New details and first-look images have been released for the upcoming Mortal Kombat movie, which will debut in theaters and on HBO Max in April. Entertainment Weekly first offered fans a closer look at the R-rated movie while WB Pictures has provided official photos you can see below, which features a cast of ferocious fighters, including Mehcad Brooks as Jackson "Jax" Briggs, Chin Han as Shang Tsung, Hiroyuki Sanada as Scorpion, Joe Taslim as Sub-Zero, Tadanobu Asano as Raiden, Ludi Lin as Liu Kang, Sisi Stringer as Mileena, Josh Lawson as Kano, Jessica McNamee as Sonya Blade, Max Huang as Lung Lao Max, and Lewis Tan as an all-new character. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=mortal-kombat-2021-movie-images&captions=true"] In the Mortal Kombat movie reboot, Tan will be portraying Cole Young, a "washed-up MMA fighter" who bears a birthmark in the shape of the Mortal Kombat symbol on his chest. This mysterious marking propels him onto a journey with Sonya Blade, who leads him to the temple of a thunderous Elder God known as Lord Raiden, where he comes into contact with a group of highly-skilled fighters. "When we first meet Cole, he's in a really bad spot," Tan told the outlet. "He's down on his luck. He's kind of a washed-up MMA fighter who used to be a champion, who used to believe in himself, who used to have a lot of hope in his career. And it's all gone down the drain. It's a very interesting place for a hero to start, and I think that, along the journey of Mortal Kombat and Cole discovering where he comes from, you're introduced to all these other iconic characters and elements that everybody loves so dearly." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/12/03/dune-the-matrix-4-mortal-kombat-coming-to-hbo-max-with-entire-wb-2021-slate-ign-news"] At the temple, Cole and the others will spend their time training for "a high-stakes tournament to defeat the invading enemies from Outerworld," which will eventually lead to plenty of fights and, for the first time, fatalities. Director Simon McQuoid jokingly told stunt coordinator Kyle Gardiner to craft "the best fight sequences ever done in a movie ever," which spawned some blood-splattered action scenes. "It's amount of blood, it's amount of red, it's interpretation of how you go about it," McQuoid explained, speaking about the execution of the fight scenes. "We had a lot of discussions about getting the balance right so there was gore and there was blood and there were fatalities. And there is gore, blood, and fatalities." "There are some crazy fatalities," added Tan, who performed his own stunts on set. "We've picked a couple of iconic ones. There's a lot of really cool signature moves that you'll see, a lot of Easter eggs that we snuck into the film, but there are some really badass fatalities that I can't wait to see on the big screen. They're brutal, man. They, they don't hold back." [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=meet-the-cast-of-the-mortal-kombat-reboot-movie&captions=true"] Warner Bros. will release the new James Wan-produced live-action adaptation of Mortal Kombat to theaters and HBO Max simultaneously on April 16, 2021. The movie's distribution plan was reconsidered due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, which has impacted several studios and their release calendars over the past year. For more Mortal Kombat action, check out our deep-dive into the history of its bizarre movie and TV adaptations and read more about how the upcoming movie will be grounded in realism. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.

New details and first-look images have been released for the upcoming Mortal Kombat movie, which will debut in theaters and on HBO Max in April. Entertainment Weekly first offered fans a closer look at the R-rated movie while WB Pictures has provided official photos you can see below, which features a cast of ferocious fighters, including Mehcad Brooks as Jackson "Jax" Briggs, Chin Han as Shang Tsung, Hiroyuki Sanada as Scorpion, Joe Taslim as Sub-Zero, Tadanobu Asano as Raiden, Ludi Lin as Liu Kang, Sisi Stringer as Mileena, Josh Lawson as Kano, Jessica McNamee as Sonya Blade, Max Huang as Lung Lao Max, and Lewis Tan as an all-new character. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=mortal-kombat-2021-movie-images&captions=true"] In the Mortal Kombat movie reboot, Tan will be portraying Cole Young, a "washed-up MMA fighter" who bears a birthmark in the shape of the Mortal Kombat symbol on his chest. This mysterious marking propels him onto a journey with Sonya Blade, who leads him to the temple of a thunderous Elder God known as Lord Raiden, where he comes into contact with a group of highly-skilled fighters. "When we first meet Cole, he's in a really bad spot," Tan told the outlet. "He's down on his luck. He's kind of a washed-up MMA fighter who used to be a champion, who used to believe in himself, who used to have a lot of hope in his career. And it's all gone down the drain. It's a very interesting place for a hero to start, and I think that, along the journey of Mortal Kombat and Cole discovering where he comes from, you're introduced to all these other iconic characters and elements that everybody loves so dearly." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/12/03/dune-the-matrix-4-mortal-kombat-coming-to-hbo-max-with-entire-wb-2021-slate-ign-news"] At the temple, Cole and the others will spend their time training for "a high-stakes tournament to defeat the invading enemies from Outerworld," which will eventually lead to plenty of fights and, for the first time, fatalities. Director Simon McQuoid jokingly told stunt coordinator Kyle Gardiner to craft "the best fight sequences ever done in a movie ever," which spawned some blood-splattered action scenes. "It's amount of blood, it's amount of red, it's interpretation of how you go about it," McQuoid explained, speaking about the execution of the fight scenes. "We had a lot of discussions about getting the balance right so there was gore and there was blood and there were fatalities. And there is gore, blood, and fatalities." "There are some crazy fatalities," added Tan, who performed his own stunts on set. "We've picked a couple of iconic ones. There's a lot of really cool signature moves that you'll see, a lot of Easter eggs that we snuck into the film, but there are some really badass fatalities that I can't wait to see on the big screen. They're brutal, man. They, they don't hold back." [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=meet-the-cast-of-the-mortal-kombat-reboot-movie&captions=true"] Warner Bros. will release the new James Wan-produced live-action adaptation of Mortal Kombat to theaters and HBO Max simultaneously on April 16, 2021. The movie's distribution plan was reconsidered due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, which has impacted several studios and their release calendars over the past year. For more Mortal Kombat action, check out our deep-dive into the history of its bizarre movie and TV adaptations and read more about how the upcoming movie will be grounded in realism. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.

Persona 5 Strikers may be the closest thing to a Persona 5-2 we will ever get, and though the Koei Tecmo co-developed follow-up eschews the turn-based battles of the acclaimed original RPG for something more akin to the Dynasty Warriors series, my experience with the opening hours of Strikers promises a worthy follow-up for the Phantom Thieves of Hearts. It’s one that retains all the style, character, and deep lore of the original that has this returning fan thrilled to see more adventures of Joker, Morgana, and the gang, even as I grapple with just how many new options the real-time action throws your way right from the start. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=persona-5-strikers-screenshots&captions=true"] As a returning fan, so much of the thrill of Strikers is getting to experience an all-new story with the returning cast, so rather than focus on the story beats of the opening six or so hours I played in Shibuya, I’ll limit myself to saying P5S hits the ground running. You could technically jump into Strikers without playing P5, which many players may be doing given that Strikers is coming to the Nintendo Switch and PC in addition to the PS4. But to do so would mean missing out on so much backstory, lore, and a deeper understanding of the main ensemble’s relationships... plus a fantastic 100-plus hour RPG. It is technically possible with this story focused on a new set of problems within the same world, but I think it would be a disservice to try to make sense of everything as you go. And rather than offer much recap, Strikers wonderfully lets the entire main cast hang out and battle together from the jump, and it’s a joy to see their personalities intersect, alongside newcomers like the mysterious Sophie and the detective Zenkichi. There's no cliched resetting of powers or removing available party members to start things off on a less powerful note. But other than that, don’t expect to hear more about the story from me - much like Persona 5, some of the series’ greatest joys are meant to be discovered on your own, and I would never steal that as easily as the Phantom Thieves steal hearts. Instead, the most obvious change I want to talk about is the shift to a more Musou-style, real-time battle system as opposed to the acclaimed turn-based RPG stylings of Persona 5. Coming much more from the Persona side than from the Dynasty Warriors side of this unlikely marriage, Strikers most immediately impressed me by how well it translates the tenets of P5’s battle system into a different form and remains so fun and engaging. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/persona-5-strikers-official-announcement-trailer"] This is in part due to Strikers’ combat not being completely real-time. Sure, you’re running around a battlefield, hitting enemies with basic, special, and ranged gun attacks, but this is still a Persona game, and at any point you can summon your chosen character’s Persona to use their abilities mid-battle. Doing so pauses the chaos temporarily, allowing you to swing your character around (without moving from that spot), choose your target area and skill, and unleash your attacks at will. That simple ability to pause battle and use your powerful moves that also drain your SP gauge is so well implemented because these elemental-based attacks are often the key to winning a battle when used well. But the action never penalizes you for stopping to take a moment to think. And Strikers, at large, is quite forgiving. While you can bring various items into battle to heal, refill your SP, or nullify status effects, I often found myself running out of SP quite quickly. Strikers does run on a calendar system similar to Persona 5, but it moves forward in time based on story beats, rather than your actions, so you can hop out of Strikers’ Jails - a new twist on P5’s Palace dungeons - back into the real world to refill your stamina and health, and again into the metaverse without precious time elapsing. Strikers overall strips away the focus of having to really manage your time and make tough choices about whether you're hanging out with a friend, working a job, or infiltrating the metaverse. That's definitely a core aspect lost in translation, but given Strikers' overall structure, I wasn't necessarily missing out on having to make those tough calls here. And being able to hop out and then back into the Jails is especially helpful because, while Strikers’ general battles are relatively easy, the mid- and end-boss battles are surprisingly squishy, with plenty of health and defenses that require a ton of SP-powered attacks to break through and ensure victory. I certainly enjoyed these larger-scale battles, but don’t expect to simply button mash your way through them. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2017/03/29/persona-5-review"] But in any battle, Strikers offers a lot of freedom and options, which is both a blessing and a curse, even as a seasoned Persona 5 player. Every one of the Phantom Thieves from P5 is available from the jump, plus new character Sophie. With a party max of four, you can mix and match depending on Persona elemental powers, personality, or special attack variances, which differ between each character. It’s wonderful to have so much variety from the start, rather than the developers implementing any sort of cliched beat that would have removed teammates or powers, but because of that, you essentially get a quick tutorial screen and then are thrown right back into battle any time you choose to play as a character for the first time. This leads to a lot of experimentation with how those special moves can really make a difference - and I found they could when, say, using Ann’s special to imbue fire in her attacks is necessary because of the elemental advantage versus amusingly turning Morgana into a bus - but it’s definitely a bit like being thrown into the deep end. And that’s on top of all the other little bells and whistles present in the battle system, from ambushes to give you a head start as you jump into battle, to environmental attacks using objects around you, to all-out attacks and showtime moves to hit scores of enemies, and more. There’s A LOT - and it’s all present largely at the start. I loved discovering how each aspect worked and how best to use them in battle, but I’d totally admit even after six or seven hours of playing I was still wondering if I was using every move in my arsenal to the best of my ability, or if I was missing something, and that led to a couple battles of trial-and-error guesswork. Luckily, that worry aside didn’t prevent me from exploring every nook and cranny of the first Jail Strikers offers, which, like Persona 5's palaces, has treasures to pick up, hidden chests, and a host of environmental puzzles. The bright, carnival-esque aesthetic led to fascinating discoveries as I explored more of the world, and coupled with the fantastic returning and new musical tracks the action always maintained an exciting pace. I'm eagerly excited to jump into the next Jail and see where these new mysteries, new abilities, and the same classic team take me. Persona 5 Strikers smartly melds a lot of the systems, characters, and sheer style of Persona 5 onto a new mechanical template, but doesn’t lose out on any of the charm and delight inherent in the original. Strikers may not have been the Persona 5 sequel I expected, but it’s certainly one I can’t wait to keep playing. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jonathon Dornbush is IGN's Senior News Editor, host of Podcast Beyond!, and PlayStation lead. Talk to him on Twitter @jmdornbush.

Persona 5 Strikers may be the closest thing to a Persona 5-2 we will ever get, and though the Koei Tecmo co-developed follow-up eschews the turn-based battles of the acclaimed original RPG for something more akin to the Dynasty Warriors series, my experience with the opening hours of Strikers promises a worthy follow-up for the Phantom Thieves of Hearts. It’s one that retains all the style, character, and deep lore of the original that has this returning fan thrilled to see more adventures of Joker, Morgana, and the gang, even as I grapple with just how many new options the real-time action throws your way right from the start. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=persona-5-strikers-screenshots&captions=true"] As a returning fan, so much of the thrill of Strikers is getting to experience an all-new story with the returning cast, so rather than focus on the story beats of the opening six or so hours I played in Shibuya, I’ll limit myself to saying P5S hits the ground running. You could technically jump into Strikers without playing P5, which many players may be doing given that Strikers is coming to the Nintendo Switch and PC in addition to the PS4. But to do so would mean missing out on so much backstory, lore, and a deeper understanding of the main ensemble’s relationships... plus a fantastic 100-plus hour RPG. It is technically possible with this story focused on a new set of problems within the same world, but I think it would be a disservice to try to make sense of everything as you go. And rather than offer much recap, Strikers wonderfully lets the entire main cast hang out and battle together from the jump, and it’s a joy to see their personalities intersect, alongside newcomers like the mysterious Sophie and the detective Zenkichi. There's no cliched resetting of powers or removing available party members to start things off on a less powerful note. But other than that, don’t expect to hear more about the story from me - much like Persona 5, some of the series’ greatest joys are meant to be discovered on your own, and I would never steal that as easily as the Phantom Thieves steal hearts. Instead, the most obvious change I want to talk about is the shift to a more Musou-style, real-time battle system as opposed to the acclaimed turn-based RPG stylings of Persona 5. Coming much more from the Persona side than from the Dynasty Warriors side of this unlikely marriage, Strikers most immediately impressed me by how well it translates the tenets of P5’s battle system into a different form and remains so fun and engaging. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/persona-5-strikers-official-announcement-trailer"] This is in part due to Strikers’ combat not being completely real-time. Sure, you’re running around a battlefield, hitting enemies with basic, special, and ranged gun attacks, but this is still a Persona game, and at any point you can summon your chosen character’s Persona to use their abilities mid-battle. Doing so pauses the chaos temporarily, allowing you to swing your character around (without moving from that spot), choose your target area and skill, and unleash your attacks at will. That simple ability to pause battle and use your powerful moves that also drain your SP gauge is so well implemented because these elemental-based attacks are often the key to winning a battle when used well. But the action never penalizes you for stopping to take a moment to think. And Strikers, at large, is quite forgiving. While you can bring various items into battle to heal, refill your SP, or nullify status effects, I often found myself running out of SP quite quickly. Strikers does run on a calendar system similar to Persona 5, but it moves forward in time based on story beats, rather than your actions, so you can hop out of Strikers’ Jails - a new twist on P5’s Palace dungeons - back into the real world to refill your stamina and health, and again into the metaverse without precious time elapsing. Strikers overall strips away the focus of having to really manage your time and make tough choices about whether you're hanging out with a friend, working a job, or infiltrating the metaverse. That's definitely a core aspect lost in translation, but given Strikers' overall structure, I wasn't necessarily missing out on having to make those tough calls here. And being able to hop out and then back into the Jails is especially helpful because, while Strikers’ general battles are relatively easy, the mid- and end-boss battles are surprisingly squishy, with plenty of health and defenses that require a ton of SP-powered attacks to break through and ensure victory. I certainly enjoyed these larger-scale battles, but don’t expect to simply button mash your way through them. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2017/03/29/persona-5-review"] But in any battle, Strikers offers a lot of freedom and options, which is both a blessing and a curse, even as a seasoned Persona 5 player. Every one of the Phantom Thieves from P5 is available from the jump, plus new character Sophie. With a party max of four, you can mix and match depending on Persona elemental powers, personality, or special attack variances, which differ between each character. It’s wonderful to have so much variety from the start, rather than the developers implementing any sort of cliched beat that would have removed teammates or powers, but because of that, you essentially get a quick tutorial screen and then are thrown right back into battle any time you choose to play as a character for the first time. This leads to a lot of experimentation with how those special moves can really make a difference - and I found they could when, say, using Ann’s special to imbue fire in her attacks is necessary because of the elemental advantage versus amusingly turning Morgana into a bus - but it’s definitely a bit like being thrown into the deep end. And that’s on top of all the other little bells and whistles present in the battle system, from ambushes to give you a head start as you jump into battle, to environmental attacks using objects around you, to all-out attacks and showtime moves to hit scores of enemies, and more. There’s A LOT - and it’s all present largely at the start. I loved discovering how each aspect worked and how best to use them in battle, but I’d totally admit even after six or seven hours of playing I was still wondering if I was using every move in my arsenal to the best of my ability, or if I was missing something, and that led to a couple battles of trial-and-error guesswork. Luckily, that worry aside didn’t prevent me from exploring every nook and cranny of the first Jail Strikers offers, which, like Persona 5's palaces, has treasures to pick up, hidden chests, and a host of environmental puzzles. The bright, carnival-esque aesthetic led to fascinating discoveries as I explored more of the world, and coupled with the fantastic returning and new musical tracks the action always maintained an exciting pace. I'm eagerly excited to jump into the next Jail and see where these new mysteries, new abilities, and the same classic team take me. Persona 5 Strikers smartly melds a lot of the systems, characters, and sheer style of Persona 5 onto a new mechanical template, but doesn’t lose out on any of the charm and delight inherent in the original. Strikers may not have been the Persona 5 sequel I expected, but it’s certainly one I can’t wait to keep playing. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jonathon Dornbush is IGN's Senior News Editor, host of Podcast Beyond!, and PlayStation lead. Talk to him on Twitter @jmdornbush.

Nvidia has warned that supply of its RTX 30-series graphics cards will be low for the coming months, with an increase in availability not expected until at least after the first quarter of 2021. Speaking as part of the 19th Annual J.P. Morgan Tech/Auto Forum Conference (transcript available at Seeking Alpha), Nvidia’s chief financial officer, Colette Kress, said that keeping stock levels in line with customer demands had not been possible. Kress noted that there is not much stock available at current, and expects this to remain the case “throughout Q1”. With the first quarter ending in March, it means stock is likely to be short until at least April. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=nvidia-ces-2021-geforce-rtx-3060&captions=true"] “In order to talk about supply, we first have to discuss the demand. We did have an exceptional overall holiday season,” said Kress. “We did have an exceptional overall holiday season. Gaming demand is off the charts. Our overall Ampere architecture and ray tracing are really a true success. This demand has remained stronger for longer. So, supply does remain tight at this time.” “We expect the overall channel inventories, meaning the inventories that are with our AIC partners as well as in our e-tail and retail channels will likely remain lean throughout Q1. Our overall capacity has not been able to keep up with that overall strong demand that we have seen,” Kress added. Nvidia assured that it is “working each day to improve our overall supply situation”. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/09/16/nvidia-geforce-rtx-3080-founders-edition-review"] Likely fueled by a strong critical response, Nvidia’s RTX 30-series has been selling fast. Scalpers quickly cottoned on to the demand for Nvidia’s most powerful cards ever, and so have been a notable problem in the stranglehold on stock. There’s also the question of if many cards are being purchased to use for cryptocurrency mining, but Nvidia admitted to not knowing if this has genuinely contributed to the demand. The issue is likely to affect the forthcoming RTX 3060, which looks set to be the best affordable GPU the company has made in at least two generations. A better stock situation may be found in the company’s new 30-series laptop graphics processors, but of course that does mean investing in a whole new laptop. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer. 

Nvidia has warned that supply of its RTX 30-series graphics cards will be low for the coming months, with an increase in availability not expected until at least after the first quarter of 2021. Speaking as part of the 19th Annual J.P. Morgan Tech/Auto Forum Conference (transcript available at Seeking Alpha), Nvidia’s chief financial officer, Colette Kress, said that keeping stock levels in line with customer demands had not been possible. Kress noted that there is not much stock available at current, and expects this to remain the case “throughout Q1”. With the first quarter ending in March, it means stock is likely to be short until at least April. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=nvidia-ces-2021-geforce-rtx-3060&captions=true"] “In order to talk about supply, we first have to discuss the demand. We did have an exceptional overall holiday season,” said Kress. “We did have an exceptional overall holiday season. Gaming demand is off the charts. Our overall Ampere architecture and ray tracing are really a true success. This demand has remained stronger for longer. So, supply does remain tight at this time.” “We expect the overall channel inventories, meaning the inventories that are with our AIC partners as well as in our e-tail and retail channels will likely remain lean throughout Q1. Our overall capacity has not been able to keep up with that overall strong demand that we have seen,” Kress added. Nvidia assured that it is “working each day to improve our overall supply situation”. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/09/16/nvidia-geforce-rtx-3080-founders-edition-review"] Likely fueled by a strong critical response, Nvidia’s RTX 30-series has been selling fast. Scalpers quickly cottoned on to the demand for Nvidia’s most powerful cards ever, and so have been a notable problem in the stranglehold on stock. There’s also the question of if many cards are being purchased to use for cryptocurrency mining, but Nvidia admitted to not knowing if this has genuinely contributed to the demand. The issue is likely to affect the forthcoming RTX 3060, which looks set to be the best affordable GPU the company has made in at least two generations. A better stock situation may be found in the company’s new 30-series laptop graphics processors, but of course that does mean investing in a whole new laptop. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer. 

Nintendo Switch was the number one console in the US in 2020, for both units sold and dollars made – and had the second-best year for dollar sales in US console history, only trailing the Wii's spectacular 2008. The NPD's Mat Piscatella revealed the facts on Twitter, as part of a breakdown of December 2020 video game sales. During last month, spending across hardware, content and accessories hit $7.7 billion – a 25% rise, year-on-year – with $1.35 billion of that coming from hardware. Piscatella revealed that Switch was the best seller in both units sold and money made during that month, capping off an incredible year for the Nintendo handheld, which gives it the second-highest yearly dollar sales in US history.

US NPD HW - Nintendo Switch was the best-selling hardware platform in units and dollars for both December and the 2020 year. Annual dollar sales of Switch hardware were the 2nd highest for a platform in U.S. history. Only the 2008 dollar sales of Nintendo Wii were higher.

— Mat Piscatella (@MatPiscatella) January 15, 2021

That's a feat made more remarkable by the fact that there were comparatively few major Switch releases during the year, besides the admittedly huge success of Animal Crossing: New Horizons. PlayStation 5 came in as the second best-selling console for dollar sales, with PS4 ranking at second for units sold. PS5 made more money in its first December than any previous PlayStation system did during the same period in the US. The NPD's stats say that Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War became the US' best-selling game of December, and 2020 as a whole. In second place? Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. However, Animal Crossing: New Horizons – which sits in third – includes no digital sales figures, meaning it could well be placed higher in actuality. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/nintendo-reveals-mario-special-edition-switch-console-ign-news"] With what could be a much busier year ahead for Nintendo, not to mention persistent rumours of a Switch Pro model to be announced, it'll be very interesting to see if Switch can continue that momentum – particularly as the PS5 and Xbox Series platforms begin to see more exclusives emerge. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Nintendo Switch was the number one console in the US in 2020, for both units sold and dollars made – and had the second-best year for dollar sales in US console history, only trailing the Wii's spectacular 2008. The NPD's Mat Piscatella revealed the facts on Twitter, as part of a breakdown of December 2020 video game sales. During last month, spending across hardware, content and accessories hit $7.7 billion – a 25% rise, year-on-year – with $1.35 billion of that coming from hardware. Piscatella revealed that Switch was the best seller in both units sold and money made during that month, capping off an incredible year for the Nintendo handheld, which gives it the second-highest yearly dollar sales in US history.

US NPD HW - Nintendo Switch was the best-selling hardware platform in units and dollars for both December and the 2020 year. Annual dollar sales of Switch hardware were the 2nd highest for a platform in U.S. history. Only the 2008 dollar sales of Nintendo Wii were higher.

— Mat Piscatella (@MatPiscatella) January 15, 2021

That's a feat made more remarkable by the fact that there were comparatively few major Switch releases during the year, besides the admittedly huge success of Animal Crossing: New Horizons. PlayStation 5 came in as the second best-selling console for dollar sales, with PS4 ranking at second for units sold. PS5 made more money in its first December than any previous PlayStation system did during the same period in the US. The NPD's stats say that Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War became the US' best-selling game of December, and 2020 as a whole. In second place? Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. However, Animal Crossing: New Horizons – which sits in third – includes no digital sales figures, meaning it could well be placed higher in actuality. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/nintendo-reveals-mario-special-edition-switch-console-ign-news"] With what could be a much busier year ahead for Nintendo, not to mention persistent rumours of a Switch Pro model to be announced, it'll be very interesting to see if Switch can continue that momentum – particularly as the PS5 and Xbox Series platforms begin to see more exclusives emerge. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Blizzard has given its game launcher, Battle.Net, a new visual design, marking its first major overhaul in eight years. It’s available now for some players in North America, and will be gradually rolled out to other users over the coming weeks. The new design repositions games from the left-hand sidebar to a row of icons across the top of the window, allowing for more space to be taken up by the game page, which features the latest news and updates on the relevant title. The friends and social bar has also been permanently affixed to the right hand side of the window, rather than being a separate app that opens akin to Steam’s friends list. Interestingly, Blizzard’s screenshot of the new ‘Battle.net 2.0’ interface shows the blue Battle.net logo in the upper left corner of the window. Back in 2017, Blizzard renamed Battle.net to Blizzard App, and replaced the logo with the Blizzard logo. Just months later the company did a bit of a U-turn on the name and rebranded the launcher as Blizzard Battle.net, but never replaced the Blizzard logo with the old Battle.net one. It’s good to see it finally making a return to its rightful home in this 2.0 overhaul. As previously noted, the redesign is currently only available to some users in North America. Other territories will get the new launcher in the coming weeks. If you’re in NA and haven’t received the update, you can opt to use the beta version in the settings menu of Battle.net. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2015/11/09/overwatch-official-gameplay-trailer-2"] Battle.net is, of course, the home of Blizzard’s stable of games, and will one day be updated with Overwatch 2, which will be at BlizzCon in February. We’ll also be hoping to see more from Diablo 4 and its new features, too. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer. 

Blizzard has given its game launcher, Battle.Net, a new visual design, marking its first major overhaul in eight years. It’s available now for some players in North America, and will be gradually rolled out to other users over the coming weeks. The new design repositions games from the left-hand sidebar to a row of icons across the top of the window, allowing for more space to be taken up by the game page, which features the latest news and updates on the relevant title. The friends and social bar has also been permanently affixed to the right hand side of the window, rather than being a separate app that opens akin to Steam’s friends list. Interestingly, Blizzard’s screenshot of the new ‘Battle.net 2.0’ interface shows the blue Battle.net logo in the upper left corner of the window. Back in 2017, Blizzard renamed Battle.net to Blizzard App, and replaced the logo with the Blizzard logo. Just months later the company did a bit of a U-turn on the name and rebranded the launcher as Blizzard Battle.net, but never replaced the Blizzard logo with the old Battle.net one. It’s good to see it finally making a return to its rightful home in this 2.0 overhaul. As previously noted, the redesign is currently only available to some users in North America. Other territories will get the new launcher in the coming weeks. If you’re in NA and haven’t received the update, you can opt to use the beta version in the settings menu of Battle.net. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2015/11/09/overwatch-official-gameplay-trailer-2"] Battle.net is, of course, the home of Blizzard’s stable of games, and will one day be updated with Overwatch 2, which will be at BlizzCon in February. We’ll also be hoping to see more from Diablo 4 and its new features, too. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer.