Guides and Commerce teams here at IGN.

Classic NES Title ‘Gimmick!’ Confirmed For Switch Release This July

Update: Release date trailer drops for Sunsoft’s retro gem.

Update #2 : It’s been a while, but Bitwave Games has announced that Gimmick! Special Edition, originally published by Sunsoft on NES in Japan and Scandinavia in original, non-Special Edition form, will be landing on Switch (and other platforms) on 6th July 2023.

A new trailer (above) shows off some of the new features, and Bitwave also confirms that a physical edition will be available at some point “later in the year” on both Switch and PS4.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Darkest Dungeon 2 review: a fast-paced roguelite down gloomy roads

It’s been a harrowing few years in our real world, and I often feel like I’m just trying to keep my own little flame of hope safe from the howling winds of indifference and despair. So Darkest Dungeon 2, a party-based dark fantasy roguelite centered on the idea of doing just that, ended up being a bit too familiar and also a bit therapeutic. Having well over a hundred hours in the first game, I was also pleasantly surprised by some of the ways this carriage-bound journey into existential dread changes up the formula… and not so much by a couple of others.

Just like its predecessor, Darkest Dungeon 2 leads with vibes and attitude. Every bit of art and atmosphere is subtly (or not-so-subtly) menacing, worn down, and melancholic, with Wayne June’s unmistakeable narration laying out the compelling story of a quest for answers that went too far. The background on how the world got this way is doled out in tiny morsels of tragic exposition after the conclusion of each run, so I always had new details to look forward to whether I won or lost. It’s very clear that reality is, as they would say in the Bay Area, “hella broken,” and that it’s somehow your fault as the nameless financier of these soul-rending expeditions into the darkness. But the nature of your crimes takes a long time to reveal itself.

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How Transformers Beyond Reality on PS VR2 deepens player immersion, available now

In September, we invited fans into Transformers Beyond Reality, an immersive VR experience that lets a player fight as a human alongside their favorite Autobots to save Earth from annihilation. It’s an exciting arcade-style first-person shooter with epic battles against hordes of Insecticons and Decepticons. Today PlayStation VR2 players can roll out and enjoy the enhanced action.

We are so thankful for the positive feedback we received from this passionate community. We listened to PS VR players and improved the graphics as requested. It’s been amazing evolving our game into PS VR2, taking advantage of everything this incredible device has to offer to build an enhanced experience.

“Last Fall, Transformers: Beyond Reality gave our Transformers fans a new VR experience in which they could immerse themselves in. Now, with the title’s exciting evolution into PSVR2, the gameplay is even more enhanced and interactive.”

– Tom Warner SVP & GM, Action Brands Hasbro

You’ll notice a significant quality jump in Transformers Beyond Reality for PS VR2. Here are a few ways we leveraged evolving technology to enhance players’ overall experience:

Amping up the experience and balancing with improved visuals and 70fps+ performance

Building console games always involves a balancing act between framerate and visual fidelity. This is even more important in the medium of virtual reality, where dips in framerate can make an otherwise enjoyable experience physically unpleasant.

For PS VR2, these concerns have been addressed and minimized. Our team was positively ecstatic as we added detail to models and textures, ramped up reflections, and added atmospheric effects and visual effects seemingly without restrictions, while still holding a solid 70 frames per second. It was liberating.

30+ Enhanced gameplay moments and cinematics 

This extra performance has a tremendous impact on gameplay, as a more beautiful game and higher framerates make it easier to enjoy yourself. We were able to add and enhance over 30 moments to make the game more engaging. Many of those moments were made interactive (such as a notable scene in which a major enemy uses the environment against the player). Particular care was taken to ensure the action happens close to the player, for example with PS VR2’s 110-degree field of view it is immediately evident how large Optimus Prime, Grimlok, and Megatron really are in relation to the player.

Enhanced haptic feedback heightens action

In the development of VR games, it can be challenging to properly communicate game information to the player. Heads-up displays (HUDs) are useful, but in VR they are less effective. For the enhancements to Transformers Beyond Reality, we transitioned from showing an ammo counter to letting players feel when it’s time to reload through the resistance of the PS VR2 Sense controller adaptive triggers..

Our greatest revelation was in how we were able to enhance letting the player know they’re being attacked from off-screen. We experimented with red flashes, but it wasn’t effective because there was already so much happening on screen. Now whenever the player gets hit they feel this information via the headset haptics. It’s a natural and intuitive enhancement.

We were so happy to have the opportunity to improve the experience in Transformers Beyond Reality in response to fan requests. We invite previous payers to update your game for free and see the updates for yourself. For new players, we welcome you to explore your Transformers fandom in this exciting virtual reality adventure available now on PS VR2.

Gear up, and let’s roll out!

Peridot, Niantic’s AR-Based Pet Simulation Game, Launches Today

Pokemon Go developer Niantic is launching its first new IP in a decade: Peridot. The AR-focused, location-based pet simulator is out today for iOS and Android, and it looks to be a massive technological leap from Niantic’s previous AR and location-based endeavors.

Peridot puts each player in charge of a Peridot (or Dot), a cute and mythical creature that can be raised from a baby to an adult. Players pet, play with, walk, and train their Dot, each of which has its own completely unique appearance and “DNA” of sorts. Like a little Tamagotchi, Dots can express their needs for food and stimulation, and will grow as those needs are met.

Using Niantic’s Lightship platform, Dots can also dynamically interact with the real world, as unlike previous Niantic endeavors, the game is fully in AR. Dots are able to differentiate between different kinds of terrain, different objects, and even other humans and animals. Their movements in AR, at least from company-provided footage, also seem to be far more intelligent than what we’ve seen with Pokemon Go, with Dots moving realistically around obstacles and across distances. In my early hands-on time with Peridot, I’ve seen Dots jump onto chairs, desks, move behind furniture, chase balls under the couch, and even sit in a colleague’s open hands.

Aside from raising Dots, one of the main goals of Peridot is to “diversify the species” by breeding adult Dots with those of other players to create new Dots with new sets of unique DNA. Dots can be bred by working together with other players using Niantic’s social app, Campfire, to connect with other players and their Dots. Rare traits can be unlocked through various means, and Dots can take on different archtypes resembling mythical creatures and real animals, with new archtypes to be introduced during in-game events. However, while Peridot is free to play, it does cost real money to hatch each new Dot – you need an item called a “Nest” that costs $4.99. It is unclear if players will be able to acquire free Nests through events or other activities in the future.

Additionally, Peridot will include a feature called Amazon Anywhere, which integrates Amazon shopping to purchase Peridot merchandise in the real world through an in-game store.

Long-term, Niantic says its vision is to release Peridot not just on mobile devices, but eventually on future AR hardware, including wearable MR or AR glasses. Peridot is now available for download on iOS and Android devices.

Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.

Doom 2 RPG has been unofficially ported to PC

During the noughties, developer ID Software adapted some of their iconic shooters into curious mobile spin-offs with Doom RPG, Doom 2 RPG, and Wolfenstein RPG. These mixed old-school Doom engine graphics with old-school dungeon-crawler design, letting you shoot monsters at a considerably slower pace. Over a decade after their initial releases, developer GEC.inc unofficially ported Doom RPG onto PCs and now the team is back with a port for the sequel.

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Metroid Prime: Remastered Sells 1 Million Units, Pokémon and Splatoon 3 Also Hit Major Milestones

Metroid Prime: Remastered has sold one million copies since it launched in February while fellow Nintendo Switch titles Splatoon 3 and Pokémon Scarlet and Violet have also hit major sales milestones.

Revealed in Nintendo’s latest financial report, the critically acclaimed Metroid Prime: Remastered has sold 1.09 million units since its launch on February 8. Splatoon 3 also followed through on its impressive launch to sell more than ten million units while Scarlet and Violet have now passed the 20 million unit milestone.

Sitting at 20.7 million units sold through to consumers (and 22.1 million sold to retailers), Scarlet and Violet are up two million from the figures released in February but still fall a little short of 2019’s Pokémon Sword and Shield, which currently sit at 25.82 million units sold to retailers.

Scarlet and Violet are still performing well compared to most Switch games, however, as they’re currently seventh on the list of best selling software behind only Super Mario Odyssey, Sword and Shield, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Animal Cross: New Horizons, and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe in first.

Splatoon 3 doesn’t quite crack the top ten but comes in at 14th place on the list of best selling first party titles, while Metroid Prime: Remastered currently sits in 22nd place. Regardless, both games are part of the million-sold club that only 23 first party Switch games are a part of so far.

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

Nintendo Switch Surpasses One Billion Software Sales

Now that’s a lot of games.

As a part of the latest financial report for the fiscal year ending March 2023, Nintendo has provided updated figures for both its hardware and software sales. While the Switch’s hardware numbers started to slow as the console reached 125 million units sold (as of March 2023), the big milestone this time around is on the software side of things as the Switch has exceeded one billion sales in that department.

The actual number is 1,036,150,000 units, if we want to be really picky and why shouldn’t we be? That’s a huge figure!

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Street Fighter 6’s open beta strikes out later this month

Capcom are holding an open beta for their upcoming hadouken ‘em up Street Fighter 6, commencing on May 19th and concluding May 21st. The open beta will include all of the same content from December’s closed beta test, but now more fans can jump into the fray to whack foes in online matches. To participate in the punchin’ n’ kickin’, players need to register their Capcom ID and link their preferred platform which includes PC and consoles.

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Customers’ personal info stolen in data breach, Western Digital says

Western Digital, the PC storage giants behind some of the best gaming SSDs, have released an update on a data breach that occurred in late March. Uplifting news, it is not: the “network security incident” was a large-scale case of digital thievery, with the culprits stealing a database containing the names, billing and shipping addresses, email addresses, and telephone numbers of customers to WD’s online store.

The plundered database also included encrypted and salted passwords and partial credit card numbers, according to the statement. Western Digital are contacting affected users directly, and have temporarily shut down their store.

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