Category: IGN

You can currently bag yourself an Xbox Elite Series 2 Core Wireless Controller for just £71.99, just use code PAYAY20 at checkout. These usually go for about £115, so you’re making a very tidy saving here. One of the reasons for the lower price is that the item might be missing its original packaging, The controller itself hasn’t been used though, so you’re essentially scoring a £43 discount for a missing or opened box.

The PAYAY20 sale has been offering up some delightful gaming deals this last week, but you’re going to have to make a move today, as this is officially the last day of the deal. Pick up a Nintendo Switch for just £183.99. And it’s not just the standard model Switch included in the sale either. If you’d rather get your hands on the OLED model, you can pick it up for £227.19 using the same code.

Also in the deal is a Hisense 43A6KTUK 6 Series 4K Ultra HD Smart TV for just £183.20. There are other sizes available with the same code as well. The 50″ model is down to £231.20, and the 55″ model costs just £255.20 at the moment.

Today is also your last day to get your hands on the likes of Stellar Blade for just £56 using the promo code, alongside Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth for just £47.16, and a Steam Deck 512GB for £374.95. Away from gaming, these AirPods Pro 2nd Gen are included in the deal for just £167.99. Long story short, there are a tonne of deals waiting for you, but you’ve gotta get on them today.

Joe O’Neill-Parker is a freelance writer and audio producer. He is the owner of O’Neill Multimedia. He writes commerce, sports, and audio-related tech articles for IGN.

An Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim streamer created a mod which let his Twitch chat control what the game’s NPCs said in real time, with expectedly hilarious and horrifying results.

As reported by Kotaku, Twitch streamer Blurbs shared a clip from the stream on X/Twitter, below, which shared a compilation of some of the most ridiculous results. Beyond the Twitch chat’s comments merely appearing on screen, the mod converts them to speech in the style of the Skyrim characters and moves their lips to match.

“I have never made a game mod before. Chat can live voice NPCs. It’s gonna go horribly,” Blurbs said to open the stream.

I created a Skyrim mod that allows my Twitch chat to voice in-game characters (with mouth movements/subtitles/etc) *live* in real-time. It went as horribly as you’d expect.

Also, if you die in the game: YOU DIE IN REAL LIFE pic.twitter.com/yTKUVnuMd8

— Blurbs (@Blurbstv) April 29, 2024

One NPC he approached was a woman in Riverwood, who in her usual voice, declared: “It’s said that the lord of all dragons, Alduin, was born in 1998 when the Undertaker threw mankind off hell in a cell and plummeted 16 feet through the announcers table.” A Whiterun Guard said: “Hello there. I’m brought to you by Raid: Shadow Legends.” There are plenty of other examples too, many of which are quite explicit.

With The Elder Scrolls 6 still five years away at least, fans have had to find their own ways, like this, to keep the ageing Skyrim entertaining. Another player recently accrued a 267,000 gold bounty murdering 5,000 NPCs in a quest to kill “everything that was killable”, for example, while one fan recreated the game in Age of Empires 2.

Looking to take immersion to the max, another player added two haptic feedback suits to their already $15,000 virtual reality setup to simulate actual pain when they’re hurt in-game. And a speedrunner has now reached Level 80 and killed the infamous Ebony Warrior in under 12 minutes.

Waves of sentimental fans recently booted up their old Xbox 360s and PlayStation 3s to “retire” their original characters too, showing how much Skyrim has remained in player consciousness over its 12 years of being available.

In our 9/10 review of the beloved role playing game, IGN said: “Skyrim is a rare kind of intensely personal, deeply rewarding experience, and one of the best role-playing games yet produced.”

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.

With all things Fallout now enjoying a significant boost following the breakout success of the Fallout TV show, Fallout 76 is enjoying a significant rise in player numbers. Last week, Bethesda announced that Fallout 76, its most recent mainline Fallout game, saw over one million people play in a single day.

That focused attention on Fallout 76 has brought its lack of cross-play under the microscope, especially at a time when most multiplayer-focused games do have cross-play. In an interview with Kinda Funny Games, Bethesda development chief Todd Howard explained why Fallout 76 does not yet have cross-play, pointing out that when the game was developed it was not done so with cross-play in mind.

“We keep looking into it. It [Fallout 76] wasn’t designed that way from the beginning,” Howard said. “So obviously we get into server and database silos.”

Fallout 76 launched in November 2018 across PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One, and was savaged by critics and players at release. However, over the last five years, Bethesda has worked to improve the game, turning around sentiment to such an extent that Fallout 76 now enjoys a ‘mostly positive’ user review rating on Steam. Howard said Fallout 76 has been “sneaky popular” for the last three or four years.

Not only does Fallout 76 not have cross-play, it also doesn’t have cross-progression, another pretty standard feature for multiplayer games in 2024. In the interview, Howard went on to say cross-progression is more important to Bethesda than cross-play when it comes to Fallout 76, but again, technical issues with the way Fallout 76 was built are a stumbling block.

“Here’s what I would say, which is for us the more the important thing is cross-progression than cross-play — and we do separate them — we’d love to have it all.” Howard said. “It’s something we are looking at, but I will say it’s quite — the way that [Fallout 76] was architected from the beginning — a technical lift. Not saying we are or aren’t doing anything, we are looking at it and seeing where that’s going to impact people.”

While cross-play and cross-progression sound unlikely for Fallout 76, it sounds like both are very much on the table for Bethesda’s future games. Indeed the recently released Starfield, a single-player adventure, does have cross-progression between PC and Xbox.

Howard added: “Going forward in the world we want to be in, I think it’s very important and something that you know in our future games that we’re going to be really, really mindful about to make sure — in particular the progression — that where you pick up a game you’re able no matter what screen you’re on you’re able to just keep going with your character and what you were doing.”

Howard’s interview with Kinda Funny Games also revealed a fall release window for Starfield expansion Shattered Space, and potentially two new Fallout projects.

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.

Whenever Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead releases a big balance update for the PC and PlayStation 5 co-op shooter, the community debates the various nerfs and buffs as it gets to grips with the evolving meta. After this week’s release of patch 01.000.300, which tweaked a long list of weapons, stratagems, and enemies, the debate was especially vociferous.

A change to the beloved Quasar Cannon is but one that has led to claims that Arrowhead has nerfed fun out of Helldivers 2. The game’s Discord and subreddit are especially spicy as Arrowhead community managers address concern about nerfs even as they point out that in reality, the patch made significant buffs to a number of key weapons. The Adjudicator, for example, has enjoyed a meaningful buff, as has the Punisher Plasma, and the Counter Sniper. The regular Guard Dog and the Railgun also got some love. Other weapons were rebalanced with a combination of buffs and nerfs.

As the row over Helldivers 2’s apparent nerfs continues, Arrowhead has addressed another aspect of the patch that has drawn controversy: patrols for solo players.

In the patch notes released this week, Arrowhead said patrol spawning was increased when there are fewer than four players. The fewer the players the bigger the change. For four-player missions there is no change compared to before. But “the biggest noticeable change will be for solo players at higher difficulties.”

Essentially, Helldivers 2 is now tougher for teams of three players and less, and much tougher for solo players. Helldivers 2 is designed to be played co-op, ideally in squads of four, but of course sometimes that’s not possible, and indeed there are plenty of players who prefer to play solo, challenging themselves to complete missions on their own and on the toughest difficulties even though Helldivers 2 can be incredibly difficult played this way.

Following the release of the patch, Arrowhead released a statement attributed to design director Niklas Broström, who explained that this change was about righting a prior mistake.

“We unintendedly had non-linear scaling of the patrol spawns so they didn’t spawn as often as they should have when less than four players,” Broström said. “The intention is that one player has 1/4th of the patrols compared to four players, but it used to be that they had 1/6th.

“Scaling of patrol spawns was exponential before, and that felt good on four player lobbies but a bit too empty when playing with fewer players, especially when playing solo. So now we made the scaling of patrols to be linear, which means if you play solo you will get 25% of the patrols compared to a four-player lobby instead of having about 17% of the patrols. There is still a cap of patrols that can spawn at the same time so during situations when we spawn a lot of patrols, such as extractions, even solo players won’t notice the difference. The change is made to make the world feel less empty for one and two-player lobbies, especially on high difficulty missions which was also slightly too easy for solo players compared to our intentions.

“Hope this clarifies the change for everyone – we’re not making the game arbitrarily harder!”

So, it turns out, Helldivers 2 was unintentionally too easy for solo players, and now it’s at the difficulty Arrowhead always intended.

The patch reaction doesn’t end there. There’s also a debate about a significant change to ricochet: “Shots that ricochet from heavy armored enemies will now properly hit the Helldiver who fired them. Trigger discipline is highly recommended.”

After the patch:
The New Ricochet System Sucks

🔗Eys-Beowulf | #Helldivers2 pic.twitter.com/RPO0hJcN8t

— Helldivers 2 Media (@Helldiversmedia) April 30, 2024

Players are now reporting getting killed more often by shots that ricochet, but there is confusion about just how much of an issue this is. Clips are doing the rounds on social media that appear to show players suffering embarrassing deaths at the hands of their own ricocheting projectiles, but some have suggested there isn’t a big change here. The prevailing theory is that the patch has made it so the player now takes damage from their own bullets and shrapnel when ricochet occurs, compared to the pre-patch situation where they were immune.

If you’re looking for more on Helldivers 2, check out IGN’s feature on the Let Me Solo Her of Helldivers 2, a player who has answered over 100 SOS Beacons as part of a mission to help others.

Helldivers 2 has become one of the surprise hits of 2024 since launching in February, topping the charts on Steam and reportedly selling around three million copies. According to at least one analyst, it’s still growing. Check out IGN’s Helldivers 2 review to find out why it’s going down so well.

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

Square Enix has revised its approach to PC and console game development, and absorbed ¥22.1 billion (approx $140.9 million) in what it calls “content abandonment losses.”

In a warning to the investment community, the Japanese company said it would recognise the extraordinary loss for the fiscal year ended March 2024.

This is the result of a change in approach to Square Enix’s development of what it calls HD video games (PC and console). In its note, the company said it wants to be “more selective and focused in the allocation of development resources”, and as a result of the “close examination” of its development pipeline with this in mind, is taking the multi-million dollar loss. Square Enix did not name the canceled in-development titles.

Here’s the statement in full:

At the meeting convened on March 27, 2024, the Board of Directors of Square Enix Holdings Co., Ltd. (the “Company”) voted, in light of the myriad changes underway in the environment surrounding its Group, to revise the Group’s approach to the development of high-definition (HD) games with the intention of being more selective and focused in the allocation of development resources. As a result of a close examination of the Group’s development pipeline undertaken in keeping with this revised approach, the Company expects

to recognize approximately ¥22.1 billion in content abandonment losses on its books for the fiscal year ended March 2024.

In February, Square Enix had forecast full year sales of ¥360 billion (approx $2.3 billion), up 16.8% over the previous financial year. But it predicted profit would be flat at ¥55 billion (approx $350 million). Square Enix said it was “carefully reviewing” its forecasts to assess any impact from the writedown.

Square Enix released a major title, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, in February, but it has yet to announce a sales figure. Some analysts have suggested it has struggled, a topic IGN recently investigated. Other games released in the current financial year include Final Fantasy 16, Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster, and the Splatoon-style multiplayer game Foamstars. Dawntrail, the expansion for ongoing MMO Final Fantasy 14, launches in the next financial year, in late June. Square Enix also has Kingdom Hearts 4, the third game in the Final Fantasy remake trilogy, and Dragon Quest 12 in the works.

In February, Square Enix director and president Takashi Kiryu reportedly told analysts about plans to create a new company structure following falling sales in its digital entertainment business, despite the release of Final Fantasy 16 in June. Square Enix said the PlayStation 5 exclusive sold three million copies during launch week. A PC port is in the works. In January, Final Fantasy 16 producer Naoki Yoshida said it might be time for a younger generation to lead the franchise and helm Final Fantasy 17.

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.

Wizards of the Coast has announced the next Secret Lair collaboration for Magic: The Gathering, and it features android superstar Hatsune Miku.

For the uninitiated, Hatsune Miku is a hugely popular digital character whose voice synthesizer can be heard in tens of thousands of songs, and whose holographic likeness sells out in-person concerts on a regular basis. Now she’s taking her act from the stage to the playmat, as she’ll soon have her own Magic cards.

The crossover will be rolled out throughout the rest of 2024, with four different Secret Lair drops themed around the seasons in which they become available. The first, Sakura Superstar (seen above), will include Miku, Lost but Singing, a legendary creature that lets you play two additional land cards per turn, and Miku, the Renowned which lets you recast instant and sorcery spells – both of which are reskins of favored commander cards. This set will include six cards total, and seems designed for those who want this digital diva to head up their commander deck.

“Secret Lair lets us take the things fans already love about Magic: The Gathering and combine them with pop culture moments and amazing new artists,” said Mark Heggen, Wizards of the Coast’s Vice President of Collectibles. “We’re thrilled to team up with the global phenomenon that is Hatsune Miku to put on this year-long celebration for fans around the world.”

Secret Lair x Hatsune Miku: Sakura Superstar will be available for preorder starting on May 13, and will cost $29.99 and $39.99 for the non-foil and foil editions, respectively.

Travis Northup is a writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @TieGuyTravis and read his games coverage here.

Blu-ray players may seem like a thing of the past for some folks, but they still let you watch the best movies and TV shows in the comfort of your own home and at the highest possible quality this side of a movie theater. While you can easily stream content via streaming services on the latest smart TVs, Blu-Ray players offer a higher level of detail and a more immersive experience. If you’re a collector, it’s also great fun collecting and organizing Blu-Ray discs.

TL;DR – These are the 5 Best Blu-Ray Players:

1. Panasonic DP-UB9000
2. Sony UBP-X700
3. PlayStation 5
4. Xbox Series X
5. Sony BDP-BX370

Choosing the best Blu-Ray player can be tricky if you don’t know what you’re looking for. If you’re on a budget, you may feel overwhelmed by the choices, or if you’re searching for the ultimate home entertainment devices, you’ll want the best out there.

Best Blu-Ray Players in 2024

1. Panasonic DP-UB9000

Top Blu-Ray Player

Pros:

• Excellent image quality
• HDR support

Cons:

• Very expensive

If you’re ready to splurge on the best Blu-Ray player, you won’t be disappointed by the Panasonic DP-UB9000. This premium package all major HDR formats including HDR10, HDR10+, HLG, and Dolby Vision.

Thinking about upgrading your home entertainment system? You’ll want this in your collection. Not only does it boast excellent image quality, but it also produces some seriously good audio thanks to its DAC, 7.1 audio channel, and two-channel outputs.

Turn the Blu-Ray player around and you’re met with tons of input and output options. This is the best Blu-Ray player on the market if it’s in your budget.

2. Sony UBP-X700M

Best 4K Blu-Ray Player

Pros:

• Decent picture
• Dolby Vision support

Cons:

• No HDR10+ support

Investing in a decent Blu-Ray player that doesn’t cost the Earth can be challenging. But the Sony UBP-X700M hits the sweet spot by offering a more affordable way into the world of Blu-Ray while maintaining decent specs and features. Despite its low price point, you still get 4K and premium audio quality.

You aren’t sacrificing an awful lot; yes, there’s no HDR10+ support, but there’s still HDR10 and the player can handle 24bit/192kHz files and multiple formats. Throw in some smart features and dual HDMI outputs, and you’ve got yourself a winner.

3. PlayStation 5

Best Game Console with Blu-Ray Player

Pros:

• Doubles up as a game console
• Atmos and DTS:X passthrough

Cons:

• May be overkill for a Blu-Ray player

Gamers will love the PS5 and could definitely consider it one of the best Blu-Ray players since it doubles up as a game console. With 4K Blu-Ray support, you can play your favorite games and movies on the same device. And while it doesn’t support Dolby Vision over HDR like the Xbox Series X, it can pass Dolby Atmos via your TV and deliver outstanding picture quality.

The PlayStation 5 upscales HD Blu-Ray discs naturally and offers clean, sharp images when playing movies and TV shows. It’s fun for all the family too. Not only does the PlayStation 5 allow you to play games, but there are loads of apps you can install, including the likes of Netflix, YouTube, and other streaming services.

4. Xbox Series X

Best Alternative for Home Entertainment

Pros:

• Great for families
• HDR10

Cons:

• Not as good as the PS5

If you’ve decided you’re going to use your game console as a Blu-Ray player, the only real conundrum you’ll have is choosing between the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. While the PlayStation 5 does tip the scales in favor of image quality, the Xbox Series X supports Dolby Vision HDR from streaming services.

Put this alongside Dolby Atmos audio, and you’ve got an entire home entertainment system for you and your family. Plus, if you invest a small amount each month on the Xbox Game Pass, there are plenty of games you can enjoy for free. You may have to suffer a small dip in 4K image quality and HD upscaling compared to the PlayStation 5, but unless you’re paying extra special attention and comparing them side by side, you won’t notice the differences too much.

5. Sony BDP-BX370

Best Budget Blu-Ray Player

Pros:

• Good value for money
• User-friendly

Cons:

• Limited to 1080p

Sometimes all you need is a Blu-Ray player that will play your discs, display decent image quality and audio, and have none of the frills more expensive models offer. That’s what the Sony BDP-BX370 does well. It’s limited to 1080p, but in full HD, this might be what you’re after. If you have older DVDs lying around, it also upscales DVDs to near-HD quality.

With support for screen mirroring from your phone, this Blu-Ray player offers more than you might expect. It’s incredibly easy to set up too thanks to the included HDMI cable and super quick start mode.

If you are looking for an affordable Blu-Ray player, Sony does not let the side down. It’s simple, effective, and will look great in any home.

How To Choose the Best Blu-Ray Player

Choosing the best Blu-Ray player can enhance your home entertainment experience by delivering stunning picture quality and immersive audio. When selecting a Blu-Ray player, it’s essential to consider certain features and specifications to ensure that it meets your needs.

Let’s look at it this way; if you were stood in a shop deciding between two Blu-Ray players, the first thing you’re going to want to prioritize is picture quality. At the very least, you want HD playback, but if you want a future-proof device, opt for 4K UHD, as well as features like HDR support.

Next up is audio quality. If you’re adding to your home entertainment setup, support for audio formats like Dolby Atmos and DTS:X adds to the immersive experience. On a similar note, you’ll want to consider what connectivity options the Blu-Ray player offers, like HDMI, digital audio outputs, USB, and so on. If you have a projector at home, a smart TV, or something else, your new Blu-Ray player has to be compatible.

While streaming apps and smart features aren’t the be-all and end-all, these things are nice to have. If you are faced with two similar Blu-Ray players, having Netflix built-in or smart capabilities might tip the scales.

Upcoming Blu-Ray Players

There are no significant upcoming Blu-Ray players or planned releases, but it does look like there may be new ones at some point. Blu-Rays are having somewhat of a resurgence thanks to film studios and filmmakers investing resources into specific Blu-Ray releases. These are mostly targeted at collectors, or users who enjoy purchasing limited edition discs. This might, however, turn the tide on the Blu-Ray market.

Blu-Ray Player FAQ

Are Blu-Ray Players Still Worth Buying?

Blu-Ray players may have been invented back in 2005 (and released in 2006) to take over the DVD format, but these BDs are a great addition to movie night still today. While it’s easy to stream movies and such directly from services like Netflix, you don’t get the same level of image and audio quality as you do from a high-end Blu-Ray player. Some Blu-Ray players are also lightweight enough that they become more portable. For example, if you’ve booked a stay at an Airbnb with the family, some extra entertainment might prove useful.

Can You Play Blu-Ray Discs on a Normal DVD Player?

Blu-Ray discs only work on Blu-Ray players. You couldn’t put a Blu-Ray disc into a DVD player or CD player. The formats are different and therefore require specific drives to play them.

What Are the Advantages of a Blu-Ray Player?

Blu-Ray discs can hold large amounts of data. Not only are Blu-ray players great for the home, they are also great in workplaces. But, aside from being useful, Blu-ray players offer excellent sound and picture quality.

With many people opting to ditch Blu-Ray discs and move to online streaming services, Blu-Rays can often be picked up relatively cheaply. And if you invest in something like a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X, you can enjoy games as well as movies and TV shows on the same device.

Kegan is an avid gamer who has been playing games since his Atari days. From a young age Kegan was tinkering with PCs and now has a passion for building custom gaming computers.

In its quarterly earnings presentation, Remedy Entertainment shared an update on its remake of Max Payne 1 and 2, as well as the news that Tencent has nearly tripled its investment in the studio.

In a report for shareholders, Remedy announced that Max Payne 1 & 2 remake is expected to move into “full production” during Q2 of 2024 (April through June of 2024). Additionally, Codename Kestrel — Remedy’s upcoming multiplayer action game formerly known as Vanguard — is still in the concept stage.

It turns out Tesla isn’t the only car manufacturer experiencing a mass recall for its video-game-esque car because of pedal-related issues. Now a bunch of drivable Mario Kart toys are being recalled because they seems to pose a significant crash hazard to their drivers.

JAKKs Pacific, a California-based toy company, recalled 17,500 units of its Mario Kart 24V Ride-On Racer Cars on April 25 because of a crash hazard related to its battery-powered acceleration pedal. According to the United States Consumer Product and Safety Commission, if debris gets clogged in the $400 Mario Kart’s acceleration pedal, it can cause the pedal to stick even if the rider’s foot isn’t pressing down on it.

Nintendo’s Switch successor console, referred to by many as the “Switch 2,” will feature magnetic Joy-Con controllers, backward compatibility, and a host of other new features, according to the latest batch of rumors.

These alleged details about the yet-to-be-revealed device first showed up from Spanish outlet Vandal and were later cooperated by third-party Switch accessory manufacturer Mobapad. They say that the console will swap away from the railed lock method used by the current Switch and its Joy-Cons in favor of larger, electromagnetic suction controllers. If the rumors are accurate, players can also expect metal SL and SR buttons as well as one additional new button on the side of each controller. Mobapad adds that the new controllers will still feature HD rumble.