Matthew “Mizkif” Rinaudo, the embattled Twitch streamer who was suspended from gaming organization One True King (OTK) last September amid allegations that he helped cover up an alleged sexual assault, has apologized for the “insensitive” and “tone-deaf” behavior he displayed in a broadcast from early October, shortly…
Early in December 2022, Nintendo had a journalistic documentary about a failed 2004 pitch for a Zelda Tactics game nuked from YouTube. Last week, however, Google’s video sharing platform restored the project after seemingly failing to find any copyright infringement. It’s the rare example of a content creator standing…
With another year of gaming now receding into the past, it seems a good occasion to look back and geek out over some of the gadgets, gizmos, and hardware in general that thrilled our nerdy little hearts in 2022.
I was warned of how heated Kotaku’s GOTY arguments traditionally get when I first started here in November, so I was a little nervous when I was put in charge of organizing and tabulating our list of the best games of the year.
A lot of fantastic games came out in 2022. Maybe not as many as we would have liked, especially with blockbuster after blockbuster getting delayed to 2023. But push beyond the Elden Rings and God of War Ragnaröks and you’ll discover a cornucopia of overlooked, underrated gems that run the gamut from text-adventure…
When it comes time to write these year-end lists, I usually slim them down to my top five favorite games I played because, despite what this job entails, I usually only have passionate feelings about a handful of games by the time we reach December.
Hasan Piker is many things. He’s a hardcore himbo, an amateur gamer, and frequent heated moment haver. He speaks to legions of young men, women, and enbys on the internet almost every day via his wildly popular Twitch channel, and feeds their parasocial bond via his other social media accounts. Even though he spends…
The decision-makers behind Sony’s console juggernaut spent a lot of 2022 putting down railway for 2023 and beyond, dumping money and time into growing the PlayStation brand beyond the funky-looking device in your entertainment center. The company wants the PlayStation name to be ubiquitous, and that has meant…
The video game industry has lately had to face a difficult truth: hardware and software prices are going up.
In the last year, Ubisoft, Take-Two, Xbox, and Sony all formally announced a bump in game prices from $60 to $70, and other AAA publishers such as Activision Blizzard, EA, Square Enix, and Warner Bros. have quietly followed suit with games like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, Final Fantasy 16, and Gotham Knights. In hardware, the PlayStation 5 got a price bump earlier this year across a number of regions – though its cost remains steady in the US for now.
So what’s going on here? Why are prices going up? And will they continue to rise in 2023?
In short, yes – game price increases are likely here to stay. But the answer, as always, is a bit more complicated than that. There are a lot of conflicting factors at play, from game pricing history to inflation to the general games landscape where consumers have wildly different perceptions about the value of a $60 versus one priced at $20.
If you’ve played the demo then you already know this, but Team Ninja’s upcoming game Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is, well, hard! With a focus on acrobatic Chinese martial arts, wielding weapons in Wo Long may make you feel like a badass, but enemies will quickly bring you back down to earth. To help you gear up for the battle ahead, IGN spoke with Team Ninja to learn about the strengths and disadvantages of some of the game’s weapon types. While Wo Long is still two months away from release (it’s out on March 3, including on Xbox Game Pass), it’s never too early to start preparing.
Wo Long has a total of 13 melee weapon types, as well as three long-range weapon types. In the gallery below, director Masakazu Hirayama explains the characteristics of seven of these, including the Staff that was first shown in our IGN First gameplay video.
“We chose weapons that were the best match for Chinese martial arts,” Hirayama-san said about the team’s general approach towards Wo Long’s weapon selection. “The motions for each weapon type were based on motion-captured forms performed by real martial artists specialized in these weapons. Then we tuned things here and there to make them feel good as an action game.”
The developer behind Konami's Silent Hill 2 Remake is "faithfully" sticking to the original game's story but updating outdated gameplay mechanics.
Speaking to Dread XP (and spotted by Siliconera), Bloober Team's chief marketing officer Anna Jasińska promised the development team isn't "missing the point" on the remake.
"We are focusing on bringing the distinct, visceral atmosphere back in the modernized Silent Hill 2," said Jasińska. "Longtime fans shouldn’t worry about us missing the point while we’re livening up the title.
"We faithfully stick to the traditional story canon while remaking the gameplay and updating the graphics from the ground up. These are the reasons why Konami entrusted us with the remake in the first place."
Exactly what would change in the remake was a little unclear when Konami first announced it, with director Mateusz Lenart only saying that Bloober Team would "make everything that made the game a timeless classic".
Jasińska reiterated just how committed the team is, adding that they "take a very safe approach to any changes. We remain faithful to the original title. Nonetheless, we are applying adjustments to certain areas where things need modernizing due to the passage of time."
At CES 2023, Asus has announced a new game controller compatible with Xbox Series X/S and PC that features a tiny, built-in OLED display.
The Asus ROG Raikiri Pro features a 1.3-inch OLED display just above the Xbox button, which can display things such as a custom image (or animation) and battery life. The controller features two buttons between a USB-C port, which are used to swap between your controller profiles.
Additionally, the Raikiri Pro includes four programmable back buttons, trigger locks, and a circular D-Pad. In addition to a dedicated mute button and a 3.5mm headphone jack. The Asus Armoury Crate PC app will be used to remap buttons, adjust joystick sensitivity, and enable trigger modes and dead zones on the controller.
More interestingly, the ROG Raikiri Pro offers tri-mode connectivity, allowing you to connect the controller via Bluetooth, 2.4GHz RF mode, or a wired connection using a USB-C cable. Asus' product listing for the page totes how this is a "pro" controller for those with PC as their platform of choice, while the compatibility on Xbox is through a wired USB-C connection.
The controller's display reminds me of similar controllers and concepts. Such as the Datel Xbox 360 Turbo Fire wireless controller. Or a Sega Dreamcast controller with a visual memory unit (VMU) attached. With the option of running custom imagery or animations, it will be interesting to see
Asus has yet to share a release date or price for the controller.
Sony has announced that its PlayStation 5 console has now surpassed more than 30 million units sold, and that the console shortage is now essentially over.
Sony Interactive Entertainment president Jim Ryan revealed the new figure at Sony's CES tech conference, a number which is up five million from the 25 million figure revealed two months previously on November 1.
"We truly appreciate the support and patience of the PlayStation community as we managed unprecedented demand amid global challenges over the past two years," Ryan said.
"PS5 supply improved toward the end of last year, and I'm happy to share that December was the biggest month ever for PS5 console sales and that we have now sold than 30 million units through to consumers worldwide."
Confident that supply issues are now solved completely, Ryan added that "everyone who wants a PS5 should have a much easier time finding one at retailer globally, starting from this point forward."
A crippling semiconductor chip shortage seriously restricted the creation of new PS5 consoles but this didn't stop the PS5 from surpassing 20 million units sold as of June 2021, at which point Sony executive Veronica Rogers announced that the company was "planning on a significant ramp-up in PS5 production".
Sony's CES 2023 press conference has wrapped up, and the company shared a handful of updates for PlayStation gamers. The headline is Project Leonardo, which is a brand new accessibility controller kit in development for PlayStation 5. Sony also shared updates on the Gran Turismo movie, PSVR 2, and more. Read on to learn about everything announced at today's event.
Project Leonardo is PlayStation's brand new accessibility controller kit that's currently in development. There's no word yet on a release date or price, but Leonardo aims to ""remove barriers to gaming and help players with disabilities play more easily, more comfortably, and for longer periods on PS5." It was developed with contributions from accessibility experts, community members, and game developers.
Sony shared a first look at the upcoming Gran Turismo movie, which is set to hit theaters this August. The footage had words from stars Archie Madekwe, Orlando Bloom, and David Harbour, and showed off the movie's combination of real-life racing and Gran Turismo action.
Gran Turismo 7 is getting support for PSVR 2, PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan announced tonight during Sony's CES 2023 press conference.
Released nearly a year ago, Gran Turismo 7 is the eighth mainline installment in Sony's long-running racing sim franchise. In our review of Gran Turismo 7, which we gave a 9, my colleague Luke Reilly praised the title's graphical fidelity, an abundance of racing options, and the haptic feedback available thanks to the PS5's DualSense controller.
Gran Turismo 7 for PSVR 2 will be available as one of many launch title games when the PSVR 2 releases on February 22, and will be a free upgrade for those that own Gran Turismo 7. Additional launch titles confirmed for Sony's second-generation VR headset include Horizon: Call of the Mountain, No Man's Sky, and Resident Evil Village.
In addition to news of Gran Turismo 7's VR mode for PSVR 2, Sony's CES 2022 press conference also shared a sneak peek at the Gran Turismo movie, which hits theatres later this year. Alongside the announcement of Project Leonardo, a new accessibility controller kit compatible with the PS5.
Taylor is the Associate Tech Editor at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.
PlayStation has revealed a brand new accessibility controller kit in development for PlayStation 5, and its codename is Project Leonardo.
Revealed on stage at CES 2023, and later detailed in the PlayStation Blog, Project Leonardo is designed to, "remove barriers to gaming and help players with disabilities play more easily, more comfortably, and for longer periods on PS5."
Sony revealed Project Leonardo in a trailer, which you can watch below.
Sony said the new controller was developed with contributions from accessibility experts, community members, and game developers. Project Leonardo includes a kit of swappable components, including a variety of analog stick caps and buttons in different shapes and sizes.
On PS5, players will be able to customize their game experience with button mapping, where the controller's buttons can be mapped to any supported function on the controller. And, players can map two functions onto the same button. The PS5 will also include up to three control profiles, where players can store their preferred settings and easily switch between them.
Project Leonardo can be used on its own, or paired with an additional Project Leonardo or DualSense controller. It's also designed to be compatible with external, third-party devices via its four 3.5mm AUX ports.
You can take a look at the new controller kit in the photos below.
Happy New Year! It’s a fresh start for Xbox in what should be a huge 2023 for them. We discuss the one thing Microsoft needs to do ASAP in order to get the year off on the right foot, and then we make a total of nine predictions for Xbox’s year.
Subscribe on any of your favorite podcast feeds, to our YouTube channel, or grab an MP3 of this week's episode. For more awesome content, check out our interview with Todd Howard, who answered all of our Starfield questions after the big reveal at the Xbox Showcase:
For more next-gen coverage, make sure to check out our Xbox Series X review, our Xbox Series S review, and our PS5 review.
Ryan McCaffrey is IGN's executive editor of previews and host of both IGN's weekly Xbox show, Podcast Unlocked, as well as our monthly(-ish) interview show, IGN Unfiltered. He's a North Jersey guy, so it's "Taylor ham," not "pork roll." Debate it with him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan.
Welcome to 2023! Switch gamers get first pick at deals with these great bargains. You can get a 1 year Nintendo Switch Family Membership plus a 256GB memory card for only $49.99, Ring Fit Adventure for only $55, or the officially licensed Taiko no Tatsujin Drum Kit from Hori for only $62.99. These deals and more below.
Amazon is offering a free officially licensed Nintendo Switch 256GB Micro SDXC memory Card when you pick up a 12 month Nintendo Switch Online Family Membership. Nintendo Switch Online lets you play online against other people in games like Super Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Super Smash Bros Ultimate, or Splatoon 3, download custom levels in games like Super Mario Maker 2, play free retro SNES games, save your game data to the cloud, and much more. The "Family" membership allows for up to 8 different account holders, not necessarily in the same household. Split the price among your friends for even greater savings (and keep the memory card for yourself).
The Black Friday Nintendo Switch bundle, which includes a copy of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and a 3 month subscription to Nintendo Switch Online, is still available at Amazon for $299.99. Note that it's constantly going in and out of stock. Amazon is probably unloading the very last of its remaining stock and once it's gone, it's gone until the next Black Friday.
EA's Madden NFL series has once again seen another nasty round of Franchise errors. This time, some players who logged in to Madden 23 over the holidays experienced an issue related to data storage that corrupted their files — causing irreparable damage to some.
According to EA, the issues began on December 28 around 2:45 pm EST, continuing into early the next day, December 29, at 12:45 am. Players trying to log in to the Madden Franchise server around this time experienced a data storage error noting Leagues were unavailable, subsequently corrupting their Online Franchise, Connected Franchise Mode Leagues, and Face of the Franchise files.
EA says its Madden teams are attempting to restore those files, but they estimate 60% are unrecoverable —some players have permanently lost their saves. The publisher expects to have a timeline by sometime next week, explaining "the potential restoration of save files from a backup."
For those who didn't log in during that window, EA notes you're safe from the data storage issue and should be able to play. As for anyone who experienced a loss, there doesn't seem to be much more to say until that update next week, but the publisher did encourage players to start a new Franchise since the service is back online.
While The Last of Us fans are currently setting their sights on the upcoming HBO show and multiplayer title, Naughty Dog's Neil Druckmann isn't ruling out the possibility for The Last of Us Part 3.
Speaking to THR ahead of The Last of Us show's premiere later this month, Druckmann couldn't reveal if Part 3 is in the works at Naughty Dog, but said, “I think there’s more story to tell.”
This is the first we've heard of a potential follow-up to 2020's The Last of Us Part 2 since April 2021, when Druckmann said he and Part 2 co-writer Halley Gross have written an outline for a story that "we're not making – but I hope one day can see the light of day – that explores a little bit what happens after this game. We’ll see.”
Naughty Dog also shared new concept art for the upcoming multiplayer game today. Druckmann promised that more details on The Last of Us multiplayer title will come this year, which marks the 10th anniversary of the original game's release in 2013.
Kenny Omega may be debated as one of professional wrestling's greatest talents, but he’s undoubtedly one of the sport’s most dedicated gamers, proving it with a recent tribute to Final Fantasy 7’s Sephiroth at Japan's Wrestle Kingdom.
At this year's event, which is the largest in the huge professional wrestling market of Japan, the Canadian former AEW World Champion attended to face England’s Will Ospreay for the IWGP United States Heavyweight Championship.
Omega entered the bout wearing a costume reminiscent of Sephiroth and made his way to the ring while the iconic One Winged Angel theme played in the background.
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Naughty Dog has shared new concept art from The Last of Us multiplayer game and promised it will release more information later this year, possibly on the original game's 10th anniversary.
Studio co-president Neil Druckmann said in a blog post that, while the game obviously is a multiplayer experience and therefore different to what Naughty Dog is known for, it will still be a story and character rich game.
"We’re looking ahead to The Last of Us’ 10th anniversary in June, and we’re so excited to share more with you about the future of this franchise," said Druckmann. "We’ll have some fun surprises for you along the way, but later this year we will begin to offer you some details on our ambitious The Last of Us multiplayer game."
He continued: "With a team led by Vinit Agarwal, Joe Pettinati, and Anthony Newman, the project is shaping up to be a fresh, new experience from our studio, but one rooted in Naughty Dog’s passion for delivering incredible stories, characters, and gameplay."
Perhaps somewhat in thanks to its turbulent launch period, Cyberpunk 2077 has been given the Labor of Love award at the Steam Awards 2022.
Steam published the winners of its player-voted awards, and while Elden Ring took the overall Game of the Year position, Cyberpunk 2077 also made an appearance in what's essentially the most improved game category.
Up against No Man's Sky, Deep Rock: Galactic, Dota 2, and Project Zomboid, Cyberpunk 2077's stream of post-launch updates and fixes was seemingly enough to push it over the top.
The game has undergone somewhat of a resurgence since its incredibly rocky launch (that did mostly affect consoles) thanks to these improvements and further excitement brought on by Netflix's Cyberpunk: Edgerunners anime series.
"This game has been out for a while. The team is well past the debut of their creative baby, but being the good parents they are, these devs continue to nurture and support their creation," reads the award synopsis. "This game, to this day, is still getting new content after all these years."
The leaps forward for Cyberpunk 2077 arguably began in February with the launch of the next-gen update, or Version 1.5 for PC players, which saw several bug fixes and even free DLC added to the game.
Wizards of the Coast is canceling at least five unannounced games as it seeks to focus on games "strategically aligned with developing our existing brands," according to a new report by Bloomberg.
While it's unclear which games have been canceled, Wizards of the Coast claims that fewer than 15 people at the company have been impacted by the changes. The company told IGN in a statement:
We remain committed to using digital games as a cornerstone of our strategy for bringing our games to players around the world. We have made some changes to our long-term portfolio to focus on games which are strategically aligned with developing our existing brands and those which show promise in expanding or engaging our audience in new ways.
Hidden Path Entertainment and OtherSide Entertainment, both of which were working on games for Wizards of the Coast, are among the studios potentially affected by the cancellations.
The cancellations come in the wake of an ambitious 2022 expansion that saw the company open multiple new studios. They included Skeleton Key, an Austin-based studio led by former BioWare developer Christian Dailey, and Invoke Games, a Montreal-based studio organized by the developers of 2021's Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance.
With Team Ninja’s upcoming action game Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty as January’s IGN First, 2023 is off to a good start. If you like dying, that is – because you’ll be doing that a lot. Expect tons of exclusive coverage throughout the month of this new Soulsborne based on Chinese martial arts, developed by the team behind Ninja Gaiden and Nioh.
First off, we have 10 minutes of exclusive gameplay from Tianzhushan, a stage early in the game. The beautiful mountainscape and lush bamboo forests are breathtaking, but with bloodthirsty enemies around each corner, it might be best not to spend too long admiring the scenery.
With items hidden on top of rocks that can be reached using the double jump and secret passages that can be discovered by cutting bamboo trees, Tianzhushan is a good example of Wo Long’s diverse exploration.
Our video debuts gameplay of the Staff as well. Iconic to traditional Chinese martial arts, the Staff is one of Wo Long’s 13 melee weapon types and boasts acrobatic body movement.
The eerie mermaids and fearsome tigers from the demo are back, but new enemies including a giant ape and a hedgehog-like creature with a spinning attack reminiscent of Nioh’s Wheelmonk caught us off guard. Inside a creepy cave, we were welcomed by a surprise attack from an enemy that still gives us nightmares. Check out the video to see for yourself!
Elden Ring is one of the most visually stunning games in the history of the medium. If you've found yourself daydreaming about the Lands Between, you might want to check this out: volume 1 and volume 2 of the Elden Ring official Art Books are on sale at Amazon for $43.19 each. All you have to do is clip the coupon on each page. That's .
Both volumes are oversized hardcover editions that measure 8.25" x 11.75". They're full-color volumes that feature key art, concept work, and development designs for all parts of the open-world action RPG.
The first volume weighs in at 432 pages and contains art from Elden Ring’s opening movie, plus scenes from the open world of the Lands Between, including the dungeons. You’ll also get to see images and artwork of many of the game’s characters and armor designs.
Volume two is 384 pages long and focuses more on the enemies, of which there are many great and small in the game. You’ll also find art and lists of the weapons and items found in the game in this volume.
If you’re interested in more Elden Ring hardbacks, take a look at where you can find both volumes of the Elden Ring Official Strategy Guide. One volume is available now, and the other is expected to release in the first quarter of 2023.
In our latest podcast, the GamesIndustry.biz team gathers around their mics to look back at some of the biggest stories and trends of the year.
Using a recent edition of This Week In Business as a jumping off point, we discuss whether 2022 was a weak year for new video games (as some folks believe) and how well the line-up compares to previous years.
We also discuss the biggest trends, such as the wave of potentially industry-changing M&A deals that rocked the business back in January.
Hey all, 2022, huh? I cannot lie: this one was a rough one! We said goodbye to Jeff Gerstmann, we got sold to the fourth company that has owned Giant Bomb while we were still trying to figure out how to extricate ourselves technologically from the second company that has owned us, and Jesus Christ those fucking shirts. Editorially things are going well, but from a behind the scenes point of view, it’s definitely been a lot of lurching from emergency to emergency. Combine that with taking maybe 3 days off all year long, and you have a recipe for limping across the finish line of 2022! And as soon as 2023 starts, we get to do it all over with Fandom! So far they have been a very fun company to work for, but I can't stress enough that switching to whole new HR/benefits/expense reporting/contractor systems has been A LOT to deal with lately. Working on it! Gonna get that store back up as soon as I can in 2023!
Shadow Tactics is such a good real-time tactics stealth strategy game that it rejuvenated the genre. There's a chance you already own the sneaky samurai sim, however, and much less of a chance that you own its standalone expansion, Aiko's Choice. It's the latter that is currently being given away for free over on the Epic Games Store.
Bloober Team's Silent Hill 2 remake will "stick close to the original" while applying adjustments like an over-the-shoulder camera. In an interview with DreadXP, Anna Jasińska from Bloober Team spoke about their approach to the remake.
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Dwarf Fortress released on Steam on December 6th and by the end of the month it had sold half a million copies. That's according to the monthly Bay 12 Games report, in which its developers traditionally share their revenue figures from player donations. Now they have Steam sales figures to share.
Earlier today, Goose Goose Duck had 563,293 concurrent players on Steam. You'd be forgiven for not having heard of it, however. The social deduction game was released in 2021 and is easily described as "Among Us with ducks and geese", but its popularity has steadily grown since it was played by Kim Tae-hyung, a member of K-pop group BTS.
Thermaltake's Toughpower GF1 Snow Edition 850W PSU is down to $115 at Newegg, a great price for a 80+ certified modular PSU in a colourway that's perfect for builds with other light-coloured components like motherboards, AIOs and graphics cards. The power supply normally costs $140, making this a neat $25 discount below the US MSRP.
The only game I played over Christmas was a touch of Apex Legends with some pals, but otherwise, all I did was watch an eclectic mix of anime and TV: Mob Psycho 100, Better Call Saul, and Somebody Feed Phil. Granted, my gaming tastes wax and wane over a year, with lengthy JRPG stints rolling inevitably into junk food like Assassin's Creed Valhalla. No matter what, my one constant is an FPS or 'competitive' game, I suppose. Games like Apex, or Warzone, or even Fortnite.
And yet, for whatever reason, I don't consider them as candidates for the Bestest Best games of any year. I might pour hundreds, possibly thousands of hours into them and they won't even make it into my personal list of absolute faves. That's reserved for games, not games.
Persona fans are passionate about the series’ various party members. This is partly due to the dozens upon dozens of hours we spend with these schoolmates. Our digital anime friends. I carried Morgana the cat around my bag for a year, so he might as well be real. As expected, then, when Atlus released the results of a character popularity poll for Persona 5 recently, fans understandably had some strong reactions, particularly over the placing of best boy Ryuji.
I’m sure Game Pass subscribers can relate to the pain of having a game leave the service, especially when you’re in the middle of a hefty playthrough. Your options are to binge the game in two weeks, buy the game outright, or cry. Unless you were playing Mortal Shell, in which case all you have to do is wait a month for the title to be re-added. The fantasy Soulslike had left the service on November 30th last year, but now it's back, this time with the Enhanced Edition.
Overwatch 2's second season has been all about Greek mythology, with several characters receiving skins based on iconic Greek gods. But now that the festive winter event has wrapped up, Overwatch 2 is debuting its next limited-time event Battle for Olympus later today, and it’s reimagining seven characters’ abilities. The free-for-all deathmatch mode begins today and will be around until January 19th.
The Gigabyte Aorus FO48U is one of the best-reviewed OLED monitors, with its 48-in LG OLED panel providing perfect blacks, gorgeous colours, near-instant pixel response times and fewer compromises than competing displays from the likes of LG, Dell and Samsung.
The problem with game of the year lists, if your feet are suitably submerged in the PC Gaming swamp, is that they don't tend to highlight anything you won't have already heard about. That's less true for ModDB's Mod of the Year Awards, which can shine a light on experiences that may have slipped under your radar.
This year's publicly voted for crop (as with most year's crops) was heavy on mods for old-school shooters, though mostly not too old-school for me to skip them. Second place was won by impressive S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Call Of Pripyat overhaul Anomaly, while first place went to Half-Life 2 mod Entropy: Zero 2. Check 'em out below, along with the runner ups.
