IO Interactive is in our good books big time off the back of all the premium-grade assassinating they've let us do across the globe as Agent 47. Now the team has taken up the mantle (the obvious next step for those paying attention) of James Bond himself, with 007: First Light.

And ahead of the game's 27th March 2026 release date, IO has dropped the very first in a series of dev diary deep dives aimed at exploring this latest Bond adventure alongside interested players. What an absolute high this dev team has been on with the majestic Hitman: World of Assassination, and it looks like it'll continue here.

We've already seen bits and pieces of the game, and we know it's a reimagining of the Bond origin story, featuring a young 007. But this first episode, which you can watch in full above, concentrates on gameplay, as the series as a whole looks to cover the design philosophy and creative processes.

Images: IO Interactive

It's interesting stuff, so make sure to check it out for all the new gameplay footage, and discussions about the game's blend of mechanics, which it seems will - in part at least - run with some Hitman aspects, developing on stuff such as questioning and observing, and blending into your surroundings. Oh boy, we can't wait.

One example mentioned in the video is "enforcers", meaning NPCs who see through you because they "know" everyone who works in a particular building or area. So this then introduces a new puzzle style to work with.

We also get some tantalising chat about how the devs want to balance thing to give players freedom to approach any situation the way they want as Bond, whilst also making it so the execution of any given plan you hatch can go wildly wrong and need re-tuning on the fly. All the good stuff we hoped we'd hear them speak about when approaching James Bond in their signature style, basically.

Andreas Krogh, the gameplay director on 007: First Light also mentions new techniques they've come up with by "marrying" Bond's style with their take on stealth. So you have some new deescalation options, such as bluffing. Here we see that Bond can smooth talk his way out of a scenario where the only option for 47 would be to pan somebody in the head or run away.

Images: IO Interactive

Thomas Pulluelo, the game's level designer, also pops up to show how the rather nice looking environs on display are designed so that players can see opportunities more easily and naturally. So hopefully fewer shiny pipes and yellow footholds, and more feeling like you did it all yourself. Nice.

There's are some fantastic sequences (so do make sure to check out the full vid) that show off the amazingly brutal action and combat we can expect in March of next year. This young Bond does some vicious CQC, he charges down foes and gets stuck in like a proper trained killer. Expect plenty of quick switching between fist fights, shooting with fancy guns, stealth action and lots of crashing of expensive cars and then reloading the game.

Now, speaking of cars, where did we put the keys to our motor? It's been leaking oil slicks and randomly firing machine gun bullets out of its hood again. Honestly, Q's been right off their game recently.

If you're looking forward to 007: First Light, make sure you check out Push Square's preview from back in September; they might be more excited than us!

Images: IO Interactive

Looking forward to 007: First Light? Think IO's style suits 007 down to the ground like we do? Let us know!

Metroid has rarely been able to play with the Nintendo big boys as far as sales are concerned, so it's no surprise that Samus merch drops have been a fair bit rarer than those seen for Zelda and Mario. But, with Metroid Prime 4: Beyond finally here, Nintendo is changing that... in Japan, at least.

Yes, a new wave of Metroid merch is now available exclusively at the Nintendo Stores in Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Fukuoka and the Okinawa pop-up. Just to really rub salt in the wound, it's also available on the My Nintendo Store, exclusively in Japan. sigh Back to looking longingly at plane tickets, it is.

Update: Well, it looks like Nintendo has answered our wishes! Although it appeared that the merch outlined below was exclusive to Japan, many of the items have just cropped up on the UK My Nintendo Store, too. Time to beef up those Christmas stockings!

Simply put, the new range is awesome. There's a super cute Baby Metroid keychain, a Morph Ball zip-up pouch, a 'gadget case' for all your wires and charging banks, and even glasses so you can 'cheers' Prime 4 in style.

Images: Nintendo

The real winners, mind you, are the Metroid ice cube tray (not available on the EU store) — because why have cube-shaped ice, when it could look like a tiny alien? — and the Arm Cannon pillow, which, yes, you can actually wear.

Images: Nintendo

The full collection ranges in price from 2,420 yen / £12.99 for the keychain, up to 6,600 yen / £37.99 for the Arm Cannon pillow.

And if the above has got you in the mood for even more merch, the squishy Metroid amiibo is now back in stock on the UK My Nintendo Store for £12.99.

Those unable to get their hands on any of the above can still take joy in Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, which arrives on Switch and Switch 2 today, instead. We called Samus' latest adventure "one of the very best Metroid games of all time" in our review, and today, the wait is finally over!

While floppy disks may not have been the best storage medium when it comes to longevity and memory, there's undoubtedly something very nostalgic about them – if you grew up in the late '80s and early '90s, at least.

Industry vets Andrew and Rob Hewson are aiming to tap into that rose-tinted feeling with Hyper Sentinel Fusion, a successor to Hyper Sentinel. It's described as "Uridium and Paradroid combined with extraction shooter and roguelite elements in an explosive fusion of gameplay styles."

Launching on Kickstarter soon, Hyper Sentinel Fusion is an arcade shooter which will ship on a floppy disk – only this one isn't going to work in your PC, Amiga or ST.

"Slide open that floppy shutter to uncover a secret USB stash, loaded with this new exciting retro game for the modern era (DRM-free) for PC & Mac, and crammed with bonus goodies—just like finding hidden cheat codes of the past," says the Kickstarter pre-launch page.

A demo is available on Steam as we speak, and digital versions of Hyper Sentinel Fusion are expected to launch on PC, Mac, PlayStation 5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2.

Update [Thu 4th Dec 2025, 4:30am]:

My Life in Gaming and Game Sack's Electronic Gaming Monthly documentary, Pixels to Pages - The Story of Electronic Gaming Monthly, is now available to watch online for free.

The 1-hour 16-minute-long documentary was released yesterday, across both My Life in Gaming and Game Sack's YouTube channels, and features interviews with former Electronic Gaming Monthly Editor-In-Chief Ed Semrad, the late EGM editor Martin Alessi, and the one-time managing editor Ken Williams, among others who were involved in the creation of the landmark magazine.

Images: Game Sack/My Life In Gaming

Frank Cifaldi from the Video Game History Foundation also makes an appearance, too, giving some valuable context about what made EGM stand out from other video game publications of the time.

Some of the major topics discussed in the documentary include how EGM was originally started and its early association with the U.S. National Video Game Team, how Ed took the best video game screenshots at events (often leading to the magazine containing images of games that never saw the light of day), and its approach to reviews (including the origins and identity of the Review Crew's Sushi-X). If you're interested, you can watch the documentary below:

Original Story: Founded back in 1988, Electronic Gaming Monthly (or 'EGM' to its friends) was one of the world's most famous video game magazines.

From its first full issue in 1989 to its closure in 2014, EGM covered all of the important events in the world of video gaming, charting the NES's dominance to the arrival of 16-bit successors and the 32-bit wave that pushed the industry forward in the 1990s.

By the time issue 264 arrived on shelves in 2014, the magazine had seen consoles such as the PS2, Xbox 360, Nintendo DS and Wii come and go. An internet-only relaunch took place in 2019, but at the time of writing, the last article posted on EGMNow.com is from the start of last year.

While EGM is no longer in active production either as a physical magazine or a website, it remains a beloved part of video game history for many people – as was evidenced by the 2024 Kickstarter for The Electronic Gaming Monthly Compendium, a retrospective book which will celebrate EGM's legacy.

It turns out that's not the only celebration we're going to be getting – the host of retro YouTube channel Game Sack has announced that he is directing and editing a documentary on the magazine in collaboration with fellow channel, My Life In Gaming.

Game Sack's Joe Redifer has confirmed that the production will not be funded through a crowdfunding drive. There's also no release date in place, but he says it will hopefully be "soon."

Update [Thu 4th Dec 2025, 4:15am]:

Splatter World is now playable in English, thanks to the efforts of the fan translation community.

"Splatterworld is several things," says Aeon Genesis, the entity behind the translation. "First, it is a cutesy RPG spinoff of Namco's Splatterhouse property. It's a sequel to the Splatterhouse Wanpaku Graffiti cutesy platformer on the Famicom, which was never released outside of Japan. It's a parody of horror films and loves to poke fun at them. It's also a prototype. The game was never commercially released, and was only made available online on Halloween night this year (2025). Naturally, I jumped right on it."

Images: Aeon Genesis

Aeon Genesis adds:

"As a note/content warning/trigger warning the game does contain depictions of three famously nasty dictators from history, including one from last century that I'm sure everyone with any decency will cringe at. Not a part of the story, but part of the gameplay as summonable spirits. In the interests of historical accuracy and preservation these have not been altered, but I do want to be upfront about this with anyone who plays the patch. Forewarned is forearmed."

Original Story: Namco's Splatterhouse series began life in the arcades before transitioning to consoles with its direct sequels (both on Sega Genesis / Mega Drive) and its Japan-only spin-off, Splatterhouse - Wanpaku Graffiti.

That cute Famicom title was intended to get an RPG sequel of its own, named Splatter World, which was intended to launch in March of 1993 but was ultimately cancelled.

It's not known why this happened, but promotional materials were being distributed to Japanese retailers at the close of 1992, so the game was clearly very close to being finished.

Splatter World has been a highly sought-after title for some time, and we experienced a Halloween miracle at the end of last week when the game was dumped and released online.

As reported by the Splatterhouse fan site West Manison, the ROM was uploaded to 4chan. It currently only works on the emulator FCEUX, which is apparently due to its use of an obscure Namco mapper.

However, it's surely only a matter of time before hackers make it compatible with other emulators.

Fans have been crying out for a new Banjo-Kazooie game ever since Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts was released in 2008.

But apart from a strange audience-controlled interactive demo at SXSW in 2015, the occasional merch drop, and a playable cameo in Smash back in 2019, there hasn't really been much to look forward to when it comes to official news regarding the bird and the bear.

Instead, it has mostly fallen to the Banjo fan community to keep the series's legacy alive, with developers creating spiritual successors, ROM hacks, and fan games to offer players that classic platforming experience that they've been so desperately missing.

With that in mind, we wanted to tell you about the latest of these projects that recently crossed our radar: Banjo Kazooie: Mumbomania. This is an amazing new fan game built inside Media Molecule's Dreams for the PS4 and PS5 by the creator of Trip's Voyage, @Eupholace, in addition to @Piece_of_Craft and @duckenomics, which lets you revisit an expanded version of one of Banjo-Kazooie's most iconic levels: the pirate-themed Treasure Trove Cove.

According to Eupholace, the one-level fangame reportedly took 14 months and 800+ hours to build, and features 30 jiggys to collect, as opposed to the 10 which were featured in the original game. There are also a bunch of brand new transformations included as well to discover, letting you transform from a fish to a cannon to a big rock monster to get around the level. Even better, these transformations are now instantaneous and won't require you to constantly backtrack to Mumbo's shack, with the witch doctor following closely behind the player at all times.

Since its release yesterday, former Rare staff have responded to the announcement. The Banjo-Kazooie, Tooie, and Nuts & Bolts composer Grant Kirkhope responded to the trailer, for instance, with an eyes emoji, later adding, "I almost shed a tear." Steve Mayles, the "chief scribbler", art director and character designer, on Banjo Kazooie and artist on Tooie and Nuts & Bolts, meanwhile, told Eupholace, "I can see you had a lot of fun making this!"

If you want to check out the game, you'll need a copy of Dreams and a PS4/PS5. Once Dreams is downloaded, no additional cost is necessary. You just need to search for the game in the list of publicly available creations.

An interesting datapoint from Circana analyst Mat Piscatella reveals the PS5 was outsold by an unexpected US-based rival in the run up to Black Friday last week.

While the Switch 2 being top-selling hardware SKU for the week ending 22nd November won’t come as a massive surprise, the NEX Playground Interactive Gaming System coming second is a bit of a shock.

If you’ve never heard of this product, it’s effectively a standalone reimagining of the Kinect – or the EyeToy, if you remember the classic PS2 peripheral.

Primarily aimed at families and kids, the NEX Playground allows you to enjoy a variety of minigames on your TV using your body as the controller. Options include a simple platformer, kart racer, and more.

Piscatella is breaking up SKUs in this chart, so it’s possible the PS5 performed better overall when you combine all of its different SKUs, including Disc and Digital options as well as the PS5 Pro.

We’d also, obviously, have expected it to perform better during Thanksgiving week, as the console was discounted and appeared to sell out on Black Friday weekend.

But it’s still quite interesting to see a product like the NEX Playground seemingly come out of nowhere and perform so well. At $249 it’s not cheap either – although we’re assuming it was on sale in order to achieve these kinds of numbers.

Nevertheless, we told you it was an unexpected rival. Bet you didn’t guess it before you clicked on the article, eh? Have any of you got one of these?

Every game is getting in its final update of the year before the holiday period gets underway, and Sega has today rolled out a major patch for Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds.

On the Nintendo front, this marks the arrival of the Switch 2 Edition as well as the Upgrade Pack for existing Switch owners.

Apart from this, there's a lot of new content in this update. This includes new gadgets, an increase to the world match rating, additional friend settings, anti-cheat measure improvements and much more. Here's the full rundown of patch Ver 1.2.0, according to Sega's official website:

Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds - Ver.1.2.0 (3rd December 2025)

Thank you all for playing Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds! Today, we’re releasing patch Ver.1.2.0!

Please update your game to the latest version to access the online modes, including World Match, and downloadable content.

• PS5/PS4: Patch Ver.1.2.0

• Nintendo Switch/ Nintendo Switch2: Patch Ver.1.2.0

• Xbox XS/One: Patch Ver.1.2.0

• Steam: Patch Ver.1.2.0

• Epic: Patch Ver.1.2.0

Content Update Summary

• Added new event mode “Legend Competition”

• Increased maximum World Match rating from 9,999 to 99,999

• Added multi-round options to Friend Match

• Added 2 collaboration tracks to the Jukebox

• Added 12 collaboration decals

• Added 6 new gadgets

• Gadget balance changes

• Anti-Cheat measures

• Other adjustments and bug fixes

Legend Competition

A new mode “Legend Competition” has been added. This mode will occur regularly, with the first competition being held from December 4, 2025 through December 21, 2025.

World Match Rating

We’ve increased the maximum rating from 9,999 to 99,999.

Friend Match Settings

You can now set races to have multiple rounds in Custom Matches in Free Race! No more going back to the lobby after each race!

Jukebox Tracks

• No.1 - Crazy Raccoon

• Hongami Precious Moment - Inugami Kroone, Tomoya Ohtani

Collaboration Decals

• REJ Assemble

• REJ Chilidog

• REJ ALWAYS CHASING

• REJ SUPERCHAOSMODE

• REJ LOGO

• CR AKAMI KARUBI

• CR RAS

• CR VANILLA

• CR RION

• CR AMATSUKI

• CR JASPER

• CR x SONIC

Gadget Additions and Adjustments in Ver. 1.2.0

Since launch, we’ve observed two common strategies emerge in online matches:

1. Using drift-type gadgets to maintain top positions.

2. Staying in 9^th – 12^th place and using item control gadgets to get powerful items late in the race and quickly jump to top positions.

Both strategies made it very difficult for those in 4^th – 8^th place to make a comeback.

Therefore, in Ver.1.2.0, we’ve added and strengthened support-type and item-type gadgets to make it easier to make comebacks from 4^th – 8^th place.

We will continue monitoring online gadget usage and win rates to adjust balance going forward.

New Gadgets

We’ve added 6 gadgets!*

• Item Control Type

  • Lucky Pair

  • Double Down

• Support Type

  • Ring Mercy

  • Damage Mercy

  • Item Mercy

  • Strong Finish

*Gadgets can be obtained once your Gadget Plate reaches "Silver Plate" or higher.

The following gadgets which were previously distributed as Festival rewards can now be purchased with Donpa Tickets from the gadget customization screen**:

• Boost Character Kit

• Power Character Kit

• Handling Character Kit

• Comeback Kit

• Sea Dog Kit

**These can be purchased if your gadget plate is “Master Plate” or higher

Gadget Adjustments

• Quick Recovery

  • Further reduced downtime after taking a hit.

  • Previously, Quick Recovery provided a large benefit when hit, but losing rings often led to lower final positions. The gadget has been adjusted to allow more mid-position endurance.

• Acceleration Machine Kit

  • Recovery timing further reduced to align with Quick Recovery’s adjustments.

• Wisp Chance UP

  • Reduced the influence on item probability.

  • Previously, Wisp Chance UP made it too easy to collect powerful items before the race’s end and aim for top positions. We’ve dialed this back a bit.

• Invincible Start

  • Vehicles now flash just before the effect ends to make timing clearer.

Other Adjustments

• Adjusted the appearance of Silver and Blaze’s AI skins and the color of Race Park rivals “Team Dimension,” as they could be mistaken for Invincible state.

  • For the eagle-eyed, the new color scheme is based on the “Turquoise Blue” aura Silver the Hedgehog emits when activating his abilities!

• Improved machine handling after collisions with other machines in water areas.

• Improved directional input detection to make it easier to use items in the intended direction while drifting.

• Adjusted race communication to prioritize syncing information that affects race progression, improving correct reflection of Invincibility such as Ultimate Charge activation.

• Strengthened anti-cheat measures for races and race results in online play such as Global Match on PC.

Concerning Anti-Cheat Measures

With Patch Ver.1.2.0, we have strengthened our anti-cheat measures to ensure a fair and secure online environment. These improvements focus primarily on countering cheating behaviors that give players an unfair advantage in World Match and Time Trial.

If cheating activity continues to increase, we may be required to consider additional anti-cheat measures across a broader range of systems, depending on the situation. To ensure that all players can enjoy the game safely and fairly, we kindly ask for your continued cooperation in maintaining a fair and secure gameplay environment.

We will continue to listen to the community and make ongoing improvements to protect the player experience and ensure that the game remains a healthy and enjoyable environment for everyone.

Thank you once again for your continued support of Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed Festival announcements showing old information before events began.

• Fixed a bug where auto-acceleration failed to activate for several seconds after manual input.

• Improved smoothness and visibility of left/right movement in item warning display.

• Fixed a bug where Charge Dash would not activate when passing through Transform Rings in mid-air drift state using Dash type.

• Fixed a bug where attacks from the “King Bomb Boo” item could be avoided using Charge Jump or Handle Assist.

• Fixed a bug where “King Bomb Boo” item attacks in mid-air could cause fire pillar direction to be incorrect.

• Fixed a bug where using the “Laser” item caused Dash type machine appearance to break at certain times.

• Fixed a bug where using the “Boost” item obtained during Boost Frenzy at the exact end of Frenzy could make the item unusable.

• Fixed a bug where using the “Tornado” item during Boost Frenzy could make items unusable until Frenzy ended.

• Adjusted Dash Gate placement in Dash Gate Frenzy on certain courses where more gates than intended were placed.

• Fixed a bug in course “Wonder Museum” where machines could get stuck in the Tornado.

• Fixed a bug in course “Sky Road” or “Minecraft World” where using “Slicer” or “Homing Punch” when crossing Travel Rings or End Portals could cause incorrect tracking.

• Fixed a bug in course “Steampunk City” where colliding from the side with ground where trains run could cause machines to sink into the ground.

• Fixed a bug in course “White Cave” where using “Drill” in cave areas could cause machines to sink into the ground.

• Fixed several other gameplay-related bugs.

If you're looking for a reason to jump back into Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds, Sega has this week released the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition of the game digitally.

It's available for $69.99 or your regional equivalent, and will be released in physical form on this platform in "early 2026".

If you're an existing owner of the Switch release and don't want to miss out, there's the Switch 2 Edition Upgrade Pack, which is also available. It's normally priced at $10.00 but you'll get an introductory discount (bringing it down to just $5.00) if you purchase it by 11th December 2025.

Sega also notes how the Werehog DLC Pack is available to download for free for the first two weeks of the digital version's availability (until 17th December 2025).

You can also carry over all of your content and progress in the Switch release to the Switch 2 Edition of the game. As previously revealed, the Switch 2 version of the game includes improved performance and resolution.

Alongside the Switch 2 Edition and Switch upgrade, Sega has also released a major patch for this title today.

If you keep up with the Nintendo Music app's release schedule, you probably noticed Nintendo didn't update the app at the regular time earlier this week.

Unsurprisingly, it's all linked to the release of Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, with Nintendo announcing it's added seven tracks from the new game as a special release. This adds up to 48 minutes of music and will give you a nice sample of the game's "main theme", environments and more.

Here's the full tracklist and you can hear some of them in Nintendo's official sample below:

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond - Nintendo Music Special Release

1. Metroid Prime 4 Main Theme

2. Fury Green

3. The Sacred Tree

4. Vi-O-La

5. Ice Belt Power On

6. Carvex

7. Volt Forge

Although Nintendo Music has mostly received retro game soundtracks, this isn't the first time Nintendo has released an update based on a Switch 2 game. We've previously seen similar track releases for Donkey Kong Bananza and Kirby Air Riders.

If you want to listen to music on the Nintendo Music mobile app, you'll need to have an active Switch Online subscription.

In some other Metroid Prime 4: Beyond news, Nintendo has also released new custom icons today as part of the Switch Online 'Missions & Rewards' service. The first wave is available now and will be followed by weekly updates.

Monster Hunter Wilds has had numerous ups and downs since it launched earlier in the year, to the point where it has, arguably, become one of 2025's most divisive games.

On release, the action RPG was met with super strong review scores and positive player feedback; the finished product sported dramatic improvements over the somewhat disappointing beta tests that had taken place in the months prior.

But as hunters made their way through the main story and eventually stumbled into endgame hunts, the cracks started to show. Wilds was quite roundly criticised for its claustrophobic campaign, a general lack of challenge, and poor optimisation (especially on PC).

From there, opinions started to take a nosedive as Capcom struggled to provide immediate answers. Updates came and went, but nothing seemed to satisfy those who wanted more from the game — many having experienced the best of previous titles Monster Hunter World and Monster Hunter Rise.

Over the last few months, Capcom has undoubtedly improved the experience with big updates, dropping additional monsters, quests, and activities. But as the game's dwindling sales numbers suggest, Wilds clearly lost momentum after its initial honeymoon period.

Still, the ongoing negativity hasn't stopped the title from winning big at PlayStation's annual Partners Awards in Japan. Wilds won a 'Grand Award' for "outstanding worldwide sales" (again, the vast majority of which came at launch), and was voted as one of the year's top five PlayStation games by users.

As per IGN, director Yuya Tokuda spoke after the ceremony, and was quick to thank players for their support.

"Immediately after the release, we apologised for the inconvenience caused by the volume of content and the difficulty level. Despite this, we were delighted to receive various awards, including Users' Choice awards," he said.

"We would like to thank all the players who have given their opinions and spoken warm words even in this situation. The development team was able to turn everyone's feedback into an asset and work on the update with all our strength, and I think the result was also the reason why players voted for us."

The team has obviously been trying to turn things around with Wilds, so it does feel like Tokuda's attempting to clear the air — if only for a minute.

"In order to make Monster Hunter Wilds better, the fans’ voices gave us power. There are still updates left to come, so we will continue to do our best," producer Ryozo Tsujimoto added.

Tokuda goes on to assure potentially lapsed players that Wilds is in a better state these days, commenting: "If you beat the game immediately after its release and stopped playing, I would appreciate it if you could pick it up again."

It's assumed that at some point next year, Wilds will be getting its inevitable expansion — and that'll end up being a pivotal moment for the game.

Indeed, both World and Rise benefitted massively from the endgame content and systems that their own expansions delivered, bolstering the entire experience in the process. The hope is that Wilds will, ultimately, share a similar fate — but it's definitely got a bigger mountain to climb in terms of pleasing its players.

What are your hopes for Monster Hunter Wilds going forwards? Will you be diving back in for Title Update 4 on the 16th December? Prepare for another quest in the comments section below.

Just like September's interesting analysis of Star Wars Outlaws on Switch 2 and Series S, Digital Foundry returns with a fresh look at another Ubisoft title that's been ported over to the Nintendo system this week - and once again, this one uses the Xbox Series S version as its jumping off point.

Yes, in its latest tech review on Assassin's Creed Shadows, DF notes that "this ambitious port succeeds by starting from the cut-down Xbox Series S" version, pulling back a little further than the Microsoft machine to achieve these results on Switch 2. It's an intriguing comparison that once again sheds some light on how these two systems stack up.

"Among visual attributes missing on both Series S and Switch 2, strand-based hair and ray-traced global illumination (RTGI) don't make the cut, with the latter being replaced by the same baked, probe-based lighting solution seen on Series S. The lighting quality further suffers on Switch 2 due to an apparent downgrade to its screen-space ambient occlusion (SSAO) setting. And while Series S sneaks in an RTGI pass in AC Shadows' "hideout" hub zone, Switch 2 does not.

Foliage appears at lower density levels or even disappears entirely compared to Series S, with reduced animation effects and fewer distant-tree details, as well. Textures and shadows render at lower resolutions, with shadows employing a more aggressive middle-of-screen drop-off. And cutscenes inherit these and other downgrades, including under-occluded, "glowing" faces and a different, deeper, depth of field effect."

The team goes on to mention more cuts as well, namely to reflections, water and cloth simulations:

"The cuts go deeper for Nintendo's portable-docked hybrid system. Screen-space reflections (SSR) are replaced by cube maps as a fallback - and we're not sure why these look different than on other consoles. Water and cloth simulations are pared back, with steps through water no longer creating ripples and clothing moving and reacting to stimuli more subtly than on Series S."

In summary, DF reckons that Ubisoft "made the right calls with one or two exceptions" when porting Assassin's Creed Shadows to Switch 2, and while the Nintendo hybrid device turns in some impressive results, it doesn't quite match up to Xbox Series S in some key areas. You can check out the full video of this tech review up above while the written version is down below - and yep, it's going to be interesting to see how this battle continues in the coming years!

Summitsphere is giving Antonblast fans one last hurrah, one year after the game first launched on PC. And it's a content-filled update befittingly titled 'THE END'.

On 18th December 2025, The End is bringing four brand new bosses, a boss rush, multiple new game modes (including Hard Mode), new music, and new spray cans, among lots of other little additions coming to the 2024 platformer, which is heavily inspired by the Wario Land series.

Let's have a look at the specifics coming with The End in just a few weeks, courtesy of Antonblast's Steam page:

This is it. THE END of ANTONBLAST will be the game's final content update, bringing the remaining content promised to our Kickstarter backers, as well as a plethora of BRAND NEW content!

FEATURING

THE DEMON CORP
This band of bastards has been rehearsing each day for the Big Tournament, and now it's their time to shine. That's right, FOUR new (smaller-scale!) boss fights against each member of the Demon Corp. Claim your Prize Star by defeating each of them and be granted early access into their big show!

THE BIG TOURNAMENT: THE BOSS RUSH
Danton has been laboring over day and night and has at last fulfilled his contract to bring the Big Tournament to life! Earn your Battle Pass and prepare to face ANTONBLAST's most grueling challenge: Face against the game's nine major boss fights without facing a knock-out and claim your title of Tournament Champion! There is a big cash prize in it for the winner, too.

THE LIME TRIALS
The mysterious Lime Trials make their appearance. Defeat the big baddie of each wing of Brulo's Casino, and you will be granted access to a new kind of timed challenge: Collect all Limes in the room before time runs out to recover the Souvenir Lime! And, if you feel like showing off after already collecting the Souvenir Lime, claim cash prizes especially if you beat your best time!

NEW GAME MODES
As promised to our supporters, our Hard Mode and Stage Rush Mode will finally make their appearance. In Hard Mode, face the challenges of ANTONBLAST with little extra help and stricter, harder stages and bosses. Satan's troops are a little more prepared this time! In Stage Rush, blast through the twelve stages and eight bosses of the Adventure campaign as fast as you can! Hard Mode will automatically unlock for any players who have already cleared the first stage in game; Stage Rush will automatically unlock for any players who have defeated the Final Boss. But, could there be more...?

DANTON
Now that Danton's work around the Casino is mostly finished, you will find him perusing the area. Feel free to talk to him, he's really happy about it!

NEW SOUNDTRACK AND SOUND WORK
Our updated ANTONBLAST Soundtrack will be wholly replacing the existing tracks in the game. Furthermore, we have extensively touched up our sound design and have totally rebalanced and adjusted the soundscape of the game to prevent audio clipping and other nasty artifacts. The result is the game won't be as ear-piercingly loud, meaning you can get a much cleaner view (hearing?) of what is actually going on at any given moment in the game and don't need to turn the audio down so low. It is a much more pleasing experience on everyone's ears. We have also shifted some sounds around, but you'll have to play the game to hear the difference!

NEW TRINKETS
Brulo's Shop has been restocked with various new items, such as the Virtual Visor, Game Brick and Pet Paint (harmless, non-toxic). Experience Anton and Annie's Adventure under... a different light.

NEW SPRAY CANS
SIXTEEN new Spray Cans have been added, bringing the total to 110. Most will be hidden, strewn around Brulo's Casino and Peanut Park, so be sure to be look around carefully!

NEW ACHIEVEMENTS
FOUR new achievements for you to figure out and, well, achieve! Discover the secrets of Peanut Park and engage with the new stages and boss fights and (re-)claim your Perfect title on ANTONBLAST!

NEW LANGUAGE SUPPORT
That's right, you will be able to experience the glorious text and interface of ANTONBLAST in a total of EIGHT languages: English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Latin-American Spanish and Brazillian Portuguese. We hope our more international Blasters appreciate and enjoy the work our community localizers have put into the game!

LOTS OF BUG FIXES
I mean, I hope you're not surprised about it! The team has put TREMENDOUS work into polishing up ANTONBLAST into being the best game ever. We hope it reached that standard now!

AND MORE!
There is a LOT more that you will see that we have not talked about here. It will all be made clear... in THE END.

That's a lot for an ending, isn't it? Any excuse to go back to Antonblast, which we loved back when it launched on Switch last year. And it's received a performance boost since launch.

Have you picked up Antonblast on Switch? Will you be checking out the update this month? Blast down to the comments and share your thoughts.

Sony's latest push into mobile territory is MLB The Show Mobile, just announced and soft launched in the Philippines.

Developed in-house at San Diego Studio — developer of the main MLB The Show series — you can get a sense of the free-to-play game in the below trailer:

The official website describes MLB The Show Mobile as "a new standalone experience built from the ground up to deliver realistic baseball gameplay on mobile devices".

Built for both iOS and Android, the game is currently only available in the Philippines, but it'll come to more territories in future.

The game will feature current and legacy players, as well as all real stadiums.

You'll be able to bat, pitch, and field using touch controls, and you'll gradually build your dream team by collecting player cards. You can then earn XP and upgrade your players to make them more valuable.

For Sony's mobile plans, this seems like a no-brainer — bringing one of its popular franchises to a whole new audience.

Hopefully the global rollout won't be too far away so everyone can get to grips with this new take on MLB The Show.

What are your thoughts on MLB The Show Mobile? Is this something you'd like to play? Tell us in the comments section below.

We're still a week away from the last major gaming showcase of 2025 in the form of The Game Awards, but this Thursday's PC Gaming Show sounds well worth watching - even from an Xbox perspective.

The PC Gaming Show: Most Wanted showcase is said to be "powered by Xbox Game Pass", which basically means Game Pass is the big partner here. The focus of the event is to highlight the 25 most wanted games of the moment, but we also know we're getting "new trailers, announcements and behind the scenes looks at over 50 games".

Here's a list of stuff that's already been confirmed for the showcase:

• A new trailer from Team 17 for the soon the be released 4-player co-op shooter, Rogue Point

• A behind the scenes look at High On Life 2, the latest intergalactic action-adventure from Squanch Games releasing February 13

• A new trailer for Cairn, the beautiful survival-climber from the creators of Furi and Haven

• Tripwire Interactive will be unveiling a new trailer for first-person shooter Killing Floor 3

• Soulmask will debut a new gameplay trailer for its ancient Egypt DLC 'Shifting Sands' which adds more powerful Gods-themed masks and takes us out of the jungle and into the desert with flying ships

• A new trailer for open world adventure Witchspire from Envar Games

• A brand-new trailer for space flight sim, Remnant Protocol

• Plus announcements from developers such as Dotemu, Lightbulb Crew and Playstack.

Nothing has been spelled out in terms of whether we'll be getting any Xbox Game Pass reveals at the PC Gaming Show: Most Wanted event, but the close partnership suggests it's pretty likely. At the very least, we can see from the list above that High on Life 2 will be there - a title that's already confirmed to release on Game Pass in February 2026.

If you're interested in finding out for yourself, you'll be able to watch the PC Gaming Show: Most Wanted event via the video above at 12pm PST / 3pm EST / 8pm GMT / 9pm CET on Thursday, December 4th. We'll be watching it as well, and we'll have a roundup of everything that was shared - including any potential Xbox Game Pass reveals!

We were delighted to see Ustwo Games' gorgeous mobile puzzler, Monument Valley 3, make the jump to Switch earlier this year, and today the dev has given us even more story chapters to sink our teeth into — for free!

The 'Garden of Life' expansion is now available on Switch, bolting four additional chapters onto the end of the main game, packed with even more of the series' signature perspective-bending puzzles. There are even some hidden optional puzzles to find in the bonus levels, for those after even more.

The expansion drop accompanies the news that MV3 is now back on mobile, so you can check out all the extra content wherever you please.

If the above trailer didn't do enough to sell you on the new freebie, here's a statement on what you can expect from the expansion by lead designer Emily Brown, and a handful of screenshots:

I am really pleased to be able to share these new chapters and puzzles, because
they bring together the skills of an incredible team who care deeply about what
they make. After the events of the main game, we wanted The Garden of Life to
tell a story of people coming together to build a new future. A story of hope.

Images: Ustwo Games

You'll find Monument Valley 3 and the previous two series entries on the Switch eShop right now. Those who want to experience the full trilogy from start to finish can even pick up the collection in physical form from iam8bit.

Tomba! 2: The Evil Swine Return Special Edition now has a confirmed release date on PS5 — and it's soon!

Publisher Limited Run Games announced this one all the way back in June of last year, so it's nice to see that it hasn't somehow been forgotten. It launches in just a couple of weeks, on the 15th December.

This is obviously a follow up to Tomba! Special Edition, which dropped for PS5 and PS4 in August 2024. However, we should note that the PS4 version of Tomba! 2's Special Edition has been cancelled.

Much like its enhanced predecessor, the sequel will feature modern quality of life features, like the ability to save anywhere and a rewind function. It'll also boast a museum mode full of artwork form the original release.

Tomba! 2 is widely regarded to be an improved sequel. A sprinkling of new mechanics, more ambitious level design, and a shift to full 3D graphics earned it some really strong review scores back in 1999, when it first launched for the PS1.

Will you be leaping into Tomba! 2 this month? Pick up some pigs in the comments section below.

The latest Xbox Game Studios title making the leap to PS5 is Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, a highly acclaimed aviation sim landing on the console on 8th December, 2025.

Aspiring pilots may be interested to know what's expected of them with regards to Trophies, and fortunately, the list has made its way online prior to release.

Over on PSNProfiles, the full rundown of digital trinkets is available for your perusal, and it looks like a fairly manageable to-do list, albeit time-consuming.

One Trophy requires that you spend 50 cumulative hours in the air, for example, which sounds like a lot, but it's probably quite achievable if you partake in all the game's missions and activities.

To get the platinum, you'll need to complete training and earn your private pilot licence, take a whole bunch of photographs, complete 100 weekly challenges, and perform various flying feats.

These include 30 successful seaplane landings, 50 successful landings at heliports, performing touch-and-go manoeuvres, and visiting several landmarks via hot air balloon.

It's certainly going to keep you busy if you want that plat, then, but we feel like the people interested in Flight Sim are probably gonna play it enough regardless.

Are you onboard for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024? Will you be aiming to collect all the Trophies? Tell us in the comments section below.

Some very brief — but new — clips from Resident Evil Requiem have been made public by way of a Japanese television show about the series.

In the footage, we see protagonist Grace shooting a zombie on a staircase, only for it to attack her and reveal there is a second undead man nearby. Based on the decor, this scene looks to be taken from the hotel location that shall play an important part in the campaign.

Catch the new gameplay below:

The footage falls in line with virtually everything else we've seen of Resident Evil Requiem up until now, which is to say not a lot. The game is out for PS5 on 27th February 2026, meaning it's already only three months away. In a surprising move — as all recent Resident Evil titles have received one — it's been said Requiem won't be getting a demo prior to launch.

Is Resident Evil Requiem one of your most anticipated games for 2026? Let us know in the comments below.

In the absence of Dino Crisis, TeamKill Media's upcoming shooter Code Violet looks set to fill the void.

The PS5 exclusive sci-fi action horror title has been on the radar all year, and was expected to launch back in November. Unfortunately, it hasn't hit its launch plans, and has been delayed to 10th January 2026.

However, with this delay comes some good news: Code Violet has now gone gold, meaning the game is effectively finished, and the remaining time will presumably be spent squashing last-minute bugs.

All this news comes via a lengthy statement posted on the studio's social accounts:

In a nutshell, the team ran into some issues relating to "unlocking entitlements" for the game's deluxe and pre-order editions, and to circumvent all that, it's decided to simply release one standard edition of the game.

This version will include "all the bonus outfits, items, and perks", so those who wanted the deluxe editions won't be missing out. That said, anybody who pre-ordered the deluxe edition will be receiving full refunds.

TeamKill Media is working to get Code Violet back up on the PS Store for pre-ordering.

It sounds like we'll be seeing more gameplay and trailers of the game in the lead-up to its launch in the new year.

It's been a bit of a bumpy road to release, then, but despite the delay, this seems like a net positive outcome. Hopefully the game can deliver a good experience that's worth the wait.

Are you looking forward to Code Violet? Tell us in the comments section below.

Back in the summer, Xbox developer Obsidian reassured fans that Avowed's Fall 2025 update was still on track - but plans have since changed, and this update has now morphed into a bigger content drop set to arrive in February 2026.

To mark the game's one-year anniversary next Feb., Obsidian says that it's delivering "our biggest update yet" for Avowed - featuring "everything originally planned for fall, plus additional features". We'll throw the team's updated roadmap down below:

As you can see in the above image, this 2026 anniversary update will bring New Game+, photo mode, a new weapon type, new character presets and more - and that list is set to grow now that the team is taking a little more time in bringing its next update to players across Xbox, PC and Game Pass next year.

As for what's coming after this update, well, we don't know much about the longer-term future of Avowed right now - but it sounds like the team could be working towards a sequel at some point! That's by no means confirmed just yet, but it was discussed recently by a former Obsidian developer.

How on earth is it that time of year again already? It feels as though we can still sense the tight elastic of our tiny Kirby swimming trunks digging into our fresh summer sunburn, and yet here comes Rolling Stone with its Best of 2025 list, because it's nearly Christmas. Brace for impact!

Yes, Rolling Stone has dropped its 25 favourite gaming experiences of the year and, whilst the number one spot is absolutely no surprise (congratulations to Clair Obscur: Expedition 33), we've been tickled pink to see that good old Donkey Kong has managed to secure a number three spot via all that wrecking shop he did in Bananza. The big man has smashed his way onto a prestigious podium there, so well done, Mr. Kong. And nice tie!

Elsewhere on the list, some 10 spaces down in fact, you'll spot another Switch 2-shaped mention in the form of Mario Kart World. Honestly, we probably wouldn't have expected that DK would outdo Master Mascot Mario in this way if you'd told us in the summer, but we'd tend to agree on the placement rolling (no pun intended) the great ape's way here.

What else has delighted us in making the cut? Well, The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy dropping into a very nice 7th place is great, as that really was one of the year's big highlights on Switch, alongside the wonderful Absolum, BALL x PIT, and, of course, Hades 2, which has pulled off a blinder by snatching the number 2 spot.

Images: Nintendo Life / Marvellous, Nintendo Life / Devolver Digital, Nintendo Life / Dotemu, Nintendo Life / Fellow Traveller

Oh, and look at Silksong, all the way down (if you can be all the way down on a top 25 list) at number 12. That isn't perhaps where we'd have expected to see such a massively well-reviewed game, but personal taste is a wondrous and mysterious thing, innit!

With a total of 11 of these games available on Switch consoles, it's still a very strong showing for Nintendo gamers - and hopefully we'll see Switch ports of some of these soon!

Here's the full listing for your perusal, but check out the full article for details and reasoning:

1. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

2. Hades II

3. Donkey Kong: Bananza

4. Dispatch

5. Ghost of Yōtei

6. Blue Prince

7. The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy

8. Death Stranding 2: On The Beach

9. BALL x PIT

10. Arc Raiders

11. South of Midnight

12. Hollow Knight: Silksong

13. Mario Kart World

14. SHINOBI: Art of Vengeance

15. Battlefield 6

16. Ninja Gaiden 4

17. Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves

18. Absolum

19. despelote

20. The Séance of Blake Manor

21. Split Fiction

22. Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector

23. Rematch

24. Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles

25. Silent Hill: F

See anything you disagree with making the cut? Think something is too highly/lowly-rated, or even missing entirely? Let us know!

Eight years on from its big reveal, Metroid Prime 4: Beyond finally arrives on Switch 1 & 2 tomorrow. To make sure that things are in tip-top condition, Nintendo has today released the launch day update, boosting things up to ver. 1.1.0 and adding a bunch of day-one features to boot.

This update adds in amiibo functionality, some sweet cinematic controller rumble, an easily accessible upgrade path to the Switch 2 Edition in the opening menu, some gallery tweaks, and then the usual adjustments and fixes.

At the time of writing, the patch notes have only been shared on the Japanese Nintendo Support website. We have included those below (via Google Translate), and we will sub-in the official English translation as soon as it is available.

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond Ver. 1.1.0 (3rd Dec 2025)

• You can now use amiibo on the "amiibo" page in the pause menu.

• Controller now vibrates during cinematics.

• [Switch 2]: When you start up Metroid Prime 4 Beyond on Nintendo Switch 2, a "Switch 2 Edition" option will now appear in the menu after the title screen. Selecting this option will take you to the Upgrade Path page on the Nintendo eShop.

• The rating information for the rating system "ClassInd (Brazil)" has been updated from "12" to "14".

• The condition for unlocking some movies in the "Gallery" has been changed from "achieving 100% item recovery rate" to "clearing the game."

• In "Hard Mode," the difficulty of some enemies has been adjusted.

• Additionally, we have made some adjustments and fixes to improve your gameplay experience.

"After 18 years of waiting, Metroid Prime 4: Beyond manages to replicate that magical sense of discovery from the GameCube original while pushing the series in some incredible new directions," we wrote in our 9/10 review, describing Samus' latest adventure as "quite possibly the boldest, most well-realised Metroid game to date". Just one more sleep to go!

11th March 2025 marked the 30th anniversary of Chrono Trigger. Square Enix marked the occasion by announcing that "various projects" would be coming our way over the next year, but so far, those projects have been limited to character popularity polls and planned orchestral concerts. Importantly, that's not the remake that we all want to see and have been chatting about for years. But we're still not ready to completely throw out all hope just yet.

You see, in the latest episode of the 'KosoKoso Hōsō Kyoku' talk show livestream (translated by Automaton), Dragon Quest creator and Chrono Trigger supervisor Yuji Horii attempted to keep his lips sealed about where the series is heading — but in saying nothing, has he actually said everything?

"I can't talk about that," Horii-san told the interviewer when asked whether the smaller anniversary events might be "foreshadowing" bigger developments down the line. He jokingly added clarifying statements like, "Wait, if I say that, you'll figure it out!," "Don't ask!," and "I'll get in trouble!" before the panel decided to move on with the show.

Hmmm. It's far from anything concrete, and there's every chance that Horii-san was genuinely just trying to get himself out of a sticky situation, but we can't help feeling that the whole thing is a little suspicious. Hey, perhaps it's just wishful thinking on our end.

Back in May, it seemed like Horii-san might have let the news of an upcoming remake slip during a panel at Napoli Comicon. However, it later turned out that it was just the translator bringing up the series, not Yuji Horii himself. D'oh.

At the time of writing, the best way to officially play Chrono Trigger remains the wonderful 2008 DS port, which'll set you back a pretty penny if you try to pick it up on the resale market today. It has arrived on mobile and Windows in the years since, but come on, we all want to see it on Switch (2), right?

Believe it or not, the holiday season is almost upon us. Of course, many stores have been setting up the Christmas cheer for months now (this writer was seeing bedecked trees in shop windows back in October), but, as of today, the Nintendo Museum is finally following suit.

As shared in a post on the museum's official X account, the lights will be on every night from 4pm JST until close (7pm), and they'll be sticking around in the grounds until the not particularly festive date of 27th April 2026.

While it is far from the kind of display we might expect from Disney Land — or, perhaps more accurately, Super Nintendo World — there's enough Mushroom Kingdom flair here that our nerdy Christmas spirits are sufficiently warmed.

Nintendo has only revealed the two photos of the display at the time of writing (one above and one below), but look! It's cute!

Alongside the lights, the Nintendo Museum has also plonked a Super Mario Bros. 40th Anniversary plaque next to the warp pipe photo op, which feels like... a very Nintendo way of marking the occasion.