Game Infliction, Author at Game Infliction

Pokemon TCG: Phantasmal Flames Boosters Are Back in Stock at Amazon Ahead of Black Friday

Phantasmal Flames is officially out in the wild, ready for Pokémon Trainers worldwide to catch it. Luckily, I’m here to make sure they can do it with more Pokécoins left in their backpacks.

Right now, the Phantasmal Flames Booster Box is under market value compared to TCGplayer, and you could save another $60 on top of that deal if you play your cards right.

This isn’t just exclusive to the Booster box either; you can even get Phantasmal Flames and Mega Evolution Booster Bundles for free with Amazon’s latest promo card offer in the run-up to Black Friday.

All you need to do is apply for an Amazon Visa card, get accepted, and you’ll receive an instant $60 credit on your Amazon account.

Got AMEX or Discover? Use it at checkout to pay $1 off your order for a possible discount of up to 50%. It isn’t always available, but 100% worth checking before you commit to buying.

The discount should be applied automatically. Just follow the link here to see if you qualify, or see here for the Discover offer instead.

Of course, I wouldn’t give any financial advice, so if you’d struggle not getting into debt with a credit card, it might be best just taking the discounted price as is.

There’s always a chance you’ll pull the Mega Lucario ex Gold Hyper Rare or SIR or perhaps the Mega Gardevoir ex Gold Hyper Rare or SIR, but there’s also some gorgeous full arts to catch such as the Bulbasaur IR, Ivysaur IR and Venusaur ex SIR.

Or you could just follow the hyperlinks and buy them outright, with the Illustration Rares costing far less than a booster bundle if you can’t snag the free gift card.

Best Phantasmal Flames Chase Cards You Can Buy Right Now

The good news is Phantasmal Flames is moving to more affordable pricing after it’s launch weekend, with over $200 off the Gold Hyper Rare Mega Charizard X ex alone.

There’s plenty to chase in this set, but if you want to save more money i’d suggest buying single cards over opening endless boosters.

Here’s where to buy the top chase cards right now alongside up-to-date market values.

Mega Charizard X ex – 125/094
Near Mint Holofoil: $809.99
Market price: $783.68
Most recent sale: $750
Mega Charizard X ex – 130/094
Near Mint Holofoil: $649.95
Market price: $641.73
Most recent sale: $625
Mega Charizard X ex – 109/094
Near Mint Holofoil: $84
Market price: $55.40
Most recent sale: $54.98
Mega Lopunny ex – 128/094
Near Mint Holofoil: $58.02
Market price: $44.58
Most recent sale: $42.19
Mega Sharpedo ex – 127/094
Near Mint Holofoil: $88.99
Market price: $44.65
Most recent sale: $41.23

Christian Wait is a contributing freelancer for IGN covering everything collectable and deals. Christian has over 7 years of experience in the Gaming and Tech industry with bylines at Mashable and Pocket-Tactics. Christian also makes hand-painted collectibles for Saber Miniatures. Christian is also the author of “Pokemon Ultimate Unofficial Gaming Guide by GamesWarrior”. Find Christian on X @ChrisReggieWait.

Nintendo Launches 2026 Calendars, Including One Just For NSO Subscribers

400 platinum points each.

Bloomin’ heck, 2026 is getting close, isn’t it?

It’s a good job, then, that Nintendo has launched not one, but two 2026 calendars for your perusal over on the My Nintendo Store. Both cost 400 platinum points, but one of them is limited to those with a paid Nintendo Switch Online membership.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

New Lost Soul Aside update, out tomorrow, includes wave-based Surge of Voidrax mode

Are you ready to step back in with Kaser and Arena on their epic journey in Lost Soul Aside? The team has taken player feedback onboard since launch, and we’re excited to share our biggest free update yet, available tomorrow, November 18. This update introduces the new challenge mode, Surge of Voidrax, along with a range of visual, audio, and gameplay upgrades designed to make the adventure feel sharper, richer, and more seamless than ever.

New challenge mode: Surge of Voidrax 100-waves endless battle with limitless challenge

To seal the scattered Voidrax energy, Liana has constructed the Surge of Voidrax Dimension using Imperial technology. However, the gathered energy has manifested into Phantom Voidrax, unleashing relentless surges of Voidrax energy that continuously breach the boundaries.

At Liana’s request, Kaser will enter the Surge of Voidrax Dimension, confront up to a 100 waves, and fight tirelessly to quell the chaos and stabilize the interdimensional seal.

Rules and highlights

100-waves challenge: Battle through 100 back-to-back enemy waves, each tougher than the one before. It’s a pure test of endurance and strategy that will push your limits.

All skills & weapons unlocked: All skill trees and four main weapons are available from the get go. Optimize your combat style and adapt to varied battle scenarios.

Various enemy types gathered: Encounter a lineup of classic bosses and diverse monsters, offering a strategic and action-packed showdown at every wave.
Dynamic intermission supplies: After completing each wave, visit Liana’s Shop to refill potions, change accessories, boost Arena Power, or acquire new weapons—preparing you for the next challenge.
Exclusive cosmetic rewards: Upon clearing specific waves for the first time, earn the Phantom Card to craft interdimensional appearances at Liana’s Workshop, allowing your character to display a unique visual style and showcase your victorious glory.

Surge of Voidrax isn’t just a mode; it’s a true test of skill, strategy, and perseverance. How far can you go?

Full-game upgrades you can’t miss

Beyond the new challenge mode, this update also delivers comprehensive enhancements to elevate your gameplay experience for both new and veteran players alike.

Skip the prologue and drive straight into combat

Eager to experience the core action immediately? Now you can choose to skip the Prologue, jumping directly into the fight and immersing yourself in the exhilarating combat system of Lost Soul Aside.

Voidrax Pathfinder for freer exploration

Stuck on complex puzzles or challenges? The new Voidrax Pathfinder guides you directly to objectives or helps unlock puzzles, letting you explore at your own pace.

Additional new skins for unique customization

Personalize your look with a variety of new appearances, including customizable “X” weapon accessories, classic Crystal weapons, and stunning armor and knight costumes—perfect for crafting your own signature style.

Cinematic narrative upgrades for deeper immersion

Cutscenes have been completely revamped! We enhanced character expression animations for more lifelike emotion, improved global lighting and shadow effects to heighten the atmosphere, and added environmental voice lip-sync animations. Together, these upgrades deliver a truly cinematic storytelling experience.

Operation & performance improvements for smoother battles

Customizable controls, allowing players to tailor button layouts to their preferences.
Refined core combat actions like rolling and double jumps, with fine-tuned skill feel for weapons like the Scythe and Greatsword—making combos flow effortlessly.

From the extreme challenge of Surge of Voidrax to personalized experiences with the Voidrax Pathfinder, and polished cinematic storytelling to a wealth of new appearances, this update is packed with sincerity, aiming to present a richer, more engaging gameplay experience in Lost Soul Aside.

Dear Souls, it’s time to return, prove your strength in the Surge of Voidrax, and experience the evolution of your adventure.

Nintendo Resurrects Two Classic Characters For Donkey Kong: Bananza DLC

Donkey Kong 64 fans celebrate! Nintendo will pay tribute to a pair of classic N64 characters via an upcoming Donkey Kong Bananza Emerald Rush DLC challenge.

After years left in the wilderness, both Chunky Kong and Lanky Kong will return in the DLC as “exclusive in-game statues”, Nintendo has today confirmed, as part of the upcoming So Strong It’s Funny in-game challenge.

The event, set to run from November 25 to December 2, will be set on the game’s Hilltop Layer. As of yet, there’s no word on exactly how may points players will need to rack up to earn these latest cosmetic items used to decorate DK Island.

Regardless, long-term Kong fans are simply celebrating the fact that Nintendo has referenced these long-lost characters at all, after only a handful of glimpses over the past few decades.

Brawny but gentle Chunky Kong (cousin of Dixie Kong) has only made three video game appearances since his 1999 debut in Donkey Kong 64. He cameos in a Donkey Kong Country 3 mini-game on Game Boy Advance, then pops up as a sticker and spirit in Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Ultimate.

Eagle-eyed fans also spotted a split-second appearance by Chunky Kong in The Super Mario Bros. Movie, standing alongside an equally-brief appearance for Diddy and Dixie — though you’ll need to pause the film to really know it’s him.

Fans had hoped that this appearance, and the fact Nintendo had gone to the trouble of slightly tweaking his design, suggested more appearances for Chunky Kong in future. And indeed, Bananza’s upcoming statue seems to feature this same slightly-tweaked look. Could we see more of him in the upcoming Super Mario Galaxy Movie, or perhaps even that long-rumored upcoming Donkey Kong movie spin-off? Time will tell.

The long-armed Lanky Kong, meanwhile, is similarly little-seen. He didn’t get a Super Mario Bros. Movie cameo, but did appear as an unlockable character in 2007 Wii racer Donkey Kong: Barrel Blast. Could we be seeing more of him in the future too?

If you haven’t picked it up already, Bananza’s DLC is stuffed full of references to Donkey Kong 64 and other past classics, with appearances from Diddy, Dixie, Cranky, Squawks the parrot from Donkey Kong Country and DK’s house from Donkey Kong Country Returns. Other Kongs referenced (but not seen) include a poster for Candy Kong (don’t ask) and a pair of Donkey Konga bongo drums to bounce around on top of.

So now, who’s next for a return?

Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social

This week in PC games: Demonschool and Moonlighter 2 head a procession of sheep dogs, shmups and sliding heroes

November digs in. The conveyor belt of crowns, clowns and clones that is Videogaming rattles onward through the midnight forest. The rains swept past over the weekend and now the mud is waist-deep, worryingly responsive, and rank with the stench of neglected deckbuilders. Several sedan chairs carrying former BioWare creative leads are caught in a wave of slop, becoming a disorderly barricade of people crying out for Femshep to come save them from the GAAS. Tencent executives rush over with handfuls of rope, but whether they mean to drag the afflicted free or bind their limbs is unclear.

Amazon has finally restocked preorders for Magic: The Gathering’s Final Fantasy 7 Game Edition Commander Deck. It’s just in time, with the deck and several other new Final Fantasy MTG products set to release in just a couple of weeks on December 5.

Costing $99.99, the new version of the “Limit Break” Commander Deck offers the same 100-card deck you can find already, but with a download code for the original Final Fantasy 7 on PC, and a new promo card featuring the iconic shot of Cloud in FF7.

The new lineup has been incredibly hard to come by since it was revealed, and preorders sold out within a day. Amazon stocking up with a whole new allocation is great news for fans, and you no longer need to pay inflated prices to third-party sellers.

It’s not just a collectible item either; the commander deck itself is absolutely fantastic, and actually dovetails nicely with Fallout’s Scrappy Survivors precon from last year (as long as you’re happy with yet another bold RPG crossover).

Limit Break is all about getting your creatures to 7 power to trigger additional effects from Cloud or Tifa, while minimizing equip costs to allow you to switch gear and keep opponents guessing.

Reprint value is decent, too. Not only do you get Darksteel Plate, Sword of the Animist, and Fire-Lit Thicket, but Clever Concealment has some amazing new art of Cloud’s disguise.

Thanks to its Final Fantasy synergies, Stoneforge Mystic has been shooting up in both popularity and price.

This two-mana staple slots perfectly into the equipment-heavy Limit Break deck, tutoring out gear with ease, and the market has noticed, it’s jumped from under $20 to around $50 in recent listings.

That’s some serious stonks, and it could end up being a smart long-term pickup.

Check out the full MTG release schedule for this year to see what expansions are coming next, including Avatar: The Last Airbender. And for more Final Fantasy, consider picking up the 1-6 Pixel Remaster Collection at its lowest price yet in the early Black Friday sales.

Final Fantasy MTG: Best Chase Cards

The set is the most popular in Magic’s long history, and has led to prices skyrocketing for collector’s items like the Travelling Chocobo range and characters like Sephiroth.

Whether you’re opening boosters, sorting through prerelease pulls, or keeping tabs on the market for trade value, it’s clear this set is drawing serious attention.

If you’re curious which cards are in highest demand right now, either to cash in or just to see what the hype is all about, here’s a few handy pointers on what to look out for.

Robert Anderson is Senior Commerce Editor and IGN’s resident deals expert on games, collectibles, trading card games, and more. You can follow him @robertliam21 on Twitter/X or Bluesky.

People are playing fewer games and new releases are “struggling”, say Ubisoft UK, warning of falling revenues

Ubisoft’s UK publishing arm have filed a strategic report for the year ending March 2025 in which they warn that they expect yearly revenue to fall in the current fiscal year, ending March 2026. They attribute this partly to slumping sales of physical copies of games, and more broadly to the fact that people are fixating on a fistful of mega-popular games at the expense of all others, with subscription and streaming services like Microsoft’s Game Pass making us all feel less inclined to buy individual new games. Plus ça change.

Resident Evil Requiem Almost Had Mouse Controls, But It “Confused” The Gameplay

So the devs used gyro, instead.

Capcom is going all-out to promote Resident Evil Requiem on the Switch 2 ahead of its launch on 27th February 2026, including offering up a limited edition Pro Controller and a Grace Ashcroft amiibo figure.

In speaking with Press Start Australia, producer Masato Kumazawa shared more details on the game’s development, and it turns out that the team “tried really hard” to implement the Switch 2’s mouse controls into Requiem, but ultimately decided against it when it became apparent that mouse controls “confused and convoluted the gameplay”:

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

While Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 Acknowledges Deliberate AI Use, Ubisoft Pledges to Remove AI Image That ‘Slipped Through’ To Anno 117’s Final Version

Assassin’s Creed publisher Ubisoft has said it will act swiftly to remove an image found within Anno 117: Pax Romana that contains AI-generated elements, which it says was not designed to be included in the game’s final version.

Fans of the city-building Anno franchise quickly spotted a loading screen featured in the series’ latest entry that was not of the same quality seen in others, with some telltale signs of AI generation: missing limbs, low-quality features and oddly composited elements.

As posted on reddit, and first reported by Kotaku, the game’s Steam listing also features a warning that “AI tools were used tp help create some in-game assets.” In a statement to IGN, Ubisoft noted that the image had been a “placeholder” and provided a final, human-made version of the artwork it had meant to include instead.

“This image was a placeholder asset that unintentionally slipped through our review process,” a Ubisoft spokesperson said. “The final image is attached here and will replace the current version of this artwork with the upcoming 1.3 patch.

“With Anno 117: Pax Romana being our most ambitious Anno yet, we’ve assembled the largest team of artists ever for the franchise and to help meet the project’s unique scope, they use AI tools for iterations, prototyping, and exploration. Every element players will experience in the final game reflects the team’s craft, artistry, and creative vision.”

Still, the final version of the image simply looks to have been retouched to clean up the original image’s more wonky elements — suggesting that anything else AI-generated which did look passable will remain.

Regardless, Ubisoft’s response differs from that of Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 publisher Activision, which hit the headlines last week by simply acknowledging the widespread use of AI-generated imagery in its latest blockbuster shooter — particularly in its Studio Ghilbi-inspired calling cards. In a statement, Activision said its AI use was designed to “empower and support our teams to create the best gaming experiences possible for our players.”

Activision previously acknowledged the use of AI imagery in last year’s Black Ops 6, too — though only after fans pointed out a particularly egregious example of a six-fingered zombie Santa.

Outside of its AI use, Ubisoft’s Anno 117: Pax Romana has otherwise been warmly received. The game “is a gorgeous antique city-builder that sucked me in for dozens of hours,” IGN wrote in our Anno 117: Pax Romana review, awarding the game a 9/10 score.

Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social

Final Fantasy I-VI Collection Drops to All-Time Low Price in Early Black Friday Sales

Final Fantasy I-VI Pixel Remaster Collection just hit its best price ever ahead of the Black Friday sales. It’s sitting at $40 right now, down from the usual $75, which is a clean 47% cut and even beats the recent Prime Day offer by another five bucks.

Break it down, and the value is absurd. Based on HowLongToBeat times, you’re looking at roughly 30 cents per hour of classic Final Fantasy if you work through the whole bundle.

In a market where new releases can run you double this package for a fraction of the content, that’s downright generous. These Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 editions also run perfectly on Switch 2 and PS5, so you’re covered on the hardware front.

Maybe you’ve recently discovered Final Fantasy because of the Magic: The Gathering crossover, and you’re curious where those characters and creatures actually come from.

This is the easiest way to get the full tour. You’re getting the first six games with modern touches like adjustable EXP gain, toggleable encounters, and auto-battle, all of which make these versions the most approachable they’ve ever been.

Not long ago, the physical edition was one of those almost impossible-to-find collector items. Reprints finally fixed that, and now all six games cost about half the price of a single new release.

As I mentioned, it’s the best price ever on this collection, so you’re getting the best deal possible (backed up by trusted price trackers like CamelCamelCamel).

Should You Wait for Black Friday?

Probably not. When a deal hits an all-time low during the run up to Black Friday, that’s usually the signal that retailers have already fired their biggest shot for deals like this.

This collection doesn’t swing up and down like mainstream blockbusters, and Square Enix hasn’t been in the habit of pushing deeper cuts on it outside the major tentpole events. The last meaningful drop was during Prime Day, and this price already beats that.

Plus, physical stock also isn’t guaranteed to sit around forever. This is still a niche collector-leaning release, and once the early Black Friday rush cleans out retailers, you’re at risk of FOMO.

Could Black Friday proper knock off another dollar or two? In theory. In practice, retailers use early Black Friday offers to test demand, and if something sells well at an all-time low, they don’t bother dropping it further. So if you’ve been waiting for the right moment to grab this set, in my expert opinion, this is the moment.

More Early Black Friday Deals

Black Friday discounts are already starting to roll in, and we’ll see a whole host of sales go officially live in the next few days across retailers like Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy, and more.

Big new deals include $50 off the Meta Quest 3S at Amazon, now $249, or just $329 for the 256GB version with Batman Arkham Shadow included.