Key Note Gaming

It sounds like all change for Call of Duty with the release of Black Ops 7 , amid pressure from Battlefield 6 and its commitment to “gritty realism.” Call of Duty’s foray into goofy skins territory is not a new phenomena, although recent releases have certainly amped up the conversation around them. With the likes of Beavis and Butt-Head and American Dad hitting the game this year shortly after weed-obsessed bundles starring Seth Rogen , some fans have said they’ve had enough of what they call the 'Fortnite-ification' of their beloved Call of Duty, and have pleaded with publisher Activision to return to its mil-sim roots. Enter Battlefield 6, a game EA is pitching as having a “gritty realism” aesthetic. Developer DICE has indicated it has no plans to release crossover skins that would break the aesthetic Battlefield 6 is going for , and promised the developers were listening to fan feedback. In a recent interview with DBLTAP , Battlefield 6 design director Shashank Uchil ...

Dell is offering a competitive price on an Alienware Aurora R16 gaming PC equipped with the excellent Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Ti graphics card during the Intel Gamer Days Sale. Right now you can configure one starting at just $1,699.99 with free delivery. The RTX 5070 Ti graphics card can run any game at 60fps even in 4K, including the upcoming Battlefield 6. Get Battlefield 6 for Free During the Intel Gamer Days Sale From August 25 to September 7, buy an Alienware gaming PC or laptop equipped with an Intel Core 13th Gen, 14th Gen, or Core Ultra processor and get a free download voucher for Battlefield 6 when it releases on October 10. The Battlefield 6 beta ended on August 17 with hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of players signing on to try it out. The initial impressions are positive, including those from our own IGN staff . Alienware Aurora R16 RTX 5070 Ti Gaming PC for $1,699.99 Th base configuration is equipped with an Intel Core Ultra 7 265F processor, GeForc...

Death Stranding 2: On the Beach, the sequel to Hideo Kojima's 2019 hit Death Stranding, was well-received at launch. It's "incredibly exciting and original," and "bold work that deserves to be encouraged," at least, according to our review . As a result, fans might be hoping for an eventual third game in the series. But for right now, Kojima isn't planning to make Death Stranding 3...even though he already has a concept written. Kojima said this in an interview in Riyadh, Saudia Arabia, as a part of the Death Stranding 2 World Strand Tour . When asked by the interviewer about Death Stranding 3, he replied with the following: "I'm not planning to do that at the moment, because the ending of Death Stranding 2 was my finale of 1 and 2. But I already wrote the concept of DS3, so I have that in data. I hope that someone would create it for me." This isn't the first time Kojima has suggested that someone else might pick up the mantle of...

After a high-profile failure in Concord and a high-profile success in Astro Bot last year, PlayStation is looking to adjust its strategy to incorporate fewer live service games, more big franchises, and stricter oversight of its owned studios. In an interview with Financial Times , PlayStation CEO Hermen Hulst says the company is hoping to mitigate future big, expensive risks with future games. “I don’t want teams to always play it safe, but I would like for us, when we fail, to fail early and cheaply.” Concord was not a cheap failure. Analysts estimate Sony spent around $250m on the game, only for it to sell so poorly that Sony shut it down two weeks after launch , and shuttered its developer , Firewalk Studios, not long after. By contrast, Astro Bot also launched last year to universal acclaim, winning multiple awards and selling 2.3 million copies as of March 2025 , one of the best-selling games on PlayStation 5. The differences between the two games are myriad, certainly, an...

Hey friends, just checking in to see how everyone's doing and to let you know I'm giving away a LEGO Mario Kart set to celebrate the August 27, 1991 Japanese release of the original Mario Kart on the Super Famicom. But also, because I want to celebrate you, personally, by giving you a chance to win something extremely cool. (And, because I'm promoting IGNDeals on social media, which is my job.) How to Enter the LEGO Mario Kart Giveaway It's shockingly easy to enter into the contest: just follow IGNDeals on X and reply to the announcement tweet, or Xeet, or whatever it's called now, with the hashtag "#mariokartanniversary." Mario Kart first hit the Super Famicom on August 27, 1992, and to celebrate its anniversary I'm giving away a LEGO Mario Kart set. To enter, make sure you're following this account and reply #mariokartanniversary for your chance to win. pic.twitter.com/0wxL75Zqgv — IGN Deals (@IGNDeals) August 25, 2025 You have between...

2025 is turning out to be a stellar year for fans of 2D ninja platformers. The 16-bit blood sprites have barely dried on Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound’s katana, and now Sega’s iconic Shinobi series has emerged from a 14-year stay in the shadows to fling a fistful of kunai straight into your adrenal glands. Shinobi: Art of Vengeance brings back the series’ slash ‘n’ dash with plenty of modern day flash. It empowers returning hero Joe Musashi with an enjoyably expansive suite of hypercharged ninja skills and presents it all in a gorgeous hand drawn art style, making for an adventure that’s occasionally hard on the reflexes but always easy on the eye. While the Shinobi series may have been in exile for an agonising amount of time, its triumphant return has been well worth the wait. Art of Vengeance’s setup seems to have spilled straight off the circuit board of an ‘80s arcade machine. Led by the maniacal Lord Ruse, the nefarious paramilitary organization ENE Corp has achieved world dominati...

Fans have always felt that Dragon Age: Origins ’ mage class was more complete, perhaps even more dominant, than the game’s other two classes, the rogue and the warrior. But why was that? Former BioWare executive producer Mark Darrah has said it’s mostly about second edition Dungeons & Dragons. In a recently published video , Darrah explained why the mage in BioWare’s much-loved 2009 role-playing game ended up feeling so much better to play. “It's actually I would say more because the design space that Dragon Age: Origins was being built into was heavily influenced by second edition D&D," Darrah, who worked at BioWare from 1997 to early 2021, said. "So in that case, the reality is mages and rogues were less… they were thinner classes, they were simpler classes. And the mage was the stronger, more fully implemented, more fully considered class. Much more complicated, much more in terms of spells and such.” Dragon Age: Origins was not designed to be played wit...