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If you've been too busy fixing your video drivers to take part in this year's Ars Technica Charity Drive sweepstakes, don't worry. You still have time to donate to a good cause and get a chance to win your share of over $4,000 worth of swag (no purchase necessary to win). In the first week or so of the drive, nearly 180 readers have contributed almost $16,000 to either the Electronic Frontier Foundation or Child's Play as part of the charity drive (Child's Play is barely hanging on to a small donation lead at the moment). That's a long way off from 2020's record haul of over $58,000, but there's still plenty of time until the Charity Drive wraps up on Thursday, January 2, 2025. That doesn't mean you should put your donation off, though. Do yourself and the charities involved a favor and give now while you're thinking about it. Read full article Comments View the full article

The Illuminate are back and are abducting citizens of Super Earth as you read this. This enemy faction is quite different from Termininds and Automatons, which you’ve been fighting in Helldivers 2 for months, so you must re-evaluate your combat approach before the next deployment. In your loadout against the Illuminate, you want a weapon to deal with the waves of Voteless and something more heavy-hitting to eliminate Overseers and Harvesters. Those squids are tough and can easily one-shot you if they get close. You can choose to go with a primary to clear enemies and a Stratagem for something heavier, or vice versa, depending on what you have and what your teammates are using. View the full article For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

The roguelike spin-off of the eventual Penny Blood RPG has left Early Access after about ten months. View the full article

The year is 2024 and the likes of Song “Rookie” Eui-jin and Kang “TheShy” Seung-lok are picking up wins on Invictus Gaming. It is the start of the 2024 Demacia Cup, a pre-season tournament that offers 20 teams a chance to define their skills ahead of what is expected to be an action-packed 2025. Years on from their 2018 Worlds triumph, Rookie and TheShy are back in the organization they once dominated the League of Legends scene with. And while they have superstars in other positions, the headlines are all about the beloved iG duo. The headlines do not stop there, as today iG had the opportunity to debut their new roster with one of the games finishing in remarkable fashion. View the full article

A new build of the canceled Star Wars Battlefront 3 for the Nintendo Wii has been uncovered by the Free Radical Archive, giving us a glimpse into the sequel that never was. One of the most-anticipated Star Wars games ever, though it was rumored to have been close to completion, Free Radical's Battlefront 3 was canceled in 2008. While we've had several looks at what could have been over the years, this latest release is said to be from the final week of development, suggesting it's the most complete version we'll ever see. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: One month after launch, Star Wars Battlefront is below 100 players Star Wars Battlefront dev responds as Steam reviews fall to 19% low Classic Star Wars remaster finally drops, but everyone hates it View the full article

There's nothing quite like waking up in the morning to discover that a new update has been dropped for your favorite Roblox experience. Anyone who has given Fisch a try knows exactly what they're in for. And if you're on the fence, the latest Phase 2 Winter Update brings plenty of new features to the game to make it better than ever before. Alongside several buffs and nerfs for some of our favorite fishing rods, we can also look forward to a new Winter-themed quest. This is a pretty hefty update, so get ready to see what's waiting for you below. Fisch Winter Update Phase 2 Patch Notes & Hotfixes Below, you'll find all of the patch notes for the Winter Update Phase 2, alongside some additional hotfixes pushed out by the development team behind FISCH: Game ContentNew limited Winter Village world, teleport there using the new free Magical Snow Globe!15 New limited fish2 New limited rods2 New limited boats6 New limited bobbers3 New limited mutations1 New permanent mutationNew rod skins feature with skincrates3 New skincrates19 New rod skinsRebalancesBuffed Clever EnchantBuffed Destiny RodBuffed Phoenix RodBuffed Wisdom RodBuffed Seasons RodBuffed Celestial RodBuffed The Lost RodBuffed Voyager RodBuffed Riptide RodBuffed Rod Of The Eternal KingBuffed Rod Of The Forgotten FangBuffed Sunken RodNerfed No-Life RodPatch NotesMore major improvements to performanceTons of bug fixesOtherNo-Life Rod has received a remodelAdded pages to inventory (Might have some small issues which will be hotfixed!)Hotfix #1 No-Life Rod: Lure Speed: 70% -> 90%Luck: 100% -> 105%Control: 0.25 -> 0.23Resilience: 12% -> 10%C$ Crates:Moosewood Collection: C$50,000 -> C$25,000Desolate Collection: C$150,000 -> C$75,000Ancient Isles Collection: C$350,000 -> C$175,000Hotfix #2Major FPS improvements****** rates significantly curbedGameplay pauses should no longer occur frequently. If they do occur, it is now extremely momentarily and will only pause your gameplay if you are moving too fast in the ocean for the map to renderInventory system was not the main cause of performance issues. We've reverted the pages system and will be maintaining the original inventory system.Hotfix #3Fixed limited bestiaries not showing their contentsHid limited fish in the "All" bestiary All of these updates make Fisch all the better. It's already one of the most enthralling experiences that you can play on the platform, but the additon of Rod buffs make the grind even more worth it. Get ready to start exploring the seven seas while searching out these new items. Shaun Cichacki is a Freelance Contributor with IGN, covering features, guides, and news. When he isn't writing about games, he's likely diving into the latest indie, the biggest AAA games, or pampering his extensive collection of retro games. You can find him on social media on Bluesky @shauncichacki.bsky.social View the full article

Of all the series most ripe for a virtual reality adaptation, few have greater potential than Alien. I mean, who aside from Ellen Ripley herself wouldn’t want to experience the thrill of being hunted by the perfect organism without that whole “risk of being dismembered” thing? Alien: Rogue Incursion is an admirable first attempt at delivering just that, with a compelling story, memorable characters, terrifying Xenomorphs, and a perfectly crafted world that couldn’t be mistaken for anything but the iconic Alien universe. There’s plenty of room to improve in its already-in-the-works sequel, however, especially when it comes to the simplistic combat, not-so-clever Xenomorphic foes, and occasional jankiness that could use some smoothing over. Even so, Rogue Incursion is a strong opening act for a series I’m already eager to play more of. If you’ve read the Alien comics, like Aliens: Defiance, then you’ll already be familiar with the badass protagonist whose boots you’ll be filling: Zula Hendricks. And if that name doesn’t ring a bell, Rogue Incursion does a great job of introducing you to her in short order so you don’t have to do any homework beforehand. An ex-colonial marine with a rough upbringing and chronic back problems, you’re sent to a classically deserted planet overrun by the most evil creatures imaginable, and accompanied by your trusty synthetic companion, Davis – don’t worry, he’s reformed, and not the type to betray you to please his corporate overlords… anymore. What follows is an extremely formulaic Alien tale that apes all the same beats for which the series is known, but thanks to interesting dialogue, great characters, and a relatively short runtime that doesn’t overstay its welcome, that familiarity doesn’t end up being such a bad thing. Zula and her relationship with her robot bestie is genuinely touching, oftentimes offsetting an otherwise relentlessly bleak situation, and the story has a few twists in store and an ending that sets up a sequel nicely. Zula's relationship with her robot bestie is genuinely touching. Over the eight-hour story, you’ll tiptoe through the dark corridors and frozen wastes of a forgotten colony world while looking over your shoulder every few seconds for those eye-free freak shows that are never far off, and then painting the walls with their acidic blood whenever one pops out of a vent or sneaks up behind you. Going through each area slowly and doing your best to keep quiet can keep them off your back for slightly longer, but since ammo isn’t particularly scarce and Xenomorphs aren’t all that hard to kill on anything but the hardest difficulty, I found that running through areas and getting things done quickly could work just as well, so long as you’re up for a slightly more regular fight. And, of course, you’ll have to solve complicated engineering problems in a world where every piece of technology breaks as soon as a Xenomorph so much as looks at it, and then makes as much noise as possible anytime you try to troubleshoot, just in case those aliens in the next room over hadn’t heard you yet. Combat is rather simple, in that 95% of the time you’ll be attacked by Xenomorphs who climb out of vents seemingly installed for the explicit purpose of helping them get around, pull out one of your three weapons to make short work of them, and then move on. These encounters are divided nearly equally into either exciting sections that have some kind of unique tension or twist, and completely monotonous annoyances. For example, finding yourself cornered by a trio of Xenos and frantically trying to reload your weapon before you’re toast is extremely memorable, and setting traps as you hold off an onslaught of double-jawed monsters while performing IT support for some broken communications relays is an action-packed good time. But then you’ll go a long stretch of walking down some of the same hallways you’ve visited already, stopping every 30 seconds to kill a few monsters that run straight at you, completely devoid of any kind of intelligent attack strategy, then carefully reload your weapons before moving on and repeating the process moments later. These sections tend to make combat feel pretty mundane, and take away a lot of the initial fear when confronting a Xenomorph, which begin to feel quite commonplace after the first couple hours. Initially scary Xenomorphs can soon begin to feel commonplace. Probably the weakest part of combat is your limited and mostly unremarkable arsenal, which consists of a pulse rifle, a pump-action shotgun, and a six-shooter revolver. The pulse rifle, an automatic weapon that’s usually the most overall reliable choice for a variety of situations, is really the only weapon that feels recognizable in the Alien universe, while the shotgun and revolver seem oddly generic and low-tech for a sci-fi setting. Your only other tools are proximity grenades that can be set to go off when an alien draws near and a motion scanner that you won’t need to use very often, since Xenomorphs loudly scurry about and hiss at you to announce their presence most of the time. These items feel pretty par for the course for VR shooters, with little to set them apart. It’s also a bit weird that you don’t have a last resort melee weapon to fall back on, so if a facehugger jumps on your head, you’d better hope you can get your pistol pointed at an awkward angle to kill it. This is an Alien game, so perhaps unsurprisingly, the enemy variety isn’t very strong either. You’ll go at least several hours before seeing a single enemy that isn’t a Xenomorph, and even when you do, it’ll be a facehugger or two before going right back to more Xenos. The good news is that these aliens can be pretty intimidating foes, killing in just a hit or two and rushing at you by crawling on walls, leaping great distances, and moving erratically to make them hard to pin down. Unfortunately, despite their best effort, their menacing appearance doesn’t always translate to them being particularly crafty foes, and after you’ve learned their small bag of tricks in the first hour or two, they begin to feel downright dim as they mozy on out through a vent before pausing in front of you for a few seconds, giving you ample time to score the kill while they stand in place helplessly. Between the first Alien movie’s depiction of the Xenomorph as an all-powerful monstrosity that can scarcely be beaten, and the second movie’s tendency to blast through dozens of the creatures within the span of a few minutes, Rogue Incursion certainly finds itself in the latter camp. It also suffers from minor, but noteworthy enough to be annoying, bugs. Sometimes characters will repeat the same lines of dialogue multiple times in a row, Xenomorphs will move through objects in bizarre ways, and your controls aren’t always as precise and responsive as you’d hope when you’re staring down a room full of facehuggers. None of these issues are particularly troublesome, but they do add a slight lack of polish that I hope they’ll work on for the sequel. And while this isn’t the fault of Alien: Rogue Incursion alone, one especially annoying PSVR 2 issue that felt like a particular problem here is that the little PlayStation logo buttons are a tad too easy to hit, especially when you’re clamoring for your handgun after a Xenomorph surprises you. Most of the times I died were due to a menu popping up at exactly the wrong moment, sending me scrambling to back out before I was killed, which I was rarely successful at. That added an extra level of stress in the wrong kind of way. Again, this is a controller design problem at the end of the day, but it came up enough here that there really ought to be some built-in protection against it – maybe make me hold the menu button down for a second or two before you cause me to get impaled on an alien’s tail, guys? View the full article

The Nintendo Switch has officially passed the PlayStation 2 to become the second best-selling gaming hardware in the United States, now trailing only the Nintendo DS. This comes from Circana's November video game sales report, which states that lifetime unit sales of the Nintendo Switch are now at 46.6 million (we've asked for updated totals on the Nintendo DS). But Switch sales are still slowing down. Per analysis from Circana's Mat Piscatella, it was only the second best-selling console for November, following the PS5 in both unit and dollar sales, with Xbox Series consoles in third. Overall hardware spending was flat, with 15% year-over-year growth for PlayStation hardware off-setting a 29% drop in Xbox Series sales and 3% drop on Switch. PS5 sales were driven in part by the release of the PS5 Pro, which accounted for 19% of all PS5 unit sales last month and 28% of all dollar sales. Notably, launch month dollar sales of the PS5 Pro were over 50% higher than launch month sales of the PS4 Pro, but unit sales were 12% lower. This isn't surprising, and is roughly in line with analyst expectations, given that the PS4 Pro launched at $399 and the PS5 Pro launched at $699. Spending on games overall was down 7% year-over-year to $5.8 billion, and overall software spending was down 9% year-over-year to $4.5 billion. Both of these drops were in large part simply due to Call of Duty: ****** Ops 6's launch timing compared to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 last year. ****** Ops 6 launched in October this year, elevating sales that month, while Modern Warfare 3's November launch last year pumped that month's numbers and made for a tougher comparable this year as ****** Ops 6 sales settle down a bit. Call of Duty: ****** Ops 6 was still the best-selling game this month, however, and is the second best-selling game of the year thus far. It trails only EA Sports College Football 25, which is now the best-selling sports game in U.S. history by dollar sales, and ranks among the 50 best-selling games of all time by the same metric. Mario & Luigi: Brothership debuted at No.7 for the month, right behind Super Mario Party Jamboree at No.6. Both games' position on the chart only reflects physical sales, however, so it's possible the inclusion of digital sales could have pushed either higher. A few other big new games this month aren't reflected on the best-seller charts for various reasons. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl launched on Game Pass, which means a lot of people played it for "free." But it debuted at No.6 on Circana's Player Engagement Tracker Xbox Monthly Active Users chart, and it ranked No.9 for Steam MAUs, indicating it's doing all right for itself. In a similar situation, free-to-play Genshin Impact launched on Xbox in November, and debuted at No.10 for Xbox MAUs. And over on mobile, Pokemon TCG Pocket was the second best-selling mobile game by revenue worldwide in November, beating out the incredibly popular Monopoly GO. It was the sixth best-selling mobile game in the States for the month. The top 20 best-selling games in the U.S. for the month of October, based on dollar sales:Call of Duty: ****** Ops 6Madden NFL 25EA Sports FC 25EA Sports College Football 25Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZeroSuper Mario Party Jamboree*Mario & Luigi: Brothership*Sonic X Shadow GenerationsNBA 2K25*Dragon Age: The VeilguardHogwarts LegacyDragon Quest 3Astro BotMarvel's Spider-Man 2Silent Hill 2 (2024)UndisputedMetaphor: ReFantazioMinecraft*My Sims: Cozy BundleMarvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics * Indicates that some or all digital sales are not included in Circana's data. Some publishers, including Nintendo and Take-Two, do not share certain digital data for this report. Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to [email protected]. View the full article

Civilization 7 will finally let me fulfil a boyhood dream: deploying nuclear weapons against Benjamin Franklin. Firaxis has unveiled two more leaders you'll be able to play as in its upcoming history sim, guiding their nations across the millennia like some kind of dread, undying volksgeist... Read more.View the full article

STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl has turned a profit, a senior GSC Game World official has confirmed. This crucial sales milestone was hit mere weeks following STALKER 2's release. View the full article

Idea Factory International has announced a western release date for Battlefield Waltz, an otome visual novel previously only available in Japan. Battlefield Waltz is coming west on April 8th, 2025 for Nintendo Switch. A physical standard and limited edition will be available to preorder on the IFI Online Store. The otome visual novel was originally released in Japan for […] Source View the full article

When you look at a photo you’ve taken, can you remember how you felt when you took the photo? Can you remember where you were standing or what was going on around you? Do you look at that photo and wonder, “What if I tried to take a photo of this from a different angle […] Source View the full article

Publisher Wizards of the Coast and co-developers Archetype Entertainment and Certain Affinity shared new gameplay for EXODUS, their new sci-fi RPG. Here’s a rundown on the game, plus the new gameplay: The debut game from legendary RPG creator James Ohlen’s new studio is a next-generation, story-driven RPG that marries cinematic storytelling with deep emotional impact […] Source View the full article

There's an atmosphere of hope in Magic: The Gathering's Modern format right now. A format-warping card, The One Ring, was cast into the fire, and the dominant energy decks were nerfed a little bit more with Amped Raptor copping a ban. While it's still too early to draw any strong conclusions, so far one deck has seen a significant victory in the post-ban meta: Kethis Combo. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: The best MTG planeswalker cards Unbanned MTG card sees massive $125 price spike in just one day Latest MTG Modern ban destroys The One Ring View the full article

The Mythical Island booster pack popped up in Pokémon TCG Pocket on Dec. 17, 2024, giving players a slew of new cards to experiment with and build new decks. One of the highlights is Aerodactyl ex, which is currently one of the most impressive decks in the game. Here, we’ve gathered all the cards you need to build the best Aerodactyl ex deck in Pocket, including a full card list, common variants, how it all works, and general strengths and weaknesses to watch out for when taking it into matches. View the full article

What is the Kingmakers release date? Were you ever told you should never bring a longsword to a gunfight? Well, ye olde folke of medieval England must certainly regret never learning this lesson as they're mercilessly mowed down by rifles, grenades, and an F-16 strike. Welcome to Kingmakers - there's lots to digest here. Kingmakers is a strategic sandbox shooter that answers the ultimate question: how would a modern soldier fare against the armies of yore? Judging from what we've seen of the co-op game, 'pretty well' is the answer. Imagine GTA with every possible cheat enabled and the added chaos of armies of medieval soldiers on horseback. Below we've got all the info you need about Redemption Road's explosive isekai adventure, including the latest on the Kingmakers release date, early access *******, and its excellent trailers. Lock and load. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Chivalry meets GTA 5 in wild new Steam sandbox game View the full article

The last League of Legends update of the year, Patch 14.24, brought a few adjustments. The biggest ones were made to Viktor, and the desire was to balance his Arcane and game design a bit better. Now it turns out this champion is dominating not one, but two different roles. Viktor is primarily a mid-laner, and his prowess in the role is still high. At the moment of writing, the Arcane character has the sixth-highest win rate in the role in all ranks with 52.03 percent, according to League stat site [Hidden Content]. However, it looks like he’s also taken over the bottom lane now. View the full article

Whether you're hoping to travel to Far Cry 6's tropical Yara, the windy city of Chicago in Watch Dogs, or the many locations in Assassin's Creed's past, Ubisoft has plenty of games in its catalog that are worth enjoying. And as the festive season arrives, sitting in the warmth and enjoying over 100 classics for just $1 sounds like the perfect way to weather the winter. Assassin's Creed Shadows is on the way. There are distant rumblings of Far Cry 7. But it's worth taking the time to play, or replay, some of Ubisoft's best. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: If you've avoided Far Cry 6 so far, now's the time to give it a try You can now play Far Cry 6 and Rainbow Six Siege for free, kind of Snag Far Cry 6 and the rest of Ubisoft's series dirt cheap right now View the full article For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

I'm not sure how they're still making Karate Kid movies, but they are, and the latest one just got its first trailer. Read more View the full article

Marvel Rivals developer NetEase Games is asking players not to modify any of the game's files, especially around config changes, warning that it can lead to "unexpected issues." Some settings aren't available in the front end of Marvel Rivals itself, so players are adding config scripts into the game files to improve their overall experience. While NetEase doesn't completely specify the consequences of making these changes, the studio does promise that further optimizations for the game's controls are coming in future updates, so even if you aren't fully satisfied with the configuration settings right now, it might be safer to wait. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Marvel Rivals tier list December 2024 Marvel Rivals codes December 2024 - free Iron Man Model 42 skin Marvel Rivals events - all current and upcoming events View the full article

It's only been around two weeks since Delta Force launched in open beta, and it's hardly low on content. Whether you love the high-stakes extraction shooter gameplay of Operations, or the more relentless, Battlefield-esque gameplay of Warfare, there's a lot of competitive multiplayer action to be found in this free-to-play game. However, there are currently no PvE-only experiences for those that don't want to clash with other players. Well, that'll soon change, as Delta Force's game design director Ricky Liao tells me that Raids will be arriving in the near future. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Delta Force dev names and shames cheaters as it bans over 1,000 from the FPS New Delta Force update adds a mountain of new events to the tactical FPS Delta Force guide and beginner's tips View the full article

Zenless Zone Zero 1.4 is here. Perhaps the most-anticipated update since the stylish anime gacha game kicked down our doors and demanded our attention, ZZZ 1.4 is packed with promising new story content and some of its most exciting additions yet. With a new update comes more freebies, of course, and HoYoverse delivers again. Alongside a free S-rank agent, you can claim free Master Tape and plenty of Polychrome in the new ZZZ update, so don't miss your chance to get a headstart on *******. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Zenless Zone Zero banners - next, current, and 1.5 banners ZZZ codes December 2024 and how to redeem Zenless Zone Zero newcomer Astra Yao gives love to its most underused element View the full article

Leaked footage from Genshin Impact 5.3 has been shared and the video seems to confirm a highly rumored character death near the end of the Archon Quests added with the patch. Version 5.3 should add the final main Natlan story missions, concluding the arc set in the Nation of Pyro and the region’s efforts to fend off the Abyss’ invasion. That has been achieved to some degree of success with the past quests, but the solution may arise with the update, which should also add several new characters to the game, including the Pyro Traveler and Mavuika in Genshin Impact. View the full article For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

You might well have forgotten about Exodus in the year since it was first revealed at The Game Awards 2023 by actor Matthew McConaughey, who's playing its protagonist. The good news is that about a year on, it's now gotten its first gameplay trailer, featuring action that looks like it'll appeal to those who like to bang, ok. Read more View the full article

The new Mythical Island expansion for Pokémon TCG Pocket only dropped yesterday, and fans have already spotted a clear winner: Celebi ex and Serperior, a pair of grass type Pokémon that like to flip coins and land massive attacks. Here's how the new deck works, and how you can take it down. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Tabletop RPG site Itch.io claims it was taken offline by Funko's AI security Warhammer 40k meets Monster Hunter in eye-popping fan art New Warhammer 40k RPG expansion finally lets you **** the (cyber) dog View the full article