Hogwarts Legacy Leads February Sales Charts, The Last of Us Sales Rise Again

Hogwarts Legacy soared high on the charts as the best-selling game of February 2023, while The Last Of Us sales rose with it.

The sales numbers were shared by Mat Piscatella, executive director and games industry analyst at Circana (formerly known as NPD), showing Hogwarts Legacy ranked first in February sales for PlayStation, Xbox, and Steam. Not only is the game last month’s best-seller, but it is also the best-selling game of 2023 year-to-date, surpassing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, the Dead Space remake, Madden NFL 23, and FIFA 23.

The sales of The Last Of Us games climbed up the charts last month as well, but still trailed behind the Wizarding World title. The Last Of Us: Part 1 ranked 6th on the sales chart (up from 11th in January), besting Wild Hearts, Like A Dragon: Ishin!, and Octopath Traveler 2 — all of which are new releases. Meanwhile, The Last Of Us: Part 2 ranked 18th (up from 41st in the previous month), trailing just behind Sonic Frontiers, which was released in November.

Last month, Warner Bros. Games announced that Hogwarts Legacy sold over 12 million copies two weeks after its launch. The company touted the game as its biggest global launch ever despite the controversy surrounding it well before it released.

Hogwarts Legacy’s sales success was due in no small part to the PS5, which drove hardware spending up to 29%. It was also named the best-selling console of the last month.

Hogwarts Legacy is available now on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Steam. It will be released on PS4 and Xbox One on May 5, and on Nintendo Switch July 25.

Cristina Alexander is a freelance writer for IGN. She has contributed her work to various publications, including Digital Trends, TheGamer, Twinfinite, Mega Visions, and The Escapist. To paraphrase Calvin Harris, she wears her love for Sonic the Hedgehog on her sleeve like a big deal. Follow her on Twitter @SonicPrincess15.

The Best PS5 SSD Deals for 2023: 2TB for $112.50

2023 might finally be the year where 2TB PS5 SSDs might actually be worth the upgrade. Last year, prices for 1TB PS5 SSDs averaged around $150, whereas 2TB SSDs hovered closer to $300. This year, we’re seeing 1TB SSDs trickle below the $100 price point and 2TB SSDs are under $200. The reason PS5 SSD upgrades are pricey is that you can’t use any old SSD and expect it to perform well on the PS5 console. You’ll want to pick up an PCIe Gen4 x4 M.2 solid state drive with a rated 5,500MB/s read speed to match the PS5’s internal drive. That means, for better or for worse, picking a top-shelf SSD.

Note that Sony recommends a heatsink attached to your SSD. Not all SSDs listed here have pre-installed heatsinks. For the ones that do, we’ll be sure to mention it. For the ones that don’t, all you have to do is purchase your own heatsink (we recommend this one for $10) and install it yourself. It’s very easy.

Adata Premium 2TB PS5 SSD for $112.50

This is easily the lowest price we’ve seen so far for a 1TB PS5-compatible SSD. The Adata Premium SSD boasts transfer speeds of up to 6,100MB/s, which is more than fast enough to surpass the PS5’s recommended minimum speed threshold of 5,500MB/s. It includes a thin aluminum heatspreader that will work fine with the PS5 console, but you can easily get a beefier heatsink (we recommend this one for $10) if you’re concerned about the heat.

Crucial P5 Plus 2TB PS5 SSD for PS5 for $131.99

Crucial’s newest M.2 SSD meets all the requirements for your PS5 SSD upgrade. It supports transfer speeds of up to 6,660MB/s which is well above the 5,500MB/s minimum threshold. Yes there are faster SSDs out there, but if your intention is to put this in your PS5, then that extra speed is worthless because you’re bottlenecked by the original PS5 SSD. If you’re worried about opening up your PS5 case, don’t worry it’s very easy. Crucial has an official YouTube PS5 SSD install guide to see you through the process.

Samsung 1TB PS5 SSD for $75

Samsung SSDs need no introduction. They’ve made some of the most popular and reliable PS5 SSDs on the market. The 980 Pro has been out for a while now, but it’s still one of Samsung’s fastest M.2 PCIe SSD, with only the newly released 990 Pro being faster. It is fully PS5 compatible in terms of form factor and performance, with blistering speeds of up to 7,100MB/s. It goes toe to toe with other well-known options like the WD Black SN850 and the Seagate Firecuda 530.

WD 2TB PS5 SSD from $159.99

Amazon is offering a 2TB WD Black SN850X with preinstalled heatsink for only $179.99. The SN850X is the successor to the SN850 SSD. It has newer flash chips (BiCS5 vs BiCS4) and an updated firmware, which combined offer improved sequential and random read/write speeds. For PC gamers, there’s also an updated Game Mode 2.0 utility that’s designed to tune the SSD for better performance during gaming sessions.

Corsair MP600 PRO LPX 2TB “Optimized for PS5” SSD with Heatsink for Only $154.99

Corsair is a very well known brand for DIY PC builders. Corsair makes some of the best gaming products on the market, and that includes solid-state memory like RAM and SSDs. The MP600 Pro is the same super-fast M.2 NVMe PCIe x4 Gen4 SSD that’s marketed for enthusiast gaming PC builds. This one is “optimized for PS5” because it includes a rugged preinstalled heatsink that is slim enough to fit in the PS5 bay without any issues. Performance wise, the MP600 Pro matches the best SSDs out there with its 7,100MB/sec sequential read and 6,800MB/sec sequential write speeds.

Patriot Viper VP4300 2TB PS5 SSD for $142.99

Amazon is offering the Patriot Viper VP4300 2TB M.2 2280 PCIe Gen4 x 4 Internal Gaming Solid State Drive, which is compatible with the PS5 console, for only $142.99. This makes it definitely the lowest price we’ve seen for a brand name 2TB PS5 SSD, especially since this one even includes a slim aluminum heatshield. The VP4300 is an M.2 2280 PCIe Gen4 x4 solid state drive with rated transfer speeds of 7,400MB/s read and 6,800MB/s write. That makes it well above the PS5’s recommended 5,600MB/s speed requirement.

More PS5 SSD Deals

There may be other SSD deals out there, but these are the PS5 SSDs we’ve tried ourselves and highly recommend. They also double up as outstanding boot drives for your gaming PC, in case you don’t need additional storage for your PS5 console.

How easy is it to install the SSD?

It’s extremely easy! Removing the case cover is completely toolless. In fact, the only screw you have to remove is the one that keeps the cover for the SSD bay in place. You don’t even put it back when you’re done. Sony has a quick and easy YouTube video guide.

What if the SSD I bought doesn’t have a heatsink?

Sony recommends you install an SSD that has an attached heatsink. If the SSD you purchase doesn’t include one, it’s simple enough to buy one for about $10 on Amazon and add it yourself. Most of these heatsinks are just attached using an adhesive like thermal tape.

For more deals, take a look at our daily deals for today.

Exclusive – See 6 New Cards from Magic: The Gathering’s March of the Machine Set

We’re back with another exclusive Magic: The Gathering reveal – this time, a first look at six cards from the upcoming set March of the Machine, including one that’s part of a potential two-card combo to instantly kill your opponent in Magic’s Standard format. We also spoke with Set Design Lead Dave Humpherys from Wizards of the Coast about the designs behind each card and the brand new “battle” card type.

Flip through this slideshow to see all the new cards, and read on to hear Humpherys’ thoughts on them:

Potentially the most notable of these cards is Invasion of Tarkir, which is a battle card – the first new permanent type in Magic since WOTC introduced the now-ubiquitous planeswalkers nearly 16 years ago. When you play a battle you get an immediate effect, but you then choose an opponent to defend it – dealing enough damage to the battle (either with attacking creatures or direct spells) will allow you to flip it over into a new card, in this case a very angry dragon. Humpherys says they discussed whether battles could simply be enchantments or lands, but that “conceptually what we were aiming for just didn’t really make sense as any existing card type.”

WOTC hopes that battles will be playable right out of the gate, with Humpherys also telling us that other design teams have already expressed interest in potentially using them as part of future sets. “If they play as well as we’re hoping,” he explains, “they should show up from time to time in worlds where they make sense for the current story, but I doubt they’ll ever be in every set.” To help enable that, March of the Machine’s battles all have the “siege” subtype, providing some flexibility for WOTC to change or iterate on their design down the line.

“Voldaren Thrillseeker with Yargle and Multani was a very intentional interaction”

Two more of our reveals today are part of card cycle in March of the Machine that partners previously individual legendary characters from a given plane onto a single card – in this case, Baral and Kari Zev from Kaladesh and Rankle and Torbran from Kaldheim. Humpherys says “it’s great when we can find a way to fuse together abilities that the characters are known for to create a twist that would otherwise look cohesive enough for a new creature card we might make.”

A previously revealed team-up was the somewhat comical Yargle and Multani, which is simply an 18/6 creature with no abilities, but another of our reveals that uses the new Backup mechanic recontextualizes that legendary team-up to deadly effect. Creatures with Backup can give +1/+1 counters and temporary abilities to another creature when they enter the battlefield, and Voldaren Thrillseeker’s ability enables a two-card one-turn-kill combo within March of the Machine as a result. While it takes 10 mana of three different colors to pull of in a single turn, using Voldaren Thrillseeker to buff Yargle and Multani allows you to immediately have a 20 power creature that you can sacrifice to theoretically kill your opponent outright.

“Voldaren Thrillseeker with Yargle and Multani was a very intentional interaction that we believed would be fun content given the mana costs of those cards and ways to disrupt that combo with removal or life gain,” Humphreys assures. He also explains that he led set design for Ikoria, which had a way to give other creatures new abilities in the Mutate mechanic, indicating that they were confident about using a similar idea here.

Our last two cards are the first Phyrexian “lord” (Magic’s colloquial term for a creature that buffs other creatures of the same type) we’ve seen, as well as a Phyrexianized version of the fan-favorite enchantment Shark Typhoon. Notably, the latter is one of the cards in March of the Machine that creates Magic’s first transforming token, creating what is essentially an egg you can pay mana to hatch into a real creature. Humpherys even says that the idea for Chrome Host Seedshark came about because the concept art for those Incubator tokens looked a bit like shark eggs.

You can read my full interview with Dave Humpherys below with plenty more interesting tidbits about these cards, but this is far from the only thing Magic has cooking right now. While March of the the Machine will release early next month, we also had the exclusive first reveal of its Lord of the Rings crossover set arriving later this year.

IGN: Battles are the first new permanent type since Planeswalkers, and we’ve seen how big of an impact those had on Magic. Do you expect Battles to be similarly impactful, showing up in every set from now on?

Dave Humpherys, Set Design Lead for March of the Machine: We intentionally framed these as Battles as opposed to something more like Planes so that they could be used in a large variety of future settings. Other design teams have expressed interest in using them. If they play as well as we’re hoping, they should show up from time to time in worlds where they make sense for the current story, but I doubt they’ll ever be in every set. For now, we’re eager to see what players enjoy the most about them so we know how to deliver on future designs.

Why make a new permanent type at all? Was this simply the best way to express a new design you had in mind, or were you consciously looking to shake up the game in some new way?

Conceptually what we were aiming for just didn’t really make sense as any existing card type. We certainly discussed whether they should be lands or enchantments as the mechanic was evolving. A danger of new card type is a lack of ways to interact with it. Fortunately, the game engine allows interaction via attacking and blocking for them and the rewards for winning the battle are in casting card types already in the game. A new card type is cool though. We just need to be sustainable in when we do it.

“Conceptually what we were aiming for just didn’t really make sense as any existing card type.”

Mark Rosewater spoke on his podcast once about how it’s tricky to dial in the balance of a new thing like this – specifically the very first Equipment cards, in that instance. Are you looking to play it safe with the first run of Battles so that they don’t cause balance issues, or are you hoping these will be played competitively right out of the gate?

While we know creating a new card type like Battles that there would be risks, we approached it more from a standpoint of determining how we could mitigate those dangers systematically rather than by aiming under on power level. We do hope these will be playable right out of the gate.

Is Siege the only current type of Battle? Was part of the intent with introducing subtypes right away to leave you more design space in the future?

Siege is the only current subtype for Battle. As I noted earlier, there were other future teams exploring the design space of Battles, so we knew we wanted to set things up in a way that would be compatible for other functionality and keep design space open for future iterations of Battles.

When it comes to character choice, what goes into making the perfect legendary team-up?

I don’t think there’s any one formula for the perfect team-up. I think they are a lot of fun when the two characters share overlap in identities but also stark contrasts. It’s great when we can find a way to fuse together abilities that the characters are known for to create a twist that would otherwise look cohesive enough for a new creature card we might make.

Is there a particular pair you thought about giving a card that you were sad didn’t make the final cut?

I believe all the pairs we were most excited about made it to print. We kept adding more to the set and made yet more for the prerelease. There were some pairs we just didn’t come up with satisfying mechanical designs for, but not for any that I didn’t feel like didn’t eventually land on a significantly more satisfying design for from that plane.

“I believe all the pairs we were most excited about made it to print.”

Was there ever a time when these team-ups were two cards using the “partner with” mechanic, or was the idea always to merge their abilities onto one?

The idea for these was always to merge two characters into one card. “Partner with” is also mechanically something we’re more likely to use in non-Standard-legal products.

The Backup mechanic on Voldaren Thrillseeker seems like it could result in some pretty unexpected combos depending on what abilities are linked to it – for example, just within this set, you can use it with the previously revealed Yargle and Multani to deal 20 damage. Did you have to come up with any rules when designing backup abilities given the three-decades of creatures they could interact with in eternal formats, and do you have any thoughts about that two-card combo specifically?

Voldaren Thrillseeker with Yargle and Multani was a very intentional interaction that we believed would be fun content given the mana costs of those cards and ways to disrupt that combo with removal or life gain. There weren’t any rules we felt we needed to make other than just testing out designs. I led the set design for Ikoria and thus also the mutate designs in that set, which means that I especially enjoy combining of abilities like this but also felt confident we could do so again with this mechanic.

We’ve already seen iconic characters be compleated and how that affects their mechanics, but it’s fun to see Chrome Host Seedshark, which is basically the compleated version of the enchantment Shark Typhoon. What were some of the challenges or joys of compleating certain iconic Magic concepts and tropes in addition to characters?

The joys of the process were largely in looking around our entire multiverse and finding what we’d love to see in phyrexianized form. Seeing what our artists can create with that is then immensely satisfying. The idea of the Chrome Host Seedshark in part came from my thinking that some the Incubator tokens in concept art push looked a lot like shark eggs to me and suggesting this concept. I also loved that we compleated some of our creature in forms that were callbacks to some past iconic Phyrexian creatures. There weren’t many challenges other than running out of space in the set to do all the creatures we otherwise might have wanted to see.

Phyrexian Butcher is the first proper “lord” for Phyrexian creatures. Why did you decide to wait until March of the Machine for that instead of introducing it on the Phyrexian’s home plane in All Will Be One?

There were just so many Phyrexian creatures in All Will Be One that having a card that cared about them felt almost too easy, at least in the context of sealed and draft where over 90% of the creatures had that creature type. We realized the desire for cards that cared about them though and knew that March of the Machine had them as a percentage of the set that was more fitting for limited and would still be soon enough for constructed.

Tom Marks is IGN’s Deputy Reviews Editor. He loves card games, puzzles, platformers, puzzle-platformers, and lots more. You can follow him here.

Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster Pre-Orders Being Charged, Launch Date Reveal “Not Quite Ready”

Anything but crystal clear.

The Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters are due to release in spring 2023, which means the collection of classic Final Fantasy titles should be just around the corner. We don’t have a date yet, and it sounds like Square Enix isn’t ready to reveal that date yet, either — except pre-orders have started being charged.

Over on ResetEra (via Push Square), AlexFlame116 shared an email they got from Square Enix after the company indicated it would begin taking payment for the 35th Anniversary Edition from the 5th April. Others based in Europe have said they’ve received a similar email, but that payments will begin being processed from 31st March.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Sifu Now Available on Xbox, With a New Mode – We Spoke to the Developer to Find Out More

Sifu arrives today on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S and, with the simultaneous arrival of the new Arena mode, it’s the perfect time to checkout this unique martial arts beat ‘em up. With high-skill action combat and a unique mechanic that sees your character age each time they’re killed, there’s nothing quite like it.

We took the opportunity to talk with Pierre Tarno, Executive Producer at Sloclap, the Parisian studio behind the game. He told us more about how Sifu came to be, its success… and its future.

Sifu Xbox Screenshot

How was Sifu born?

We owe the idea of the title to my partner, Jordan Layani, who practices kung fu and is a big martial arts movie enthusiast. We wanted to take inspiration from Bruce Lee or Jackie Chan movies, with this particular use of the environment, even if we can’t say that we kept this same action-comedy tone. Then, the title also tries to answer a philosophical question: is a single lifetime enough to master kung fu? This question led to the concept of the main character’s aging, which is what makes the game so original.

Did you think it was risky to lean on that genre, which is less popular nowadays than a few decades ago?

When you’re an independent studio, you can afford to take a few more risks. We didn’t do a market study to check which segment of gamers and fans of martial arts movies would be interested in our game… Instead, we started from the principle that for a game to work from a commercial standpoint, it has to be very good. And also, we were confident because in the end, this genre is not well represented in the video game landscape. Bare hands 3D beat ’em ups that also rely on the use of the environment are rare, so we knew that our game would find its audience. If we had decided to make an FPS, things would have been more complicated…

Sifu Xbox Screenshot

Your first title, Absolver, already featured a lot of hand-to-hand combat, is Sifu an heir to it?

With Absolver, we acquired a certain experience of action games: how the enemies clash during a fight, how to manage the distance between you and your opponents… But where Absolver focused on online multiplayer, Sifu is a purely single player game, and where Absolver shone in one-on-one, Sifu was really designed for you to be alone against everyone. So I would say that yes, we learned a lot from our first game, but there are also a lot of elements that we had to change, to reinvent.

From the very first trailers, Sifu got a lot of attention – what was your reaction?

It’s always nice to feel that a creative intention resonates with the public and it’s something very difficult, if not impossible to predict. So it was very reassuring; we felt that we were creating something that would appeal to a certain number of players, it was very motivating for the team.

Sifu Xbox Screenshot

And how did that play out once the game was available?

When it was released in 2022, the difficulty level of the title was perhaps too high, which could lead to some frustration. On the other hand, we also saw some people playing through the game like no one else in the studio is able to, like… players completing it without taking a single hit. That’s why in our first update we created the less difficult “Student” mode, but also added the “Master” level, a higher difficulty mode. Later, through other updates, we added gameplay modifiers that let you customize the experience, the Replay Editor that lets you make your own martial arts shorts, and now Arena Mode, which further enriches the game.

What can we expect in this new game mode?

It’s a mode independent of the storyline, which you can start after finishing the prologue, and that also serves as a tutorial. At launch, nine original arenas inspired by the campaign levels await you, in which you will have to complete challenges. Some of them are related to your performance, the age of the character. In total, five different types of challenge are available. It’s a way to rediscover the game mechanics in new environments, with new objectives and varied gameplay. If you like Sifu, I think you’ll enjoy the feeling of progression, of improving, of unlocking the next levels.

Sifu Xbox Screenshot

What can we expect and hope for from Sloclap in the future?

Another update is already planned for the Arena mode, with additional arenas, it will be released in a few months. At the same time, part of the team is already working on our third project and once we are done with Sifu, we will start the design phase for a fourth project.

A last word for our readers?

I just want to thank all the players who believed in Sifu, who supported us, who talked about us on social networks or with their friends and who became ambassadors of the game. We did it for you, thank you.


And it’s our turn to thank Pierre Tarno, for taking the time to answer our questions. Sifu is available now on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S.

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Sifu lands on Xbox with a huge content update. The Arenas free expansion adds an entirely new game mode, featuring 9 dynamic locations and 45 challenges that will put your Kung Fu to the test! Gear up for spectacular combats, brutal opponents, and endless opportunities to refine your moves.

Is one life enough to have Kung Fu?
Whether you choose to play as a male or a female character, in Sifu, you will ponder that question on your path for revenge, hunting down your family’s assassins. One against all, you have no allies, countless enemies, and a mysterious amulet to bring you back to life every time you die. Yet, be warned! Your secret weapon comes with a hefty price to pay: aging and its consequences.

Learning by fire
Your enemies don’t wait their turn, and they don’t broadcast their intent. Dodge, parry, strike, use combos and be like water making its way through captivating environments. Learn how to master your art, whether by fighting through the underbelly of a nightclub, scrambling through a refined gallery to avoid getting surrounded, or vertically navigating a towering office building.

Adaptation is survival
Careful positioning and clever use of the environment to your advantage are key to your survival. Use everything at your disposal: throwable objects, makeshift weapons, windows, and ledges… The odds are stacked against you, and you will be offered no mercy.

Training never ends
Kung Fu is mastery through practice, a path for both the body and the mind. Learn from your errors, unlock unique skills, and find the strength to master the devastating techniques of Pak Mei Kung Fu.

Related:
How Endless Dungeon Redefines Roguelite With Tower Defense Tactics
GDC 2023: Four Incredible New ID@Xbox Games You’ll Be Playing This Year 
Gear Up Like the Pros and Play in Style – Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 Now Available in Vibrant Red or Blue

PlayStation Plus Monthly Games for April: Meet Your Maker, Sackboy: A Big Adventure, Tails of Iron

Today we’re happy to reveal the PlayStation Plus Monthly Games for April. The Monthly Games lineup of Meet Your Maker, Sackboy: A Big Adventure and Tails of Iron will be available to PlayStation Plus members on Tuesday, April 4 until Monday May 1. 

Let’s take a closer look at each of the games in turn. 

Meet Your Maker | PS4, PS5 

Meet Your Maker is a post-apocalyptic first-person building-and-raiding game where every level is designed by players. Switch between roles as you mastermind devious Outposts filled with traps and guards, then gear up for methodical fast-paced combat raiding other players’ creations, gaining an edge by choosing the right loadout (melee, ranged, defensive), perks, and consumables to match your challenge or playstyle. Combine your creativity and build with a friend or join forces to raid Outposts as a team of two.

Sackboy: A Big Adventure | PS4, PS5

Iconic PlayStation hero Sackboy bursts back into breathtaking action with a huge, fun and frantic 3D multiplayer platforming adventure. Go solo in an epic race against time stuffed with danger and peril or enjoy local or online party play, creating teams of two to four adventurers as you work together to overcome nefarious tasks however you can imagine, including unmissable co-op only levels.

Tails of Iron | PS4, PS5

Set in a grim land plagued by war, Tails of Iron is a hand-drawn RPG Adventure with punishingly brutal combat. As Redgi, heir to the Rat Throne, you must restore your broken Kingdom by banishing the merciless Frog Clan and their ferocious leader, Greenwart. As you explore the deceivingly charming world, you’ll encounter a cast of unique companions, ready to aid you in your adventure. And you’ll need all the help you can get, whether that’s new meal recipes, blueprints to forge deadly weapons and armor, or even a land-chugging, armor-plated mole mobile! 

Last chance to download March’s Monthly Games 

PlayStation Plus members have until Monday April 3 to add Battlefield 2042, Minecraft Dungeons and Code Vein to their game library. 

PlayStation Plus Spotify Playlist 

Also, check out our PlayStation Plus monthly games-inspired playlist on Spotify, which will be refreshed with new songs every month.

Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Fans Are Sharing Their Dream Fused Weapons

Nintendo fans looking forward to The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom are already dreaming up a ton of wild and wacky weapons to use in the Breath of the Wild sequel.

Following yesterday’s gameplay presentation where Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma introduced us to Link’s new Fuse ability — where he can take just about any two objects and merge them together to create something new — fans have taken to social media to share their dream combinations.

While some of the suggestions do seem a bit out there, some of the examples shown in the gameplay presentation are somewhat wild themselves, like combining a monster’s eyeball and an arrow to create a homing device.

Reddit user Capable_Afternoon687 proposed a “spinning Beyblade of death”, created by fusing four fans and four logs, alongside attaching food to an arrow to fire and distract enemies or a puffshroom to create “a flying smoke bomb”.

SlayAndDecay wants to add a little more bite to their sword, literally, by attaching the head of a Cursed Bokoblin to the end of it, while texellation wants to combine a stick and one of the giant spiked balls to create a mace.

It’s not all about offense though, or even about fighting at all, as some fans are getting creative with the shields too. Using them in fights is an afterthought though, with SpiritedWillingness8 hoping to fuse a shield with butter to improve its surfing capabilities.

The creativity prize perhaps goes to Successful_Slippy though, who wants to take shield surfing to a new level. Taking inspiration from the 1989 Zelda animated series, they look to fuse an explosive barrel to their shield and then shield surf to propel themselves across the map.

Pushing the possibilities

Breath of the Wild already had a ton of room for creativity, but Tears of the Kingdom seems to be pushing the possibilities even further. Fuse is just one of several new abilities alongside Recall, Ultrahand, and Ascend.

We also know that Tears of the Kingdom will have the largest file size of any first party Nintendo Switch game, include classic enemies from Ocarina of Time, and cost a heftier than usual $70 to match its scope, but the main reason fans are excited is because Breath of the Wild is considered one of the best games of all time.

Fans can even enjoy it on a limited edition Tears of the Kingdom Nintendo Switch that was announced alongside the gameplay presentation.

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

Toasters, pulleys, wheels and giant hats: the coolest Alt Ctrl games at GDC 2023

regular fixture at the Game Developers Conference, and this year I spotted some properly incredible creations from its largely student-led group of exhibitors. There was a big focus on co-op games and time trial demos in this year’s cohort, with nearly every stand having some sort of whiteboard pinned up that was constantly being scrubbed out with new fastest lap times and corresponding visitor names. There was also lots of friendly hooting emanating from them as well, as mates and strangers attempted to co-ordinate their gaggles of limbs to steer various game characters in the right direction.

It was excellent fun, and I sampled a bunch of games that used toasters, intricate pulley systems, papier-mache tree stumps, bike wheels and more in place of your typical controllers and mice and keyboard. There were also plenty more I didn’t get to try out, mainly due to time, and you can see the full list over on GDC’s website. For now, though, here are some personal highlights of what I saw, including the largest bowler hat I think I’ve ever seen in my life.

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Silent Hill 2 remake is not “ready for release”, Bloober Team confirm after week of rumours

statement about their upcoming Silent Hill 2 remake, clarifying rumours about the project’s release schedule and sales expectations. Last week, Polish site Bankier spoke with Bloober Team’s CEO Pitor Babieno in an interview that was mistranslated and began to circulate online. The mistranslations mentioned the remake was “technically ready” for launch, but Bloober Team have clarified these “statements have been taken out of context, due to inaccurate translations.”

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