If you’ve been narked about favourite bits of Fallout not yet appearing in Amazon Prime’s unexpectedly good live-action show, hold your horses. In an interview, the showrunners have talked about holding back certain “iconic elements” to do them in a hypothetical second season right rather than cram in all the greatest hits—and also so the show didn’t “seem like it was written by people who just like spent 10 seconds reading the Wikipedia page for Fallout and didn’t bother to like bring in some deeper cuts.”
It has been 19 years since Mario Kart DS first hit the tracks. That’s a pretty staggering length of time and one that we’ll probably need a little sit down to fully recover from. But hey, while we freak out about the passing of the years, check this out: speedrunners have found a handful of new shortcuts on the DS’ previously pretty water-tight circuits (thanks, Gaming Reinvented).
The biggie here is on the Waluigi Pinball track where a shortcut that was previously discovered in tool-assisted speedruns (TAS) has been seemingly proven humanly possible by speedrunner iMathII. It’s a tricky manoeuvre that requires the driver to hit a section of the spiral track justright, but if done correctly, the kart is hurled across a large portion of the circuit, landing by the pinball bumpers at the end of the lap. You can see it in action in the above video.
Coming to Game Pass: Manor Lords, Another Crab’s Treasure, Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes, and More
Megan Spurr, Community Lead, Xbox Game Pass
It’s nice to see you’re willing to take a break from watching “Fallout” on Prime Video, because I have the next round of amazing games for you to check out! We have new games coming to the Game Pass Core library, your PC, and even one you can download and start playing today! Let’s dive in.
Available Today
Harold Halibut (Cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X|S) Available on day one with Game Pass! Harold Halibut is a handmade narrative game about friendship and life on a city-sized spaceship submerged in an alien ocean. Join Harold as he explores a vibrant retro-future world in his quest to find the true meaning of ‘home’. You can learn more about Harold Halibut in Xbox Wire’s recent hands-on preview here.
Coming Soon
Orcs Must Die! 3 (Cloud, Console, and PC) – April 17 Orcs Must Die! 3 ushers orc-slaying mayhem to a previously unimaginable scale. Solo, or 2-player co-op, arm yourself with a massive arsenal of traps and weapons. Slice, burn, toss, and zap hordes of repugnant orcs in this long-awaited successor to the award-winning tower defense series.
EA Sports NHL 24 (Console) EA Play – April 18 Just in time for the Stanley Cup Playoffs, NHL 24 is coming to Game Pass Ultimate via EA Play! Members can experience authentic on-ice action and give their Ultimate Team a boost with the EA Play Mega Players Pack until May 9, containing 30 items, all Gold Players, with at least five 80+ OVR Players for Ultimate Team mode in the game.
Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes (Cloud, Console, and PC) – April 23 Available on day one with Game Pass! Gather your allies for Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes, the grand JRPG adventure. Assemble your 6-party team from a cast of over a hundred heroes and shape your destiny in this lush, hand-crafted 2.5D world brimming with war, intrigue, and magic. Manage your town of vibrant characters, play delightful mini-games, and prepare for an unforgettable narrative of boundless charm.
Another Crab’s Treasure (Cloud, Console, and PC) – April 25 Available on day one with Game Pass! A soulslike adventure set in a crumbling underwater world. As Kril the hermit crab, you’ll need to wear the trash around you as shells to withstand attacks from enemies many times your size. Embark on an epic treasure hunt to buy back your repossessed shell and discover the dark secrets behind the polluted ocean.
Manor Lords (Game Preview) (PC) – April 26 Available on day one with Game Pass! Manor Lords is a medieval strategy game featuring in-depth city building, large-scale tactical battles and complex economic and social simulations. Rule your lands as a medieval lord — the seasons pass, the weather changes and cities rise and fall.
Have A Nice Death (Cloud, Console, and PC) – April 30 In this darkly charming 2D action roguelike, play as an overworked Death, whose employees have run rampant, completely throwing off the balance of souls – and his vacation plans. Grab your trusty scythe and show your employees who’s boss.
More Games Coming to Game Pass Core on April 23
For Game Pass Core members, there are three more games coming to the library on April 23! Become a badass space Dwarf in Deep Rock Galactic, dance the slow-motion ballet of destruction in Superhot: Mind Control Delete, and face total demolition derby madness in Wreckfest.
DLC / Game Updates
Ark: Survival Ascended – Scorched Earth – Available now Saddle up and stake your claim on the Scorched Earth! Build new Western-style structures like your own rootin’ tootin’ saloon, then tickle the ivories on your own piano for an authentic frontier experience. Hunt for buried treasure with your trusty shovel, tame hardy new creatures to pull your configurable wagon and even hop aboard your own chugging steam train to explore those harsh badlands!
Conan Exiles: Age of War Chapter 4 – Available now In the new Sacred Hunt, embark on a quest to fell the champions of Jhebbal Sag, Lord of Beasts. Discover a new hub area and uncover a new mystery. Unleash brutality with fatalities. Daze enemies by bringing their health low and then finish them off with a range of savagely animated finishing moves, depending on the weapon you have equipped. If there is glory in gore, you will find it.
Grounded: Fully Yoked Edition – Available now The ultimate Grounded experience is now bulging with new content that’s sure to get you pumped! Experience new ant queens, new game + mode and an exciting array of new gear. Are you ready to get Fully Yoked?
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate Perks
Fallout 76 Vault 33 Survivor Kit – Available now Vault-Tec is happy to offer Vault Dwellers a handy bundle of Wasteland survival and a sturdy Vault 33 Backpack to use in this vast open-world multiplayer entry in the Fallout universe.
The Elder Scrolls Online 10th Anniversary Pack #1 – Available now Celebrate 10 years of The Elder Scrolls Online with a Perks bundle that includes three Grand Gold Coast Experience Scrolls and 500 Seals of Endeavor. Explore and quest solo or with friends in the award-winning fantasy RPG today.
Leaving April 30
The following games are leaving the Game Pass library soon. Jump back in before they go or save 20% on your purchase to keep them in your library!
Mortal Kombat 1’s upcoming DLC character Ermac has a brand new Brutality that veteran Mortal Kombat fans have recognised as being inspired by a nearly 30-year-old Fatality.
During a livestream held to show off the soul-obsessed ninja’s new telekinetic moves for Mortal Kombat 1, developer NetherRealm revealed Ermac’s new Brutality, a Telekinetic Slam that sees his hapless opponent (Reptile, in this case) repeatedly slammed into the ground until the only thing left to do is explode in a shower of gore. Check it out in the tweet video below:
In Mortal Kombat, Brutalities are special match enders that are performed with special input commands. They’re not as flashy as Mortal Kombat’s iconic Fatalities, but some players prefer them.
Veteran Mortal Kombat players instantly recognised Ermac’s new Brutality as being ripped straight from 1995’s Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3, in which Ermac made his debut alongside his Telekinetic Slam Fatality. So, with Ermac’s entry into Mortal Kombat 1, NetherRealm is recreating a near 30-year-old Fatality in Brutality form. Check out a comparison clip from X/Twitter user TQT below:
The livestream also gave fans a closer look at Ermac’s redesign. When Mortal Kombat 1 developer NetherRealm revealed DLC character Ermac in the summer of 2023, it suffered a backlash from the community for what many considered to be a downgrade compared to the Mortal Kombat 11 version of the red-clad ninja.
The version of Ermac seen in the Kombat Pack reveal last year showed the character without a mask, which meant fans got a view of Ermac’s new dehydrated mummy face. But that wasn’t the only issue. Ermac’s design was seen as simplistic without much of the detail that fans love from previous versions.
Now NetherRealm has finally unveiled Ermac gameplay, it has shown the character’s improvement in design. For a start, the character now wears a mask, and appears to have a more detailed outfit. Elsewhere, Ermac’s powers now glow in teal.
Here’s the official blurb on Ermac:
Ermac is a collection of souls bound together by Quan Chi’s dark magic that are intended to function as a group mind. But that spell is temporarily undone when Ermac is defeated by Mileena and the mind of King Jerrod, deceased ruler of Outworld and one of the souls in Ermac’s collection, takes control and rejoins the royal family, aiding Empress Mileena’s reign. Eventually, the amalgam of souls reestablishes control, and Ermac retreats to Outworld’s shadows. No longer Quan Chi’s slave, nor bound to the royal family, he must find a future worth fighting for. In the new video, Ermac’s devastating moveset is on full display, including his ability to teleport, levitate, and utilize a legion of souls to grab, lift, and slam opponents to the ground.
Ermac joins Mortal Kombat 1 in Early Access form today, April 16, with a full release set for April 23. Kameo character Mavado joins the Kameo roster later in May. You need the Premium Edition or the Kombat Pack to play early. The Mortal Kombat 1 Kombat Pack includes the Jean-Claude Van Damme character skin for Johnny Cage (available now); one-week early access to six playable DLC characters – Omni-Man (available now), Quan Chi (available now), Peacemaker (available now), Ermac (coming April 16), Homelander, and Takeda Takahashi; and five DLC Kameo Fighters.
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.
Hot on the heels of the breakout success of The Last of Us and Fallout TV shows, many are wondering which video games would make a great pick for the next great series. Dragon Age is often suggested as a good candidate for the TV show treatment, but according to its co-creator, that would be a “terrible idea.”
In a series of tweets, David Gaider, who created the setting for fantasy role-playing series Dragon Age and was its lead writer while at developer BioWare, said any Dragon Age TV show would have to be “more than a rote adaptation” in order to surface what makes the game’s story unique and interesting, which, he suggested, would be unlikely.
Gaider agreed with a user who said the problem with adapting fantasy IPs like Dragon Age, Elder Scrolls, or Baldur’s Gate, “is that outside of gaming, they’re just generic fantasy from a visual style standpoint. And their hours of stories are probably better in a game then in a show.”
“Yeah, you take away the interactive element and you’re left with a pretty stock standard fantasy story,” he replied. “It would take a pretty deep dive to distill the elements of each that make them unique and interesting. Not impossible, but it would take more than a rote adaptation.”
Gaider sounded unimpressed with Dragon Age’s existing animated spin-offs, Dawn of the Seeker and Absolution, saying: “I’ve never seen them, nor am I interested to.”
He added: “As I recall, none of the folks who did the animated shows (while I worked at Bio, at any rate) were particularly interested in authenticity. My (baseless) assumption was always that the IP had been foisted on the animation team out of necessity.”
Gaider’s thoughts on Dragon Age are clear, so which video game does he think would make a good TV show? He suggested Disco Elysium, but only if it’s along the lines of the role-playing masterpiece: “I want to see a David Lynch-style (on acid) Disco Elysium,” Gaider said. “Or maybe Banishers.”
“It would need to be as weird and experimental as the game or there’d really be no point,” he added. “Which, of course, means it’d never happen, but it’s interesting to contemplate just HOW weird it could be.”
In 2020, a Disco Elysium TV show adaptation was announced as coming from the producer of the Sonic the Hedgehog movie. Developer ZA/UM reportedly partnered with dj2 Entertainment to develop the TV series, although work was described as in the early stages. Little has been said since.
As well as Dragon Age, BioWare is known for its science fiction series, Mass Effect. Over the years reports have suggested a Mass Effect adaptation was under consideration, with The Witcher star Henry Cavill even teasing his involvement. So far, nothing has come of it.
Gaider’s views on a potential Mass Effect TV show reflect his views on a potential Dragon Age TV show. Responding to tweets, he said: “Is there any way for it NOT to be just a painted over Star Trek, though? Because we’ve got plenty of Star Trek at home, kids.”
And, on a potential Mass Effect movie: “In what way would it be amazing and not something we’ve seen a dozen times, though? Do you mean ‘amazing to me, a fan already familiar with the story and universe’?”
As for Dragon Age, the next game in the series, Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, is set for a reveal this summer.
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.
Following a mild-to-moderate outcry, Ubisoft have clarified that queasy worm gangster Jabba The Hutt isn’t, in fact, a Star Wars Outlaws special edition or season pass exclusive. The apparently much-beloved star slug will appear in every edition of the game, but if you scrape together the credits for the Gold or Ultimate Editions, you’ll get access to a Jabba’s Gambit mission as part of the game’s season pass.
It’s a timely clarification, because I’ve just checked on Xitter and yes, #Jabbagate has been trending… in reference to unflattering photos of Donald Trump in 2016. And also, Steven Gerrard in 2020. And… Wrestlemania in 2017? Jabba is quite the meme these days, it seems.
A little while back, we covered the efforts of Eclipse Team, a group of modders looking to create what they deem to be the most ambitious mod of Super Mario Sunshine ever. Dubbed ‘Super Mario Eclipse’, its effectively being billed as an unofficial sequel to the GameCube classic, and as part of the modders’ efforts, they managed to recreate the 2001 SpaceWorld demo level in full.
The mod releases later this year on 30th June, 2024, but it’s not the only option if you’re hankering to experience the original SpaceWorld demo. Another modder by the name of Portable Productions has created ‘Super Mario Sunshine 2001’ (thanks for the heads up, Gaming Reinvented), which will be a fully playable mod accurately recreating elements from Nintendo’s own demo.
I’ve been watching this year’s ostensible “major” news developments – the launch of a Fallout TV show, the impending release of Elden Ring: Shadow Of The Erdtree, to pick a couple – with a sense of zealous disapproval and weary resignation as to the hubris of human beings. Do these brazen publishers and developers not know that this, the year 2024, is the Year of Shadow the Hedgehog?
Sega said as much only a few days ago. They’ve announced a series of fan celebrations for Sonic Adventure 2’s Ultimate Lifeform, beginning in the traditional style with a Shadow-themed MotoGP bike and an associated LEGO tie-in. And now, the earth quakes underfoot as we learn via The Hollywood Reporter that Keanu Reeves, forgotten star of 90s romantic drama A Walk in the Clouds and also those recent John Wick films, will play Shadow in the forthcoming movie adaptation Sonic 3.
Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead has released yet another update for the PlayStation 5 and PC third-person co-op shooter, this time patch 01.000.203.
This update includes fixes to armor passives as well as various improvements to stability, Arrowhead said in the patch notes, below.
Of most interest is a fix for the CE-27 Ground Breaker medium armor, which now has the Engineer Kit passive as previously advertised. Ground Breaker was added to Helldivers 2 as part of the recently released Premium Warbond, Democratic Detonation, and players soon discovered it had the wrong passive attached.
Elsewhere, the update fixes a number of crashes and a troubling issue that caused different damage to be dealt to enemies between PC and console players. And Arrowhead has updated its helpful ‘known issues’ list to include a fix for the Superior Packing Methodology ship module, also added last week. This useful new ship upgrade makes resupply boxes refill support weapons with the maximum number of carriable magazines, so hopefully a fix is due soon.
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.
CE-27 Ground Breaker armor now has the Engineer Kit passive as previously advertised.
Fixes
Fixed an issue that resulted in different damage being dealt enemies between PC and console players.
Red boxes in defense missions are no longer visible.
Major orders should now properly display text.
Fixed multiple crashes that could occur in the loadout screen when other players left or joined the game.
Fixed multiple crashes that could occur after extraction when the mission results and rewards were shown.
Fixed crash which could occur when throwing back a grenade while wielding a heat-based weapon.
Fixed crash that could occur when hosting a play session migrates to another player.
Fixed crash that could occur if too many civilians spawn.
Fixed various other crashes that could occur when deploying to mission.
Fixed various other crashes that could occur during gameplay.
Known Issues These are issues that were either introduced by this patch and are being worked on, or are from a previous version and have not yet been fixed. This list is not exhaustive, and we are continuing to identify issues and create fixes. These are organized by feedback, reports, severity, etc.
Superior Packing Methodology ship module does not work properly.
Players may be unable to navigate to the search results in the Social Menu.
Various issues involving friend invites and cross-play:
Player name may show up blank on the other player’s friend list.
Friend Request cannot be accepted when the requesting player changed their username before the request was accepted.
Cross-platform friend invites might not show up in the Friend Requests tab.
Players cannot unfriend players befriended via friend code.
Players cannot unblock players that were not in their Friends list beforehand.
Damage-over-time effects may only apply when dealt by the host.
Players may experience delays in Medals and Super Credits payouts.
Enemies that bleed out do not progress Personal Orders and Eradicate missions.
Certain weapons like Sickle cannot shoot through foliage.
Scopes on some weapons such as the Anti-Materiel Rifle are slightly misaligned.
Arc weapons sometimes behave inconsistently and sometimes misfire.
Spear’s targeting is inconsistent, making it hard to lock-on to larger enemies.
Stratagem beam might attach itself to an enemy but it will deploy to its original location.
Explosions do not break your limbs (except for when you fly into a rock).
Area around Automaton Detector Tower makes blue stratagems such as the Hellbomb bounce and be repelled when trying to call them down close to the tower.
Planet liberation reaches 100% at the end of every Defend mission.
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.
Nintendo has been pumping out all sorts of new updates for the squid shooter Splatoon 3 and the next one seemingly arrives later this week.
As highlighted by dataminer and Splatoon 3 enthusiast ‘OatmealDome’ on social media, the next version is expected to drop in a few days. As noted by Nintendo’s official Splatoon account, this update will revamp ‘Undertow Spillway’:
