Category: Video Games

After a long break, Lara Croft is on the comeback trail. THR reports that a television show about the famous video game adventurer is in development at Amazon, with Fleabag writer Phoebe Waller-Bridger attached to pen the scripts.

Amazon did not immediately respond to IGN’s request for comment.

Not much is known about the new project, which Waller-Bridger is also set to executive produce. It’s not known who will play the role of Lara Croft, who has been previously portrayed by Angelina Jolie among others.

Waller-Bridger rose to prominence thanks to Fleabag, an acclaimed BBC sitcom based on her one-woman show of the same name. The success of Fleabag earned Waller-Bridger an overall deal at Amazon Studios, which also includes another mystery series that may or may not still be on the schedule.

There hasn’t been a new Tomb Raider game since 2018’s Shadow of the Tomb Raider, but Lara Croft has shown signs of reemerging of late. In addition to new Power Wash Simulator DLC that allowed players to clean her apparently filthy mansion, Amazon recently struck a deal with Crystal Dynamics to make a new game in the series.

Tomb Raider was part of Embracer Group’s $300 million acquisition of Square Enix’s western studios, which also included Deus Ex and Thief among other franchises. You can read our full analysis of the Embracer Group here along with our list of the biggest games of 2023.

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.

The Nintendo Switch has notably less customization features and apps than its Nintendo handheld predecessors — themes aren’t customizable beyond two simple colors, users can’t rearrange their home screens, and it lacks a note-taking feature like the 3DS’ Game Notes app.

But today, indie developer and publisher RedDeerGames released nOS: New Operating System, an app for the Switch that seems to bring back some of these little widgets that the console is missing, all in one tiny OS.

The app contains all of the bits and bobs that come with modern operating systems: a calculator, a gallery, a notebook, a to-do list, an MS Paint-like drawing app, a puzzle game, and customizeable settings. Like any modern OS, users are able to open multiple windows at once, giving them the ability to multitask, though it doesn’t currently have a browser or any other features.

According to the game’s press kit, it’s currently on sale for $1.99 until February 16, though it’s normally priced at a steep $39.99.

Of course, nOS isn’t the only new title headed to the switch this year. There’s plenty to expect from Nintendo in 2023, like the long-awaited The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and the recently revealed Pikmin 4.

Amelia Zollner is a freelance writer at IGN who loves all things indie and Nintendo. Outside of IGN, they’ve contributed to sites like Polygon and Rock Paper Shotgun. Find them on Twitter: @ameliazollner.

YouTuber Mutekimaru Channel is well-known for livestreaming their pet fish playing various games through motion tracking software, which registers the pets’ positions as button inputs. The fish have accomplished some pretty impressive things during these streams — in 2020, they even beat Pokemon Sapphire after a 3,195 hour run. But earlier this month, their fish did what no fish has (hopefully) done before: commit credit card fraud.

During a livestream 12 days ago, the fish were off to a good start in Pokemon Violet, winning a few battles and slowly but surely progressing through the story. About 5 hours into the stream, however, the game crashed, giving the fish free access to the rest of their owner’s Switch.

These fish committed credit card fraud while playing Pokémon. ????? pic.twitter.com/w0TgKgJSUL

— IGN (@IGN) January 25, 2023

From there, the fish went to the eShop and added 500 yen (about $3.85) of funds to their owner’s account, even exposing their owner’s credit card information to viewers in the process.

They also sent their owner a PayPal verification email, redeemed Nintendo Switch Online points for a Nintendo Switch Sports profile picture, and downloaded the Switch’s Nintendo 64 emulator app.

Luckily, according to TechSpot, the YouTuber was able to get a refund after explaining the situation to Nintendo.

We gave Pokemon Scarlet and Pokemon Violet a 6 in our review, praising its massive open world and story but criticizing its all too apparent performance issues.

Amelia Zollner is a freelance writer at IGN who loves all things indie and Nintendo. Outside of IGN, they’ve contributed to sites like Polygon and Rock Paper Shotgun. Find them on Twitter: @ameliazollner.

Xbox CEO Phil Spencer admits that Microsoft’s $67.8 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard has been a learning experience, but he remains confident in it going through.

Speaking with IGN, Spencer said he “didn’t know anything” about this type of acquisition when it was announced in January 2022, but having undergone the process and having conversations with key players, he’s more confident now than he was last year.

“The fact that I have more insight, more knowledge about what it means to work with the different regulatory boards, I’m more confident now than I was a year ago, simply based on the information I have and the discussions that we’ve been having,” Spencer said.

“When we announced a year ago, we talked about an 18-month timeframe. We’re 12 months into that. I think we continue to stay focused on getting the deal closed.”

Spencer would have plenty reason to be a little shaken, however, as several government bodies have moved to challenge the deal in the past few months including the United States’ Federal Trade Commission and UK’s Competitions and Markets Authority. The European Union is also reportedly preparing a statement of objections.

The deal, which would see Xbox own several prolific game franchises including Call of Duty and Overwatch, has also been criticised by various U.S. senators, the city of New York, and the U.S. Justice Department. Despite this, Spencer said his “confidence remains high”.

He continued: “We’re actively working with the regulatory boards around the world that need to approve for this, and it’s been a learning experience for me. A lot of time spent, a lot of travel, a lot of conversations, but they’re conversations where I get to talk about our industry and the work that we do and why we do it.

“I think more regulators that are informed about what gaming is, how the business runs, who the players are, and what our aspiration is as Team Xbox is just a good thing for the industry itself.”

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

In an interview with Buzzfeed, Naughty Dog co-president Neil Druckmann confidently said the studio is “Moving on” from the Uncharted series saying, “Uncharted was insanely successful — Uncharted 4 was one of our best selling games — and we’re able to put our final brushstroke on that story and say that we’re done.”

If Naughty Dog is done with the Uncharted series, they ended it about as perfect as they could have. After decades of exploring, Nathan Drake settles down with the love of his life, and together with their daughter, can enjoy peace and retirement. Only, why does it feel like there’s a missed opportunity still?

In the first Uncharted game, Nathan Drake was the charismatic treasure hunter with a joke on his tongue and a song in his heart. Drake’s Fortune was a perfect vehicle to showcase the PlayStation 3’s graphical prowess, rendering incredibly detailed jungles and providing exceptional shooting and seamless parkour. However, somewhere along the way the gorgeous vistas and beautiful locales got sucked into the black hole of Nathan Drake’s various mid-life crises. No location is better suited to contemplate your fear of settling down than in a cathedral tucked away in the misty Scottish Highlands.

Once known for its epic platforming, Naughty Dog has become the standard-bearer of character-driven storytelling starting with The Last of Us and the darker, more character-focused Uncharted 4, which followed after. The studio further cemented its ability as world-class storytellers with the premiere of The Last of Us TV series on HBO, which is already being called one of the most successful video game adaptations of all time.

As Naughty Dog became a more storytelling operation, the Uncharted series began zeroing in on Nathan Drake the character, with his adventures across the world serving as a metaphor for the internal drama he was facing, whether it’s his fear of loss, fear of his past, or fear for his future. It was bold, especially considering Nathan Drake’s nickname when he was first introduced into the world — Dude Raider. But in the same way Temple of Doom is some peoples’ favorite Indiana Jones movie because it’s about the adventure and less about Indiana Jones, to me Uncharted as a whole feels like a series comprised of three Last Crusades — the movie that explained, that actually, Indiana Jones’ life was molded by a single childhood event as well as his relationship with his father.

It doesn’t help that the series broke new ground in the spinoff Uncharted: The Lost Legacy. The seemingly final Naughty Dog Uncharted game introduced a semi-open world that was fertile ground for all kinds of future adventures. The Western Ghats of India that Chloe and Nadine explore partway through Lost Legacy felt like a revolution at the time and could be utilized in any number of ancient temples, ruins, and more wonderful, made-for-Uncharted locations. To quote Kevin Garnett in Uncut Gems, why would you show me something if I couldn’t have it then?

Plus, it also showed that Uncharted games could be headlined by a character who wasn’t Nathan Drake. Never mind that Naughty Dog was still firmly in its tormented protagonist era by having new heroine Chloe Frazer face off against — yup — her father.

The real greatness of Uncharted was how it showcased the beauty of our world, and there’s so much world left to explore. To lose Uncharted as a series will deprive gaming of one of the rare game series that takes joy in the diversity of our shared human history and the splendor of oft-overlooked civilizations, whether it’s the mountains of Nepal or the plains of India. With so many cultures that could still be explored through the virtual adventures of Nathan Drake, it’s a shame that towards the end of the series, its gaze shifted away from our beautiful world and inwards towards the soul of its surprisingly tortured protagonist.

Not many game series can claim a definitive ending like Uncharted. The games industry is littered with half-finished (Half-Life?) series that promise to finish the fight, only for the market to declare the series isn’t selling anymore so let’s move on. Not Uncharted though, which was both critically and commercially successful enough to warrant numerous sequels and a proper finale.

If Naughty Dog has closed the book on Uncharted it’s because there are no more Nathan Drake stories to tell, even though there are still plenty of Uncharted stories that can be told.

Matt T.M. Kim is IGN’s Senior Features Editor. You can reach him @lawoftd.