Super Smash Bros. Ultimate just received its last ever combat balance update, which sees a number of changes for a range of characters in the game – and marks the final major changes to the Switch blockbuster.

As reported by VGC, update 13.0.1 for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate will be the last to offer balance updates and tweaks for the game. News of the update was confirmed by the Japanese Twitter account for Ultimate. “This is the last update related to the balance adjustment of the game, except for dealing with problems,” reads a translated statement from the team.

Essentially, after over three years, you can consider Smash Bros. Ultimate totally complete.

【お知らせ】
更新データ（Ver. 13.0.1）を配信しました。修正や調整が入ったファイターなどはこちらをご覧ください。
不具合への対応などを除き、ゲームのバランス調整にかかわる更新は今回が最後となります。#スマブラSP

— 大乱闘スマッシュブラザーズ【スマブラ公式】 (@SmashBrosJP) December 2, 2021

While Super Smash Bros. Ultimate was originally launched in 2018, its final character, Kingdom Hearts' Sora, wasn't added to the roster until October of this year. As the game has added 11 different characters to its selection over the years, it's been necessary to make a number of balance updates and character tweaks to the game during that time to account for the resulting changes.

In total, 24 of the different in-game characters have seen adjustments during the final update. While changes have been made to the game's newest arrival, notable changes have taken place for the likes of Street Fighter's Ryu (who has benefitted from some pretty substantial buffs) as well as Link, Mega Man, and more.

Although a number of characters will have benefitted from the update, one character who certainly hasn't is Min Min from Arms. The character has seen a number of nerfs including reduced power against shields when punching, increased vulnerability when landing, and a reduction in the duration of Dragon's Beam. For a full list of the changes being made in the update, make sure to check out Nintendo's support page for the game.

For more on Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, make sure to check out this article where Masahiro Sakurai reveals how Sora finally made it into the game.

Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate just received its last ever combat balance update, which sees a number of changes for a range of characters in the game – and marks the final major changes to the Switch blockbuster.

As reported by VGC, update 13.0.1 for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate will be the last to offer balance updates and tweaks for the game. News of the update was confirmed by the Japanese Twitter account for Ultimate. “This is the last update related to the balance adjustment of the game, except for dealing with problems,” reads a translated statement from the team.

Essentially, after over three years, you can consider Smash Bros. Ultimate totally complete.

【お知らせ】
更新データ（Ver. 13.0.1）を配信しました。修正や調整が入ったファイターなどはこちらをご覧ください。
不具合への対応などを除き、ゲームのバランス調整にかかわる更新は今回が最後となります。#スマブラSP

— 大乱闘スマッシュブラザーズ【スマブラ公式】 (@SmashBrosJP) December 2, 2021

While Super Smash Bros. Ultimate was originally launched in 2018, its final character, Kingdom Hearts' Sora, wasn't added to the roster until October of this year. As the game has added 11 different characters to its selection over the years, it's been necessary to make a number of balance updates and character tweaks to the game during that time to account for the resulting changes.

In total, 24 of the different in-game characters have seen adjustments during the final update. While changes have been made to the game's newest arrival, notable changes have taken place for the likes of Street Fighter's Ryu (who has benefitted from some pretty substantial buffs) as well as Link, Mega Man, and more.

Although a number of characters will have benefitted from the update, one character who certainly hasn't is Min Min from Arms. The character has seen a number of nerfs including reduced power against shields when punching, increased vulnerability when landing, and a reduction in the duration of Dragon's Beam. For a full list of the changes being made in the update, make sure to check out Nintendo's support page for the game.

For more on Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, make sure to check out this article where Masahiro Sakurai reveals how Sora finally made it into the game.

Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

Halo Infinite players are learning how to put aside their differences and communicate in one of the world's most sacred languages - teabag dancing.

In a clip posted by Reddit user Local_Floridian (as spotted on Twitter by Washington Post games reporter Gene Park), the player can be seen trading weapons with an enemy player during a match. While normally we would advise a more cautious approach when fraternizing with the enemy, it seems that this foolhardy soldier was able to communicate through the power of teabag dancing in order to successfully facilitate a weapons trade-off with an opposing Spartan.

After a tense period of repetitive crouching, which somewhat resembled an animal mating ritual you might find in a nature documentary, both players were happy to lay down and exchange their weapons in a short ceasefire period. Though Local_Floridian parted ways with a trusty Battle Rifle, they walked away with a gravity hammer and all parties seemed satisfied.

While non-verbal communication with enemy players in the form of teabag dancing will more often than not cause quite a stir (I'll show myself out), we applaud anyone with the guts to enter into negotiations.

Although teabag trading perhaps isn't the most serious news to come from the game of late, it offers a welcome sight when compared with reports surfacing from players detailing cheaters entering the multiplayer mode. While players have vented their frustrations over cheating in the game, 343 community manager John Junyszek explained that the developer had 'anticipated' the problem and that it was taking a "game-wide approach to anti-cheat" in order to minimize the number of offenders flocking into Infinite.

Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

Halo Infinite players are learning how to put aside their differences and communicate in one of the world's most sacred languages - teabag dancing.

In a clip posted by Reddit user Local_Floridian (as spotted on Twitter by Washington Post games reporter Gene Park), the player can be seen trading weapons with an enemy player during a match. While normally we would advise a more cautious approach when fraternizing with the enemy, it seems that this foolhardy soldier was able to communicate through the power of teabag dancing in order to successfully facilitate a weapons trade-off with an opposing Spartan.

After a tense period of repetitive crouching, which somewhat resembled an animal mating ritual you might find in a nature documentary, both players were happy to lay down and exchange their weapons in a short ceasefire period. Though Local_Floridian parted ways with a trusty Battle Rifle, they walked away with a gravity hammer and all parties seemed satisfied.

While non-verbal communication with enemy players in the form of teabag dancing will more often than not cause quite a stir (I'll show myself out), we applaud anyone with the guts to enter into negotiations.

Although teabag trading perhaps isn't the most serious news to come from the game of late, it offers a welcome sight when compared with reports surfacing from players detailing cheaters entering the multiplayer mode. While players have vented their frustrations over cheating in the game, 343 community manager John Junyszek explained that the developer had 'anticipated' the problem and that it was taking a "game-wide approach to anti-cheat" in order to minimize the number of offenders flocking into Infinite.

Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

A huge leak for Fortnite Chapter 2's ending appears to have surfaced online, coming via a TikTok advert that has been making the rounds on social media.

The end is nigh for Fortnite's current storyline and second chapter. Chapter 2 is set to draw to a close this Saturday (December 4) during an in-game live event called 'The End', which should set up the Battle Royale for its next big adventure. However, footage detailed in an advert on TikTok has seemingly shown off a pretty key element of the finale.

We won't be linking to the footage here but, suffice it to say, if you're waiting to find out what happens, tread carefully on social media.

For those looking to jump into the Chapter 2 finale, the event will begin on December 4 at 1pm Pacific / 4pm Eastern / 9pm UK (that's 8am AEDT on December 5). It will be a one-time-only event so make sure you're in the game at that time to experience The End for yourself.

As announced by Epic, 'The End' will support up to 16 player parties, so you'll be able to jump into the action with a number of friends and its playlist will be available in Fortnite 30 minutes before the start of the event.

Fortnite's second chapter began with its own major in-game event, when the original map was sucked into a black hole in late 2019. This was then replaced by a new map with new terrain and locations at the time.

Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

A huge leak for Fortnite Chapter 2's ending appears to have surfaced online, coming via a TikTok advert that has been making the rounds on social media.

The end is nigh for Fortnite's current storyline and second chapter. Chapter 2 is set to draw to a close this Saturday (December 4) during an in-game live event called 'The End', which should set up the Battle Royale for its next big adventure. However, footage detailed in an advert on TikTok has seemingly shown off a pretty key element of the finale.

We won't be linking to the footage here but, suffice it to say, if you're waiting to find out what happens, tread carefully on social media.

For those looking to jump into the Chapter 2 finale, the event will begin on December 4 at 1pm Pacific / 4pm Eastern / 9pm UK (that's 8am AEDT on December 5). It will be a one-time-only event so make sure you're in the game at that time to experience The End for yourself.

As announced by Epic, 'The End' will support up to 16 player parties, so you'll be able to jump into the action with a number of friends and its playlist will be available in Fortnite 30 minutes before the start of the event.

Fortnite's second chapter began with its own major in-game event, when the original map was sucked into a black hole in late 2019. This was then replaced by a new map with new terrain and locations at the time.

Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

Director Guillermo del Toro has tried a couple of times to bring H.P. Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness to the big screen but was foiled by unknowable powers from beyond the cosmos (studio executives). Now, del Toro’s relationship with Netflix could revive the project once more.

Speaking on Fangoria’s Stephen King podcast the Kingcast, del Toro was asked whether his new partnership with Netflix could open the door for another try at bringing the eldritch horror story to life.

“Take a wild guess which were the first projects I presented [to Netflix], you know? I went through the cupboards and found [The Count of] Monte Cristo, [At the] Mountains of Madness. Those were a couple of the ones I presented first,” del Toro says.

While del Toro didn’t reveal the response to his presentation, he said that the project would change considerably from when he first tried to develop At the Mountains of Madness as a movie, saying the script he co-wrote 15 years ago “is not the screenplay I would do now, so I need to do a rewrite.”

“Not only to scale it down somehow but back then I was trying to bridge the scale of it with elements that made it somewhat be able to go through the studio machinery. You know?” del Toro explained.

The director says without the need to go more “blockbuster-y” he is free to make “a far more esoteric, weirder, smaller version of it.” del Toro adds that he can restore scenes that were left out and do away with big set pieces he has “no appetite for.”

“Like, I’ve already done this or that giant set piece. I feel like going into a weirder direction… I know the ending we have is one of the most intriguing weird, unsettling endings, for me.”

H.P. Lovecraft’s horror classic is something of a white whale for director Guillermo del Toro. del Toro and Matthew Robbins wrote a screenplay back in 2006 and it was announced in 2010 to be nearing production with Tom Cruise as the star. But hesitancy over the R-rating and similarities to Ridley Scott’s Prometheus scuttled del Toro’s plans.

Whether or not Netflix will rescue del Toro’s project or not remains to be seen. In the meantime, he has assembled a talented group of collaborators for a new Netflix horror anthology called Guillermo Del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities. Also coming to Netflix is del Toro’s stop-motion adaptation of Pinocchio. Furthermore, his next movie, Nightmare Alley, premieres this week in theaters.

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

HBO’s first run at a Game of Thrones prequel was ultimately canceled after they spent a staggering $30 million on a pilot episode. During an interview with James Andrew Miller in his new book, Tinderbox: HBO's Ruthless Pursuit of New Frontiers, former WarnerMedia chairman Bob Greenblatt revealed what happened with the canceled Game of Thrones series.

“They had spent over $30 million on a Game of Thrones prequel pilot that was in production when I got there,” he said. “And when I saw a cut of it in a few months after I arrived, I said to Casey, 'This just doesn't work, and I don't think it delivers on the promise of the original series.' And he didn't disagree, which actually was a relief.”

Casey Bloys is HBO’s chief content officer and was on hand to oversee Game of Thrones when it finally came to an end after an eight-season run.

"We unfortunately decided to pull the plug on it,” explained Greenblatt. “There was enormous pressure to get it right and I don't think that would have worked.”

As far back as 2017, a couple of different Game of Thrones prequels were said to be in development by HBO – one of them set “thousands of years before the events of Game of Thrones”.

After the conclusion of the critically-acclaimed show however, the prequel series starring Naomi Watts was canceled.

“After careful consideration, we have decided not to move forward to series with the Untitled Game of Thrones prequel,” HBO said in a statement. “We thank Jane Goldman, S.J. Clarkson, and the talented cast and crew for all of their hard work and dedication.”

The pilot episode of the unreleased Game of Thrones prequel was filmed in Northern Ireland back in 2019, but was ultimately shelved. However, HBO did announce that a separate series, the upcoming Game of Thrones: House of the Dragon, had been given the greenlight.

At the time of these announcements, no further details were given about the nixed prequel, but now it looks to have been a costly mistake for HBO.

However, things are said to be “going well in the development process” for House of the Dragon.

“I'm the one who encouraged Casey to greenlight it to series,” said Greenblatt. “I said, 'Let's not risk $30 million on a pilot.' You can't spend $30 million on a pilot and then not pick it up. So, I said, 'Let's not make a pilot. Let's get a great series that we feel good about, and just make it. Or not’.”

Game of Thrones: House of the Dragon is expected to premiere on HBO in 2022.

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

Qualcomm announced today that it is stepping into the gaming space with its own handheld gaming device, teaming with well-known gaming peripheral company Razer to make a device powered by Qualcomm's new flagship mobile chip.

The Razer Snapdragon G3x Gen 1 Developer Kit is an Android OS-based handheld gaming device that runs all Android games and streams games on the cloud or from your console/PC. Important to note, however, is that the Razer Snapdragon G3x is not a consumer product available for purchase but rather a dev kit that developers can request starting today. However, a consumer version may be released at a later date.

Qualcomm notes that the creation of the device with the goal of inspiring developers and manufacturers to expand their current footing in mobile gaming. This comes as no surprise as the mobile gaming market has grown in popularity in recent years. This includes an expansion of mobile gaming-focused peripherals such as the Backbone One.

As the name implies, the device includes Qualcomm's G3x chip, which is designed for gaming. Here are additional features included in the Razer Snapdragon G3x Gen 1 Developer Kit:

• A Qualcomm Adreno GPU with the ability to run games at 144 frames per second
• A 6.65-inch, 120Hz OLED display with Full HD+ resolution
• A built-in 5MP, 1080p60 webcam with two mics
• Four-way speakers
• Haptic feedback
• Active cooling
• Support for Wi-Fi 6 and 6E and support for 5G mmWave and sub-6
• A USB-C port, allowing you to connect the handheld to an external display or use XR accessories

The announcement of such a device comes at an interesting time for the overall handheld gaming market. Outside of the hybrid gaming console the Nintendo Switch, companies such as Analogue and Panic have announced its own handheld gaming devices, which are slated to release within the next year. While Valve is looking to bring PC gaming to on the go with the Steam Deck, which will release early next year.

For more on Qualcomm and Razer's new gaming handheld device, check out our hands-on preview.

Taylor is the Associate Tech Editor at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster

A group of Democrat lawmakers have reintroduced a bill aimed at stopping scalpers and the bots they use from hoarding hot-ticket items this holiday season and beyond, PCMag reports.

Dubbed the "Stopping Grinch Bots Act," the bill was reintroduced on November 29 by Representative Paul Tonko (D-NY), Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY), and Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-NM).

“At a time when families should be able to spend time with their loved ones, digital “Grinch bots” are forcing Americans to scour online sites in the hopes of finding an affordable gift or paying exorbitant prices for a single toy,” Tonko said in a press release. “These bots don’t just squeeze consumers, they pose a problem for small businesses, local retailers and other entrepreneurs trying to ensure they have the best items in stock for their customers."

The Stopping Grinch Bots Act would, in writing, enforce these new rules:

• "Prohibit manipulative technical practices that allow bad actors to use bots to circumvent control measures designed to protect real consumers."
• Make it an illegal Federal Trade Commission violation to circumvent security measures, access control systems, or other technological control measures on a site or online service.
• Make it illegal to sell or offer any product or service obtained by the described method.
• Allow the FTC and state Attorneys General to "treat these abusive workarounds as prohibited unfair or deceptive acts or practices, and take legal action against the bad actors."

Details on exactly how the law would be enforced weren't made clear. It's unclear if automated programs that continually check site inventories would also count as bots, or what enforcement would look like against bot users located outside the United States.

Tonko, Blumenthal, and Schumer originally introduced the bill back in November 2019, but that attempt seemingly stalled in congressional committees, PCMag reports. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, online sales have only increased as retailers and shoppers grapple with restrictions and safety concerns posed by in-person shopping. Combine that with ongoing supply chain issues around the globe, and the problem has made scalpers an even more persistent issue, particularly when it comes to valuable, popular items like video game consoles, GPUs, and other tech products. The bill expands on a 2016 law that outlawed bots from purchasing tickets for music and sporting events, and made it illegal to resell said tickets obtained by use of bots.

The Stopping Grinch Bots Act has received support from Consumer Reports, The Consumer Federation of America, and the National Consumers League. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) would be responsible for enforcing the bill should it become law.

If you're curious to learn more, check out IGN's report on exactly how bots and scalpers are ruining your chances of getting a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series this holiday. Back in February 2021, a report indicated that 10% - 15% of all PS5s were resold via scalpers. Even the Xbox Series X fridge hasn't escaped the grasp of scalpers, selling for more than double their original price.

Joseph Knoop is a freelance contributor at IGN