Author: Trafficblast

GameStop is one of the most world renowned stores to buy video games, consoles, accessories, and everything else under the sun from. Whether you’re a fan, or not, of their trade-in system, the retailer can pack a fair few impressive deals when it comes to Xbox.

With Xbox constantly expanding its range of products as well, including the new Xbox Series X and Series S consoles, there are plenty of new deals to check out all the time. Whether you’re looking to pick up a new controller, the latest game, or a brand new console, GameStop can be a very good place to start. If it’s your retailer of choice, then we can save you a little bit of time, as we’ve got all the very best GameStop Xbox deals right here. If you’re looking for some more variety in retailer deals, you should also consider checking out our round-up on the best Xbox deals.

Best GameStop Xbox Accessory Deals

From controllers to hard drives, headsets to charging kits, you can’t go wrong with a few Xbox accessory deals. This is especially true considering how expensive items like controllers or external drives can get these days, with the standard Xbox controller costing at least $59.99 when not on sale. If you do see one ready and available to buy with a discount, avoid hesitation and grab it as soon as possible, as stock won’t last long.

If you’re looking to track down some more accessory deals, we highly recommend also checking out some awesome Xbox deals at Best Buy right now, who can be packed to the rafters with the top discounts on accessories.

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Best GameStop Xbox Game Deals

If you haven’t already checked out GameStop’s selection of preowned games, the retailer does also like to discount Xbox games that are new as well. Whether you’re looking to pick up one of the best games of the generation like The Witcher 3, or you’re trying to relive an old classic like The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion, then look no further. These are just examples by the way, GameStop deals can change frequently and we update this page just as often.

You can find more than just Xbox deals at GameStop, however, so make sure to head on over to the best PlayStation deals at GameStop right now.

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Best GameStop Xbox Console Deals

Xbox consoles can be a little bit hard to come by at the moment, especially the Xbox One X. So if you spot one, and even spot one on sale, make sure to pick it up. The new Xbox Series X/S are also launching 2020, but we might not expect to see deals on those for a long while, at least while the demand is so high at full price. If you see any discounts, however, grab it while its hot.

If you’re looking for something a little more portable, then check out the very best Nintendo Switch deals at GameStop as well.

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Best GameStop Xbox Game Pass and Live Gold Deals

Xbox Game Pass is still arguable the best deal in gaming at the moment, especially with all the new add-ons the service is getting right now. With EA Play launching with the service later in the year, alongside the recent aquisition of Bethesda, Game Pass is only going to get better and better as time goes on.

Dell is also a great website when it comes to digital purchases and deals, so make sure to have a look at the best Dell Xbox deals for all things Game Pass.

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There is actually a great number of incredible Xbox games to check out from the current, and next, generation. Not only that, but Xbox is extremely friendly to backward compatibility, so if you see any of the very best Xbox 360 games on sale, there’s a very good chance your Xbox console can play it.

Not only that but the future of Xbox exclusives (and PC), is looking rather impressive. With the likes of a new Fable, Halo: Infinite, Obsidian’s new RPG Avowed, Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II, and more, the future is bright indeed. You can also throw Bethesda into that mix now as well with the acquisition, The Elder Scrolls 6 and Starfield could actually be Xbox (console) exclusives, while new sequels to games like Wolfenstein, Doom, Dishonored can also follow in suit. The news can certainly set your head spinning, but with these games also coming to Game Pass, Xbox is really coming out swinging right now.

Excitement aside, you can find all the best Xbox game deals right here, but don’t forget to also check out all the best deals on Xbox consoles, alongside the latest and greatest discounts on incredible services like Xbox Game Pass. If you want a more overarching view on all the video game deals out there, including PlayStation and Nintendo, we’ve also got you covered with the best video game deals.

Best Xbox Game Deals from Amazon

Amazon users benefit from its Prime membership, meaning you can very often order games and have them come with next day delivery, at no extra cost. Just like PlayStation, Amazon likes to feature plenty of Xbox games on sale when it can. These often line up with other big Xbox deals they have going on, such as Xbox Game Pass or console deals.

If you’re looking for a new console alongside some incredible games, check out this article on the best Xbox console deals right now.

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Cheap Xbox Game Deals at Best Buy

The best place to buy Xbox games could be Best Buy. They can be found cheap, accessible, and come in a great delivery time as well. If there are any Best Buy deals for Xbox games at the moment, you’ll find them right here. But, if you’re struggling to find what you’re after, check out one of the other retailers on this list, or maybe even check back another time, as we update this article quite often.

Not only are Best Buy one of the best for Xbox deals, but you can also find plenty of brilliant deals from the retailer, and many others, on our PlayStation game deals round-up.

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Best Xbox Game Deals at Dell

Dell is a great stop for finding a new deal on Xbox games, and particularly digital Xbox games. With the digital market continuing to grow, there’s nothing wrong with wanting to save a little more money, and space, in your home. Dell continues to pack a few digital Xbox game deals every so often, so keep checking back if there aren’t any available right now.

If you need to rack up some more games digitally, then it might be a good idea to join Xbox Game Pass, and you can find even more deals for Game Pass Ultimate and Live Gold in our dedicated article.

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Latest Xbox Game Deals at GameStop

Your dreams certainly won’t come true with some of the deals at GameStop when it comes to Xbox deals, but its preorder selection can be very appealing to users who don’t have the cash to pay $60-70 for a new game. That’s where all the other deals come in as well, as GameStop does also bring out a few extra game deals along the way.

In case you’re also looking to stock up on all things gaming, you should also check out all of the best deals on Nintendo Switch games right now.

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Best Xbox Game Deals at Walmart

In case you didn’t already have enough options to buy Xbox game deals, Walmart is here to say hi. The massive retailer does have a good track record when it comes to the latest and greatest discounts on Xbox games, but if there aren’t any deals right now, make sure to check back very soon.

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From the OG VHS Xbox One to the slim and sleek Xbox One X, and now ultra-powerful Xbox Series X and Series S. We’ve come a long way, but we’re not too sure where we’ve been (Take That, Never Forget). Jokes aside, the Xbox continues to be a staple in the living rooms across millions of households across the world. Despite PlayStation’s dominance over the past few years, Xbox continues to grow and show that a competitive console market can be good for all consumers.

If you’re looking to pick up a standard and cheap Xbox console right now, that might be your most affordable option to play some of the current incredible games the Xbox library has to offer, from Gears 5 to The Outer Worlds. But there will also be Xbox Series deals very soon, so keep an eye out and check back often. If you’re looking for even more deals on the like of Xbox games, accessories, and more, then make to check out our full Xbox deals round-up.

Best Xbox Console Deals at Amazon

Amazon continues to be a great place to find deals on all things gaming, and if you’re a Prime member, you can even get hold of thousands of gaming products within 24 hours of ordering (sometimes even less). While the stock may be low on consoles like the Xbox One X, the Xbox One S is still prominently available to buy, so keep an eye out for even more offers in the future. You could even find a deal on the new consoles with the launch of the new Xbox Series X and Series S, or maybe the One S will drop with an almighty discount very soon. If there are any awesome Xbox deals at Amazon right now, you’re going to find them right here.

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Best Xbox Console Deals from Best Buy

If you’re looking for one of the best selection of Xbox products on the web, then you’ve come to the right place. Best Buy packs some serious stock when it comes to all the best Xbox products, and this includes the latest Xbox consoles. Stock is still somewhat low on the likes of the Xbox One S, but if any deals appear, you can be sure that they’ll be right here. That’s also the case for the new consoles as well. You can also make take even bigger advantage of your Xbox console with deals on Xbox Game Pass and Live Gold.

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Best Xbox Console Deals from GameStop

GameStop does tend to draw your mind to the act of physically walking into a store and making that purchase for your new console, but you can do it online as well if you’re so inclined.

If you’re looking for some games to go alongside your console, make sure to check out our best Xbox game deals article as well.

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Best Xbox Console Deals at Walmart

Don’t disregard Walmart too quickly, as the massive retailer is known for producing some of the most attractive deals online and in-store. When it comes to Xbox consoles, like every other retailer, the stock is limited and so are the deals. But, once the Xbox Series X and Series S start flooding the market, we might eventually see a few extra discounts on all the older Xbox consoles.

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Best Xbox Console Deals at Dell

Dell doesn’t always have the best stock selection when it comes to Xbox consoles, but they can often produce a surprising deal, thus they deserve a spot right here. If Dell does have any great offers on Xbox, you can find it right here.

If you’re looking to check out all of the best deals in one place, then make sure to head on over to our best video game deals round-up.

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While Dell may not be the most prominent and renowned retailer when it comes to specifically Xbox deals, there are actually plenty of opportunities to pick up a great offer on new controllers, subscriptions, and even a variety of other accessories including headsets, externals drives for additional storage (you’re going to need it), and charging kits.

To help to acquire the very best offerings for your beloved console, we’ve found all the latest and greatest Xbox deals at Dell right now, so you can just sit back and take and find exactly what you’re looking for. Time and money effectively saved.

Cheap Xbox External Hard Drive Deals at Dell

External drives are a big deal when it comes to Xbox consoles as well, as while the standard for console storage is 500GB – 1TB, this actually won’t go a very long way when it comes to modern AAA titles. Currently, the biggest games in the industry can rack up over 150GB alone, we’re looking at you Call of Duty: Modern Warfare… and you Warzone.

So an external drive isn’t so much of a suggestion, its more so an eventuality. This is even more poignant when it comes to Xbox Game Pass, as if you’re anything like us, you’re going to want the storage to install as much as possible onto your home console. We’ve got even more Xbox deals from other retailers in our dedicated round-up, so make sure to check that out as well.

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Xbox Accessory Deals from Dell

Accessories are one of the biggest and best deals you can get on Xbox consoles right now, with the market for improved headsets, charging kits, and new controllers growing every day. Whether you’re looking for a colorful new handset or the absolute most bonkers gaming headset you can find, Dell could be ready to serve you with the latest offerings. If there any deals, you’ll find them just below here. If not, keep checking back every so often, we update this page regularly.

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Cheap Xbox Games Deals at Dell

It’s actually the great selection of digital games that you may want to pay attention to at Dell, if they’re rocking any deals right now. You’ll find them right here if they are. Cheap digital games are slowing starting to gain more and more prominence, especially with the launch of the Xbox Series S in 2020. Digital Xbox gamers are rising in numbers, so if you’re looking for more cheap digital copies, Dell could be a good starting point. We’ve also found all the best Xbox game deals from other retailers in case you want to inspect every single offer before you buy.

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Latest Console Deals from Dell

Console deals are a little few and far between at the moment across most retailers. Dell will certainly have a more selection of consoles available, but keep checking back if you’re not having any luck at the moment. You should also consider checking out our Xbox console deals round-up, where we’ve put all of the deals from every retailer possible in one easy to access location.

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Xbox Game Pass and Live Gold Subscription Deals at Dell

It’s obvious that Game Pass is the best deal in the gaming world at the moment. With the addition of EA Play and Cloud Gaming for no extra cost on Game Pass Ultimate, you’d be hard done by to find a gamer who thinks is this a bad offering. Not only that, but with Bethesda joining Xbox and Microsoft, Game Pass is about to get a lot of incredible added now, and in the Future (looking at you Starfield). Don’t worry if there aren’t any deals at Dell right now, as we’ve also got an incredible round-up that covers every single Xbox Game Pass and Live Gold deal running from all other retailers.

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Being one of the most recognizable names in electronics certainly has its benefits, such as packing several brilliant Xbox deals. If you’ve found a great deal on Amazon or Walmart for the latest Xbox game, or a brand new console, there’s a very good chance that Best Buy is also matching that price as soon as possible.

Not only that, but Best Buy is great for preorder Xbox games, as the retailer often gets its hands on some exclusive preorder bonuses that can very often shine out the rest. You might even find some games listed on the site days before other retailers, making it a great choice if you want to lock in your orders nice and early.

Cheap Xbox Game Deals at Best Buy

Best Buy can be great when it comes to Xbox game deals, as the retailer tends to update and refresh a lot of their previous offers day by day. Whether it’s an old classic you’re after or the latest and greatest release, you can be sure Best Buy is at least stocking it. Or, even better, it’s on sale.

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Xbox Console Deals at Best Buy

Console deals with Xbox can be a little weird at the moment, especially with Xbox Series X and S. With the old Xbox One X no longer in production, and some shortages popping up, the older consoles tend to not even be in stock, let alone have a deal running. Xbox Series X and Series S on the other hand, are very exciting prospects for future deals.

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Xbox Controllers, Hard Drives, Headsets, and More at Best Buy

Every Xbox player needs an extra controller, a better headset, and even more so, a massive external hard drive for all those Game Pass games. Even if you aren’t a Game Pass subscriber, simple AAA titles like Call of Duty love to rack up over 100GB of space, so an extra bit of storage never hurts anyone.

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Cheap Xbox Game Pass and Xbox Live Gold Deals from Best Buy

Xbox Game Pass is still one of the best deals in gaming at the moment, and if you’re feeling bold you won’t even need to buy a separate Live Gold membership at Best Buy, considering Game Pass Ultimate is a thing. With Cloud Gaming and EA Play being introduced, need we to say more.

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Should I Try the Best Buy Rewards Program?

The basic membership is free, so go nuts in our books. There isn’t any risk to signing up, and while there aren’t as many features as a premium program like Amazon Prime, My Best Buy does pack some exclusive deals. There are 10% savings on eligible purchases during your birthday month, plus the Elite or Elite Plus members get free shipping on everything available at Best Buy.

It can get expensive out there for gamers. Whether you need to pick up some accessories to style it out with the bulky OG Xbox One, or you want to expand your storage to take full advantage of the hundreds of games available on Xbox Game Pass, saving a few extra bucks can be an excellent feeling.

Amazon is excellent for finding a few bargains as well, with the online retailer stocking a breathtaking variety of gaming items, all of which tend to fall into a sale at some time or another. Not only that, but Amazon also likes to take part in significant shopping events, such as Prime Day or Black Friday, which are both great times to pick up a new console or controller for a lot less than the regular retail price.

But, we’re not looking to shove palm off a bunch of mediocre deals here on IGN, we want to show off the good stuff. Cheap Xbox consoles, including the Xbox One S or Xbox One X, alongside the very best Xbox titles like Gears 5, Halo: Master Chief Collection, Forza Horizon 4, and Sea of Thieves. You can also check out the latest offers on Xbox Game Pass or Xbox Live Gold, or even combine the both of them with Game Pass Ultimate – that’s your first tip right there. Once Xbox Series X deals from Amazon begin to pop up, you’ll find them all here as well. If you’re looking for something a little more comprehensive, however, also consider our best Xbox deals round-up, which will include all things Xbox, and single deal from all the top retailers.

Cheap Xbox Game Deals from Amazon

If you like to keep a physical collection of your games (very traditional), Amazon could be your best bet for obtaining some cheap Xbox games. Say you want to play Gears 5 but don’t want to pay full price at release, you can always try it out on Game Pass like you always would, then later down the line pick up a cheap copy just to ensure you’re keeping up that collection nice and tidy.

Those with Amazon Prime can also take advantage of that quick delivery. Say you discover a new game on YouTube, and the excitement builds, so you order it ASAP and get it with next day delivery, easy peasy.

If you’re looking for even more offers, then check out our round-up on the best Xbox game deals.

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Best Xbox One Console Deals at Amazon

Xbox One S is currently one of the cheapest versions of the Xbox One available at the moment, alongside its gaumless brother, the All-Digital Edition. Right now a One S would typically set you back around $299, while not on sale, so anything below this is a reasonably good deal, and should be paid attention to. As time goes by as well, it might be easier to pick up a One S when compared to the All-Digital or Xbox One X, simply because Microsoft has officially started ceasing production on the later consoles. At the same time, it gears up its push on the Xbox Series X.

Not only that but with the new console right around the corner, we’re highly anticipating a dramatic drop in price for all the current-gen systems, especially on sites such as Amazon. Black Friday will be a big deal, especially since it will be right around the time of the new launch, so keep an eye out for any dramatic drops in price, which we will be highlighting here when they eventually come about.

Make sure to also check out our complete round-up of the best Xbox console deals as well.

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Best Xbox Accessory Deals at Amazon

Kitting yourself out with a few extra accessories with your Xbox can be a highly important task. Your console tends to come with a basic headset and controller, but you might want to grab a few extra items just to improve your everyday quality of life while gaming.

This can take form as a new colorful controller to take part in some couch co-op, or a brand new external hard drive for taking your games on the go, or even just for that extra bit of storage capabilities. Again, the benefit of shopping at Amazon is simply the variety and scale of products you can find, whether it’s a cheap headset, hard drive, or controller. Cheap controllers are a popular deal to keep an eye out for, as typically an Xbox gamepad can set you back at least $60, the price of a brand new game.

To take it up a notch as well, Game Pass Ultimate is ready to stream games on your phone, and other devices, via the new Project xCloud from September onwards. That means you can play Halo or Gears 5 on the go. But, if you want to take this extra seriously, you should also keep an eye out for special xCloud controllers on sale, perfect for switching up your phone into a portable Xbox.

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Best Xbox Game Pass and Xbox Live Gold Deals at Amazon

New Xbox Game Pass subscribers, pay attention. If you play this right, you can sort yourself out an incredible deal on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for a fraction of the cost. Right now, Xbox is still bumping up and upgrading customers to choose to make the rise from Xbox Live Gold to Game Pass Ultimate.

Say if you’ve bought 12-month of Live Gold from Amazon, but also take advantage of the Game Pass Ultimate £1 offer, you will have those packed together for a total of 13-months. At least, that’s how it seems to work. There’s a good possibility that Xbox will slowly be making Ultimate the new norm for online play in the future, and this user-friendly upgrade is a great indicator. Albeit there is also no telling when it will cease to provide this upgrade, so take advantage while you still can.

If there are any other deals for Xbox Game Pass or Xbox Live Gold at the moment, they will appear right here. If there aren’t any, bare with the almighty Xbox gods and us while we try to locate a few more for you to check out at Amazon.

If you’re looking for even more discounts on these memberships, you can also head on over to our best Xbox Game Pass and Xbox Live Gold deals page as well.

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The upcoming Beyond Light update for Destiny 2 will reduce the overall size of the game, but it requires a full reinstall.

Bungie announced today that it has revamped Destiny 2’s content bundling and patching pipeline for speed and install size in such a way that reduces the size of the game. This comes by way of a new build that culls content previously replaced or upgraded in prior patches, additional install size optimizations, and the movement of some of the game’s content into a vault. All of this translates to a game that is smaller in file size by roughly 30 to 40%.

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“Due to a combination of culling unused or replaced content, install size optimizations, and moving some content to the Destiny Content Vault, Destiny 2’s install size will shrink to between 59 and 71 GB — depending on platform — a reduction of 30 to 40%,” a blog post from Bungie reads. “These improvements should also help us control install size better in the coming years.”

Because of these changes, Bungie said the game will need a full reinstall when Beyond Light releases in November. The company said it understands this might be painful to read for those with slower or metered internet connections and said it’s sorry for that. Bungie is, however, attempting to mitigate that by opening up preloading for Beyond Light on the evening of Nov. 9, Pacific time, in order to give everyone at least 10 hours to download the update before it actually goes live.

“We hope to use these much faster builds to accomplish two things,” the blog post reads. “Help us ship mission-critical fixes faster when game-breaking bugs arise (and) reduce our overall ship pipeline depth, enabling us to work on Destiny releases closer to their ship dates so we can react to fresher information about what’s happening in the live game.”

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Bungie said an example of this would be with the game’s different seasons. It said that each season update had to be deep in production before the preceding season even launched, which prevented developers from reacting to the learnings of that preceding season. These tech improvements should give the team one to two more weeks of flexibility on a seasonal scale, helping the studio pivot to fixes more quickly in some cases, Bungie said.

Catch up on everything you need to know about the game’s upcoming update by reading our details on the Destiny 2 Beyond Light expansion and then read about the new element stasis coming to the game. After that, read up on everything heading to the Destiny Content Vault when Beyond Light launches.

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Wesley LeBlanc is a freelance news writer and guide maker for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @LeBlancWes. 

During Capcom’s special Tokyo Game Show 2020 live stream presentation, members of the development team shared their perspective on the two main characters of the upcoming horror game Resident Evil Village: Ethan Winters, and the eponymous Village itself, and saying that the game will have more of a focus on exploration than Resident Evil 7.

Resident Evil Village takes place in an as-yet-unnamed location, one that the presentation described as “the other protagonist” of the game. Director Morimasa Sato said, “When you take the word ‘village’, people picture a small place. But when you look at Village, it has a colossal, distant feel to it.” He emphasized the importance of making a place players could explore.

“You have a lot more freedom [in Village] than in Resident Evil VII,” Sato said. “We want players to experiment, to figure out what works for them.” He described the upcoming game as “a horror movie you can play.”

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In describing the scale of Resident Evil Village, art director Tomonori Tanako said they put a storybook (seen in the most recent trailer) into the game because “there was such variety in the game… it would be hard to summarize all that, and players might get confused.”

Asked to summarize Village, director Sato took a long pause and said it is “the story of one man named Ethan… the entirety of who he is.”

Resident Evil Village takes place years after the events of Resident Evil VII, the previous main entry in the series which was released in 2017 and the first with a dedicated first-person perspective. During the TGS broadcast, Village director Morimasa Sato said. “When we were making Resident Evil VII, we thought of Ethan just as a camera for the player,” even describing him as “transparent.” As production moved on, though, the team ”grew attached” to Ethan, and ultimately wondered “what happened to him” after the story was finished. This secured his position as the star of the next game in their minds.

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Before wrapping up the Resident Evil portion of Capcom’s TGS stream, a logo for the series’ 25th anniversary was unveiled along with artwork that featured an assortment of heroes and villains from past games. The original game debuted on the PlayStation on March 22, 1996 in Japan, so an anniversary campaign will kick off on March 22, 2021.

We also learned that Capcom is considering releasing the game on PS4 and Xbox One, but “can’t make any promises”.

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A Sony patent has been found suggesting that the next iteration of PlayStation VR will feature inside-out tracking and new finger-freeing controllers (not unlike controllers used for Oculus devices).

The patent documentation was found by LetsGoDigital and can be read in full here. The images supplied suggest that this new headset will feature inside-out tracking, meaning there will be no need for an external camera to track your hand movements – it will all be taken care of by the headset and a sensor within the controllers.

This is the approach used by many popular VR headsets such as the Oculus Quest and the Oculus Rift S. The controllers seen in the patent also differ drastically from the PlayStation Move wands currently used with PSVR.

Instead, they bear resemblance to Valve’s groundbreaking ‘Knuckles’ controllers, which free up the user’s hands and allow for individual finger-tracking. Instead of clutching on to a wand, you’ll be gripping a module with your fingers free. Also, on the face of the controllers, we see typical PlayStation buttons, including an analogue stick on both hands, a feature famously missing from the Move controllers.

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This is just a patent for now so it doesn’t confirm anything about the next iteration of PSVR. There’s also the chance that these are to be used in conjunction with the “next generation” VR headset Sony is working on, which may itself be entirely separate from PSVR.

To get yourself wondering about what could be, check out our article covering all of the best PSVR games.

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Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

Here we are again: the anticipation for a new console generation has led to another terrible preorder experience for excited gamers. Now that hardware launches have moved online and the party atmosphere of lining up outside of stores is a thing of the past, the “first-come-first-serve” model has become entirely obsolete for products like these, around which entire communities of gamers are built. If retailers can’t figure out how to handle the debut of new gaming hardware as a celebratory, twice-in-a-decade event that doesn’t turn gamers’ enthusiasm into frustration and disappointment, next time the console makers need to step up and handle the first waves of preorders entirely themselves.

To recap: PlayStation 5’s preorder rollout was complete chaos. First, Sony inexplicably failed to announce when retailers would begin taking orders during its launch date and price reveal presentation held on September 16. Shortly after, its official Twitter account posted that preorders would start the following day at the earliest… but that turned out to be incorrect; less than two hours later, Walmart posted a gloating tweet and went live with its preorders.

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Pandemonium ensued as those who happened to see the unexpected announcement rushed to get their orders in, every other online retailer followed Walmart’s lead, and all of them either sold out their stock within minutes or their websites collapsed entirely under the load. Some people weren’t able to load retail sites at all, some were able to add consoles to their carts only to have them vanish, and some got to the checkout stage but weren’t able to actually make the final purchase.

[poilib element=”quoteBox” parameters=”excerpt=Sony%20had%20explicitly%20promised%20that%20preorders%20would%20not%20be%20a%20surprise.%20Well%E2%80%A6%20surprise!”]Worst of all, this mad dash for preorders left everybody who took Sony at its word and let their guard down completely out of luck with the first round of orders. It was especially egregious because Sony had explicitly promised that preorders would not be a surprise. Well… surprise!

To Microsoft’s credit, when it opened its preorders on September 22 at pre-announced times, it prevented Walmart and everybody else from jumping the gun. Even so, every online store – including Microsoft’s own – still buckled under the assault of thousands of gamers and scalpers’ automated bots slamming their servers at once, leading to much of the same frustrating fiasco we saw at checkout with the PlayStation 5. It was still a mess; the difference is that the mess happened right on schedule.

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The end result in both cases was a whole lot of disappointed gamers – including numerous celebrities and gaming personalities with plenty of clout – grousing about being unable to secure a preorder. This very public negativity at what should be an exciting moment should be hugely embarrassing to both console makers.

[poilib element=”quoteBox” parameters=”excerpt=This%20very%20public%20negativity%20at%20what%20should%20be%20an%20exciting%20moment%20should%20be%20hugely%20embarrassing%20to%20both%20console%20makers.”]To be fair, it’s a difficult problem to solve: there are only so many consoles to go around and millions of gamers out there who would eagerly throw their money at Sony and Microsoft to get one. And not only are all those actual people tripping over each other to be first in line, there’s a horde of soulless bots attempting to order as many consoles as possible for the purpose of reselling them at a markup.

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Scalpers are a huge hurdle. For one thing, they’re smart: a simple “Are you a human?” captcha is all too easy for a sophisticated botmaker to defeat. For another, it’s difficult to persuade a retailer like Amazon, Walmart, Target, GameStop, or Best Buy that they should be picky about who’s buying their console inventory – after all, as far as they’re concerned a scalper’s money spends just as well as the rest of ours. A one-per-customer limit is the most effort any retailer has implemented – and again, that’s an easy enough rule to sidestep. But Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo should absolutely be concerned about this for their next launches, since it only leads to their actual fans getting taken advantage of.

[poilib element=”quoteBox” parameters=”excerpt=Sony%20was%20on%20to%20something%20with%20its%20invite%20system%2C%20but%20it%20needs%20work.”]So, how do you handle preorders in a reasonably fair way? I believe Sony was on to something with its invite system, which allowed PlayStation users were able to sign in with their PSN ID and sign up for invite-only preorders. However, as someone who signed up early and never even got an email about it I feel that system has a long way to go as well.

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To improve upon it, Sony would’ve had to reserve the entire first wave of stock to distribute itself instead of relying on retailers. This would also allow for the ability to screen out resellers. For example, back when live concerts were still a thing, the music industry had some experimental answers for the scalping problem that involved verifying fans as actual people before allowing them to purchase tickets. Some of those efforts led to a significant drop in tickets that ended up on resale sites.

[poilib element=”quoteBox” parameters=”excerpt=Microsoft%20and%20Sony%20need%20a%20system%20that%20ensures%20consoles%20end%20up%20in%20the%20hands%20of%20enthusiastic%20fans.”]Console makers could absolutely do something along these lines: they already have a ton of data about each of their existing loyal customers, including how much they actually play, how many games they buy, and their trophies and achievements. Allowing people to register for preorders immediately after a console is announced, then screening those against the actual use of those gamers’ accounts and notifying qualifying customers when the first preorders became available, would help ensure that the early rounds of new consoles ended up in the hands of the most enthusiastic fans. True, it would make it harder for a first-time console buyer to get in on the day-one action, but if I were Microsoft or Sony and had to pick, I know who I’d prioritize for that privilege. One way or the other, early adopters tend to be die-hard fans anyway, and a system like this would make the experience much smoother for everyone involved – including managing the expectations of those who don’t qualify for the first round.

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Would this eliminate console scalping entirely? Of course not – there’s nothing stopping even a superfan from flipping their launch-day unit to make a few bucks, knowing they can just buy another one later and pocket the difference. But it would cut down on abuse significantly and end competition with bots for the first wave of consoles. Once that’s done and the crowd that’s eager to get a console on or near day one is at least largely satisfied, console makers could start distributing units to retailers.

Naturally, I’m sure those retailers wouldn’t be happy about losing out on their cut of the first wave of sales – but it would be a consequence of their own unwillingness to provide a good experience for Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo’s most enthusiastic fans. After all, day-one consoles belong in their hands above all.

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Dan Stapleton is IGN’s Reviews Editor. You can follow him on Twitter to hear gaming rants and lots of random Simpsons references.