Ghost of Yotei's latest update — patch 1.1 — has resulted in some pretty significant performance boosts.

Analysed by our friends over at Digital Foundry, the update's introduction of VRR support is a win for all players, but it's an especially big deal on PS5 Pro.

Just to recap, version 1.1 was headlined by the addition of New Game+ when it launched last week, but developer Sucker Punch also snuck in some juicy new graphical settings.

A new 'Balanced' mode targets 40 frames-per-second, but really, it's the ability to uncap the game's frame rate that yields the most impressive results.

The aforementioned Balanced mode, with ray tracing, manages to hover between its intended 40fps and a smooth 60fps on PS5 Pro, with the uncap toggle enabled.

But even more impressive, the title's already excellent RT Pro mode jumps from 60fps to anywhere between 70 and 90fps, giving Atsu's adventure a seriously silky feel. Digital Foundry describes the jump as "incredible", given how well the open worlder performed to begin with.

Meanwhile, if you decide to switch ray tracing off and just dive into the standard Performance, Balanced, and Quality modes with the frame rate uncapped, you'll be treated to a roughly 33% fps increase across the board.

Oh, and on the base PS5, it's worth mentioning that Balanced can give you a very similar boost to what's available on PS5 Pro — as long as you're playing on a VRR-compatible 120Hz display. Uncapped, the frame rate can hit 60fps.

Have you given Ghost of Yotei a shot since Update 1.1? Behold those beautiful frames in the comments section below.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is looking like the weakest-performing game in the series in quite some time, and new data from the European market sees that story continue.

As reported by Chris Dring on The Game Business, citing digital and physical sales data from GSD, Black Ops 7 has been replaced at the top of the chart by EA Sports FC 26.

This means a decline in sales for the first-person shooter, though it should be noted that this is fairly typical for the games market.

Flanking it is Battlefield 6, which moves up a position from fourth to third, indicating an upward trend in sales.

While raw numbers for the sales of Black Ops 7 have yet to be disclosed, this is just one more indication that things aren't going completely to plan for Activision's big FPS.

Elsewhere on the chart, the top 10 sees It Takes Two return at number seven, and Red Dead Redemption 2 moves up to fifth, just above GTA 5.

In terms of revenue rather than unit sales, EA Sports FC 26 is top dog there as well, while Sony games Marvel's Spider-Man 2 and Ghost of Yotei show up in eighth and ninth respectively.

European Top 10 Unit Sales (Week Ending 23rd November)

1. EA Sports FC 26 (EA)

2. Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 (Activision)

3. Battlefield 6 (EA)

4. Hogwarts Legacy (Warner Bros)

5. Red Dead Redemption 2 (Rockstar)

6. Grand Theft Auto 5 (Rockstar)

7. It Takes Two (EA)

8. Anno 117: Pax Romana (Ubisoft)

9. NBA 2K26 (2K Games)

10. Pokémon Legends: Z-A (Nintendo)*

European Top Ten Revenue (Week Ending 23rd November)

1. EA Sports FC 26 (EA)

2. Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 (Activision)

3. Battlefield 6 (EA)

4. Anno 117: Pax Romana (Ubisoft)

5. Pokémon Legends: Z-A (Nintendo)*

6. NBA 2K26 (2K Games)

7. F1 25 (EA)

8. Spider-Man 2 (Sony)

9. Ghost of Yotei (Sony)

10. Kirby Air Riders (Nintendo)*

*Digital sales data not available

One of the games you probably glossed over in our "games coming to Xbox next week" roundup over the weekend was Sleep Awake, which is a psychedelic horror game that's being developed by a brand-new studio.

That studio is called "Eyes Out", and it's led by Spec Ops: The Line director Cory Davis, as well as the Nine Inch Nails guitarist (!) Robin Finck. If you haven't played it, Spec Ops: The Line is a very interesting shooter from the Xbox 360 era.

Sleep Awake is a totally different genre to that game, of course, taking the form of an "immersive first-person psychedelic horror narrative experience that explores the realm between sleep and death". It looks suitably creepy and packed with puzzles, and the few previews that we've seen ahead of launch have seemed positive.

Here's an example from PC Gamer:

"Psychological horror can be one of the hardest genres to get right. Developers either stumble and make a game that just seems too gimmicky to scare anyone, or they manage to hit the sweet spot and create something that's more than just terrifying—a horror game that'll stick with you. And from what I've seen so far, Eyes Out's latest game, Sleep Awake, does exactly that."

This sounds like one to keep an eye on, then! If you're interested, Sleep Awake releases on Tuesday, December 2nd for Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S, but it doesn't look like pre-orders will be live on the Xbox Store ahead of time.

We'll throw some more details about the game along with screenshots below.

SLEEP AWAKE is an immersive first-person psychedelic horror narrative experience that explores the realm between sleep and death. Submitted to perpetual insomnia, the denizens of the last known city on Earth are reaching a panic crisis of reckless experiments in an effort to avoid The HUSH, the inexplicable disappearance of those who sleep.

The Yakuza / Like A Dragon series has been one of the biggest surprises of the Switch 2 generation, with three games — 0, Kiwami 1, and Kiwami 2 — available on the platform already. In February next year, it'll be joined by the brand new Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties which is much more than a remake of Yakuza 3, says RGG Studio director Yokoyama Masayoshi.

In an interview with GameWatch (translated by Automaton), Masayoshi-san has said that this remake "contains some major hints about the future direction of the series."

"We haven't officially announce anything related to that yet," Masayoshi continues "But once you play it, I think you’ll get an idea, or rather, a pretty solid sense of what we intend to do with the series going forward.”

Well, considering there are five more mainline games (not including spin-offs such as Judgment or Gaiden) set after Yakuza 3, that's a little surprising!

Dark Ties is the major new content, but other changes may well be coming — Image: SEGA

None of those are on Switch consoles either, and with Yakuza: Like A Dragon and Infinite Wealth both starring a different protagonist (though Kiryu does pop up, because of course he does), it certainly leaves us with some questions.

Masayoshi also insists that the new story starring Yoshitaka Mine, Dark Ties, is "extremely shocking", stating that it's one of the "darkest" stories in the series' history: "if you think Yakuza Kiwami 3 is just a remake, you’d be hugely mistaken."

Well, even without that little hint, it certainly sounds like a lot more than a rehash of the original PS3 release.

Yakuza Kiwami 3 will apparently feature "major hints" about where the Like a Dragon series is heading, despite being a PS5 and PS4 remake of a PS3 title.

This is according to RGG Studio director Masayoshi Yokoyama, who isn't a stranger to saying stuff that'll make Yakuza fans sit up and take notice.

"It contains some major hints about the future direction of the series," Yokoyama told GameWatch (as translated by Automaton).

He continues: "We haven’t officially announced anything related to that yet. But once you play it, I think you’ll get an idea, or rather, a pretty solid sense of what we intend to do with the series going forward."

Honestly, it's one hell of a quote, and it immediately makes us wonder if there's much more to Yakuza Kiwami 3 than meets the eye.

Indeed, Yokoyama almost seems to double down on just how important Kiwami 3 is to the franchise, stating: "If you think Yakuza Kiwami 3 is just a remake, you’d be hugely mistaken."

Now, again, Yokoyama has a bit of a history when it comes to hyping things up — it is part of his job as both a director and an executive producer, after all — but we don't think he'd be going this hard if there wasn't something more to Kiwami 3.

We also need to remember that the remake bundles in a whole new expansion-like story called Dark Ties, where you play as Yakuza 3 antagonist Yoshitaka Mine. Yokoyama could, to some extent, be referring to Dark Ties' inclusion.

So, could Kiwami 3 have new plot bits and pieces that tie into future games? Or maybe Yokoyama's on about gameplay-related mechanics and systems? It's impossible to say at this point, but the man clearly knows how to stir up interest.

Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties is still set to release on the 12th February, but will you be booking a trip to Okinawa? Wear your best holiday shirt in the comments section below.

Cyberpunk 2077 developer CD Projekt Red might be teasing something for the game's imminent fifth anniversary.

We've written about this before, but it wouldn't surprise us in the least if the company has plans. After all, third-party developer Virtuos is — as far as we know — still working on updates for the open world title, having helped create Patch 2.3 earlier in the year.

Some fans have theorised that the team's been working on another big update ever since, and the game's fifth anniversary would obviously be the perfect time to release it.

Anyway, this rumour's been reignited thanks to a new post from the official Cyberpunk 2077 account on social media.

For a while now, the account has been pointing out character birthdays — but with its latest post, it actually highlights the aforementioned anniversary, which takes place next week, on the 10th December.

Again, it's not hard to imagine CDPR having something up its sleeve for the occasion — and the company's always enjoyed posting cryptic teasers online.

Do you have any hopes and dreams for Cyberpunk 2077's fifth anniversary? Try to forget that original PS4 release in the comments section below.

The new version of Red Dead Redemption for Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S will be with us on Tuesday, December 2nd, and it's already Tuesday in some countries right now, hence why we've got some early footage!

It always seems to be Fuzion Xbox Testing on YouTube that gets to this kind of stuff earlier than anyone else, and they've already provided us with detailed early looks at both the Xbox Series X and Series S versions of RDR 1.

On Xbox Series X, we can see that Red Dead Redemption is running at a resolution of 4K and delivers some nice visuals despite looking dated in some ways, while the frame rate seems to be a locked 60FPS. Ah, finally!

It's very much the same story on Xbox Series S, with the game running at a native resolution of 1440p this time with visuals that are slightly downgraded but still perfectly fine as a result. Again, we seem to be looking at a locked 60FPS.

For what it's worth, here's a look at a cutscene shot from the Xbox Series X version as well:

It's no surprise that Red Dead Redemption is running well on Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S, but it's still a relief to see all the same - and now we can look forward to playing it for the rest of the week! Don't forget that the new version is free if you own the Xbox 360 release digitally, otherwise it has a 50% discount on the Xbox Store or you can grab it as part of the GTA+ membership.

We'll leave you with Fuzion Xbox Testing's two videos of RDR1 down below:

Marvel Cosmic Invasion is kicking off December on Xbox Game Pass in a big way - and the new Marvel brawler is out now, which means early reviews are starting to trickle in for the newly-released Xbox title.

So, we're going to gather up some of those early reviews down below for you take a look at. Spoiler alert; Marvel Cosmic Invasion sounds like it'll be a lot of fun on Xbox Game Pass!

Console Creatures (9/10)

"It's often hard to iterate and improve on a genre that's been around for decades, but Marvel Cosmic Invasion makes the most of that opportunity. It might feel like you've done this song and dance before, but with a deep and otherworldly story, a great cast of characters, and excellent visuals and music, it's an absolute blast to play."

TechRaptor (8.5/10)

"Marvel Cosmic Invasion is another fantastic beat 'em up from developer Tribute Games. With a large cast of heroes and the tag-team system, Cosmic Invasion offers a fresh experience for fans of the genre."

Nintendo Life (8/10)

"Pure cartoon fun, and all the better for it, Tribute Games has not only totally honoured the source material, but delivered one of the best arcade Marvel games ever made. The aesthetic is beautiful, and the effort involved in creating such a varied cast of beat-'em-up protagonists is admirable."

Push Square (8/10)

"Marvel Cosmic Invasion does little to surprise, but it executes excellently on its retro beat-‘em-up ambitions. Depth perception can be a problem, but we like how the tag-team format gives the game a bit more of a chaotic feel, especially during local and online co-op sessions. And we also appreciate how each superhero handles slightly differently, adding a lot of replay value to a brawler that already has a relatively robust content offering."

GamesRadar (4/5)

"Marvel Cosmic Invasion finally gives the comic icons the beat 'em up they've so-long deserved. The Marvel Vs Capcom-inspired tag-team combat makes comboing hordes of villains ultra satisfying, but a lack of meaningful character progression and an abundance of MCU-style quipping hold it back from being a true brawler legend."

PlayStation Universe (7.5/10)

"With plenty of characters and great combat, there is a lot to love about Marvel Cosmic Invasion. The fantastic visuals and sound design shine through from Tribute Games and Dotemu. It's just a shame that the game's difficulty spikes and lack of extra lives in the campaign hold it back. Thankfully, the Arcade Mode more than makes up for the game's shortcomings, with great modifiers that let you enjoy the game however you want."

At the time of writing, Marvel Cosmic Invasion has a score of 78 on Metacritic and a rating of 82 on OpenCritic; pretty good going for this one so far, then. The new Marvel beat-'em-up is now live on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, with two other titles arriving later this week!

Rockstar's new current-gen upgrade for Red Dead Redemption is starting to roll out in certain regions, and with the game now live in some parts of the world, we're seeing that this new version has a 50% launch discount on Xbox Series X|S.

Available for seemingly the first two weeks after release, Red Dead Redemption has a half price offer right now. Here's how that's looking on the New Zealand store at the moment, with the upgrade expected to go live in other regions over the next few hours:

Of course, we must note that existing owners of the Xbox 360 backwards compatible version will get this new upgrade for free anyway, so if you have that old version tied to your account, you'll be good to go when the upgrade launches in your region. This free version is only applicable to digital purchases though - physical owners won't be able to upgrade for free.

So, if you have a disc version of Red Dead Redemption or are simply picking this one up on Xbox for the very first time, you can grab the game's current-gen upgrade at 50% off for the first two weeks of release (until roughly December 14th).

We might have to wait a little while longer than expected until we can see Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition in its full glory on Switch 2, but the title is still popping up at games expos around the world, giving us plenty of opportunities to see it in action.

The latest slice of hands-on time came from the Milan Games Week 2025, where 'Corey Da Flame' captured the over-the-shoulder footage found above (thanks, Nintenderos). It's the same opening section that we have seen played on Switch 2 a couple of times now, and off-screen recording is never the best way to get an idea of things from a performance perspective, but things seem... less tarnished than we were expecting.

Okay, it's no PS5 build, but as far as talk of the Switch 2 version goes, it looks pretty darn fine. Our initial impressions of the game in handheld were rather rough, and while things certainly seemed to be a step in the right direction when getting our first look at the game in docked, the latest footage suggests that things are getting better still.

Again, we won't know for sure until the full game comes our way at some point next year — and we don't only have over-the-shoulder footage to go off. At the time of writing, Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition is still hanging with a vague '2026' release window after FromSoftware decided to delay the port back in October.

Last Friday saw the broadcast of The Mario Kart World: Knockout Tour Streamer Showdown, sponsored by Nintendo and overseen by our friends at IGN Entertainment.

Featuring 24 UK variety and gaming influencers, the event showcased Mario Kart World's Knockout Tour at its most chaotic. The selected streamers were split into six teams of four, and commemorative trophies were offered to the quartet that accumulated the most points throughout the competition. Clearly, much more than honour was at stake here.

Hosted by IGN UK’s George Forsyth-Nash (aka Nash) and Outside Xtra’s Jane Douglas, The Mario Kart World: Knockout Tour Streamer Showdown also benefited from insights by Outside Xtra's Mike Channell and presenter Jules Hardy, both of whom were on hand to supply colour commentary and general Mario-related waffle.

The final rankings — Image: IGN UK

Some of the UK's biggest streamers took part, including TooBizyGaming, GetMadz, OwengeJuiceTV, KickThePj, InTheLittleWood, TheOrionSound and ReadySetBen.

The event delivered a true masterclass in Mario Kart skills, but ultimately, it was the Orange Team (TheOrionSound, Solidarity, InTheLittleWood and Ravs) which emerged victorious, while the poor old Red Team came in last. Better luck next time, guys!

If you caught the karting action and feel the need to demonstrate your own talents, then you can enter IGN UK's Streamer Showdown giveaway over on X, where a brand spanking new OLED TV is up for grabs. Entries close on 14th December, 2025, and are open to UK residents aged 18 and over (full T&Cs can be found here).

If you want to revisit what happened, then head over to IGN UK's YouTube and Twitch channels – or you can watch the full stream below.

Jennifer Hale, one of the most iconic voice actors and best known for playing Commander Shepard in the Mass Effect trilogy and Naomi Hunter and Emma Emmerich in the Metal Gear Solid series, has spoken about her experience in playing Bayonetta in Bayonetta 3.

Hale, who took over the role from Hellena Taylor for the third entry in the series, told GAMINGbible (via IGN) that she "got thrown under the bus by that whole thing."

"I was unable to speak on my own behalf because I was under not one but two NDAs. Eventually, I was allowed to make a statement, which I appreciated, and I was able to present the facts,” Hale continues.

Following PlatinumGames' announcement of the new voice actor, Taylor urged fans to boycott the game due to a pay dispute. She claimed that the studio offered her only $4,000 "to do the whole game...as a flat rate". Fans rallied around Taylor initially, before reports emerged that Taylor had been offered that rate for between four to five sessions.

Hale says that “There were some things said [that were] presented as facts, but were false. I would have never taken a role otherwise. Before I accepted the audition, I checked everything thoroughly, and I trust the director."

Bayonetta 3 made a number of changes to the game beyond just the titular character's voice — Images: Nintendo

"Thankfully, playing Bayonetta was so much fun, and the community was so welcoming to me, especially after the fiasco had passed and the facts came out."

Following Hale's initial statement, PlatnumGames came out in support of the actor, stating "We give our full support to Jennifer Hale as the new Bayonetta, and align with everything in her statement."

Fortunately, the controversy died down following those additional reports and Platinum's own involvement, and the experience hasn't put Hale off of the idea of returning to the role: "It was not fun getting thrown under the bus like I had, but I was happy to come out on the other side.”

While the drama has largely subsided, earlier this year, series creator Hideki Kamiya shared his thoughts on the ordeal: "Man, that was seriously lame."

Ahead of its PS5 version launching tomorrow, the Trophy list for Red Dead Redemption has gone live, sharing what is an identical list to the PS4 edition.

Exophase has the complete list of 52 Trophies, which is mostly focused on the base game, with some Trophies for the Undead Nightmare expansion to go along with it. As this is the same list as the PS4 version, we can pull on the Trophy guides published for that edition to confirm we're looking at a very achievable Platinum Trophy on PS5.

PSN Profiles lists just one missable Trophy, which requires you to "complete 20 story missions without switching to a new horse at a hitching post". The advice is to never hitch your horse after earning one from the Bonnie mission, and never use horse deeds or let your horse die. There are certain situations involving this Trophy you'll want to be aware of, though, so check the site for all the details.

Anyone who owns the PS4 version of Red Dead Redemption gets a free upgrade, and the PS5 edition is also launching straight into PS Plus Extra tomorrow, 2nd December. It's not known yet if the PS5 version will also be folded into the GTA+ subscription service.

Will you try to earn the Red Dead Redemption PS5 Platinum Trophy? Let us know in the comments below.

The Witcher developer CD Projekt Red is reportedly sticking to its plan to release not one, not two, but three new games within a six year period.

To be clear, the company's referring to the new trilogy, which starts with The Witcher 4. The Ciri-led adventure doesn't have a release date (or even a release window) yet, but the idea is that once it's out, you won't have to wait too long for The Witcher 5 and The Witcher 6.

"As we had stated before, our plan still is to launch the whole trilogy within a six-year period," co-CEO Michal Nowakowski reiterated during a recent financial call.

Nowakowski suggests that the (much) shorter development cycle will be, in part, thanks to the studio's move to Unreal Engine 5: "We've been using Unreal Engine 5 for The Witcher 4 for four years now, and we're very happy with what we've achieved."

But it's hard not to be cynical, isn't it? CD Projekt Red is, rather infamously, a company that has a history of lengthy development and release delays. And on top of that, its two biggest hits — The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 — required significant post-launch support to get them in good shape.

It's difficult to envision a future where we get three new Witcher titles in the space of six years, then — even if Unreal Engine 5 turns out to be the developer's holy grail.

In truth, we think Nowakowski is just bigging the company up for the sake of its shareholders here, but it'll still be interesting to see what the next decade or so brings for CDPR as a whole.

Can you ever see Ciri's whole trilogy releasing in such a timeframe? Show us some Geralt-style cynicism in the comments section below.

With awards season just a few weeks away, Sony's official PlayStation Blog has opened all of its Game of the Year 2025 deliberations to the public, allowing PS5, PS4 fans to vote for their favourite titles released this year.

Voting across 19 categories is live now until midnight on Tuesday, 9th December, giving you a full week to consider your picks and then submit them. You can do so through the link, with the following categories available:

• Best New Character

• Best Story

• Best Graphical Showcase

• Best Art Direction

• Best Audio Design

• Best Soundtrack

• Best Accessibility Features

• Best Use of DualSense

• Best Rerelease (Remaster)

• Best Multiplayer Experience

• Best Ongoing Game

• Best Expansion

• Best Sports Game

• Best Independent Game

• Best PSVR2 Game

• Best PS4 Game

• Best PS5 Game

• Studio of the Year

• Most Anticipated Game of 2026 and Beyond

While each category does list a handful of titles to vote for, there's also the option to input your own entry, even if it's not present. Therefore, there isn't really a definitive list of nominees; PlayStation is accepting anything. The results will be revealed in a few weeks, with the winners receiving the same accolades as our category GOTY articles: Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Platinum Trophies.

Of course, our own Game of the Year deliberations will begin around Christmas time, and the likes of Ghost of Yotei and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 have already picked up a few awards. We suspect they shall be strong contenders for other outlets and the PlayStation Blog awards, too.

What are you voting for? Let us know in the comments below.

If even one of the biggest games in the world, with all the money it generates on a daily basis, is now embracing AI tools for art production, how much hope is there left?

Following the end of the Zero Hour live event this weekend and the beginning of Season 7, Fortnite players have started pointing out parts of the map and in-game items that look suspiciously AI-generated.

The game's main Reddit page (via Eurogamer) has now been taken over by posts debating the suspected images and items, with some accusing them of being AI and others pulling up artist defences. The two main examples people are pointing to are in-game posters.

The first can be seen below, which features an animal relaxing in a hammock, with its legs dangling over the side. Its right foot has five toes, but its left foot has four.

Then, an advertisement for a piece of jewelry in-game has been accused of having the trademark "AI smudge":

Further, a new emote in the game uses an AI-generated song from a K-pop artist. There were accusations surrounding a new Spray that looked to have used the infamous Studio Ghibli AI filter, but the artist has come out and denied the claims.

The game's Reddit page is now running a poll to gather the community's thoughts on the potential use of AI in Fortnite. So far, following more than 2,000 votes, 84% of the community thinks AI "doesn't belong in Fortnite or other video games".

This follows on from the use of AI in Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, where it appears AI was used to generate certain Calling Cards and art assets. At the time, Activision said it uses "a variety of digital tools, including AI tools, to empower and support our teams to create the best gaming experiences possible for our players".

Epic Games founder (the developer behind Fortnite) Tim Sweeney seems in favour of the use of AI in video game development, as he's spoken publicly about storefronts dropping the sort of AI disclaimers you currently see on Steam.

"The AI tag is relevant to art exhibits for authorship disclosure, and to digital content licensing marketplaces where buyers need to understand the rights situation. It makes no sense for game stores, where AI will be involved in nearly all future production," he claimed last week.

What do you make of this situation? Post your thoughts in the comments below.

If you enjoyed building simple (or complex) vehicles to solve puzzles in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, then you’ll absolutely love what PS5 open world Where Winds Meet is cooking.

The game, which launched globally last month, is getting a massive update in China which will see it incorporate mechanics where you can build simple cars, boats, and aircrafts.

It works similarly to Nintendo’s flagship franchise, where you combine components to construct your makeshift machines. For example, a plank of wood paired with four wheels and an engine will give you a basic car. Add steering to give yourself more manoeuvrability.

You’ll be able to save builds and share them with other players, while the blueprint for a helicopter-type aircraft known as the Flying Chicken will serve as the mode’s tutorial, and will be given to all players for free.

We must stress that Where Winds Meet has been available in China for over a year now, so the global servers you’re likely to be playing on are many months behind. That means you shouldn’t expect this feature to roll out globally for quite some time.

The good news is that dev Everstone Studios should have ample time to test out the feature and refine it, meaning we should hopefully get a more polished version of the system when it eventually releases overseas.

As an aside, the mobile edition of Where Winds Meet is scheduled to release on 12th December will full crossplay across all platforms. Pre-load is available on iOS and Android now.

Furthermore, the wuxia outing has now attracted nine million players across all platforms in just two weeks, making it another incredible success story.

Halo: The Master Chief Collection has been a pretty steady Steam performer since it was introduced to the platform back in 2019; especially over the last three or four years where it regularly hits about 10k concurrent players at peak times. Over this past weekend though, the collection peaked a little higher than usual; hitting a Steam player count not seen since late 2021.

Yep, over the weekend, Halo: MCC surpassed 12k players on Steam for the first time since December 2021. To be specific, the title brought in 12,306 players on Sunday, November 30th - in what's turned out to be the game's most popular day on the platform in almost four years. The game is currently discounted pretty heavily as part of the Steam Black Friday sale, which may have contributed to this.

Of course, this isn't a huge increase on the norm, but it is interesting to see the game hit this 3-4 year high over the weekend. Halo Infinite recently got its final major update, so maybe some of those players are moving over to MCC now? Maybe it simply had a small bump from that Black Friday sale we mentioned? Either way, the collection enjoyed a successful weekend it seems.

If you'd like to take a look at what's included in said final Halo Infinite update, we'll chuck a link to that news down below, alongside last year's feature on how Halo: MCC has turned things around massively since 2014. It's been quite the decade for Xbox's big Halo collection!

At the end of last week, the developers beyond the critically panned MindsEye released Update 6 for the game, adding "enhanced gameplay" alongside a Free Starter Pack that means anyone can now try it for free on multiple platforms.

Specifically, the MindsEye Free Starter Pack features the Robin Hood campaign mission along with 14 ARCADIA missions, and it'll be updated regularly with new ways to play. To access it on Xbox, you'll need to find the MindsEye page on the Xbox Store and then look for the "free trial" button.

• MindsEye (Xbox Store)

In terms of Update 6, you can see some Xbox Series X footage below which shows how the game unfortunately still runs at 30FPS even to this day, but remains a good-looking title and is certainly less buggy than it was at launch.

And you know what? I personally quite like MindsEye. There's fun to be had here with the free trial at least, and it's dropped to as low as £10 at some retailers here in the UK, while it's also half price in the Xbox Black Friday Sale 2025.

I'm not saying you definitely should buy it, but I also don't think it's as bad as everyone says!

It's been quite an underwhelming Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2025 from a console perspective for Xbox fans, with just a few small discounts scattered around for the two systems, but that's still managed to make some people happy!

Over on the Xbox subreddit, there are a few people showing off their new Series X and Series S purchases, although it's unclear what specific deals they've taken advantage of here. As mentioned last week, many of the Black Friday deals were in the UK, although we spotted a handful (including refurbished models) in the US.

Here's a look at two of those posts from over the weekend:

Beyond consoles, we've also seen a lot of deals for Xbox controllers over the past few days, both directly on the Microsoft Store and at other retailers. As a result, it seems a fair few people have been picking up some new pads!

Xbox Design Lab seems to have been popular as well, especially thanks to its free engraving offer.

And of course, there are other deals dotted around for things like Xbox Expansion Cards (although nothing too impressive there) and physical games, as well as the big digital Xbox Black Friday Sale 2025 that ends later this week.

So, have you been grabbing anything in the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales for 2025? Is it just games for you, or perhaps a controller or even a console? We'd love to hear about your purchases down in the comments.

Limited Run Games announced Tomba! 2: The Evil Swine Return Special Edition way back in June 2024, and while a good chunk of time has passed us by since then (including a rather buggy release of its platforming predecessor), the release date is almost upon us!

Tomba 2 will arrive on the Switch eShop on 15th December for $19.99 (or your regional equivalent), marking the first time that the 3D PlayStation platformer has been available on Nintendo systems.

For those who didn't try this one out in the early 2000s, Tomba 2 took the same jungle platforming precedent as the first game in the series, but moved things into the wonderful world of 3D. With the now-chiselled Tomba given an extra dimension to play with, the game packed in new weapons and power-up costumes on top of a huge number of fresh missions and events.

This Switch 'Special Edition' throws in a museum gallery mode, and the chance to rewind and save at any time, so while the polygonal visuals remain, there are at least some ways to get around the game's less favourable nostalgic elements.

Here's a rundown of the new release's key features and a handful of screenshots:

• Gorgeous 3D graphics that instantly transport you to Tomba's world
• All new weapons, items and costumes to collect and use against the Evil Pigs
• A massive 137 different missions to complete
• New exclusive features such as rewind and save anywhere
• A museum filled with rare artwork and much more

Images: Limited Run Games

While the original Tomba would go on to be a perfectly acceptable slice of throwback platforming on Switch, it launched in such a state that some of us found it essentially unplayable on the hybrid console. Let's hope that things get off to a smoother start with its sequel.

Has it really been eight entire years? Yes, it really actually has, so sit up and pay attention at the back.

Xenoblade Chronicles 2, which as every Xenoblade nerd worth their salt knows is actually the third game released in the series, dropped into existence on this very day back in 2017, and it's a bit good. We gave it a well-deserved 9/10 in our review, so it's a bona fide banger as officially ordained by the bona fide banger squad™.

To celebrate this eighth birthday (they get big so quickly these days), Monolith Soft has been sharing a lovely bit of artwork over on its social media. Which is great.

For reference, here's the Google translation:

On this day in 2017, "Xenoblade 2" was released.
#MonolithSoft's Development History #WhatDayIsItToday
https://monolithsoft.co.jp/games/

Yes, happy birthday. Very good. Now pulls out ice-cream machine gun make with the Switch 2 version, wiseguys. Come on. Open your jackets, show us the goods. Where is it?

Unfortunately, it seems this writer's dream of an all-new, 60fps, 4K, enhanced-graphics, 100%-more-volumetrics-version of XC2 especially for Switch 2 might have to wait just a little bit longer. Unless they drop it later today (there's still time!).

Indeed, as much as we're just having a bit of birthday banter, it has been something that's been asked for repeatedly and rather loudly from franchise fans since Nintendo's new console dropped. With so many games getting boosts from the Switch 2, you may have hoped this epic action-RPG might have brute-forced itself into a better situation, even without an official upgrade.

However, unlike Disaster Report 4, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, and a whole bunch of other games that got nice free boosts on the Switch 2, Xenoblade Chronicles 2, whilst a little more stable in its 30fps now, still suffers from issues and hasn't benefited in any meaningful way. It's still a gorgeous, absolutely must-play thing, make no mistake, but it feels like it could be more.

This is a series, too, that really does tend to sing extra-specially loudly when it's unshackled from any technical limitations. We've all seen how improved the first game and Xenoblade Chronicles X have been in their revamped, Definitive forms. So it stands to reason that we're all chomping at the bit to see Alrest and the Driver of the Aegis looking and feeling their best in a Switch 2 upgrade of some sort.

Anyway, in the meantime, happy 8th birthday, Xenoblade Chronicles 2. Enjoy your day. Just don't come down here dressed like that for your 10th.

A PS2 on-rails shooter game based on the popular manga/anime series Gunslinger Girl is set to get a fan translation from the translation team at Hilltop Works, allowing players to experience the title with English subtitles.

Gunslinger Girl, in case you're unfamiliar with it, originally started life as a manga that was serialized inside the shōnen magazine Monthly Comic Dengeki Daioh in 2002, and was later adapted into two different anime series named Gunslinger Girl and Gunslinger Girl -Il Teatrino-.

It was created by the Japanese author Yu Aida and had a story that focused on an agency based in Italy, which masquerades as a rehabilitation centre for young girls who have experienced traumatic injuries, but is secretly modifying its patients to act as a covert anti-terrorism unit. The star of the piece is a young girl named Henrietta, who is the only survivor of a fatal attack on her family, who is later brainwashed, given a prosthetic body, and ordered to carry out the agency's orders.

The video game adaptation was released in 2004 and was developed by Dimps. It was published by Bandai and Marvellous Entertainment in three volumes, exclusively in Japan, with each of these volumes featuring an extra disc containing episodes from the show.

Something interesting to note is that this is actually one of three projects Hilltop Works is currently working on behind the scenes, with the team having previously announced translation projects for the WonderSwan title Cardcaptor Sakura and the PS2 title Rowdy Princess.

Each of the three titles has a different translator assigned to the project, with SnowyAria being the person assigned to handle Gunslinger Girl's translation, while Hilltop himself is handling the programming side of things.

If you're interested, you can follow the project's progress on Hilltop Works' Patreon account.

Takenobu Mitsuyoshi is famous for his vocal contributions to classic Sega titles like Daytona USA and Sega Rally Championship, and has revealed to Time Extension contributor Ollie Barder that his legendary career as "the guy who sings" happened almost by accident.

In a new interview with Forbes, Mitsuyoshi talks about how he joined Sega and how he secured his position in video game history thanks to his unique contribution to 1994's Daytona USA.

"I think the turning point was probably when I implemented my own singing in Daytona USA," he says. "To be honest, up until then, I had never thought of my voice, my singing, or even the title 'vocalist' as something that could stand on its own as a job, or something I should try to make into one. At that time, we were tasked with creating a driving game that would surpass a rival title in every possible way, and it was simply that we saw only one option: to add vocals."

Mitsuyoshi's voice is what you hear on Daytona USA's iconic tracks, with examples like 'Let's Go Away', 'King of Speed' and 'Sky High' becoming part of Sega folklore. At any other company, someone might have stepped in and suggested that Mitsuyoshi's placeholder vocal parts be re-recorded by a professional singer before the game was deployed in arcades all over the world, but thankfully, that didn't happen.

"When I made that choice, it never even crossed my mind to bring in another singer," he explains. "So once the prototype of Let’s Go Away was implemented, my voice was recorded as data on the game board, and eventually it crossed oceans and reached the ears of players all over the world. I had no idea that would happen. But from that point on, people around me gradually began to see me as 'the guy who sings.'"

Mitsuyoshi's status was cemented further when Yu Suzuki launched his second 3D fighting game:

"Around the same time, Virtua Fighter 2 was released, and the company was running all kinds of promotional campaigns. One of those ideas was to create a vocal album inspired by the game. Yu Suzuki, who was the producer of the game back then, said to me, 'Why don’t you sing a few songs?', and that became my very first job as a vocalist."

Daytona USA is just one of Mitsuyoshi's memorable outings as a singer; he's also responsible for the famous "Game Over, Yeah" jingle found in 1995's Sega Rally Championship – a vocal clip which keeps surprising him to this day:

"Honestly, I never imagined that this jingle would end up leaving such a lasting impression on players all over the world. At last year’s GDC, I happened to have lunch with a game industry professional who’s also a big Sega fan. He told me, “When I hear the ‘Game Over Yeah’ jingle after I fail to finish a course, the song somehow lessens the frustration for not being able to finish. It was more like an encouraging ‘Yeah!’, as if it’s saying, ‘Don’t worry about it, cheer up!’ It actually made me want to keep playing.

Now, after hearing such a thoughtful and heartwarming interpretation of that, I almost feel bad admitting this, but the truth is: I actually didn’t have a clear reason for adding that ‘Yeah’. As far as I remember, it was simply because it sounded good and fit the atmosphere of the jingle’s melody line.

That said, ever since Virtua Racing, I’ve had a personal rule: for the ‘Game Over’ jingle or sound, I must sing the words ’Game Over' as lyrics. So in Daytona USA, you’ll hear me repeating “Game Over” in exactly that way."

We have some good news for English fans of Bandai Namco's Idolmaster series.

A new fan translation patch is currently in the works for The Idolmaster SP, the 2009 entry in the idol raising simulation/rhythm series for the PlayStation Portable.

The new patch covers the game's three separate releases — Perfect Sun, Missing Moon, and Wandering Star — each of which came on a separate disc and featured a different set of idols — and will mark the first time the game has received a full English fan translation, building on the partial translations that were previously released between 2009 - 2014 by TLWiki.

It is the work of a team that includes BonillaP and Soutaisei/相対性 and, according to the project's website, will feature translated dialogue for the idols that were previously left unfinished in TLWiki's translations. This includes Wandering Star's Ami & Mami Futami, and Missing Moon's Azusa and Ritsuko.

That's not all, either, as the team has also stated it plans to translate the various in-game e-mails from reporters, stylists, and fans, as well as other parts of the game previously left untouched.

The patch is expected to be released this Winter, and will be available to download from the project's website, which is where you'll also find updates on its progress.

You can watch a trailer for the upcoming patch below: