Nintendo's Fall Guys-style party game, Kirby's Dream Buffet, will be released next week on August 17.

The game was only announced last month with a summer 2022 release window but Nintendo confirmed via a tweet (below) that the game is already right around the corner.

A new trailer was also released alongside the release date announcement, and it shows off some of the costumes and colours available to unlock through playing the game. Players can also customise their starting podium after unlocking new options and even be granted new stages.

Pack some snacks and hit the tracks! #KirbysDreamBuffet is coming to #NintendoSwitch 17/08!

Watch the latest trailer to find out what delicious delights that await you. pic.twitter.com/IxjK6vuw7s

— Nintendo UK (@NintendoUK) August 11, 2022

Alongside a handful of other new gameplay clips, the trailer also shows off the local multiplayer modes. Kirby's Dream Buffet can be played both in split-screen and between multiple Nintendo Switches in the same room.

The game sees players race downhill against others either locally or online as they aim to eat as many strawberries as possible and pick up speed as they grow.

This will be the second Kirby game to be released for Nintendo Switch this year, with Kirby and the Forgotten Land having launched in March. Nintendo had promised a variety of other Kirby announcements were coming as the franchise is celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2022, and Dream Buffet appears to be one of them.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

NBA 2K23 is seeking to perfectly simulate the look, feel, and action of 1980s and 1990s basketball by recreating superstar Michael Jordan’s most iconic moments in the Jordan Challenges.

These include Jordan’s game-winner in the 1982 NCAA National Championship, “the shot” over the Utah Jazz that won him his sixth and final NBA title in 1998, plus other signature match-ups from his career against the likes of Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, and the Bad Boy Pistons.

The challenges won’t be played on modern NBA courts, or even on classic courts with modern commentary, as each moment features a complete overhaul of the visuals and sound to recreate the broadcast coverage at the time.

Gameplay will also change to match the more physical era of basketball, meaning what feels like a foul in modern-day NBA 2K may not be called as one in these challenges. A heavier focus also falls on the post and mid-range game, and players will seek to make cuts to the basket more instead of spotting up for a three-point shot like they do today.

“The Jordan Challenge is an immersive experience unlike anything NBA 2K fans have seen, completely rebuilding the challenges from 2K11 and adding five new moments,” said Erick Boenisch, VP of NBA development at 2K and Visual Concepts.

“Our team took everything into consideration when constructing this game mode, from the arenas, the players, the uniforms, the broadcast, and the play style of the era have been accounted for in an effort to give fans a truly authentic 1980s playable experience.”

Jordan graces the cover of NBA 2K23’s aptly named Michael Jordan Edition and the limited Championship Edition, while Diana Taurasi and Sue Bird feature on the WNBA edition and Devin Booker appears on the standard.

The game will be released on September 9 for PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One and Series, and Nintendo Switch. It’s also coming to PC, though this is still the last-gen version despite significant fan outcry.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

Doom and Quake developer id Software is bundling multiple versions of its games together on Steam to make finding and buying them a little less confusing.

The developer explained in a blog post that it will no longer list several copies of the same game on Steam but instead include each version under the one main title.

Doom II, for example, was previously available in four different forms: Doom II, Doom II (Enhanced), Master Levels for Doom II, and Final Doom. Following the change made on August 10, however, all of these games will be included simply under the Steam listing for Doom II.

Ultimate Doom has been rebranded as Doom (1993), and the same consolidation treatment has taken place for Doom 3, plus Quake II and Quake III Arena. Id Software has also updated its collections so that the Classic Bundle now includes Doom (1993) through to Doom 64 and the Franchise Bundle includes these plus the modern day Doom (2016) and Doom Eternal.

"Spanning across multiple decades, id Software’s library of work is as vast as it is full of amazing games," the post said. "However, this means a number of the id’s offerings have been released or reiterated in ways that can make our digital storefronts a touch confusing.

"Rather than write out the differences between Final Doom, Ultimate Doom and just Doom, we’re consolidating our Steam library of titles. For those id Software experts that do know all the variations of our games released on Steam, bear with us as we simplify how our games appear so that newcomers have an easier time."

The different versions that have been delisted as a result of the consolidation will still be available to those who've already purchased them but will no longer appear on Steam's storefront.

The latest Doom game, Doom Eternal, is arguably one of the series' best as IGN said it was amazing in our 9/10 review. The original game, meanwhile, has been modded into a number of weird and wacky devices, as the game has now been played on a McDonald's kiosk, on Twitter, a pregnancy test, and even within Doom itself.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

It turns out that Star Wars: Andor and The Bourne Identity have a lot in common. During an interview with Total Film, Andor showrunner Tony Gilroy explained how his work on the Bourne franchise inspired his upcoming Star Wars show.

Discussing his work on the Bourne films (on which he wrote the screenplays for the first four, as well as directed The Bourne Legacy) Gilroy said, “I had been trying to get people to make an acoustic action movie, because action movies had gotten so bombastic in the ’80s, they were just enormous. So, when Bourne came along, we went way down to nothing.”

The Bourne Identity saw Matt Damon step up as Jason Bourne – a highly-trained former assassin whose amnesia hid a clandestine conspiracy within the CIA. It was a huge hit, spawning multiple sequels, and it was all about going back to basics.

"It was about making it real,” said Gilroy. “Keeping someone you really understand and really care about in a place that you understand the geography of, with stakes, is much more involving than a guy on a train with 15 machine guns and a helicopter coming down. That aesthetic, that idea, does carry over to Andor because we are on the ground with these people, so that everything that we do has an intimacy and an acoustic nature to it within the grandeur of Star Wars.”

Gilroy was also scriptwriter for Star Wars: Rogue One, and you can see similar thinking here. The Star Wars spin-off introduced the rebel pilot and intelligence officer, Cassian Andor, and with a rag-tag crew assembled from the far reaches of the galaxy far, far away, there’s no doubt that this was a film about the people on the ground.

Now, it looks as though Andor will take that concept and run with it.

“It’s an adventure story,” he explained. “It’s one man’s odyssey through the center [of the story] and then all these peripheral characters surrounding him and spinning around. I mean, God, it’s looking to be entertaining. It’s heavy material, heavy things are happening, but it’s an adventure story, too.”

Whether or not we’ll see Andor take on a thrilling speeder bike chase or take down a target with nothing but a credit chit remains to be seen. But if it’s anything like the Bourne movies, we’re in for a real treat.

Want to read more about Andor? Find out why the loveable droid K-2SO won’t be in the prequel series, and find out which period of galactic history Andor will cover.

Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

Scream star Neve Campbell has shed light on her decision to leave the widely popular slasher franchise, admitting that salary negotiations triggered her departure.

In a new interview with People, Campbell addressed her decision to cut ties with the Scream franchise and not return to reprise her role as Sidney Prescott in the upcoming sixth installment. The actress explained that she received an offer that she felt "did not equate to the value" she has brought to the franchise for the past 25 years, so she decided to stand her ground and step back from the next movie.

"As a woman in this business, I think it's really important for us to be valued and to fight to be valued," Campbell said, further explaining the reason behind her exit. "I honestly don't believe that if I were a man and had done five installments of a huge blockbuster franchise over 25 years, that the number that I was offered would be the number that would be offered to a man.

"And in my soul, I just couldn't do that," added Campbell, who currently stars in The Lincoln Lawyer on Netflix. "I couldn't walk on set feeling that — feeling undervalued and feeling the unfairness, or lack of fairness, around that."

Campbell has starred as Sidney in every installment of the franchise to date, including this year's Scream, which was released in January. She admitted that it was "sad" to walk away but it was the best decision for her, adding: "I love these movies. I love Sidney. I love this franchise; I'm so grateful for it. But at the same time, I really just couldn't bear the idea of walking onto [the sixth film] and feeling undervalued."

The actress revealed in June that she would not be returning for Scream 6 despite reuniting with the cast on the fifth movie. "Sadly I won't be making the next Scream film," she said. "As a woman, I have had to work extremely hard in my career to establish my value, especially when it comes to Scream. I felt the offer that was presented to me did not equate to the value I have brought to the franchise.

"It's been a very difficult decision to move on," Campbell added. "To all my Scream fans, I love you. You've always been so incredibly supportive to me. I'm forever grateful to you and to what this franchise has given me over the past 25 years."

While Campbell won't be subjected to Ghostface's next round of terror, Jenna Ortega will be back as Tara Carpenter alongside Courtney Cox who is reprising her role as Gale Weathers, a character that she has played in every iteration of the film series so far. Hayden Panettiere will also be making a return as Kirby Reed, a fan-favorite character from Scream 4, who Ortega says will "redeem herself" in the next movie.

Production on Scream 6 is currently underway, as the film is slated to be released early next year. Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett are directing the movie from a script written by James Vanderbilt and Guy Busick. Vanderbilt is also serving as a producer alongside Paul Neinstein and William Sherak. Kevin Williamson is executive producing with Gary Barber, Peter Oillataguerre, and Chad Villella.

Campbell, on the other hand, will next appear in Peacock's live-action video game adaptation of Twisted Metal. She has joined the cast alongside Anthony Mackie, Stephanie Beatriz, Thomas Haden Church, and Will Arnett. There's no word yet on when the series will be released, but reports have suggested that Sony is going to revive the Twisted Metal video game series to further bolster the TV project.

Adele Ankers-Range is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow her on Twitter.

Elite: Dangerous director and founder of Frontier Developments David Braben has stepped down as the company's CEO after holding the role for 28 years.

As reported by GI.biz, Braben will remain as the studio president and founder but will be replaced in the CEO position by chief creative officer Jonny Watts. He will still be a highly influential figure at the developer, however, as Frontier said Braben is still an "executive director" and will "retain his leadership and vision for Frontier's strategic direction".

"Frontier is very important to me and I am delighted to be able to pass on my CEO responsibilities to the exceptionally talented Jonny Watts, who I know will do a terrific job," Braben said.

"He has the perfect combination of creative leadership and gaming vision to build on the excellent momentum in the business. I am looking forward to my new role at Frontier, and this change enables me to focus on our longer-term strategic opportunities."

Watts was credited as a key figure in the company's recent successes including unaudited record revenue of £111 million in FY 2022. He's also been at the company for a significant amount of time, originally starting in 1998 as a software developer before rising through the ranks and eventually becoming CCO in 2012.

"I am excited to step up and lead Frontier into the next chapter of our growth," Watts said. "We have an amazing team and an exceptional culture of high-quality creativity and inclusivity. I’m looking forward to working with David and the wider Board to take us to still greater success."

Braben became a British game developer star back in 1984 when he co-designed the original Elite with Ian Bell. In 1994 he set up Frontier Developments, and the studio's first game was Frontier: First Encounters, a direct sequel to Frontier: Elite 2. Braben would then return to the series in 2014 for the ongoing Elite: Dangerous. But Braben's tenure as CEO at Frontier has produced more than just the Elite series; the studio is also well known for theme park simulation games including RollerCoaster Tycoon, Zoo Tycoon, Jurassic World Evolution, Planet Coaster, and more.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

Warning: this article contains spoilers for The Sandman Season 1, episode 4.

The Sandman creator Neil Gaiman already has some ideas for Season 2.

During an interview with Total Film, the 61-year-old author revealed what he wants to include in the next story arc of The Sandman (if it gets made, of course).

“Season two would essentially begin with the Lucifer/Morpheus rematch,” he revealed. “The rematch to end all rematches. Lucifer is not going to let things end in the way that Lucifer let things end at the end of episode 4, this is going to go so much darker – but it's also going to go to places that people are not expecting.”

The Sandman debuted on Netflix just a few days ago, seeing Tom Sturridge take the role of Morpheus (aka Dream) – the personification of dreams.

But after he’s released from a 100-year-old spell imprisoning him, Morpheus is forced to traverse the various cosmic worlds to reclaim the tools of his trade… leading him straight to hell when he finds out that his missing helmet has been nabbed by a demon.

That demon, Choronzon, suggests that they fight for it, and nominates Lucifer in his place as champion. What results is a fight between cosmic entities. Not exactly a bare-knuckle brawl, either – instead, they inflict harm upon one another by summoning imaginative entities. A hunter beats a wolf, and so on. But there’s a lot more to Lucifer that Gaiman wants to delve into in season two.

“The Silver City is the place where the angels live,” he explained. “Lucifer is very much a fallen angel and you get that amazing Gwendoline Christie beauty, and presence, and gloriousness. But the idea of actually getting to meet some honest-to-goodness angels from the Silver City? That would definitely be something we would want to have happen.”

Whether or not we’ll get to see that rematch remains to be seen. After all, The Sandman Season 2 is yet to be greenlit. But I get the feeling there’s life in the old cosmic being yet.

Want to read more about The Sandman? Check out our full review of The Sandman Season One and what the season finale really means.

Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

House of the Dragon, the highly-anticipated prequel to Game Of Thrones, will soon be upon us. And (unlike the first few seasons of GoT) we wil be able to watch it legally in Australia at the same time as it premieres in the US. No downloading or VPN required!

Stream House of the Dragon in Australia

House of the Dragon will be available to stream in Australia on Binge, and the first episode drops at 11.00am (AEST). New episodes will drop every week, for the 10-episode first season, starting August 22.

Binge subscriptions start at $10/month for SD, and $16/month for HD. There is a 14-day free trial available to new users.

More: Aussie Streaming Guide: The Best TV & Movies for August on Netflix, Disney, Prime and Binge!

Inside the Targaryen family history

House of The Dragon is based on George R.R. Martin's spin-off book, Fire & Blood, which tells the story of the Targaryen family in the style of a history book. However, the series will differ from the original book. In an interview with IGN (below) co-showrunners Ryan Condal and Miguel Sapochnik discuss their approach, saying: "The fun of this show is that it plays as a bit of a companion piece to the history book."

The series features a star-studded cast, including Aussies Milly Alcock as young Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, and Ryan Corr as Ser Harwin ‘Breakbones’ Strong.

The bill also includes includes Paddy Considine, Matt Smith, Olivia Cooke, Emma D’Arcy, Steve Toussaint, Eve Best, Sonoya Mizuno, Fabien Frankel and Rhys Ifans.

Check out the trailer below.

House of the Dragon, the highly-anticipated prequel to Game Of Thrones, will soon be upon us. And (unlike the first few seasons of GoT) we wil be able to watch it legally in Australia at the same time as it premieres in the US. No downloading or VPN required!

Stream House of the Dragon in Australia

House of the Dragon will be available to stream in Australia exclusively on Binge, and the first episode drops at 11.00am (AEST). New episodes will drop every week, for the 10-episode first season.

Binge subscriptions start at $10/month for SD, and $16/month for HD. There is a 14-day free trial available to new users.

More: Aussie Streaming Guide: The Best TV & Movies for August on Netflix, Disney, Prime and Binge!

Inside the Targaryen family history

House of The Dragon is based on George R.R. Martin's spin-off book, Fire & Blood, which tells the story of the Targaryen family in the style of a history book. However, the series will differ from the original book. In an interview with IGN (below) co-showrunners Ryan Condal and Miguel Sapochnik discuss their approach, saying: "The fun of this show is that it plays as a bit of a companion piece to the history book."

The series features a star-studded cast, including Aussies Milly Alcock as young Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, and Ryan Corr as Ser Harwin ‘Breakbones’ Strong.

The bill also includes includes Paddy Considine, Matt Smith, Olivia Cooke, Emma D’Arcy, Steve Toussaint, Eve Best, Sonoya Mizuno, Fabien Frankel and Rhys Ifans.

Check out the trailer below.

Game of Thrones creator George R. R. Martin wasn’t so involved in later seasons of the show.

During an interview with the New York Times, the 73-year-old author revealed that he wasn’t kept up to date by the final seasons of the hit HBO fantasy series.

“By Season 5 and 6, and certainly 7 and 8, I was pretty much out of the loop,” he revealed. Asked why he became estranged from the show, he simply replied: “I don’t know — you have to ask Dan and David.”

This is a remarkable turnaround when compared to the early seasons of the show, on which Martin consulted. He was heavily involved in most aspects of Game of Thrones, from the show’s scripts to its casting. The report says David Benioff and D.B. Weiss declined to comment.

If you ask fans of the novels, they’d likely tell you that Martin's waning involvement could be felt throughout later seasons of the show. But Martin did previously admit that he was involved in at least “conversations” about the show’s ending.

“I don't think Dan and Dave's ending is gonna be that different from my ending because of the conversations we did have,” he said. “But they may be on certain secondary characters, there may be big differences. There's no way to get in all the detail, all the minor characters, all the secondary characters.”

Thankfully, Martin has been a lot more hands-on with the upcoming prequel, House of the Dragon.

“George, for us, in this process has been a really valuable resource,” said HBO’s chief content officer Casey Bloys. “He is literally the creator of this world. He is its historian, its creator, its keeper. And so I can’t imagine doing a show that he didn’t believe in or didn’t endorse.”

Whether or not Martin will remain as involved in House of the Dragon as the show progresses remains to be seen. But for the time being, it looks as though it’s got his approval.

Want to read more about House of the Dragon? Check out how the upcoming Game of Thrones prequel will differ from the books, and check out some of HBO’s unused prequel ideas.

Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.