Arcade News, Tips, Tricks & Ideas

Returnal developer Housemarque has this morning posted a cryptic tweet teasing… something for tomorrow. The team out of Finland uploaded a black and white image seemingly featuring Returnal protagonist Selene's eyes reflected onto broken shards of glass, then teasing news «tomorrow» in a yellow font. You can view the tweet below.

Unveiled last night at the IGN x ID@Xbox Digital Showcase, Vampire Survivors has received a free new update called Laborratory (yes, with two 'r's). It includes one new character, one secret character, three weapons, one stage, and a bonus go-cart racing stage. But perhaps most importantly of all, Poncle say they'll answer the question that's been on everyone's lips: "Why is it called Santa Water?". This is something that's puzzled me since the game's inception, and therefore, I will be thrusting myself back into the game where there are, in fact, no vampires at all. I need to know.

Street Fighter 6‘s fourth DLC character, Akuma, will be released next month.

The first installment in the iconic Konami rhythm game series, Dance Dance Revolution, is making a comeback in the form of a mini emulator console that just went on sale. The release of this tiny arcade cabinet replica is coming just in time for fans to celebrate the 25th anniversary of one of the best-selling Konami franchises.

Guilty Gear: Strive downloadable content character Slayer will launch on May 30 for $6.99 / 880 yen or as part of Season Pass 3 for $24.99 / 2,750 yen, Arc System Works announced. He is the final additional character for Season 3.

The last time we wrote about Distance was just under a decade ago, when it was announced the game was coming to PS4. In the intervening years, the high-intensity arcade racer has been through a prolonged stint of early access and had its full launch on PC, but the PS4 version never surfaced. Now, thanks to a Trophy list appearing online, it seems the title is finally approaching the finish line — and it's coming to PS5 as well.

I never expected to feel genuine affection for Dr Robotnik, whose various level-ending wrecking balls and spiked doodads have killed me a million times over, but here I am sobbing like a banshee over the release of Dr Robotnik's Ring Racers, a free Mario Kart-alike created by Kart Krew, the fangamer team behind Sonic Robo Blast 2 Kart, using the Doom Legacy source port.

Capcom has raised its full-year earnings forecast after new and older games sold well during the 12 months ended on March 31, 2024.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III and Warzone recently dropped their Season 3 update, which introduced a half-dozen MP maps, brought back Rebirth Island, let you play as Cheech and Chong (yes, really) and more. Of course, as usual, Activision is rolling out even more content, with Season 3 Reloaded coming in early May. This refresh will include a couple more MP maps, modes, another Zombies story missions, NBA star Devin Booker as a operator, and more. You can get more details, below.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Arcade: Wrath of the Mutants is a gaming Trojan Horse. I don’t mean to suggest that, instead of the beloved heroes in a half-shell, this 2D side-scrolling beat ‘em up stars a squad of teenage mutant wooden horses. Rather, Wrath of the Mutants has used a cunning disguise to sneak past the discerning gamer’s ‘bad game’ sonar, just as the Greeks cunningly snuck into Troy all those centuries ago. This console release rides on the coattails of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge, but while the two games share many similarities, Wrath of the Mutants pales in comparison.

Given that arcades have declined in popularity in recent years, you’d be forgiven for completely missing this game the first time around.

Rising Up is a free, sub-fifteen minute browser game that’s a bit like Streets of Rage, where you play a balding office worker and beat a giant scanner to death within the first 30 seconds. This, I believe, should be enough to tempt you into dunking it enthusiastically into your next break coffee, but if you need more convincing, let’s do it.

Everyone has their favourite Mario Kart character to play as, but is there really a best option? A choice which will actually give you an edge to beat your rivals — to go just a little bit faster, or recover that little bit quicker?

The Enchanted World, once an Apple Arcade exclusive, is all set to make a comeback. It’s landing on Android and the regular iOS App Store on May 7th. Developed by AI Interactive and published by Noodlecake, this stylish sliding-tile puzzler was part of the initial lineup when Apple Arcade kicked off in September 2019.

Thank your own personal deity—possibly the Mother Sphere—it's Friday! I'm not going to spend too much time waffling this morning, as the deals speak for themselves. Just get in and secure something awesome to play for the weekend. In case I don't see you, stay safe, save often, and catch you Monday!

Arcade1Up has been providing us with the chance to have our very own arcades at home for the past six years, whether it's just the one machine we're after for a hit of nostalgia, or we're looking to turn an entire room into our very own retro arcade. A more appealing option than ever before with actual arcades disappearing left and right. While the idea of an in-house arcade is appealing, actually building the cabinets to make that a reality is pretty daunting. That's where TaskRabbit comes in.

If you were unable to catch this week’s Nintendo IndieWorld showcase, then you missed a surprisingly loaded show. Lorelei and the Laser Eyes got a May release date, WayForward showed off its Yars’ Revenge revival, and Steamworld Heist 2 got an exciting reveal. In the midst of all those headlines, two smaller games were surprise released on the platform: Stitch and Sticky Business. Don’t sleep on either of them, as they’re both worth a purchase.

Sega is delving deep into its enviable IP archive to bring the world an animated adaptation of its 1989 side-scrolling arcade beat-'em-up Golden Axe.

Sega’s arcade hack-and-slash beat-’em-up Golden Axe is being adapted for television. In something of an unexpected twist, that TV series will be an animated comedy. Mike McMahan (Star Trek: Lower Decks, Solar Opposites) and Joe Chandler (American Dad!) will co-write the first episode and executive produce the 10-episode series, Comedy Central announced Wednesday. The announcement came two days after Paramount revealed that season 5 of Lower Decks would be the series’ final installment.

Sega’s classic arcade title Golden Axe will be heading to the small screen in the shape of an animated television series for Comedy Central. Star Trek: Lower Decks Mike McMahan and American Dad’s Joe Chandler are creating the series so you can assume that it will probably focus more on zingy one liners rather than smashing seven bells out of Death Adder.

Today's Nintendo Indie World Showcase may have been a letdown for Hollow Knight: Silksong hopefuls, but it was overall a pretty great show, and included the news that a Hades-like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles roguelike is coming to Switch as a timed console exclusive in July. This is a brilliant surprise, as it comes after almost a year of being locked away as an Apple Arcade exclusive.

Pilgrims, produced by Amanita Design, is now available on Android after being available only on Apple Arcade for some time.

After over a decade of development, the gorgeous stop-motion narrative adventure Harold Halibut has finally arrived. For the most part, the game doesn’t focus that heavily on puzzles and guides you by the hand through its story, but there still are a few parts in the game where you might find yourself a bit lost.

Sonic Dream Team is getting a significant free update on Wednesday, April 17, that will add more levels and a ranking system. The update for the Apple Arcade exclusive comes on the heels of layoffs at developer Sega Hardlight, which was impacted by a recent restructure at Sega.

A new selection of retro games hit the Nintendo Switch Online library today, and while it's not the biggest group of names this time around, there is one notable addition in the form of a Mario game that had never previously been released outside of Japan.

Remember when Pac-Man got its own battle royale game where 64 Pac-People competed to eat each other and be the ‘Chomp Champ’? Me neither! But Pac-Man Mega Tunnel Battle apparently came out on Google Stadia - ah, that’d be why - back in 2020, and served up a massively (or at least medium-ly) multiplayer spin on the arcade classic. With Stadia dead and buried, Mega Tunnel Battle is chewing its way out of the streaming console’s grave with a new subtitle and a fresh Steam release next month.

Noodlecake and Big Green Pillow Studio just dropped Slash Quest on Android, an adventure puzzler that’s as adorable as it gets. Originally available only on Apple Arcade, it’s now available for all Android users. It’ll be relaunched on iOS in a few weeks (shedding its Apple Arcade exclusivity). Apparently, a Steam version is on the way too.

Pac-Man Mega Tunnel Battle: Chomp Champs is making the jump from Google's ill-fated Stadia platform to PlayStation 5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Switch, and Steam on 9th May.

Revealed at the Triple-I Initiative just now, Vampire Survivors is getting another cool DLC, this one a crossover with classic Konami run 'n' gun Contra. It's called Operation Guns. Get on board. Trailed with, as is now traditional, a cool animated trailer that suggests the game is a Saturday morning cartoon and not a top down pixelated nightmare that will flush out any latent photosensitivity lurking in your skull (complimentary), Operation Guns is arriving on May 9th, so about a month away.

Vampire Survivors is heading to PlayStation consoles this summer.

Physics-based roguelite Noita has received a second Epilogue update that adds a whole host of new features, tweaks, and modding capabilities.

Noita! A wizardly 2D dungeon crawler without compare, in both good and deranging ways. Man, it feels like only yesterday I equipped something without looking and suddenly everything that damaged me caused me to teleport at random. I flew through entire levels this way like a Tardis set to shuffle, bumbling into one enemy posse after another, granted a few seconds at a time to assess my surroundings before the sorcery swept me deeper.

Welcome to the IGN AU Daily Deals article, also unofficially known as the "How Low Can That Starfield Constellation Edition Go" limbo check. Full truth: I'm eyeing a purchase of it myself, and my absolute must-buy mark is going to be that magical $200. Shall we reach that numerical event horizon where nothing—not my money, or even light itself—can possibly escape? I dunno. But it was $256.14 yesterday...

The number of arcades in Japan, the world’s third-biggest games market, have declined by nearly 8,000 over the past decade, according to a new report.

Gaming peripheral manufacturer 8BitDo has announced that all of its iOS-compatible products are now supported by the Apple Vision Pro mixed reality headset.

Vlambeer, developers of Nuclear Throne, Luftrausers and Super Crate Box, among others, called it quits back in 2020, so that co-founders Jan Willem Nijman and Rami Ismail could work separately on other projects.

C-Smash VRS — last year's well-recieved PSVR2 update of Sega's cult 2001 arcade and Dreamcast sci-fi sports game Cosmic Smash — is wiggling out of its headset to get a non-VR edition on PlayStation 5, also available to existing owners, later this year.

Last year’s revival of Sega’s late-Dreamcast-era obscurity Cosmic Smash is coming to a much wider audience in 2024. C-Smash VRS, based on the Sega game that combined Rez aesthetics with racquetball and vintage arcade game Breakout, has been exclusive to Sony’s PlayStation VR2 headset for the past year, but it will get a version playable on PlayStation 5 without that headset sometime this summer.

'The Wild Bastards' is about the best name I've heard for a gang of alien outlaws in a space-western, good enough that let's skip past the fact that the game was announced last year and we've only just noticed. Wild Bastards is the follow-up to Void Bastards, 2019's roguelikelike first-person shooter about a prisoner in a corporate nightmare forced to raid derelict spaceships on a wild goose chase. This time, it's leaning into crime, jaunting across the galaxy to resurrect a game of legendary outlaws, the Wild Bastards. Allow me to repeat that name: the Wild Bastards. Alright, now come watch the gameplay trailer.

We have the solution to Wordle on April 4, as well as some helpful hints to help you figure out the answer yourself, right here. We’ve placed the answer at the bottom of the page, so we don’t ruin the surprise before you’ve had a chance to work through the clues. So let’s dive in, starting with a reminder of yesterday’s answer.

Do you remember the fan made spin-off Bloodborne Kart? Of course you do, it looked utterly brilliant!

X-Men ’97 doesn’t have to limit itself just to nostalgia for X-Men: The Animated Series. That’s the lesson from this week’s episode, featuring a big tribute to Konami’s X-Men arcade game, a staple side-scroller of any great ’90s arcade.

Xbox has announced the games coming to Game Pass this April, led by Lego 2K Drive.

Dave the Diver is joining the PlayStation Plus catalog on April 16. If you’ve been on the fence about the ocean-faring adventure/restaurant sim, this is a good chance to check it out without spending any extra money, assuming your PS Plus membership hasn’t lapsed.

To get free trials to Apple subscriptions like Apple TV Plus and Apple Arcade, you typically have to buy new Apple products. Some phone plans include them as perks, too. However, Best Buy is offering free trials to new and returning customers who have a free Best Buy account.

There’s a strong chance you’re familiar with the Asphalt series: the Gameloft racer is a mainstay in any modern arcade, and is extremely popular on smartphones. Now an updated version of the free-to-play franchise is skidding on to PS5 and PS4, in the form of Asphalt Legends Unite. You can look forward to downloading it on 17th July.

Sony has announced its PlayStation Plus games for April.

(Little) Alex Horne has announced that Taskmaster VR will have a Creative Mode, allowing fans of the chaotic comedy series to create their own tasks in the relative safety of virtual reality.

Arc System Works has teased Guilty Gear: Strive‘s final Season 3 downloadable content character and confirmed that Season 4 is currently in development. The final Season 3 character will launch in May for $6.99 or as part of Season Pass 3 for $24.99.

Gameloft has announced Asphalt Legends Unite, an expansion to 2018's Asphalt 9: Legends that marks the arcade racing game series’ debut on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5.

A few weeks ago, Toys for Bob unexpectedly split from Activision and Microsoft to become an independent developer once again. However, even in that announcement, the studio based in Novato, California mentioned that they were exploring a partnership with Microsoft for their next game.

We have the solution to Wordle on March 20, as well as some helpful hints to help you figure out the answer yourself, right here. We’ve placed the answer at the bottom of the page, so we don’t ruin the surprise before you’ve had a chance to work through the clues. So let’s dive in, starting with a reminder of yesterday’s answer.

Multiplayer games began as purely local events. If you wanted to play with, or against, your friends, there was no other option than to get together either at someone's house or, if you're going even further back in time, at a local arcade. While playing locally is still a great way to play, it isn't always an option. Online multiplayer is not only more convenient most of the time, but it has become the norm for nearly all modern multiplayer games.

Microsoft have confirmed the waves of games coming to Game Pass in late March and early April, headlined by the expected addition of Diablo IV. This is the first Activision Blizzard game coming to Game Pass since Microsoft's ridiculous $69 billion acquisition, with more due to follow. Beyond that, look forward to games including mech-riding farming game Lightyear Frontier and the colossal alien invasion strategy game from the XCOM Long War team, Terra Invicta.

The fighting game scene is going through a true renaissance right now, with Street Fighter 6, Mortal Kombat 1 and Tekken 8 making sure that brawlers aren’t just part of the conversation, they’re leading the way in competitive gaming. Retaining their arcade roots, the scene’s technological component has seen manufacturers like Mad Catz, Nacon and Qanba offer their own arcade sticks, attempting to give the best players an even finer edge. Victrix doesn’t just want to be part of the crowd though, they want to be the only fight stick manufacturer players go to. The PDP Victrix Pro FS is the fight stick that can make that a reality.

Whenever Apple rolls out a lofty new idea, it invites as many skeptics as it does fans. Devices like the Vision Pro birthed naysayers from the moment it was announced, but armchair criticism has rarely, if ever, put a dent in the tech giant’s plans. It has a way of committing to its products and initiatives, even when outsiders might think no one is using them.

Llamasoft: The Jeff Minter Story is a fascinating “interactive documentary” from Digital Eclipse, which previously applied the same format to Atari 50, a 50th-anniversary celebration of the legendary company’s early arcade and home games. Like Atari 50, The Jeff Minter Story collects a huge range of playable, carefully emulated classic games, and puts them in context via a wealth of background material: video clips, photographs, artwork, documentation, and more, all presented via an interactive timeline. There’s one major difference: Everything in The Jeff Minter Story is essentially the work of one man.

Ubisoft Montreal has released For Honor update 2.5, with Year 8 now underway. Announced last week, For Honor Year 8 will introduce even more content to the popular cross-platform fighting game including new maps, modes, and of course, heroes.

Antstream Arcade, which allows Xbox users to stream a massive library of classic games, is adding a bunch of new titles this month, includingIndiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis. A one-year membership for the Xbox cloud-streaming service is available to purchase on the Microsoft store for $30.

The Strong National Museum of Play has announced the 12 games nominated in 2024 for the World Video Game Hall of Fame: Asteroids, Elite, Guitar Hero, Metroid, Myst, Neopets, Resident Evil, Tokimeki Memorial, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater, Ultima, and You Don’t Know Jack.

This is a quick public service announcement to let you know there is a free trial for Vampire Survivors — Poncle's award-winning gothic horror — over on Nintendo Switch. So, if you fancy your chances mowing down «thousands» of night creatures but haven't quite managed to get round to it yet, now is your time to shine.

Yellow Taxi Goes Vroom already has a descriptive name, but its new trailer omits it in favour of a better encapsulation of its pitch: "You're a N64 taxi and there's no jump button?". The video itself is sixty seconds of pure, colourful joy, and it ends on a release date: April 9th.

Capcom has shared a first trailer for Street Fighter 6's next playable fighter, Akuma, who'll be joining the game's steadily expanding line-up sometime this «spring».

Like returning to a beloved amusement park as an adult, Contra: Operation Galuga instantly reconnected me with the 2D run-and-gunners from the quarter-slinging arcade days of my youth. And just like revisiting a childhood fancy, I quickly remembered why I had so much fun with this series, while also feeling a bit underwhelmed by how little things have evolved in all that time. This reimagining of the original Contra offers a perfectly adequate modernization of a bonafide classic that makes for an enjoyable jaunt alongside your friends, but it’s also perhaps overly faithful to its predecessors, allowing for only the slightest tweaks. I don’t regret the handful of hours it took me and my buds to get through all of Operation Galuga, but it’s one of those games that’s likely to fade from my memory just as quickly.

I only had a handful of games growing up, but they were all I needed. I played games like Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and Pitfall over and over again, without ever actually beating them. Instead, I was content to bang my head against them, learning a little more with each failure so I could get just a bit further on my next go-round. What I wouldn’t realize until I was much older was how short those games actually were. If I played my cards right, I could beat Sonic in under three hours. Pitfall, a game I played for years, was barely 40 minutes long. Difficulty meant value.

The ever-industrious Italian outfit Milestone is back with Monster Jam Showdown, which is due out on PS5 and PS4 later this year. Pitched as a comprehensive monster truck experience, with 40 rigs included in the base game and more to follow through free and premium add-on packs, the developer is promising to leverage its “technology and expertise [to] deliver an approachable yet rewarding experience”.

Epic has revealed the next titles it's giving away on the Epic Games Store, with Deux Ex: Mankind Divided and The Bridge getting the freebie treatment from Thursday, 14th March.

You know that it’s a busy year for gaming when a project by an industry legend launches with hardly any fanfare. That’s exactly what happened in February 2023 with Akka Arrh. Created by Jeff Minter and his eccentric studio Llamasoft, the neon-tinted shooter is a remake of a 1982 Atari game that never saw the light of day after being deemed too difficult. Minter got the greenlight to revive the project, bringing it to life as a retro arcade shooter built in his unmistakable style.

DISH-owned streaming service Sling TV announced today the launch of its new gaming platform called “Arcade,” featuring classic arcade games like Tetris, Wheel of Fortune, Sweet Sugar, Solitaire Clash, Poker Online and Doodle Jump, among others.

Crema has announced that following updates 1.7 and 1.8, Temtem will not have any more major updates. The team has already confirmed that there will be no more new islands, more Tems, or new additions to multiplayer. In a lengthy open letter, Crema stated the reasons as to why this is the case, and that there is a new project in development, that is not Temtem: Swarm, nor is it a full on sequel.

Formally addressing community unrest stirred in part by recent comments from its CEO, Temtem developer Crema released a lengthy statement explaining the future of the game, why it's sort of but also not really an MMO, as well as the other games it's working on.

Suika is the puzzle gift that keeps on giving. The viral Watermelon Game that launched a thousand non-Switch-exclusive clones has added another promising offering to its line-up of Suika-like twists on the simple fruit-merging game.

Microsoft has revealed a new special edition SpongeBob Xbox Series X bundle that will be available in limited quantities through Best Buy Drops via the Best Buy mobile app.

Crema has announced that following updates 1.7 and 1.8, Temtem will not have any more major updates. The team has already confirmed that there will be no more new islands, more Tems, or new additions to multiplayer. In a lengthy open letter, Crema stated the reasons as to why this is the case, and that there is a new project in development, that is not Temtem: Swarm, nor is it a full on sequel.

Vampire Survivors received yet another update this past week. The Space-54 update adds two new characters, four new weapons, a new relic, and a new bonus stage. It also introduces cross-save support between Steam and Android to the Steam public beta branch.

Computer and video games are the largest and most lucrative form of media entertainment today. But it’s a mistake to think of games as a new phenomenon – at this point, their history stretches back over 50 years. Generations of gamers have grown up and passed on their love of gaming to their children. So why is it so hard to find and play the classic games we enjoyed in our youth?

Finn Wolfhard is often thought of as a good pick to play Link in the upcoming live-action The Legend of Zelda movie, but the Stranger Things star has another idea for a video game movie that probably wouldn’t have occurred to the majority of fans.

Nintendo 64 era-style collectathon platformer Yellow Taxi Goes Vroom will launch for PC via Steam in April, publisher Those Awesome Guys and developer Panik Arcade announced.