Pokémon fans in the Philippines gathered to attend a convention known as Pokéverse last week, but what they found was an experience that’s already being compared to catastrophes like the Willy Wonka Experience and Fyre Festival.
The Pokéverse website called the event the “premier Pokémon-themed expo in the Philippines made by fans for fans.” Included in its attractions were promises of officially licensed collectibles, quests, cosplay contests, Pokémon tournaments, and even live music. It even told fans to expect meetups with iconic stars from Pokémon history, including original Ash Ketchum voice actress Veronica Taylor and the singer of the Pokémon anime theme song, Jason Paige.
When attendees finally arrived at the SM Megamall, Megatrade Hall in Mandaluyong on Friday, May 31, they were apparently met with late start times, large open areas that offered few Pokémon-themed activities, mis-communicated events, and an individual who is being called “The Ravioli Man.”
While Taylor and Paige were indeed on-site for fans to interact with, many have taken to social media to air their grievances with Pokéverse and those who organized it.
Eventually RAVIOLI MAN was escorted out but only after he took a sponge and started rubbing it on one of the sponsors booths.
Though later in the EXPO, security still let him back in.
I thought ticket rates were going into Crowd control and security?
The second day of the event apparently revealed more inconsistencies and oddities, with one notable example being an open space filled with inflatable activities that had no clear tie to Pokémon. Rita says the diversions sounded “like jets,” adding that a nearby resting area was swarmed with a “relentless” camera crew that filmed every second of the event they could.
FOR SOME REASON THE CAMERA CREW WOULD NOT LEAVE THE REST AREA ALONE.
THERE WERE CHILDREN LYING DOWN ALONE ON BEANBAGS AND COSPLAYERS MAKING ADJUSTMENTS TO THEIR OUTFITS IN THIS AREA.
THIS PLACE SHOULD HAVE BEEN A NO PHOTOGRAPHY ZONE BUT CAMERAMEN IN THIS EVENT WERE RELENTLESS
In addition to claims of poor security, lackluster activities, and more, Pokéverse came under fire due to its ticket prices. The Pokéverse website had listed a standard 1-Day Pass for ₱1,000 (around $17 USD), while a 3-Day Pass cost ₱3,000 (around $50) and a VIP 3-Day Pass asked for ₱19,500 (around $330). While some believed the higher costs were to support more expensive attractions, such as appearances from Taylor and Paige, the Ash Ketchum actor says she wasn’t compensated for her time at Pokéverse.
Pokéverse eventually responded to one of Rita’s posts with an explanation and promise to offer better events in the future. It also acknowledged that it would remove a video of contestants singing on camera but made no mention of whether it would remove footage that was captured without consent.
“It’s our first event with very little time to prepare but we do agree that a lot of things need to be improved for another season,” Pokeverse said, “but we appreciate your participation and will continue take your feedback to do better next time.”
I looked up in Sheer. Horror.
Immunocompromised, terminally ill children were escorted onto the stage wearing medical face masks. One of them COULDN’T STAND (they had to get them a chair).
WHAT ON EARTH WAS POKEVERSE THINKING EXPOSING THESE KIDS TO AN ENTIRE CROWD OF PEOPLE??!? pic.twitter.com/vFcldLdcUE
While many came away from the convention with concerns, there are many videos online from those who enjoyed meeting up with Taylor, Paige, and other Pokémon fans at the event. IGN has reached out to Pokémon, Pokéverse, and Taylor for comment.
Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He started writing in the industry in 2017 and is best known for his work at outlets such as The Pitch, The Escapist, OnlySP, and Gameranx.
Be sure to give him a follow on Twitter @MikeCripe.
Blasting monsters in the chops with a Bruce Lee backfist—few things feel more badass than that. So, when FromSoftware said my “hands on” could be literally just that—using my mitts to kung fu the dung out of every shadow under the Erdtree—I was in. The mere idea of testing out Martial Arts in Elden Ring summoned a smirk to my face; three-hours of punch-a-riffic playtime later, it was a toothless ear-to-ear grin.
Ever since the Monk class in Diablo III—or the time I found the Hands of God in Demon’s Souls—I’ve been a big fan of the biff. Particularly in PvP. There’s something hugely satisfying about facing an armed foe thirsty for blood, but you serve them a tall glass of “wa-taaa” instead.
It’s also worth noting that I also decided to make my own Way of the Fist through Shadow of the Erdtree harder still by ignoring the helpful new damage buff system. The only ‘leg up’ I want to use is a heavy sidekick to Spartan Boot baddies off a cliff.
The only ‘leg up’ I want to use is a heavy sidekick to Spartan Boot baddies off a cliff.
For those of you who are curious, however, Shadow of the Erdtree has Scadurtree Fragments that can be redeemed at a Site of Grace to decrease the amount of damage enemies deal to you in this DLC. Alternatively, there are Revered Spirit Ash blessings, which will instead increase the amount of damage dealt by your spirit summons.
To hear more about how my particular brand of self-imposed masochism went, click here to continue. For now, though, I should provide some price options for Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree for you “mind’s already made up” types.
Best Prices for Shadow of the Erdtree
Shadow of the Erdtree Hands On
We are so back. These are the four words that invade my brain as I step into my 3-hour Shadow of the Erdtree demo. The fact that those four words will soon change to four others—oh God, please help—is something we’ll get to later. For now, though, let me make the opening majesty of this DLC live for you a little.
And I say a little, because I only really want to describe the barest tip of a massive iceberg that’s roughly the size of Limgrave. If you’re a fellow quadruple-digit-hours veteran, you already know that half the joy of Elden Ring is in its discovery, surprise, and deaths due to overconfidence. Shadow is still rooted in these things, so I’ll try to stick to the main trunk of my experiences. You know—not branch off. Treemendous puns aside, I truly believe many other undiscovered fruits and thorns await you in your own playthrough.
I’m taking the same approach to giving you a plotline beyond a basic overview. Though, to be fair, practically anything I mention here wouldn’t spoil much for 95% of you. Elden Ring is famously obtuse and evasive with its storytelling—none but a few lore-hoarding YouTubers ever really know (or can make educated guesses at) what the crap is going on. But this is just how we like it.
Pain By Numbers
What I’ll do first is hand you some numbers. You see, this demo had to take place on FromSoftware’s home turf, so my 1,200 hour character, Fierce Brosnan, could not be brought to bear.
The obvious downside to that: I was a fish out of water with unfamiliar traits, no Mithril-level long johns nor any of my Excalibur class weaponry. Clearly, the idea was to push me into trying out some of the 100 new weapons that will be in SotE. To save time, I’m outfitted with a handful of them. The ones I mention here will have to be acquired from a spot somewhere in the guts of this DLC.
There’s also an upside to being issued a pre-made Tarnished: The typically aloof FromSoftware was forced to show me its hand a little here. There’s been much evasion as to what level one ought to be at in order to enter these deadly DLC straits. In order to keep media and content creators reasonably effective within our three hour window, my demoers had to pick a number.
How tall do you need to be for this ride? The level numbers “120 to 200” are thrown about in my pre-demo pep talk, but in the end I’m offered a choice of three level 150 avatars. I ignore the Warrior and Sorcerer options to go with their Knight / Dex build (HP: 1939, FP: 110, Stam: 133, Poi: 42). Attributes (Vig: 51, Min: 18, End: 25, Str: 22, Dex: 80, Int: 11, Fai: 12, Arc: 10).
Waiting in the equipment is my new Martial Arts, called the Keen Dryleaf Arts.
All in all, my Knight seems like a pretty usable build, which my demoer insists will be “good enough” to be effective. That being said, you newcomers ought to be aware that From’s DLC tends to be significantly more difficult than the base games, so I’d grind higher than 150.
It’s also worth noting that I’m decked from head to toe in Oathseeker plate armour. Secondary equipment-wise, I have access to Finger Creeper Ashes +16 (think: a shetland-pony-sized Addams Family hand), Gravebird Ashes +10, and a Black Knight Commander Andreas +10 summon.
I also have two swords and a shield that I’ll detail later on, because the challenge here is to rely almost entirely upon my fists and feet of fury. Additionally, waiting in the equipment is my new Martial Arts, called the Keen Dryleaf Arts +25 (Attk: 178+, 231) and it’s running an Ash of War named Whirlwind.
Leaving the Lands Between
Before I bid adieu to The Lands Between by touching that protruding hand at the Cocoon of the Empyrean Site of Grace, I have a quick chinwag with a knight named Leda (who I believe was the voiceover character in the Story trailer). She says she’s been guided along an honourable path by kindly Miquella to the Land of Shadow, a place where some of her friends already are. Should I find them, they will help me; she also won’t be far behind either, so perhaps we’ll meet again.
No other dialogue is forthcoming, so I walk forward and shake hands with my fate, literally. When I do, the world goes black…
Allow me to explain what happens next, like an old school Text Adventure. I spawn at the Land of Shadow starting point, at what I presume to be the south western bottom of this new map. It’s dark as hell, and I’m instantly surrounded by tall shrubbery. Beyond that hedge, it seems I’m also hemmed in by large cliffs to my north and south, and there’s a huge impassable sea at my back to the west. Eastward is the only way up, so I crest a small hill through a cave to be met with an absolute moneyshot of a vista.
I’m gawking directly east over a vast open meadow that spills away for ages until it eventually hits a large cliffside that’s garnished with a patchy pine tree forest. Beyond those nodding trees, the world tapers off into a thick mist that spans an indeterminate distance between what I can see and this distant, dominating Erdtree. It seems to be a younger or sickly sprout whose roots are half bonded to the top of some indiscernible structure.
Though I’m on the clock, I can’t help but stand here for a few minutes, watching as the wind tussles the prairie, flicks leaves past, and eventually pushes in a light drizzle of rain across this living lake of grassland. The whole scene reeks of opportunity, danger, and time wasting secondary-path locales.
The whole scene reeks of opportunity, danger, and time wasting secondary-path locales.
In the middle-distance to the south-east (and the edge of my demo playspace) are scant signs of ruined civilization—a highway gatehouse perhaps. On the horizon to my extreme north east, the imposing mountain fortress of Castle Ensis rises up out of the gloom, too.
In the yawning distance between me and that goal is a light sprinkling of ruined architecture, randomly jutting out of this vast field. Curiously, one of the most distant of these structures appears to be both on fire and…moving. More on that horror in a minute.
Venturing into Shadow
In my immediate vicinity, there are dozens of ghostly gold gravestones. Creepily, they sort of wink out of existence as I pass through them. Unwilling to add myself to their number, or become exposed to attack in that open field to God knows what, I turn to put the cliffside to my left, and I hug it in a north-to-north-easterly heading.
Pretty soon, I begin to sashay through a handful of small stonework archways. Some have avian-esque gargoyles atop them. A quick R3 click reveals what I already know, and as if by invitation, these non-concrete condors start to swoop in.
When Big Bird lands, I feed him a full six piece and soda with a four hit punch combo that instantly feels gratifying, damaging, and (unlike regular unarmed in Elden Ring) viable. You see, one can already play the base game with no weapons, technically, but that’s like saying you can steer a car with your feet. You could do it, but it’s not to be done—unarmed base damage was abysmal, and the scaling virtually non-existent.
I ground them with the sort of Tatsumaki Senpukyaku that’d get a thumbs up from Ken.
Martial Arts in Shadow of the Erdtree is a different beast altogether. Damage is comparable to a perfectly good sword, repeated strikes propel me forward a nice distance, and my kicks and punches pierce through ranks to hit enemies crowding behind their mates. More importantly, it’s just…fun and flashy to do.
Better yet, when these buzzards try to thwart my range by hovering in the air, I tap L2 for a Whirlwind kick. I ground them with the sort of Tatsumaki Senpukyaku that’d get a thumbs up from Ken Masters. It’s at this point that I fall head over heels with my own heels. Literally kicking arse with Martial Arts is all I wanna do for three hours now.
A Grave Situation
With a new sense of cockiness, I continue north. The mini-archways with easy-to-spot raptors give way to an actual cemetery featuring gnarled trees that perfectly camouflage my feathered friends. In my haste to escape their swoops, I accidentally dive-roll down into The Western Nameless Mausoleum via a short staircase. At the base of it [minor spoiler here] is a boss mist barrier to a Blackgaol Knight whose opening gambit is a crossbow that pings 9 bolts in about 3 seconds. That’s all I’ll say about him.
Returning back up to the same surface entrance a short while later, I consider poking around the cemetery until I spot half a dozen of these weird pool noodle things poking out of the ground. Glowing in an eerie bioluminescent blue, they’re about seven foot tall, and they are peaceful…until I charge up a flying kick into one. Instantly, all twelve become a pissed off hive mind. I have to book it when they all sprout angry pink heads and then try to whack-a-mole me into my own grave.
I bail eastward into the open field again, whereupon I hit the Three-Path Crossroads and some choices open up. To the south, there’s that dilapidated gatehouse, adjoined by yet another cemetery. A quick poke down there reveals some lethargic shadow folk whose hobbies include silent prayer to the Erdtree or casting swift moving, near-endlessly-homing skull magic at me. Further south than that unwelcoming committee is a Map Fragment you’ll really want to get.
They are peaceful…until I charge up a flying kick into one.
Alternatively, going east from the Three-Path crossroads yields a bit more grassland, weird stone spiral columns, more mini mausoleums, and roving packs of candelabra + sword wielding tree goons. Pruning my way through them reveals the first of the 100 new weapons in this DLC. It’s something my demoers have already added to my build, wicked dual scimitars that are held “ninja reverse-style.” The one I own is a Keen Backhand Blade +25 (220+, 367).
Any progression eastward is thwarted by a large canyon that scars this land from north to south—a non-water-based moat that may only be crossed via a highway-sized bridge to my north. Curiously, when I squint across this abyss, I get a free ticket to an endlessly repeating show.
It’s tough to discern who’s who from the bleachers, but it seems a fellow knight is trading culture with a trio of 8-foot-tall trolls. At least one of these beasts desperately wants this human to join his club. Literally. Big wooden one.
Distracted by a dozen other things to do and see, I forget to make my way down to reach them, and am left wondering if they’re one of Leda’s pals. Feels likely.
Shadow of the Erdcolossus
Shrugging, I turn northwest to an even more awe-inspiring sight. One of those fire giant things from the trailers dominates the prairie between myself and the castle’s bridge. Burnie Boy is basically a wicker Shadow of the Colossus understudy with a lit brazier for a head and chest. Technically, he does have an actual face. Three of them, in fact. Mask-like objects adorn his abdomen and each upper thigh. Freaky stuff.
While watching in intimidated silence, I note that this lumbering monstrosity is tracing a slow circular patrol across this meadow. However, on the edge of his commute stands hope in the form of a reasonably-sized chunk of stonework. The message that pops into my head: “Visions of Cover Cheese, Try Peck and Roll.”
Fireman Spam has become my new nemesis, and I can’t wait to make him snuff it.
I sprint to the perceived safety of that little brick oasis while giving my target a wide berth, only to be horrified as I’m spotted from an incredible distance away. Hobo Stove On Legs then kicks the ground in front of him to send an arcing wave of car-sized lava boulders at me. It’s an overkill amount of projectiles. By some small miracle, I thread through with a dive-roll before reaching cover.
What happens next, during my brilliant plan to nip at his cankles while he wallhumps the stone column between us? Chaos. Whenever I round my cover to strike, he raises that hoof and delivers a stomp with AoE flames. Upon learning that this attack can flare “through” my cover, I horse up and gallop the hell out of Dodge to the north.
The fact that I’m nearly unhorsed by a farewell lava ball assault as I’m tearing away at top speed, tells me a mounted assault on that dude might be suicide, too. Needless to say, Fireman Spam has become my new nemesis, and I can’t wait to make him snuff it. Preferably with kung fu.
Bridge to Terrorbiffya
The elevating field northward becomes progressively rockier and foggier—akin to a Scottish Highland. When I crest this hill, I’m at yet another crossroads. Further northwards dips down into a huge open valley pocked with more ghostly gravestones, I can’t see where it ends because the land gets eaten by a Stephen King level of horror-hiding mist.
I’m not permitted to venture down there. And, frankly, I don’t even want to go.
Directly to my west stands a Moria-esque archway carved into the cliffside, beyond it lies the Belurat Castle Settlement (whose labyrinthine streets snake higher up to the House of the Dancing Lion). Dismounting, I run due east to the aforementioned overpass. The game christens it the Ellac Greatbridge. But I just think it’s ok.
That’s mostly because it’s littered with debris, rows of chevaux de frise, and a guard of half a dozen zombie vikings. Worse, a giant ballista that fires accurate, arcing explosive rounds every 8 seconds has a long and commanding overwatch on me. See what I mean? Averagebridge, at best.
Sadly, my heroic plan to serpentine charge through said artillery, kill the shooter, and then use his weapon against the bridge mobs fails (you can’t use it). So, I lure these norsemen, one by one, into the nearby soldier encampment beyond. Just as I force-feed a knuckle sandwich into the last of them and the intensity of this tent city lessens, the true owners of these bivouacs pounce.
Chief among these unhappy campers is a knight chieftain, wielding a shield the size of a large metal door and what looks to be an engine block on a stick. Adopting a When In Rome approach, I strap my left arm with a Messmer Soldier Shield +25 (196+, 43) to better absorb his hits and answer with either a heavy sidekick or a jumping superman punch to his grille.
Uppercut, elbow, roundhouse, sidekick, backfist, back-kick—I ding that tinman until he’s crushed for recycling.
When he’s stunned, I clobber him with my full R1 six-hit combo. I’m talking uppercut, elbow, roundhouse, sidekick, backfist, back-kick—I ding that tinman until he’s crushed for recycling.
A little further to the east, beyond a much-needed Site of Grace, I encounter a mid-boss who receives a different style of pasting. Being a 15-foot heavy-hitter with a penchant for slow stomps and vertical sword strikes, I opt to deliver faster hits in a longer combo, a technique facilitated by “two-handing” my Martial Arts with Triangle + R1.
I’m even more delighted with the new strikes in this 11-hitter. We’re talking double-tapper roundhouse kicks and a finisher that’s this powerful two-handed clapfist to the ears of your opponent. Or, in this case, either side of old mate’s shinbone.
Despite being level 150 still, I’m reasonably effective in this fight, though I do fall victim to the second irritation of my demo experience (the first being a brief moment of mass object pop as riding across the grasslands). While cheesing this mid-boss around the corner of a large cathedral, I fall victim to him vertically chopping me through the building by a wide margin with a sword that could be God’s own letter-opener. It’s a legacy issue in Soulsbornes that should have been made extinct by now, but I adjust for it and make him pay with his life.
The Dismount
A short distance beyond this menace, the staircase and ladder-filled cathedral district thickens in complexity. In short, Shadow of the Erdtree finally starts to do what I love best about this series—that spaghetti-wind level design that offers up boltholds, ambush points, and loot-hiding cul de sacs. In the case of the latter, a nearby one hides a meme-tastic sword, the Keen Milady +25 (263+, 320).
After a few satisfying test swings, I tip a phantom fedora to it, and stubbornly stick with my fists for the remaining 2 hours of demo time. In fact, I basically decide then and there to do my full launch day run like this, purely because I’m so utterly enamoured with haymaking horrors, unleashing running flying kicks into faces, or simply Crit Attacking fools with brutal kidney-strikes.
And it’s at this point, I’ve just realised that I’ve gushed for far too long about a very, very small, fraction of my time with Shadow of the Erdtree. I’m going to hit pause on my tale for today. Hopefully, an opportunity will arise for me to regale you with the remaining 2/3rds of the demo, where I effectively turn back, cross over Ellac Okaybridge, and head westward to a major objective.
For it’s on that heading that lies the castle domain of Shadow of the Erdtree’s first full-cutscene boss. I can say that he will be a major migraine for all but the best of you, but one you’d be absolutely nuts to miss out on. Alternatively, here’s the account of one of my US contemporaries who scooped up an axe and made a beeline to that other castle.
Because after the full three hours my instincts were telling me nothing but good things about the remainder of this DLC. There is little doubt in my mind. The pieces seem very much in place for Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree to become one of the most essential bits of extra content I’ve played since the venerable Bloodborne: The Old Hunters.
And as you veteran Tarnished should already know, my Soulsborne compliments don’t get much higher than that.
Adam Mathew is our Aussie deals wrangler. He plays practically everything, often on YouTube.
Amazon is offering the Jackery Explorer 100 31,000mAh Power Bank for only $99.99 after a $50 instant discount. This is the largest capacity power bank we’ve seen that’s TSA carry-on eligible. It also uses superior LiFePO4 battery cells, can charge up to 3 devices simultaneously, and boasts up to 100W charging output via USB Type-C.
Jackery Explorer 100 31,000mAh Power Bank for $99.99
At first glance the Jackery Explorer 100 looks like one of those large power stations you might use as a backup battery for your home. But actually, this thing is pretty small, small enough to fit on the palm of your hand. It measures only 5″x3.4″x3.4″ and weighs about 2 pounds. This is a 99Whr power bank, which means it just barely squeezes its way under TSA’s sub-100Whr requirement. With a 31,000mAh total capacity, this is definitely the largest TSA carry-on eligible power bank we’ve posted on IGN.
Unlike most smaller power banks which use lithium-ion cells, the Jackery Explorer 100 uses LiFePO4 cells. They’re usually more expensive and also a bit heavier, but in exchange you get inherently safer battery chemistry and a much longer lifespan, both in terms of number of cycles and calendar aging.
The Jackery Explorer 100 has three outputs: two USB Type-C with PPS and Power Delivery up to 100W total, and a USB Type-A with 28W of charging for a total of 128W. The Steam Deck supports up to 45W max charging, the ASUS ROG Ally up to 65W, and the Nintendo Switch up to 18W. That means ou can charge a Steam Deck, ASUS ROG Ally, or Nintendo Switch at its maximum charging speed. In fact, you could almost charge all three at their maximum charging rate simultaneously.
Jackery is a well known brand that’s based out of Fremont, California. They’re very reliable and are often a great alternative to the juggernaut Chinese companies like Ecoflow and Bluetti. This power bank is UL 94V-0 certified and includes a 2 year warranty.
As Bungie launches Destiny 2 expansion The Final Shape, fans think one developer has teased Destiny 3 with a series of cryptic tweets.
The Final Shape concludes Destiny’s overarching story by placing the player inside the Traveler in a face-off against the mysterious The Witness. It’s the culmination of 10 years of often bewildering Destiny storytelling, and will hopefully provide answers for the game’s player base.
But in previous videos, Bungie developers have teased that The Final Shape is not the end of Destiny 2 or even the series, with the developer – now owned by Sony – also working on multiplayer game Marathon. In a series of tweets marking the release of The Final Shape, Bungie executive creative director, Luke Smith, discussed the road to The Final Shape’s release and the effort its developers put in to make it happen. But it’s the mention of the word Hope three times, each capitalized, that has set the cat among the pigeons within the Destiny community.
Here’s the tweet in question:
Our Hope is always the same with Destiny games, expansions, seasons, DLCs, exotic missions, secret missions, in-game events, merchandise, et cetera – we genuinely Hope you enjoy the time you spend with it. Anything we’ve made or will make, that’s the Hope.
That tweet was enough to set off a number of Destiny content creators on the future of the series, and there’s rampant speculation across social media and forums.
Or, this could be nothing, and Smith may in fact be referencing Paul McCartney’s infamous Destiny song Hope for the Future, which, if you’re so inclined, can be watched below:
For anybody who doesn’t know in 2014 to coincide with the release of Destiny 1 Paul McCartney released “Hope For The Future” McCartney provided multiple bases for the iconic Destiny themes.
For now, the focus is on The Final Shape and its three planned episodes. Echoes kicks off next week on June 11, Revenant is set for October 2024, and Heresy rounds The Final Shape off in February 2025, although of course the plan may change.
Beyond that? Bungie is yet to say. Destiny 3 could be an opportunity for Bungie to reset the series with a potentially next-gen entry-point that would bring in a wave of new players. But, after 10 years of Destiny, the studio may decide to leave Destiny behind for new franchises, as it did when it left Halo behind all those years ago.
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.
A new Warzone cutscene shows Black Ops protagonist Frank Woods dishing out orders from a wheelchair, appearing to confirm a Black Ops 2 ending as canon and offering our first look at the character in the upcoming Black Ops 6.
The intro, added to the battle royale ahead of Microsoft’s big reveal of the upcoming Black Ops 6, sees fan-favorite character Woods talk about the discovery of a “mole”, presumed to be Russell Adler from Black Ops Cold War.
But it is Woods’ appearance in a wheelchair that has caught the attention of the Call of Duty community, and sparked excited discussion about the storyline running through the Black Ops series.
First, some background: in 2012’s Black Ops 2, Woods is tricked into killing his best friend and fellow soldier Alex Mason during a mission set during the 1980s. Woods is then shot in both legs, consigning him to a wheelchair. The game later shifts to the year 2025 and we see an older Woods in a wheelchair.
This new intro suggests Woods will appear in the Black Ops 6 campaign, rumored to be set during the ’90s Gulf War. The cutscene also acts as our first look at Woods in Black Ops 6. Perhaps Woods serves the function of being an ‘intel guy’ in the campaign, dishing out information to the player ahead of, and maybe even during, missions over comms.
Frank Woods in a wheelchair in #BlackOps6 in the 90s means Black Ops 2 is canon.
This means: – Jason Hudson is no longer alive. – Alex Mason may no longer be alive. pic.twitter.com/ZVN1EAfCxC
There are some unanswered questions, however. Black Ops 2 has two different endings, one in which Alex Mason survives, the other in which he is dead. Perhaps Black Ops 6 will resolve this by making one of the two endings canon.
As for the Woods intro, Warzone players are currently trying to work out what causes it to appear. It seems random, but there may be some mechanic underpinning its appearance. Meanwhile, there are a number of Black Ops 6-related challenges in Warzone right now, encouraging players to jump in to connect the dots between releases.
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.
XDefiant developer Ubisoft San Francisco has issued an update for the free-to-download shooter, targeting a range of issues across all platforms.
The XDefiant Y1S0.2 patch (Ubisoft uses a patch naming convention based on the year and season from now on) fixes issues across social play and other parts of the game. As has become XDefiant’s style, Ubisoft has had a bit of fun with the patch notes, below, picking out a change on PlayStation 5:
Fixed a thing on PS5 where people could sneak into places they shouldn’t via PS5 Activities.
XDefiant launched its pre-season last month and Ubisoft’s Call of Duty competitor appears to be off to a decent start, earning praise from competitive shooter fans hankering for an old-school experience. IGN’s XDefiant review returned a 7/10. We said: “The fundamentals of XDefiant are good, but conflicting ideas and mechanics stop it from standing above a crowded shooter field.”
Ubisoft San Francisco has said it plans to fix a number of issues with the game as development continues, including the busted hit registration.
XDefiant is not available on Steam, so we do not have an idea of concurrent player numbers, but according to a report from Insider Gaming, XDefiant hit 1.5 million players within just a few hours of launch. Of course, Ubisoft’s hope is XDefiant proves popular enough long-term to make its free-to-play live service a money-spinner throughout the rest of 2024 and beyond, with Activision reportedly preparing Call of Duty Black Ops 6 for release in late October.
XDefiant Y1S0.2 patch notes in full:
Social
While in a party, we now display the most restrictive Crossplay setting among the party members, as it applies to the whole party. Also fixed an issue where party members with differing Crossplay settings couldn’t matchmake.
Fixed an issue with displaying incorrect player names on some Social screens.
Fixed a crash caused by spamming open/close View Party Invites, but who would even do that, calm down.
On consoles, Ubisoft Connect party invites could display as if they were coming from Xbox or PlayStation Network friends. Fixed that, along with some other weird invite-related things.
Miscellaneous
Fixed some missing terrain textures when players joined matches in progress on some maps.
Input-Based Matchmaking setting status now updates correctly after changing it on Xbox.
Fixed a thing on PS5 where people could sneak into places they shouldn’t via PS5 Activities.
Security improvements, various.
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.
Furniture store IKEA will pay people £13.15 / €14.80 per hour to work in a virtual store it’s opening inside Roblox.
The Co-Worker Game, as it’s called, will let players “experience working in IKEA’s virtual universe”, the company said. “Fans will be able to live their home furnishing dreams and get paid for it, with a limited number of paid roles available,” IKEA continued. Applications run to June 16, with the game itself launching June 24.
“The immersive experience gives players the opportunity to experience IKEA’s unique approach to careers where non-linear career journeys are the norm and lateral moves across departments are commonplace,” IKEA said. It is IKEA’s first foray into mainstream gaming.
There are paid shifts on offer for 10 successful applicants. They’ll help customers and get promoted to move departments, working in different sections of the store like the Showroom and Bistro, helping people choose their furniture, and even serving meatballs.
“We’re excited to be the first brand to launch paid work on Roblox to showcase how we do careers differently, bringing our unique careers philosophy to life,” commented IKEA’s Country People and Culture Manager, Darren Taylor. “At IKEA, there is no set route to career progression. Our co-workers are able to change roles, switch departments, and grow in any direction they choose, both in the game or in the real world. There are many ways to learn and grow at IKEA, and that’s what IKEA on Roblox is all about.”
Digging into the detail, virtual interviews for shortlisted applicants take place for the fully remote virtual role between Thursday, June 14 and Tuesday, June 18. Each successful applicant will be paid an hourly IKEA Co-Worker rate for their time on the game. You have to be 18+ and in the UK or Republic of Ireland to apply. Successful applicants will be paid £13.15 (approx $16.78) per hour, the IKEA hourly rate of pay for a London member of staff. The wage matches the London Living Wage set in the UK, rather than the lower National Living Wage.
Roblox, which has an incredible 77.7 million daily active users, is used by a number of companies to promote their brands with virtual experiences. But the platform and the company behind it has been accused of “exploiting” children who develop many of the experiences available to play. Roblox has denied this.
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.
A MultiVersus players had to react fast after the developer pulled their main character out of the game in the middle of a tournament.
A post on the MultiVersus X/Twitter account signaled the removal of Iron Giant from the recently released brawler due to various issues with the character, which players believe include overpowered combos and an infinite chain grab. Garnet was added to the Preview Rotation in response.
Thank you MVPs for alerting us about the current issues surrounding Iron Giant. We have decided to bring him back into the shop for maintenance. During this time, you will not be able to play with him, but we are working diligently and will update you next week on his status. In…
Fair enough, you’d think. But for one MultiVersus player the removal of Iron Giant couldn’t have come at a worse time. As revealed in an X/Twitter post by @NickSF_SSB, co-owner of No Style eSports, a player going by the name of ‘FlaSHFReeeze’ was in the middle of a bracket when their main, Iron Giant, was pulled from the game. Cue bemused conversation between the two players. Brilliantly, FlaSHFReeeze switched character and won the set anyway, proving that fighting game players always need a backup in case of emergency.
“Some of the missing settings and features from the open beta are incoming,” wrote game director Tony Huynh on X/Twitter. “Team colors, end of game stats, swapping side and neutral attack, adjustable input buffer settings, etc.”
Huynh then said the team didn’t have time to add these features during Multiversus’s offline period. “Many of these features are currently implemented and are in testing and we had planned, but were left out due to time as we had to rebuild every screen and feature again to support our new netcode and Unreal Engine 5 switch,” he explained.
No timeframe for the features was given, though as Huynh said more information is coming soon, the actual release may not be imminent.
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.
Content Warning has been out for two months and we’ve reached 2.2 million copies sold – which means over 8.8 million players own the game on Steam! 🎉 pic.twitter.com/xbxyHTkySp
Publisher Landfall released Content Warning for free for the first 24 hours, signaling that it planned to charge for the game after the launch period. The Lethal Company-style co-op survival horror saw an impressive peak concurrent player number of 204,439 on Valve’s platform off the back of the promotion, but some questioned whether it would prove successful in the long run.
Landfall said this week that over 8.8 million players own Content Warning on Steam two months after launch. 6.6 million players got the game for free on launch day, Landfall explained. There was also a tease for a console version in response to a user question on X/Twitter, although an announcement has yet to be made.
It’s a remarkable success for Content Warning, which was developed by just a handful of people and released on April 1 as part of Landfall’s tradition of releasing a game on April Fools’ Day. Take a look at IGN’s Guides for all the info we’ve gathered so far on the monsters, useful items available to purchase, and our tips and tricks for maximum views.
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.
Amazon has announced an original live-action series for Prime Video based on Sega’s successful Like a Dragon game series, previously known as Yakuza.
Simply titled Like a Dragon: Yakuza and including six episodes, this original series is directed by Masaharu Take, best known for the drama series The Naked Director. Made in Japan, the series stars the hugely popular Japanese drama and stage actor Ryoma Takeuchi in the role of Kazuma Kiryu.
Like a Dragon: Yakuza will be available on Amazon Prime in over 240 countries and territories worldwide, released in two batches on October 25 and November 1, 2024.
A new story loosely based on the original Yakuza
The live-action crime-suspense series is based on an original screenplay loosely inspired by the first game in the series, 2005’s Yakuza. It will be set mainly in the Kamurocho entertainment district, straight from the games, and follows Kiryu and three of his childhood friends in two time periods, 1995 and 2005.
Similar to the games, protagonist Kiryu is described in the show’s press release as a “fearsome and peerless Yakuza warrior with a strong sense of justice, duty, and humanity”, and the story will deal with the repercussions of his actions in the two time periods. Takeuchi commented that the show will include “intense fighting scenes”, alluding to the wild action the series is famed for.
The series was announced today at a press conference at the picturesque Hotel Gajoen Tokyo. At the event, Takeuchi and Take discussed the process of adapting the acclaimed game series for a live-action drama.
Speaking of the tattoo on his back and sculpting his body for the role, as seen in the key visual image released today, Takeuchi said, “You can’t play Kiryu Kazuma without getting into shape, so I knew I had to throw myself into it. This was a job not only for me but also for the costume and makeup teams. It took two and a half hours just to prepare for this shot.”
He added, “It’s partly Kiryu Kazuma and it’s partly me. I got so close to the part that it was hard to distinguish where he ended and I began. That included getting into shape for the part, the costume and so on. Rather than acting the part of Kiryu, I feel like he became part of the family.”
Director Take said, “Having someone with such a large physical presence as Takeuchi makes all the difference. I understood that he knows his body better than anyone, so I left it to him to get into shape. Takeuchi did all the action himself as well. It was impressive.”
Of Kiryu’s place in the story, Take said, “In 1995, the protagonist is still young and he makes a lot of mistakes, and these lead to him spending a decade in prison and the consequences he faces when he gets out in 2005. I tried to show those differences in the two time periods, and the cast helped to achieve this as well.”
Taking their positions in front of a golden folding screen emblazoned with a dragon reminiscent of the tattoo on Kiryu’s back, the actor and director made a symbolic prayer for the show’s success.
Meet the new Kazuka Kiryu
Takeuchi broke through with his role as Shinnosuke Tomari in multiple Kamen Rider projects. His credits include a cameo in 2019’s Detective Pikachu movie adaptation as a Pokémon trainer, as well as providing the voice for Justice Smith’s character Tim Goodman in the Japanese dub. He also has a successful career in stage acting, and before that was a budding soccer player.
In a press release, Masayoshi Yokoyama, head of Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio and executive producer of the new drama series, said, “While the games let you experience their world through the subjective lens, this adaptation will be the ultimately objective way to enjoy the show. I have no doubt that fans of the series will be drawn to how it brings the games to life and adds new surprises. Newcomers, I’m sure, will find themselves invested simply in the gritty realism of the show.”
The Like a Dragon game series is developed by Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio and published by Sega. The first game, upon which the Amazon series will be partly based, was released in 2006 in the West, with IGN praising its story and awarding it 8.2/10. The game spawned a globally successful franchise, with multiple sequels and spinoffs, a movie adaptation directed by Takashi Miike in 2007, and a remake of the first game titled Yakuza Kiwami in 2016.
The series was renamed Like a Dragon in 2022, and the most recent entry, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, was released globally in January 2024, receiving 9/10 scores from both IGN and IGN Japan.
Daniel Robson is Chief Editor of IGN Japan. Find him on Twitter here.
