Month: July 2021

GameStop has kicked off its Fourth of July sale with deals on games, accessories, and collectibles. While there aren’t a ton of deals on new games, there is a great promotion on preowned titles. All preowned games are buy two, get one free. Unlike some other B2G1 free promotions at GameStop, this deal doesn’t have any exclusions. GameStop’s Independence Day sale runs through Sunday, July 4.

As always, you’ll get the cheapest game for free during the buy two, get one free promotion, so it makes sense to pick games that are close in price. For instance, if you’re shopping for Switch games, GameStop has Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Super Mario 3D All-Stars, and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe for $48 each. If you were to buy all three of those at regular price, you’d spend $180. Instead, you’re getting this trio of great games for $96 total.

Select PC gaming accessories are also on sale during GameStop’s Fourth of July promotion, including numerous Asus products. The Asus Rog 2.4GHz wireless headset is discounted to $180 and the Strix Impact II wired gaming mouse is $40.

Razer accessories are also on sale for up to $20 off. You can grab the BlackShark V2 wired gaming headset for $90, the Ripsaw HD capture card for $140, and the Kraken wired gaming headset for $61.20.

Though not a stellar deal, you can get GameStop gift cards by buying collectibles this weekend. If you spend $75, you’ll get a $10 gift card and $15 if you spend $125.

For more holiday deals, make sure to check out our roundup of the best Fourth of July sales. Also, don’t forget that the Steam Summer Sale is still running. We’ve rounded up our favorite deals as well as some great bargains.

PlayStation has acquired Nixxes, a Dutch studio that specialises in porting games to PC.

Announced by Head of PlayStatio Studios Hermen Hulst, Nixxes has been bought for an undisclosed fee. The studio will “provide high quality in-house technical and development capabilities for PlayStation Studios,” according to a press release.

Nixxes has worked extensively with Crystal Dynamics, Eidos Montreal and IO Interactive since forming in 1999, porting the recent Tomb Raider trilogy and the two most recent Deus Ex games to PC. While no specifics have been given about Nixxes’ work for PlayStation, it feels likely that the studio will support Sony’s increased focus on porting its console exclusive games to PC.

Excited to announce that the talented Dutch studio Nixxes Software will be joining PlayStation Studios. It’s a real pleasure to welcome a team with such deep technical expertise and vast experience to the @Playstation family. Huge congrats to everyone @NixxesSoftware!

— Hermen Hulst (@hermenhulst) July 1, 2021

“I highly respect Nixxes and am excited for this very experienced team to become part of the world-class development community at SIE,” said Hulst in a statement. “They have a passion for improving games and for delivering the best possible experience for gamers. Nixxes will be a strong asset for everyone across PlayStation Studios, helping our teams focus on their most important goal, which is to create unique PlayStation content at the best possible quality.”

“We can’t wait to get to work and are so excited to bring our technical and development expertise to an IP powerhouse like PlayStation Studios,” said Nixxes founder Jurjen Katsman. “We’re looking forward to working with some of the most talented teams in the industry to deliver the highest-quality gameplay experiences for PlayStation fans.”

It marks the second Sony studio acquisition this week, after Housemarque officially became a part of PlayStation Studios. It feels likely that we may see a third soon, after Sony Japan seemed to leak that it would also acquire remake studio Bluepoint.

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If you like LEGO and Star Wars, and you have $199.99 burning a hole in your account, you might want to act fast on this one. The new 2021 LEGO R2-D2 set is now available at a handful of retailers. It’s already sold out at a couple of places, including the LEGO Store, so it may not stay in stock for long.

Where to Buy LEGO Star Wars R2-D2 75308

• Get it at Amazon – $199.99
• Get it at Walmart – $199.99
• Get it at Target – $199.99
• See it at LEGO Store – SOLD OUT
• See it at Best Buy – SOLD OUT

There have been LEGO R2-D2 sets before (in fact, the last big one came out in 2012), but this is definitely the most impressive one yet. It clocks in at a hefty 2,314 pieces and contains a number of cool tricks hidden under its panels.

All of these features let this build do things you can see the little droid do in the movies. You can rotate Artoo’s head for starters. There’s also a tiny model of Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber waiting to be ejected, just like it does in a memorable scene from Return of the Jedi.

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The model stands on two legs normally, but if you lift it and shift the legs back, you’ll release the droid’s third leg, giving it more stability. You can open various compartments on the model to find robotic arms and other appendages R2 uses in the movies to fix things.

Like some other recent LEGO sets, this one is designed for adults. It’s recommended for people 18 years and up, due in part to the complexity of the build. It also comes with an informational placard you can set next to it for display. 

All in all, it’s a pretty great-looking set. Again, it’s sold out at a couple of retailers already, so you may want to pick it up sooner than later if you’re interested.

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Chris Reed is a commerce editor for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @_chrislreed.

Space Jam: A New Legacy combines the worlds of the NBA with the Looney Tunes, and if you were expecting official merchandise to have a zany flair then you’ll likely appreciate what Xbox and Nike have collaborated on. The Xbox wireless controller and sneaker bundle features a Road Runner vs Wile E. Coyote theme that is inspired by the endless chase of Carnovirous Vulgaris toward Accelerati Incredibilus.

What that means is that the Xbox controller looks like it’s covered in animation cells from a classic Road Runner cartoon, while the Nike LeBron 18 Lows will emulate that colorful design in a way that might make pedantic sneaker fans faint with shock.

According to Nike senior designer of footwear Jason Petrie on Xbox Wire, the left shoe represents Wile E. in earth tones with a Nike logo that looks like an ACME-branded trap, while the right shoe features Road Runner with blue and yellow tones that covers the Nike logo in dust clouds.

The Xbox controller is meant to tie the entire theme together and complete the story, with memorable phrases etched on the side. The combo will be available through the Nike SNKRS app in the US on July 15, although you’ll most likely need to move as fast as the Road Runner to secure a sale given how popular the sneaker market is. This is just one of several Space Jam promotions on the way ahead of the film’s release on July 16 in theaters and HBO Max.

A retro-style beat-’em-up is exclusively available on Xbox Game Pass from today and will be released as a free-to-play game in two weeks, while a trio of special edition controllers will also be available.

Space Jam: A New Legacy is directed by Malcolm D. Lee and co-written by Juel Taylor, Tony Rettenmaier, Keenan Coogler, and Terance Nance. The film’s cast includes LeBron James, Don Cheadle, Khris Davis, Sonequa Martin-Green, Cedric Joe, Jeff Bergman, Eric Bauza, and Zendaya.

You can also check out our list of the biggest movies still coming in 2021.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild’s community has set itself a number of gruelling in-game challenges over the years but, four years after launch, one long thought impossible has been beaten.

A chest found in the Aris Beach area of the map, which has for the longest time seemed to be unreachable, has finally been unlocked by a dedicated and determined BOTW player. The chest is found deep underwater, and only appears if you get within 60 metres of it. To add to the challenge, the chest immediately starts sinking as soon as it appears, and disappears after 7 seconds.

But that hasn’t put fans of the game off from uncovering its secrets. Kleric, a gaming YouTuber, discovered the way to recover the mysterious sinking chest, and posted the results in a tweet. After a month of theory crafting, and exploring various methods for accessing the chest, Kleric finally worked out a way to ensure the chest doesn’t disappear, and can stick around long enough to be opened.

Let’s goooooo!!!!
This is the impossible chest, found 80 meters below the ground at Aris Beach, and will despawn after 7 seconds of sinking after loading in.

It has never been opened prior to this moment! 😮#BreathoftheWild pic.twitter.com/zKnNPflENO

— Kleric (@MrOrdun) June 30, 2021

After glitching through the map so that they were 60 metres beneath the world, Kleric found the chest, and through using a combination of Stasis, bombs, arrows and Magnesis, was able to push the bomb back up through the world so it wouldn’t disappear. Landing it on a Cryonis block of ice, Kleric was finally able to open the chest that had eluded the BOTW community since launch.

Unfortunately, for Kleric, the mysterious contents of the chest weren’t actually all that interesting, as all they received was a piece of amber, a fairly common material in the game. But you know what they say: it’s all about the journey, not the destination.

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It’s definitely worth having a look at the full video to understand how Kleric achieved this maddening feat, and once again highlights just how versatile BOTW’s gameplay can be. We now know that the sequel to Breath of the Wild is targeted to arrive in 2022, and is likely to provide just as many opportunities for players to uncover all its secrets.

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Liam Wiseman is a Freelance News Writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @liamthewiseman

Following its acquisition of Returnal developer Housemarque earlier this week, PlayStation has now acquired Dutch studio Nixxes Software. The team previously made the Xbox 360 version of Rise of the Tomb Raider and contributed to Marvel’s Avengers.

Avengers was Nixxes’ biggest game ever; it created content for the game alongside Crystal Dynamics. Nixxes is known in particular for its PC ports, which is intriguing given that Sony is now looking to port more of its games to PC going forward.

“Excited to announce that the talented Dutch studio Nixxes Software will be joining PlayStation Studios,” PlayStation executive Hermen Hulst said. “It’s a real pleasure to welcome a team with such deep technical expertise and vast experience to the PlayStation family. Huge congrats to everyone Nixxes Software.”

“I highly respect Nixxes and am excited for this very experienced team to become part of the world-class development community at SIE,” Hulst said in a press release. “They have a passion for improving games and for delivering the best possible experience for gamers. Nixxes will be a strong asset for everyone across PlayStation Studios, helping our teams focus on their most important goal, which is to create unique PlayStation content at the best possible quality.”

Nixxes founder Jurjen Katsman added: “We can’t wait to get to work and are so excited to bring our technical and development expertise to an IP powerhouse like PlayStation Studios. We’re looking forward to working with some of the most talented teams in the industry to deliver the highest-quality gameplay experiences for PlayStation fans.”

The financial terms of PlayStation’s acquisition of Nixxes were not disclosed “due to contractual commitments.”

Sony may not be finished announcing new studio acquisitions, as a leak suggested that PlayStation may acquire Bluepoint Games next, the developer of the Demon’s Souls remake.

Hulst said in an interview that he doesn’t believe there is an “arms race” going on right now between Sony and Microsoft when it comes to studio acquisitions. Microsoft acquired ZeniMax in a blockbuster $7.5 billion deal that will bring Starfield to Xbox exclusively.

Nearly eight months after its original launch, Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales is going to look even better, albeit just on the PlayStation 5. The game’s latest update includes improvements to its ray tracing, although just in one of its various graphics modes.

The update, version 1.10, should make the game’s ray tracing in its performance RT mode look even better. It’s not clear what improvements can be made, but if anything, anyone playing the game in performance RT mode will have a better visual experience.

Performance RT mode was added to Spider-Man: Miles Morales this past December. Before being added, players only had two graphics options for the game: performance and quality. Performance would let the game run at 60 frames per second without ray tracing while quality would throw ray tracing into the game but limit its frame rate to 30 frames per second. Performance RT includes both, adding lower quality ray tracing while letting the game run at 60 frames per second at the cost of overall image quality.

Even if you don’t play Spider-Man: Miles Morales in performance RT mode, you should notice some improvements in the game. The 1.10 patch includes “Global stability fixes and performance improvements,” an extremely general way of saying the game’s frame rate is much more likely to stay constant.

Visual updates for Spider-Man: Miles Morales aren’t anything new at this point. The game’s last update included a new costume and “realistic muscle deformation” for select suits. Another major PlayStation 5 title, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart also received a visual update recently, adding a 120 HZ “Display Mode” that boosts the game’s frame rate up to 40 frames per second when played in Fidelity graphics mode.

The Loki costume worn by Sylvie’s Sophia Di Martino featured one very thoughtful alteration.

Taking to Twitter shortly after Loki’s fourth episode premiered on Disney+, Martino commended costume designer Christine Wada for modifying Sylvie’s costume so that she could pump milk and nurse her baby while on set. The actress revealed that her outfit included concealed zippers, and posted a photo to demonstrate the suit’s functionality.

It’s not easy being a working Mama! Genius #christinewada designed Sylvie’s costume & added concealed zippers so I could pump easily & nurse my baby between takes. Little (big) things like this that made it possible for me to do my job & be a parent. I’m forever grateful 💖 pic.twitter.com/nn0d8HYrFi

— Sophia Di Martino (@sophiadimartino) July 1, 2021

“It’s not easy being a working Mama!” she tweeted alongside an image of her showcasing the clever costume design. “Genius Christine Wada designed Sylvie’s costume & added concealed zippers so I could pump easily & nurse my baby between takes. Little (big) things like this that made it possible for me to do my job & be a parent. I’m forever grateful.”

Fans responded to the tweet praising the designer for the care and consideration that she evidently put into making the costume. “Wow. So much respect to you Sophia and to the wardrobe team! Being a mama is tough enough it is very beautiful to see moms being fully supported at work and in any aspect of life,” one user commented.

“That’s brilliant! So important that mamas who nurse their babies are given the opportunity of doing so, and then to have a costume designer design this for you is awesome,” another person added. “That’s so sweet!! We need more women in these behind the scenes positions,” a third fan remarked, referencing the film and TV industry.

Major spoilers for Episode 4 of Loki follow.

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Loki’s fourth episode, “The Nexus Event,” added a few more costumes to fans potential cosplay repertoires, as Loki was woken by a set of four new Loki variants in the show’s first post-credits scene. “Classic” Loki, as listed in the credits, was the most recognizable of the bunch, perhaps because he was dressed in a classic Marvel comics-inspired costume.

He was accompanied by “Boastful Loki,” played by DeObia Oparei, who was wielding what appeared to be a DIY Mjolnir hammer, and “Kid Loki,” best known for his appearance in the Journey into Mystery and Young Avengers comics, wearing a gold embellished outfit and horned helmet, with a crown-clad croc in his arms.

“Am I dead?” asks Loki, to which Old Loki replies, “Not yet. But you will be unless you come with us.” The group appear to be standing in the middle of an apocalypse, seemingly the remains of New York City, offering a tantalising tease of what might be coming up in the penultimate episode of the Marvel/Disney+ series next week.

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New episodes of Loki arrive on Disney Plus at 12:01am PT / 3:01am ET every Wednesday. That means Loki Episode 5 will go live on Disney+ on Wednesday, July 7 at 12:01am PT / 3:01am ET. Moving forward, viewers can expect future Disney Plus original series to release on Wednesdays instead of Fridays, thanks to the success of Loki.

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Adele Ankers is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.

Writer-director Quentin Tarantino plans to make one more movie and then retire, and in a new interview, he spoke at a high level about his plans for a 10th movie. Tarantino also shared some ideas for Kill Bill Vol. 3, though he stopped short of saying he plans to actually make it to wrap up his career.

Speaking on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast, Tarantino said 2019’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood was his big “epic” and that his next film will be more of an “epilogue” to his career.

“The weight was really on Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. That’s kind of like my big epic. That’s like my big wrap-up-the-career kind of epic,” he explained. “And I think I did it. I don’t know what the next story is going to be. I’m imagining it will be more epilogue-y. Like [Once Upon a Time in Hollywood] is the big one, and then whatever I end up doing for that last one…more of an epilogue, as you’re wrapping up the career.”

But what will the last movie be? Tarantino doesn’t know yet. He said he has no idea what this movie will be, and he has no timeline for when he wants to make it.

Tarantino is hoping to write one more book, then produce a stage play, and then “we’ll see” about his 10th movie.

The director said he might be convinced to make another “epic” as his last film if it’s a third Kill Bill movie. He’s been thinking about it and he has some ideas.

“The only one I can imagine where it would be another epic, where I would need to out-do everything is if I did a Kill Bill 3. I’ve thought of it,” he said.

One of the ideas that Tarantino has for Kill Bill Vol. 3 would be to revisit the characters 20 years later and cast Uma Thurman again as the Bride and her real-life daughter Maya Hawke as B.B. “I think it’s just revisiting the characters, 20 years later, just imagining the Bride and her daughter B.B. having 20 years of peace,” he said. “And then that peace is shattered. The Bride and B.B. are on the run. The idea of being able to cast Uma and her daughter Maya would be f**king exciting.”

Finally, Tarantino reiterated that he considered making a Reservoir Dogs remake with a new cast as his final film because he believes the material is timeless. However, he decided against this and is now looking to produce a Reservoir Dogs stage play instead. He also wants to write a novelization of Reservoir Dogs and produce a Hateful 8 stage play.

Also on the podcast, Tarantino had a message for critics of the Bruce Lee scene in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood: “Suck a d.”

Regarding his forthcoming retirement, Tarantino said in a previous interview that he believes that “most directors have horrible last movies,” and he doesn’t want this to be true for himself.

“Usually their worst movies are their last movies,” he said. “That’s the case for most of the Golden Age directors that ended up making their last movies in the late ’60s and the ’70s, then that ended up being the case for most of the New Hollywood directors who made their last movies in the late ’80s and the ’90s. I mean, most directors’ last films are f**king lousy.”

In other news, the novelization of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is out now, and it confirms whether or not Cliff Booth killed his wife with a harpoon gun.

Two of the recently announced Arcade1Up home arcade cabinets–Street Fighter II Big Blue and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time–are now available for preorder directly from the company. Both were announced at E3 2021 and feature free Wi-Fi play for online multiplayer.

Alongside these cabinets, the company also revealed a split Ms. Pac-Man and Galaga Class of 1981 machine, a throwback to an earlier anniversary cabinet from Namco that featured both games. As we previously reported, The Simpsons Arcade was announced at the same time, but details are scarce–we’ll have an exclusive hands-on preview with a prototype in the future.

$600

A recreation of the famous “Big Blue” variant from Street Fighter II’s original arcade heyday, the Arcade1Up Street Fighter II Big Blue cabinet comes equipped with Wi-Fi, making it the first Street Fighter cabinet from the company that allows for online play. It comes loaded with 12 games, including several variants of Street Fighter 2 and the excellent 1944: The Loop Master.

$650

This redesigned take on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cabinet from Arcade1Up features a completely different build and new Wi-Fi connectivity as well as faux coin doors for that classic arcade look. Both the original TMNT arcade game and the titular Turtles in Time are included, along with a retro art style on the cabinet itself that pays homage to the original cabinet.