Nintendo Switch Breaks Huge US Sales Record

Nintendo Switch has broken a huge sales record in the US. The Japanese publisher states its hybrid console has sold more units after 20 months in the region than any other current-gen system did after the same period.

Citing data from sales monitor NPD Group, Nintendo says it’s sold “more than 8.7 million [Switch] units” in the US alone, as of the end of November 2018. The company also says it is “the overall top-selling US software publisher so far for 2018.” These data do not include the sales figures of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, which is the fastest-selling Switch game to date–the fighting game has sold over 3 million units in the US already, according to Nintendo’s own data.

Elsewhere in its press release, Nintendo offered an update into US sales of its other first-party titles. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has sold over 4 million units, while Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has sold more than 5 million. Super Mario Odyssey has reached the 4.7 million sales mark. Pokemon: Let’s Go Eevee and Let’s Go Pikachu have sold 2 million units combined and Super Mario Party has sold 1.4 million copies so far.

Looking ahead, Nintendo has some big games coming out in 2019. The year kicks off with New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe in January, before other big titles such as Luigi’s Mansion 3, Yoshi’s Crafted World, and Pokemon for Switch come to the console later in the year. For more on the latter, check out everything we know about Pokemon for Switch.

How the R-Rated Hellboy’s New Look Was Designed

Hellboy is coming to the big screen in a big way, with a new R-rated take on the titular hero. Starring David Harbour as the beast in red, this adaptation of Hellboy heads straight to the comics for inspiration, with creator Mike Mignola acting as consultant and executive producer on the project.

Of course, this isn’t the first time Hellboy has come to the big screen, and the creative team is actively working to differentiate this version of the beloved character from Guillermo del Toro’s previous films featuring Ron Perlman. IGN spoke with Academy Award-winning makeup designer Joel Harlow to discuss this new iteration of Hellboy.

“I love the Del Toro films and absolutely appreciate all the characters that were brought to life in them. It’s a tough act to follow for sure, so we all made a conscious decision to not reference any of the live action versions that came before. We focused on the artwork and the comics,” Harlow told IGN.

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Smash Bros. Ultimate Sets New Sales Record For The Series

The latest installment in Nintendo’s mascot fighting series, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, is off to an impressive start. The game launched for Switch earlier this month and has already shattered sales records around the globe, becoming the company’s fastest-selling home console game in Europe and breaking other records for the series in the US.

According to Nintendo of Europe, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s total sales in the region over its first three days of availability have been “almost 30% higher” than Mario Kart Wii, which would go on to become one of the company’s best-selling games of all time. Nintendo also notes that Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is the fastest-selling game in the Eshop “ever.”

Ultimate’s had an equally impressive start overseas as well. In its first 11 days on the market, the game has sold more than 3 million units in the US alone, based on Nintendo’s internal sales data. That makes it the fastest-selling Nintendo Switch game in the region to date, as well as the fastest-selling entry in the entire Super Smash Bros. series.

Other Nintendo Switch games have had impressive sales in the US as well. The console’s recent Pokemon RPGs, Let’s Go Pikachu and Let’s Go Eevee, have sold a combined two million units in the region, while Super Mario Party has sold 1.4 million.

Last year’s biggest Switch releases have likewise hit new sales milestones in the US. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has sold more than 4 million units, Super Mario Odyssey has sold 4.7 million, and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has sold more than 5 million. Moreover, the Switch itself continues its impressive moment; in November, Nintendo moved more than 8.7 million consoles according to the NPD Group.

Life Is Strange 2 – Official Live Action Trailer

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Walmart Has a Great Deal on Board Games Right Now

If you buy something through this post, IGN may get a share of the sale. For more, read our Terms of Use.

If you’re one of those last-minute Christmas shoppers, or you’re just looking to round out your collection of excellent board games, Walmart has a great deal right now. The store is offering $10 and $20 gift cards with the purchase of select games and expansions. These are some solid games, too, like Catan, Carcassonne, Pandemic, and more. with $20 Gift Card

Ticket to Ride with $20 Gift Card

Ticket to Ride is a great game you can either give as a gift or just keep it for yourself. Either way, there’s that extra $20 gift card and it’s up to you to decide what you want to do with it. Ticket to Ride is a highly-rated, well-regarded board game, but you probably already knew that.

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New Movies This Week: What To See In Theaters And On Streaming (12/19-12/24)

Discounts On PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch Gift Cards (US Only)

While sales on individual games are always nice, a sale on digital currency is even better. That’s because you can use it to buy any game you want, effectively creating your very own deal. Right now, Newegg has some great deals on gift cards for the Nintendo Eshop, Xbox Live, and PlayStation Store that save you 20% or more on digital currency. The deal ends Thursday, December 20, so grab these soon or you’ll be out of luck.

All of the gift cards are delivered via email, so you won’t have to wait around for physical cards to arrive in the mail. They come in the form of codes you can redeem on the PS4, Xbox One, or Nintendo Switch’s online marketplaces.

The best way to spend these gift cards is on games that are already on sale. Do that, and you’re effectively getting two discounts piled on top of each other (think of it as a delicious discount sandwich). Here are links to the game sale pages for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch.

The best gift card deal available right now is the $25 Xbox Live gift card that comes with a free $10 gift card. And if you’re interested in EA Access, which gets you discounts and early trials for EA’s Xbox One games–as well as full access to over 50 titles–you can save $5 off a 12-month subscription with promo code EMCEREX29.

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Fortnite: Save The World Down Due To “Server Performance”

Epic Games has disabled the Save the World portion of Fortnite while it investigates issues with the Stormshield Storage and the Frostnite mode. The developer made the decision to take the game’s servers down following reports of “long load times and server performance issues.”

Epic is providing updates via its Twitter account; the most recent update as of this writing is that the company is “still investigating” the issues and will “provide updates as they come available.” Fortnite’s free-to-play Battle Royale modes are seemingly unaffected by the problems.

Fortnite’s latest 7.10 update, which was released just recently, introduced a number of balance changes and prepared the game for the upcoming 14 Days of Fortnite event. The limited-time mode begins on December 19 and will cycle through a variety of events at regular intervals. “The 14 Days of Fortnite event will feature both new and returning LTMs,” Epic explains. “Large team modes switch every two days and small team modes rotate every 24 hours.”

Elsewhere, Epic is being sued by Alfonso Ribeiro–best known for playing The Fresh Prince of Bel Air’s Carlton. Ribeiro’s law firm said the the actor is accusing the studio of stealing his dance–commonly referred to by fans of the show as the Carlton dance–for Fortnite’s “Fresh” emote.

The game is no stranger to lawsuits. PUBG Corp., the creators of PlayerUnknown Battlegrounds, sued Epic over a concern “that Fortnite may be replicating the experience for which PUBG is known.” However, the lawsuit was ultimately dropped. Epic hasn’t always been on the receiving end of a lawsuit, either. The studio sued a QA tester who leaked Fortnite Season 4 secrets, as well as a few streamers for advertising Fortnite cheats.

Metal Gear Solid’s Voice Actors Perform A Twist On Classic Christmas Poem

It’s the holiday season, and the actors behind Metal Gear Solid are ringing in the season in their own special way. Voice actors David Hayter and Cam Clarke, who voice Solid and Liquid Snake respectively, performed a rendition Twas The Night Before Christmas with a particularly Metal Gear twist.

The duo got together for the video, complete with some in-character testy exchanges. The poem follows the basic rhyme structure of the familiar poem, but of course this is about Metal Gear, so it’s a good deal more violent. It replaces the merry and bright story of St. Nick with lines like, “To the top of the base, and hey blow up that wall / Kill the guards, the twin snakes, what the hell, kill them all.”

The most recent game in the series was Metal Gear Survive, which released earlier this year. It was a decidedly unconventional take, moving away from melodrama-heavy geopolitics and toward post-apocalyptic survival. It received mixed reviews at GameSpot sister site Metacritic, and a cold reception in GameSpot’s own Metal Gear Survive review.

“For the most part, Metal Gear Survive feels oppressive, demanding, and obtuse, and needlessly so,” wrote Tamoor Hussain. “It’s a shame because there’s actually a good survival game in there, but the pressures it places on you make uncovering and enjoying that unappealing. Over time the ability to manage thirst and hunger becomes slightly more manageable, especially if you play the multiplayer, but the lead up to that is debilitating. There’s some satisfaction to be had if you persevere and savor the small victories, but you’ll quickly find yourself thinking about if your time would be better spent playing something else.”

Xbox One Game Deals On Xbox Live This Week

It’s the last week before Christmas, so you might think video game sellers would be pulling out all the stops to get your last-minute holiday spending. That’s the case with many retailers, like Best Buy, PlayStation Store, and GOG, but Xbox Live’s weekly sale is tiny in comparison. Maybe Microsoft has a bigger sale planned for later in the week, but for now, these are the deals you can get on digital Xbox One games. Note that you’ll need an Xbox Live Gold subscription to get some of the prices listed below.

Anyone looking to get more from their Fortnite experience can pick up either the Standard or Deluxe Founder Pack for half off this week. The Standard pack comes with the “Save the World” campaign, exclusive banner icons, and a bunch of Loot Piñata Packs. The deluxe version comes with all of that, plus eight Heroes, XP boosts, and other in-game items. These are still the early days of Fortnite Season 7, so now would be a good time to put these items to use.

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A bundle containing both Styx: Master of Shadows and Styx: Shards of Darkness is on sale for just $15 / £13.75. These stealth games put you in control of Styx, a goblin who loves treasure and is willing to sneak into enemy territory to get it. Sports fans may want to grab Tennis World Tour while it’s on sale for $35 / £27. Its career mode lets you play as real-life tennis stars like Roger Federer and Angelique Kerber on all kinds of different tennis courts.

Aven Colony, a city-building sim that has you design and run humanity’s new settlements on an alien planet, is on sale for $10 / £8.25. Yoku’s Island Express, which mixes pinball gameplay with Metroidvania level design, is on sale for $6.60 / £5.30. The narrative-driven adventure game Syberia 3 is discounted to $25 / £20, though you’ll probably want to play the previous games first since they tell one continuous story.

You can find the full list of games on sale on Xbox.com.