Category: Video Games

Only two and a half hours after going live, Destiny 2’s latest raid, Root of Nightmares, was first conquered by a relatively unknown team of underdogs called Team Hard in the Paint.

Raids are Destiny’s ultimate endgame challenge, which involve six players working together to figure out complicated mechanics and execute them to perfection, all while avoiding being killed by hordes of enemies and powerful bosses alike. For many years, Bungie has observed the launch of their raids by hosting official “World First Races,” which document the first team to beat these dastardly gauntlets.

Bungie confirmed the world first victory, writing, “Guardians from around the world fought against an ancient threat in the Root of Nightmares raid this weekend during the World First raid race. A massive congratulations to Team Hard in the Paint for emerging victorious. As the first team to both beat the raid and the additional challenges, all six members will receive World First title belts and will forever be known as the World First Champions of Root of Nightmares.”

Super Mario Odyssey came to Nintendo Switch on October 27, 2017. It’s kind of hard to believe but because time is an immutable constant, that date was almost five and a half years ago. In spite of that half-decade gap, we haven’t had a proper follow-up and Nintendo hasn’t really needed to rush into a sequel or successor because Mario is such a powerful property. It operates like a massive steam boiler: Mario is well into a red-hot operating temperature and only needs a steady stream of fuel to remain fantastically efficient. Mario is, beyond a shadow of a doubt, Nintendo’s most important character, and I would argue nothing even comes close. No, not even Link, in spite of how excited we all are for Tears of the Kingdom.

What’s interesting about Mario’s importance to Nintendo is that originally, Mario was created because Nintendo couldn’t get the license for Popeye. Think about that for a second: In the infinite possibilities of the universe, there exists a dimension where we’re all anxiously waiting for the release of the Super Popeye Movie this year. Popeye’s foil Bluto was replaced with an angry ape called Donkey Kong. Olive Oyl, the object of Popeye’s affection and rivalry with Bluto, became “Lady,” and Popeye was replaced with a mustachioed everyman named… Jumpman. Mario was never intended to be anything more than a recognizable side-character, someone who would pop into future Nintendo games as a thread of commonality for the company’s works. And he did show up a lot in Nintendo’s NES games: calling the fights in Punch-Out!! or hitting the links in Golf, among others.

While Mario’s design is a result of the limitations of the hardware at the time, the mustache, red dungarees and cap that came about from those limitations now define Nintendo as a whole. Take any one part of that original design and show its modern equivalent to anyone with even a passing interest in gaming and they could put the pieces together. Mario’s hat alone became a supporting character in Odyssey (will the next game focus on a sentient mustache? We can only hope).

No Nintendo character has as much merch as Mario. Yes, Pokemon is a massive brand with literal tons of merchandise, but there’s no one single Pokemon that has the reach of Super Mario. It helps that Mario has such incredible range. Whether it’s 2D or 3D, RPG or sports, kart racing or brother smashing, Mario fits in everywhere Nintendo puts him. Part of this is no doubt because, not in spite of, his humble roots as a replacement sprite for a licensing deal gone sour. Since Mario’s character had so little in the way of backstory, it opened the character up for almost limitless possibilities. We have a “fiction” around Mario and his adventures in the Mushroom Kingdom, but because there was no real reason for Mario to jump over barrels and flames to reach his goal, his only motivation in games was to achieve a goal.

Contrast that open endedness to another one of Ninteno’s biggest characters, Link. Obviously we have Link in Super Smash and Mario Kart, but in all the Zelda games, Link is and remains a variation on the “Hero of Time.” His is an incredible character with a level of openness allowing players to use him as a proxy for themselves, but he’s bound by certain rules and tropes that make him less of an obvious fit for wildly experimental uses.

I would also argue the Super Mario series as a whole, with its easy to understand gameplay loop, gives Mario an edge over the rest of the Nintendo stable of characters. You know almost everything you need to know about the entire Super Mario Bros. game within the first 10 seconds, whereas the first Legend of Zelda game on the NES sets our hero into a world where the objectives aren’t nearly as clear. You don’t even have a weapon when you start, something we take for granted now, but to a first-time player who’s not versed in the game’s vocabulary, it seems like an impossibility to explore the world of Hyrule when you can’t even defend yourself.

There’s a reason Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios is Mario themed right now, and it’s the same reason we’re getting a Super Mario movie: no other character comes close to Mario’s universal appeal and recognition, something Nintendo is acutely and shrewdly aware of. It’s an interesting quirk of the English language and our date system that gives us “MAR10” Day, but now it’s a whole event every year, with Nintendo offering discounts on the many available Mario games, as well as reflecting on the character. It’s “May the Fourth” for video gamers, but less punny.

If you still don’t believe Mario is Nintendo’s most important character, I ask you this: Is there any other character in popular culture with so much appeal that Nintendo would end a Direct by telling you they’ve made a replica of his boots to show off? I don’t think so.

The walking, talking black mold, Xûr, is now live in Destiny 2 for the weekend until next week’s reset. If you’re looking to get your some shiny new Exotic armor or weapons for your Guardian, look no further.

Each week, Xûr has a random assortment of Exotic armor, one for each Guardian class, as well as a random Exotic Weapon and an Exotic Engram available for purchase. In addition to his Exotic wares, he’s got a random collection of Legendary weapons and armor to deck out your Guardians.

We’ve rounded up all the info on Xûr for the week including where to find Xûr, which Exotic weapons and armor are available, as well as which Legendary weapons you should pick up, either for PvE or PvP.

Where Is Xûr Today?

Xûr’s location can be found at The Tower on March 10 through March 14. To reach him, travel to the landing point at The Courtyard and make your way to the Hangar. Hang a left when entering the hangar and you’ll come face-to-face with space Amazon.com.

Xbox has confirmed that it will not be on the E3 2023 showfloor, but signaled support for E3’s digital week by confirming that it will be co-streaming the event when it kicks off on June 11.

In a new statement, an Xbox spokesperson told IGN, “We can’t wait to host our Xbox Games Showcase on June 11 and will share more details later. We also look forward to co-streaming our event as part of E3 Digital and will not be on the E3 showfloor.”

IGN first reported that Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo would not be formally taking part in E3 2023. Nintendo has since confirmed that it will be missing E3, while Xbox previously announced in January that it would be “returning to Los Angeles” for its own event. We have reached out to ReedPop for comment on Xbox’s statement.

Xbox’s confirmation was in response to a list of questions sent by IGN on whether it would be taking part in E3’s week of digital events, which was announced yesterday, while asking for more clarity on the nature of its physical event, which did not receive a response from Xbox. E3’s digital week will roughly align with Xbox’s showcase, and will feature streams by Guerilla Collective and other graoups.

Beyond that, participation from AAA exhibitors remains unclear. Yesterday’s announcement simply said, “Exhibitors from AAA companies to indie darlings and tech companies will be announced leading up to the expo.”

Behind the scenes, IGN is hearing that participation continues to be unsettled, and that many publishers are unclear on who will be taking part in the event. Ubisoft has been the clearest in expressing interest in participating in E3, saying that, “If E3 happens, we will be there and we will have a lot of things to show.”

Xbox, for its part, has continued to express support for E3, with CEO Phil Spencer calling it “one of the seminal moments of gaming.”

“Xbox is on the board of the ESA, and I think a successful and healthy ESA is critical to what we’re trying to go do. So we place our showcase, like we always have done, at a time where hopefully it’s convenient for press and even consumers that are going to the E3 event, and that’s what we’re trying to do now,” We will continue to work with ESA in terms of their plans. As I said, we’re on the board, and we want to make sure that we are doing everything we can to help make the E3 successful.”

Xbox recently announced that Starfield will release September 6 on Xbox Series X|S and PC, and that it will be hosting a deep dive “Starfield Direct” will more info on June 11.

E3 2023’s physical event, its first since 2019, will be split between business days for professionals and “Gamer Days” for fans. It will take place from June 13 to June 16 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

Disclosure: Kat Bailey is a former ReedPop employee, having previously worked at USgamer from 2014 to 2020.

Kat Bailey is a Senior News Editor at IGN as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.

Sony is claiming it’s not happy with Microsoft’s latest Call of Duty offer, as the company said it would “irreparably” harm competition and innovation.

Earlier this week, reports filed from Sony and Microsoft to the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority went public. From these documents, we learned that Microsoft is confident it can get Call of Duty running on Switch, and that Sony is worried Xbox will find ways to sabotage Call of Duty on PlayStation.

Also in these documents, however, were redacted details about Microsoft’s proposal to Sony to keep Call of Duty on PlayStation for the next decade. In a new statement regarding these documents, Sony claimed that the 10-year deal in its current state would be bad for competition.

“Redacted versions of the observations filed by SIE and Microsoft on the CMA’s remedies notice were made public this week,” Sony wrote in a statement to GamesIndustry.biz. “Information regarding the terms of an offer made by Microsoft to provide future Call of Duty releases on PlayStation was redacted at the request of Microsoft. We believe their current offer will irreparably harm competition and innovation in the industry.”

In Sony’s filing to the UK CMA, the company wrote that it is “extremely sceptical that an agreement with Microsoft could be reached, much less monitored and enforced effectively.”

Some of Sony’s listed concerns included Microsoft raising the price of Call of Duty on PlayStation, lowering the quality of the PlayStation version, not investing in the multiplayer experience on PlayStation, or making Call of Duty available only on Game Pass.

This new statement from Sony is the latest entry in PlayStation’s ongoing opposition of Microsoft’s attempts to push its acquisition of Activision Blizzard through. The year-long battle has included Microsoft calling PlayStation too big to fail and comparing Sony to Blockbuster. Meanwhile, Sony has said Battlefield can’t keep up with Call of Duty and claimed that “Game Pass leads PlayStation Plus significantly.”

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN covering video game and entertainment news. He has over six years of experience in the gaming industry with bylines at IGN, Nintendo Wire, Switch Player Magazine, and Lifewire. Find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.

The console versions of Ingame Studios’s Crime Boss: Rockay City will launch in June 2023. The PC version is still releasing on March 28.

In a recent financial report, Digital Bros said, “The personal computer version of Crime Boss will be exclusive on Epic Store only until June 2024, at least. The launch of the console version will follow in June 2023. Crime Boss was first showcased last December during The Game Awards.”

Since the game is a timed Epic Games Store exclusive, it won’t land on any other PC storefronts like Steam for at least a full year.

Digital Bros also explains that Crime Boss: Rockay City is one of the largest investments made by the company through an internal studio and is set up to receive additional content over the next few years to generate recurring revenue.

Crime Boss: Rockay City was first revealed at The Game Awards 2022 for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. The game also features big stars in its cast of characters such as Chuck Norris, Danny Trejo, and Vanilla Ice.

In IGN’s Crime Boss: Rockay City preview, we said, “Unfortunately, the wacky, over-the-top presentation seems completely at odds with its gameplay systems, which appear to be playing it a bit more straight, and potentially biting off more than they can chew.”

George Yang is a freelance writer for IGN. He’s been writing about the industry since 2019 and has worked with other publications such as Insider, Kotaku, NPR, and Variety.

When not writing about video games, George is playing video games. What a surprise! You can follow him on Twitter @Yinyangfooey