A $50 iOS game? Skylanders: Battlegrounds

Launches this week TheSkylandersfranchise is the newPokemonwhen it comes to money making power. Take the retail version of the new iOS franchise game, Skylanders: Battlegrounds, for example. It sells atretail for $49.99. Why so expensive? It comes with a Portal of Power Bluetooth wireless device, three figures, and a App Store download code. You could just download the game from the App Store ($6.99), but what fun would that be?...

July 31, 2025 · 1 min · 111 words · Janice Daniel

A question of character: Choose your fighter

Promoted from our community blogs [For people who love fighting games, character devotion is not a new thing. But to OrochiLeona, it is especially striking seeing how Sindel has so far been reduced to a supporting character in the recentMortal Kombat X. I mean, if Potemkin didn’t come back toGuilty Gear Xrd, then what is the point of it all? Got your own thoughts on something we take for granted? Start a blog and join our community!...

July 31, 2025 · 7 min · 1438 words · Sheila Smith

All rewards and challenges in BO6 Black Ops Tribute event

The firstCall of Duty: Black Opsgame came out almost 15 years ago. Time flies when you’re redacting intel. But it’s time to celebrate it in Black Ops 6 with a new limited-time, free event. TheBlack Ops Tribute event inBO6has a bunch of new rewards to unlock, including the anticipatedJohn Black Opsoperator skin,Nail Gunweapon, andThermitelethal forWarzone,along with many other cosmetics that pay tribute to moments from the franchise’s past. Here’s everything you may get for free as part of the Black Ops Tribute event inBO6....

July 31, 2025 · 2 min · 363 words · Sherry Lopez

Animal Crossing: New Horizons looks worth the wait

This is the gameplay reveal I wanted all along After a delay,Animal Crossing: New Horizonsis now heading to Nintendo Switch on June 28, 2025. During a Nintendo Direct presentation today, we got our best look yet at the cozy island-life game, and after seeing the footage, I have a newfound appreciation for Nintendo’s decision to push things back. The demonstration started off with item gathering and crafting, the latter of which means that “even weeds” serve a purpose inAnimal Crossing....

July 31, 2025 · 1 min · 190 words · Bryce Jackson

Assassin’s Creed will be annual until players say stop

Or until everybody is already murdered With theAssassin’s Creedseries getting new instalments annually, there are, perhaps, those who will grow tired of franchise — if they haven’t already. SinceAssassin’s Creed II,there’s been a new title in the main series every year, the last one beingAssassin’s Creed III.Then there are all the spin-offs, comics, novels, shorts, and animated movies which, frankly, seem a tad unnecessary. That’s just a lot of saturation....

July 31, 2025 · 1 min · 200 words · Savannah Peters

Band, DJ, and Guitar Hero DLC sales coming to an end on March 31st

The all digital future is here If you still playGuitar,DJ, orBand Hero, you better stock up on all of the tracks you’ve always wanted, because the DLC store is going offline on March 31st. The online servers in general will apparently stay up, and any DLC purchased prior to that date will still work. To “celebrate,” Activision is putting select track packs on sale for 50% off. I personally haven’t played aHerogame in years, as my house usually hostsRock Band....

July 31, 2025 · 1 min · 98 words · Erica Beck

Bandai Namco establishes new indie label GYAAR Studio

Everybody walk the dinosaur Gaming giant Bandai Namco has announced the formation of a brand new label, GYAAR Studio, that will focus purely on the development and publishing of indie games, while nurturing growth for the studios and teams that create them. GYAAR Studio hopes to allow young creators to experiment with new and unique ideas, working on projects with the backing of Bandai Namco’s network of resources. Oddly, GYAAR has suggested that it will only focus on producing one title per year, suggesting that it will work with singular teams rather than, say, a faction of smaller studios....

July 31, 2025 · 1 min · 171 words · Diana Ortega

Battlefield Hardline beta feedback led to these changes

Faster movement? Good Folks who tried out theBattlefield Hardlinebeta last month provided Visceral with feedback and the studio has taken that to make 10 fixes/improvements to the game. Notably, player movement speed is now 10 percent faster and there’s a 10 percent boost for running with a pistol equipped. That crazy camera shake during the crane event has been toned down, as has the camera bounce during suppressions. Armored vehicles have weak points in their rear....

July 31, 2025 · 1 min · 149 words · Joshua Brown

Check out this high-res Nintendo 64 box art that Nintendo is using for Switch Online

It’s fun to revisit crisp old video game cover art It’s a treat to revisit old gaming magazines, marketing materials, instruction manuals, and box art with fresh eyes. You might notice details that never dawned on you before, or just feel like you’ve been transported back to a simpler time in your life. As part of this month’sexpanded Nintendo Switch Online membership planthat includes Nintendo 64 games (and also Sega Genesis titles), Nintendo has dug up some high-res N64 box art....

July 31, 2025 · 2 min · 236 words · Alexis Burgess

Conker’s Bad Fur Day director’s commentary is glorious

SO BRITISH I said DAMN! Nintendo 64-era Rare is on a roll lately! I may be tempted to go buy an N64 off eBay right now and have a week-long Rare session. Three big shots fromConker’s Bad Fur Day‘s dev staff have decided to knock back a few rounds, play someConker, and reminisce about the good ol’ days. We’ve got Chris Seavor, director and voice of the titular squirrel himself; Chris Marlow, programmer and voice of The Great Mighty Poo; and Shawn Pile, programmer and f*ck-all else....

July 31, 2025 · 1 min · 135 words · Harold Sellers

Contest: Win a Switch copy of Uncanny Valley

This looks spooky Contests can be scary: Enter this one for your chance to win a Switch copy ofUncanny Valley. I don’t know how many scary games I’ve given away at this point, but I do know that whatever that tally is, it’s definitely more than I’ve played. I know I’ve said this before, but man I ain’t got time to go through scary games these days. I’d rather play something happy and fun!...

July 31, 2025 · 2 min · 396 words · Heather Krueger

Critical Hit all-star game cover band led by WoW composer

Exclusive: Critical Hit’s debut song, from Angry Birds World of Warcraftcomposer Jason Hayes and VGMarket founder Michael Gluck (remember Piano Squall?) head up new band Critical Hit. This all-star band performs and records their own arrangements of videogame music themes. All-star? In addition to Hayes and Gluck, Critical Hit is packed with talented performers. Toto pianist (and co-writer of Africa, Rosanna, and other hits) David Frank Piach, is a member, as is YouTube violin star Taylor Davis....

July 31, 2025 · 2 min · 402 words · William White

Dead Space 3 wasn’t originally designed for microtransactions

‘Surprise’ – said no one For all intents and purposes,Dead Space 3is a pretty big failure. It eschewed the ideas that the first two games were building on and contained all of the worst bits of the modern games industry. There was a microtransaction-laden system which saw crafting materials drop at a lower rate to coax players into spending money, a co-op campaign that locked out some content in the campaign, and an ending that was hidden behind DLC....

July 31, 2025 · 2 min · 342 words · Justin Vargas