The NPD Group has announced that the Nintendo Switch was the best-selling console in the US during November 2021. Not only that, but the console remains the US' best-selling console of 2021.

In the analyst group's latest data, the Switch was reported as being the best-selling hardware platform in November, both in terms of units sold and dollars spent. 1.13 million consoles were sold during the month, with 550,000 of them sold during Thanksgiving week.

This comes despite a colossal year-on-year decline for hardware sales; November hardware spending is down 38%, to $883m. This is the lowest total since November 2016. This is blamed on a lack of available console inventory, which is a symptom of the ongoing chip shortages.

Senior analyst at Niko Partners, Daniel Ahmad, notes that the PS5 and Xbox sales combined barely equals what Switch has sold in total, and that total sales of PS4, Xbox One, and Wii U back in November 2014 were higher than Switch, PS5, and Xbox Series consoles this November.

If you want to know how bad the supply situation is:

- The Switch sold less than November last year
- PS5 + Xbox barely = what Switch sold in total
- The PS4, XB1 and Wii U (yes Wii U) sold more in Nov 2014 than Switch + PS5 + Xbox Series in Nov 2021. https://t.co/pX6rpKb8Nk

— Daniel Ahmad (@ZhugeEX) December 13, 2021

As for games, Call of Duty: Vanguard was November's best-selling game in the US, and has become the second-best selling game of the year. It's second only to its predecessor, 2020's Black Ops Cold War, which has been the biggest game of the year in the US. NDP's analysis notes that this is the fourteenth year Call of Duty has been the best-selling game in its release month.

For more from Nintendo, check out the news that Paper Mario is coming to Nintendo Switch Online, and where PS5, Xbox Series X, and Switch rank among the best-selling consoles.

Regardless of how you felt about it, Final Fantasy 15 was certainly an eccentric take on the classic JRPG series when it combined hallmarks of the fantasy genre with an American road trip. The developers behind FF15 are now working under the banner Luminous Productions, and are taking a similar, genre-bending approach to their next game, Forspoken.

Luminous Productions was founded in 2018 and is primarily staffed by the developers of Final Fantasy 15. A rare internal studio within Square Enix’s many development teams, it was formed to create games that push the boundaries of the Luminous Engine. Enter Forspoken.

In a hands-off presentation, IGN was able to get a better sense of what Forspoken is. And, to be perfectly frank, it looks more like an open-world RPG in the vein of Assassin’s Creed and The Witcher than anything I’ve previously seen from Square Enix.

Speaking with IGN, Forspoken director Takefumi Terada explains that the open-world gameplay will reflect one of Luminous’ themes as a studio. “When you look back to Luminous Productions and kind of a core concept or theme for the studio, it is to really blend art and technology,” Terada says.

“So the goals are quite high as far as developing an open-world game that achieves the highest heights, essentially. Through Forspoken, we believe we’ve been able to incorporate our concept for the studio and showcase that to a certain degree”

While Terada says there’s room to grow, Forspoken will serve as a showcase for the studio in terms of the quality Luminous can bring to the gaming landscape.

The presentation was hands-off, but the gameplay we saw will be familiar to anyone who has played a modern open-world RPG. Protagonist Frey is seen traversing overland to various waypoints and mission markers. There appear to be several points of interests Frey can explore and no limit to where she can or can’t venture towards.

Along the way, Frey will encounter various enemies and monsters in the wild. Combat is completely real-time and primarily magic-based. Frey can cycle through a collection of magic spells and fight enemies with a variety of long-range and close-range attacks, whether that’s firing lightning bolts from afar or dashing close to hit enemies with a magic sword.

The Luminous Engine certainly appears to be putting in the work, especially during the combat animations that mix all kinds of elemental effects like water, lightning, and fire. Visually, Forspoken looks to be shaping up to Luminous’ goal of achieving tech-driven visuals.

While the powers are all from fantasy, your player character is a different kind of protagonist. Frey Holland (played by Ella Balinska) is a troubled girl from New York City. While struggling in our world, Frey is mysteriously transported to a fantasy realm called Athia where she gains powers through a sentient bracelet named Cuff.

The idea was created by writer Gary Whitta (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) and later included contributions from Uncharted’s Amy Hennig and finally Allison Rymer and Todd Stashwick. The premise, of a person in the real world being transported to a fantastical land, is a hot genre right now in Japanese anime and manga called Isekai, but Luminous says the inspirations for Forspoken predate the trend.

“We’re well aware there’s this popular kind of sub-genre, especially within Japanese anime and stuff," says Luminous creative producer Raio Mitsuno. "But at the time, I mean when you really thinking back about it, like there’s been a lot of fantasy novels and works like [The Chronicles of] Narnia and Alice in Wonderland that dealt with these kinds of fish out of water type stories.”

Mixing and matching a fantasy world with a New York heroine certainly is a vibe, as they say. While Athia is filled with magical jargon like the Break — a dark blight that’s corrupting the world when Frey joins; and Tantas — a group of evil sorceresses who rule over Athia, Frey is not cut from this same cloth. Frey won’t spout fantasy-tinged monologues; she’s a bit of a potty-mouth, cussing at enemies while blasting them with magical powers.

The upgrade system, too, is unconventional. While Frey will be able to improve her powers and stats by upgrading her cloak, she can also gain special abilities and buffs using magical nail polish. Overworld travel is also done using magical parkour, which lets Frey cover large distances on foot, dashing across fields or jumping to high locations.

I like this kind of off-kilter take on the JRPG formula, just like how I enjoyed the road trip flavor of Final Fantasy 15. It won’t be for everyone, particularly purists, but it’s new even if maybe just a slight cringe. But I’m willing to take this ride if only to see what Luminous Productions has up their sleeves for their first official outing.

Matt T.M. Kim is IGN's News Editor. You can reach him @lawoftd.

The Wild Hunt is mentioned multiple times throughout Netflix’s The Witcher. It’s referenced in the pilot episode, and has several nods through this year’s second season. One day it will arrive, and change Geralt’s world forever. But for now, it’s a looming threat, much like Thanos was for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

At a recent press junket, IGN asked The Witcher showrunner and Executive Producer, Lauren Schmidt Hissrich, if The Wild Hunt is the show’s Thanos. “Completely,” she said.

“What I love, and this is how it's set up in the books too, is that the Wild Hunt is a ‘portent of doom',” she said. “They're always just mentioned when war is coming, or a battle is on the horizon. And so they have this air of evil mystery around them. What we're going to start doing [in the show] is beginning to understand where they came from and what they want. And so, like all characters in Sapkowski novels, we're going to get a little bit deeper into them so they're not just the evil skeletal bad guys.”

Hissrich says that part of the reason the Wild Hunt has been seeded so early is that it helps communicate to fans that the team knows what is important. “We wanted to make sure we mentioned the Wild Hunt in season one, for instance,” she said. “It's in the pilot, so that we can say ‘We hear you fans, we know that this is a big deal.’ The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, it's what the fans know. But we're not ready to get to it yet.”

Building up to the Wild Hunt’s eventual introduction requires careful planning, but Hissrich notes that not everything has been placed deliberately.

“I would love to say that all of that is planned out perfectly,” she said. “Some of it is, there are things that obviously we knew we wanted to tell over the first couple of seasons. Sometimes, though, it's pure coincidence. There are things that I look back on in season one and I think ‘Thank God someone threw that line in there’, and we've continued to play with it and expand it in later series.”

For more from The Witcher, check out our season 2 review, as well as Henry Cavill talking The Witcher 3: Blood & Wine and what characters he'd like to play in a Warhammer show.

Henry Cavill has said that he’d like to be part of a Warhammer TV show or movie, should a live-action project ever happen.

Talking to IGN at a recent press event for The Witcher, Cavill said, “There are a lot of characters from the Warhammer universe that I want to be. But I can only really be one, because once I'm one, then I can't be others. So if it were to ever happen, if there were to be anything live action, I would have to be very aware of that.

“[Warhammer] is obviously character rich, and especially the 40K universe,” he continued. “I suppose I could play a different character from the Warhammer Fantasy universe versus the 40K universe, but I'm now just dreaming. I'd have to speak to the guys at Games Workshop and see what happens.”

When suggested that he’d make a good Gregor Eisenhorn, a character from a trilogy of Warhammer 40,000 Inquisitor books written by Dan Abnett, Cavill said, “That would be exciting, yes, but then I burn Primarchs, and the Captain-Generals, so I don't really know.”

Captain-General is the most senior rank of the Adeptus Custodes, the elite bodyguards of the Emperor of Mankind in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. Cavill himself collects and paints Adeptus Custodes miniatures, as revealed in a photo the actor uploaded to Instagram last year. The Primarchs, meanwhile, are the fathers of the iconic Space Marines. Fans of the Horus Heresy series of books may find it easy to imagine Cavill as Roboute Guilliman, Rogal Dorn, or, since he seems to be fond of his Witcher wig, perhaps even Leman Russ.

Henry Cavill has mentioned his love of Games Workshop’s sci-fi universe before, having pointed out that a chandelier on The Witcher season 2 set looks like a Blackstone Fortress. He’s also a fan of the Fantasy side of the hobby, and is even an Easter egg in Total War: Warhammer 2.

Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer.

The cast and showrunner of The Witcher have spoken about the future direction of the show’s planned seven seasons, and how the original novels will always be the guiding light.

Talking to IGN, The Witcher showrunner and Executive Producer, Lauren Schmidt Hissrich, said of the seven season plan, “It would be a straight translation of the books… I think there's just so much material that I don't feel the need to start inventing my own to keep it going.”

“We really try to stick to a book a season,” she elaborated. “We did combine some of the short stories for the first season, and there are things in the short stories that we want to continue to return to, because there was just too much good material to tell in eight episodes. So for instance, that's why we did A Grain of Truth at the beginning of this season, and it's our hope to keep peppering those in as we go.”

“For me, it is all about the books,” said Henry Cavill, who plays Geralt of Rivia. “The books are so nuanced, and there is so much complexity to the characters in there that it is ultimately that. As far as the show goes, I just want to make sure that the character and the books are done justice in live action, because I'm always of the mind that if it's not broken, don't try and fix it. And I don't think they're broken, and I absolutely love those books. For me, that's my focus.”

“If there are things that happen after that, then exciting things to explore as well,” Cavill continued. “Because it's a fantasy world and we don't quite know what happens to Geralt at the end of the books. There's a strong suggestion, but then we also have the games, which have happened after the books, and then the games all have different endings as well, so maybe something happens after that? Maybe something has happened before that? I've actually heard that Sapkowski spoke once about writing another book, and whether it was just going to be a solo adventure of Geralt or something else I do not know, but that could be interesting to explore as well.”

As far as Hissrich is concerned, any exploration beyond the books would likely come in one of the spin-off shows. “I think that one of the beauties of building out a Witcher universe is that you can actually use those spin-offs to do slightly different things than the books did,” she said. “But to me that actually makes it even more important that in the mothership series we always stick to what Sapkowski intended. To me, I just don't think it's my responsibility to continue those stories when he clearly felt there was a natural ending.”

Henry Cavill has previously said that he is committed to playing Geralt until that ending, and Yennefer and Jaskier actors Anya Chalotra and Joey Batey are on-board, too. “I'd follow Lauren to the ends of the Earth,” said Batey. “This show has given me so much, I would support the show and be in it until the end,” added Chalotra.

Chalotra is unsure exactly where Yennefer’s story will take her over the planned seven seasons, due to the amount of original material included. “From the books we all know where it's headed, and I just can't wait to kind of fulfill that and enhance those character's storylines. A lot of Yennefer's storylines have been created, so anything's possible really.”

The same can be said for Jaskier, which makes Batey excited for what’s to come. “I think Lauren [Scmidt Hissrich] gets to have fun with some of the characters we don't see as much in the books,” he says. “And so the writing team get to go 'Ah! Fun, where do we put them in this world?'. So I'm keen for the surprises.”

Freya Allen, who plays Ciri, has one thing she definitely wants to achieve before the seven seasons are done. “One thing I definitely want is for her to finally get a nice silver sword rather than this wooden stick that she's currently got,” she says. “And I want to see her fight monsters and fight people.”

For more from The Witcher, check out the plan for introducing The Wild Hunt into the show, as well as Henry Cavill saying he’d like Blood & Wine’s Toussaint region to feature in the show. We’ve also got Henry Cavill talking about characters he’d like to play in a Warhammer show, and our The Witcher season 2 review.

Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer.

Henry Cavill has said that he thinks Toussaint would be a good location for future storylines in The Witcher Netflix show to explore.

Talking to IGN at a recent press event for The Witcher, Cavill spoke about where the show could go beyond adapting the novels of Witcher author Andrzej Sapkowski.

“We don't quite know what happens to Geralt at the end of the books,” he said. “There's a strong suggestion, but then we also have the games, which have happened after the books, and then the games all have different endings as well, so maybe something happens after that. Maybe something has happened before that.”

When asked if Toussaint, the setting of The Witcher 3’s acclaimed Blood & Wine DLC, would make a good location for the show, Cavill said, “It would be, yes, Toussaint exists within the books, and Geralt spends some time there, because he gets trapped there when the pastors get snowed in. And so I think there is a beautiful opportunity to explore Toussaint.”

But while Cavill has visited Toussaint via his reading of the Witcher novels, he’s never been there in video game form. “I actually haven't played the DLC,” he admitted. “The audacity of me! But I'm saving that because I've heard that they are both brilliant. And I'm going to perhaps sit down at Christmas with my nephews and see if we can have some fun there.”

For more, check out Henry Cavill talking about the seven-season plan for The Witcher, and which Warhammer characters he'd like to play in a TV show. We've also got The Witcher's showrunner explaining how The Wild Hunt is the show's equivalent of Thanos, and our The Witcher season 2 review.

Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer.

Anne Rice, the Gothic author who wrote Interview With the Vampire alongside over 30 other novels, has died at the age of 80.

As reported by The New York Times, her son Christopher Rice wrote on his mother's Facebook page that she died from complications after a stroke.

"Dearest People of Page," Christopher wrote. "This is Anne's son Christopher and it breaks my heart to bring you this sad news. Earlier tonight, Anne passed away due to complications resulting from a stroke. She left us almost nineteen years to the day my father, and her husband Stan, died.

"The immensity of our family's grief cannot be overstated. As my mother, her support for me was unconditional - she taught me to embrace my dreams, reject conformity and challenge the dark voices of fear and self-doubt. As a writer, she taught me to defy genre boundaries and surrender to my obsessive passions.

"In her final hours, I sat beside her hospital bed in awe of her accomplishments and her courage, awash in memories of a life that took us from the fog laced hills of the San Francisco Bay Area to the magical streets of New Orleans to the twinkling vistas of Southern California. As she kissed Anne goodbye, her younger sister Karen said, 'What a ride you took us on, kid.' I think we can all agree.

"Let us take comfort in the shared hope that Anne is now experiencing firsthand the glorious answers to many great spiritual and cosmic questions, the quest for which defined her life and career. Throughout much of her final years, your contributions to this page brought her much joy, along with a profound sense of friendship and community.

"Anne will be interred in our family's mausoleum at Metairie Cemetary in New Orleans in a private ceremony. Next year, a celebration of her life will take place in New Orleans. The event will be open to the public and will invite the participation of her friends, readers and fans who brought her such joy and inspiration throughout her life."

Anne Rice was relatively unknown before she turned a short story she wrote in the 1960s into Interview With the Vampire in 1974 - her first published novel and one that would change her life forever. While critics weren't initially positive on her story, the public couldn't get enough.

It quickly became a best seller and Rice would go on to write over a dozen follow-up novels in her Vampire Chronicles series, and her work is widely regarded as bringing the popularity of vampires into the modern era.

In 1994, Interview With a Vampire was adapted for the big screen, and Neil Jordan directed Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, and Kirsten Dunst in a film based on Rice's own screenplay.

While she found success in the world of vampires, she wasn't afraid to explore other types of stories. She wrote everything from a story about the careers of two castrati in Cry to Heaven to an erotic series known as the "Sleeping Beauty" novels under the name A.N. Roquelaure.

She was also a hit with her fans, who she said made her look like the most boring one in the room.

“When I go to my signings,” she told the ABC News program “Day One” in 1993, “I’m the most boring person there. Everybody else is dripping with velvet and lace, and bringing me dead roses wrapped in leather handcuffs, and I love it.”

Anne Rice was born Howard Allen O'Brien on October 4, 1941, in New Orleans. She had been named after her father, Howard, and would adopt the name Anne by the time she was in first grade.

Her mother died when she was 15, and her father remarried and moved their family to Texas. It was there, at her high school, that she would meet her future husband Stan Rice. After an "intense correspondence" in college, Stan would propose to Anne by mail.

They married in 1961 and Stan passed away in 2002. Rice is survived by their son Christopher and her sisters Karen O'Brien, Micki Jenkins, and Tamara Tinker.

Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

Analogue has announced that preorders for the Pocket - its long-awaited handheld game console - will reopen on December 14 at 8am PT/11am ET/7pm GMT with a higher price.

Analogue announced the news in a blog post, saying that "due to industry wide component price increases, the price of Pocket is now $219. All other Pocket accessories will remain the same price." Before this price hike, the Analogue Pocket retailed for $199.

Those who are lucky enough to secure a preorder this time around - the first batch sold out in 15 minutes - will fall into one of three fulfilment groups. This is to help ensure that "everyone who wants a Pocket will be able to secure an order."

Group A currently has an estimated shipping date of Q1 2022, Group B's is Q4 2022, and Group C's is 2023. These fulfilment groups are assigned on "a first-come first-serve basis", and "your order status will be updated a few days after you place your order to reflect what fulfilment group you are in."

Analogue is limiting orders to 2 Pockets per customer, and it says this "system is put in place due to ongoing global supply constraint." Additionally, orders may be cancelled at any time for a full refund before they are shipped.

All current preorders are still on track to ship out on Monday, December 13, and Analogue has even upgraded all orders to FedEx 2-day so customers will get their orders as "quickly as possible."

The Analogue Pocket was originally announced in 2019 and allows users to play three generations of Game Boy games and another of other handheld games using adapters. It also can display games at 10 times the resolution of the originals.

Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

Analogue has announced that preorders for the Pocket - its long-awaited handheld game console - will reopen on December 14 at 8am PT/11am ET/7pm GMT with a higher price.

Analogue announced the news in a blog post, saying that "due to industry wide component price increases, the price of Pocket is now $219. All other Pocket accessories will remain the same price." Before this price hike, the Analogue Pocket retailed for $199.

Those who are lucky enough to secure a preorder this time around - the first batch sold out in 15 minutes - will fall into one of three fulfilment groups. This is to help ensure that "everyone who wants a Pocket will be able to secure an order."

Group A currently has an estimated shipping date of Q1 2022, Group B's is Q4 2022, and Group C's is 2023. These fulfilment groups are assigned on "a first-come first-serve basis", and "your order status will be updated a few days after you place your order to reflect what fulfilment group you are in."

Analogue is limiting orders to 2 Pockets per customer, and it says this "system is put in place due to ongoing global supply constraint." Additionally, orders may be cancelled at any time for a full refund before they are shipped.

All current preorders are still on track to ship out on Monday, December 13, and Analogue has even upgraded all orders to FedEx 2-day so customers will get their orders as "quickly as possible."

The Analogue Pocket was originally announced in 2019 and allows users to play three generations of Game Boy games and another of other handheld games using adapters. It also can display games at 10 times the resolution of the originals and features its own music and game design software.

Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

Despite not having a stellar opening domestic box office performance, West Side Story's $10.5 million debut was still enough to secure the #1 spot above Disney's Encanto.

As reported by Variety, West Side Story's box office debut was not what Disney and 20th Century Studios were hoping for as it cost $100 million to produce. There is a chance it may pick up some steam during the rest of the holiday season, but it is not a great start for a film that chose to open exclusively in theaters.

Its international run hasn't been much help either, as it has generated $4.4 million from 37 markets so far. The film's global total is now sitting at $14.9 million

Musicals on the big screen have failed to succeed during the COVID-19 pandemic, with Dear Evan Hansen premiering to $7.4 million and In The Heights only bringing in $11.5 million.

In our West Side Story review, we said, "Not everything works in Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story — how could it, when the 1961 classic is nigh unimpeachable? — but his visual translation of some of the original’s latent ideas makes it a complementary piece."

Encanto's win streak at the domestic box office ended at two, as it took second place with $9.4 million, making its global total reach $150 million.

Ghostbusters: Afterlife took third place with $7.1 million, House of Gucci placed fourth with $4 million, and Marvel's Eternals rounded out the top five with $3.1 million.

While this weekend's box office didn't bring in the so-called big bucks, that will undoubtedly change when Spider-Man: No Way Home swings its way exclusively into theaters on December 17.

Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.