News and Reviews

The Xbox Winter Demo Fest for 2025 (otherwise known as the Indie Selects Demo Fest) has now kicked off, allowing you to play over 20 games for free. It's not officially being promoted at the time of writing, but we've done some sleuthing and discovered these 20+ titles that are part of it — with 30+ set to be announced in total. With that in mind, we'll be updating this list as more demos become available over the next 24 hours. As of December 9th, you'll see a tab for the Xbox Demo Fest on your console's dashboard. Before then, you can use the links below, navigate to the "demos" section of the Xbox Store, or search for the ones you want to try manually. Let's take a loo…

Back in September, we learnt that Microsoft Flight Simulator was jetting off to PS5 this year - and now an interesting interview with an Xbox developer talks about the series' interesting journey to PlayStation platforms. Speaking with XDA, Microsoft's Flight Sim lead dev Jorg Neumann talked about the upcoming port and how it all started. Neumann says that he suggested moving the series over to PS5 after 2020's Microsoft Flight Simulator (an idea that MS shot down), before a Sony dev came back to him a little while later. Neumann says that shortly after this exchange, the team started to plan for PS5 - after finishing up the Xbox and PC versions of the 2024 release of co…

One of the most unique a beautiful games of the year — despelote — is all about the beautiful game itself and the communities it helps build, and it's coming to Switch on 11th December in North America for just $14.99. Japan will get it on 18th December, while the rest of the world will have to wait for kick-off on 13th January 2026. despelote isn't your typical soccer game where you're kicking about a ball to win matches; this is a slice-of-life narrative-driven experience which is all about the importance of soccer to Ecuador and, in particular to eight-year-old Julián, in the run up to the World Cup. In despelote, you'll dribble, pass, and shoot the ball around Quito, …

The fact that the Pokémon Trading Card Game has created its own mini-economy isn't new news – back when it launched in the late '90s, there were accusations that it was encouraging gambling amongst kids, with many schools banning the cards from their playgrounds. In more recent years, however, the market for collectable cards has risen to hitherto unseen levels of insanity, driven by the fact that the children who grew up with Pokémon in the '90s and 2000s are now adults and can invest heavily in picking up the rarest examples – and the high prices have predictably encouraged in opportuniustic scalpers moving in, drawn by the promise of turning small purchases into hundre…

Update [Mon 8th Dec 2025, 8:15am]: Paramount Skydance has launched a rival bid for "the entire company" of Warner Bros. Discovery — including streaming, TV networks and its gaming division — following Netflix's own agreement from last Friday (via BBC). Paramount is offering $30 per share directly to shareholders, stating that this is a "superior alternative" to Netflix's own. The mass media company values Warner Bros. Discovery at $108.4 billion. “We’re really here to finish what we started,” Paramount chief executive David Ellison told CNBC, telling the station that this offer was "anti-competitive" and that Netflix's is "a horrible deal for Hollywood." Both Netflix and …

The Yakuza / Like a Dragon franchise is now officially 20 years old, and RGG Studio has produced a rather touching little video to celebrate. Said video shows the past 20 years of a man's life, as he goes from being an overwhelmed university student to a stressed out office worker. Granted, this doesn't sound very celebratory, but at each pivotal point in his life, he recalls words of wisdom from Kazuma Kiryu himself, and he finds the strength to push on. He's even got Kaz's chin scruff by the end of it. It may seem crazy to think that the series has been around for so long, but then we can't forget that it's only really caught on in the west over the last decade. It was …

Although Capcom has remained tightlipped on the prospect of Leon Kennedy cropping up in the upcoming Resident Evil Requiem, a good number of fans are adamant that the veteran character will indeed appear. However, a new listing over on GameStop drops some new information regarding the Deluxe Edition of the game which, if accurate, seems to hint at a completely different playable character: Rosemary Winters (thanks, IGN). Rose Winters is, if you remember, the protagonist in the Shadows of Rose DLC for Resident Evil: Village, having previously appeared in the main game as, uh... a bunch of dismembered limbs. Look, it's a pretty wild story. The listing from GameStop specific…

It looks like Housemarque plans to open digital PS5 pre-orders for Saros in the very near future, as standard and Digital Deluxe editions of the game were rated in Taiwan earlier today. Of course, with The Game Awards set to take place later this week, it appears likely that the PS5 title will appear during the show with a new trailer and official pre-order details. It's already scheduled in for 20th March 2026, meaning that the release is only three months away now. In recent years, Digital Deluxe editions of games have moved away from the season pass model, and — Sony's special editions in particular — instead, they bundle the base game with additional outfits, weapons,…

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, Sony announced Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Remake, a timed PS5 exclusive modernisation of the classic RPG. We first heard about this project way back in September 2021, but reported difficulties with development have significantly delayed its production. Now, rumour has it that it may finally be time for the game to make a reappearance. This comes from a leaker known as Kurakasis, who says a "big Star Wars game announcement is coming very soon", later clarifying that the game's title ends with "The Old Republic": Knights of the Old Republic Remake was originally in development at Aspyr, but duties were reportedly hande…

Hideo Kojima and his team have only ever made great games, but even he is unsure about how OD, the title he's making with Xbox, will turn out. In an interview with Ananweb (via Automaton), Kojima is asked about his upcoming projects now that Death Stranding 2 is out. He says that while the latest trailer may make it look like a traditional horror game, it's actually "something completely different". He continues: "I can't say what it is yet, and I don't know if it will work. We've made games that haven't been done before, like games where you can't be found or games where you have to make deliveries, but the system is the same as other games." In the case of OD, Kojima sa…

Even though 2023's Dead Space remake was a hit both critically and commercially, publisher EA apparently has "no plans" to develop another instalment in the series. And perhaps even more revealing, there's now talk of the company selling the horror IP off, in a bid to correct the debt that'll inevitably envelop EA when its acquisition deal closes next year. This is according to anonymous sources from within the publisher, as per Insider Gaming. Said sources are "hoping" that EA will want to move Dead Space on to a new owner. Indeed, it sounds like Dead Space could be one of numerous properties to be leveraged; it's described as being put "on ice", suggesting that the publ…

Just under two months since the ROG Xbox Ally first arrived, it's just received its first major discount! Xbox has officially reduced its price by $100 in the US until December 20th, although only at certain retailers. This brings the price of the standard ROG Xbox Ally down from $599 to $499 USD (or actually slightly lower in some cases) in time for Christmas, although keep in mind that supplies are limited and may not last until that Dec. 20 date. Here's a look at Xbox's marketing for this deal: A quick glance shows us that the ROG Xbox Ally is currently discounted at ASUS, Amazon, Best Buy and Walmart, but it's sold out on the Microsoft Store (and will likely disappear…

There's been an unfortunate narrative doing the rounds on social media this weekend about Xbox consoles, and it's all to do with some new Black Friday 2025 data that suggests the Series X and Series S sold poorly during BF week. Specifically, Mat Piscatella of the analysis group "Circana" took to Bluesky on Sunday to share how the PlayStation 5 dominated Black Friday week with 47% of gaming hardware sales in the US, followed by the Switch 2 at 24% and the little-known NEX Playground at 14%. The other 15% will have been shared by the Xbox Series X, Series S, Switch 1 and whatever else falls into the hardware category (not specified). To be honest, we had to look up the NEX…

Nightdive Studios is bringing its awesome System Shock remake to the Switch and Switch 2, and we can now exclusively reveal that it'll be available to play from 18th December 2025. Originally released in 2023, System Shock is a comprehensive yet faithful remake of the 1994 FPS from Looking Light Studios. Development was lengthy and somewhat troubled, with Nightdive striving to reboot the original with more modern design principles. In the end, however, to deliver on the promises of its initial Kickstarter campaign, the team chose to lean more towards a remake, keeping the core elements of the original intact while introducing a plethora of quality-of-life updates. Ultimat…

What do you do when you're surfing the old interwebs and happen upon a bunch of lovely gaming folk wondering if anyone has ever stuffed a Switch — in fully working order — into a Wii U GamePad (also still in complete working order)? Well, if it were us, we'd shut off our internet and go for a nice, long walk outside. Maybe we'd never come back. However, (and as reported by GoNintendo) retro gaming YouTuber and modder extraordinaire @KouzexMods accepted it as a challenge and decided it was time to take matters into their own hands. As you can see in the impressively detailed video up top, this was no half-hearted job either. Nope, this expert retro modder has gone all in, …

Hitoshi Sakimoto has been composing music for video games for 40 years, and his remarkable contribution to the medium is being marked with a unique concert in London next year. "The Colors of Harmony will be the 40th anniversary of Hitoshi Sakimoto‘s work on soundtracks which brought to life many enchanting worlds created by legendary Japanese studios Vanillaware and Square Enix," says GameMusic.net, the company behind the event. "The composer will join us in person for this special evening, accompanied by the London Mozart Players orchestra and a host of talented soloists." Sakimoto has worked on titles such as Final Fantasy Tactics, Radiant Silvergun, Odin Sphere, Final…

The launch of the GF1 Neptune – a FPGA recreation of the Genesis / Mega Drive and 32X combo that never actually hit store shelves – has been delayed. GamesCare, the Brazilian company behind the project, has stated that the delay will enable it to "ensure that both the software and the cores provide a stable and high-quality experience." Here's the PR from GamesCare: Sega originally announced the Neptune project back in the mid-'90s, just as it was preparing to release the 32X and Saturn. Neptune would have combined the Genesis and 32X into a single system, offering a more elegant entry point for those who weren't ready to invest in a Saturn. Mock-ups of the console were…

What's leaving Xbox Game Pass in January 2026? Well, Microsoft hasn't confirmed anything just yet, but based on some games that were added to the service this time last year, we can at least make a few predictions ahead of time. We know that a lot of Xbox users want more advance notice of games leaving Xbox Game Pass, but Microsoft usually gives us around two weeks right now - and don't forget, publishers sometimes secure late deals with Microsoft to keep their games on Game Pass, even after they've been announced to be leaving! So, before we take a look at the following list of potential games leaving Xbox Game Pass in January 2026, we want to stress that nothing has bee…

Since the release of the ROG Xbox Ally and Ally X a couple of months ago, it's been hard to find any kind of discounts or giveaways for the two devices, but we've just come across something via the Bloodlines 2 team on social media. As you can see below, they're giving away a free ROG Xbox Ally X, which is pretty crazy considering how expensive (£799.99, €899.99, $999.99) that device is! You're going to need some serious luck to win it, but you might as well try. Here's a look at what you'll need to like and comment on: We're sure there's some kind of terms and conditions page for this somewhere, but we haven't managed to locate one yet and nothing's mentioned in this twe…

Apart from Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, one other significant Switch 2 release this week was the third-party title Assassin's Creed Shadows. While Ubisoft's new feudal Japan outing has been mostly well-received by critics on Nintendo's new hybrid platform, it seems the experience hasn't been quite as enjoyable for some players. Multiple message board posts and social media threads online are filled with player reports about the game randomly crashing. Some players have even experienced repeated crashes, forcing them to completely halt their play sessions until Ubisoft deploys a patch. The following comments in a thread on the Switch 2 subreddit highlights just how much of a p…

Earlier this week, Nintendo released a new update for the Switch 2 launch title Mario Kart World, bumping the racer up to Version 1.4.0. In case you missed it, this is a major update, including all sorts of adjustments, changes and improvements. One highlight, in particular, is tied to the game's courses. As mentioned in the patch notes, the layout of select tracks has been changed for certain modes. YouTube channel 'RetroArchive' has now shared a look at all these changes and redesigns in a side-by-side comparison video featuring footage of the original versions. As a point of reference, here's what's been updated according to Nintendo's official patch notes: Mario Kart …

If you played Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, you're probably familiar with the Decayed Master Sword. First 4 Figures now has plans for a "life-size" statue of it, with pre-orders scheduled to open on 18th December 2025. Pricing hasn't been revealed just yet, but if you sign up to the First 4 Figures email, you can get $10.00 off. For now, here's a teaser in the form of a silhouette reveal: First 4 Figures also has a range of other Zelda-themed items including a Sheikah Slate, Majora's Mask, Hylian Shield and various statues based on characters from Breath of the Wild. View full article

Update [Sat 6th Dec 2025, 1:30pm]: The Dreamcast port of Star Fox 64 is now available: Original Story: JNMartin's unofficial Sega Dreamcast port of Mario Kart 64 is getting pretty close to its first public release. However, it appears that its lead developer has already started working on his next port of an N64 classic. The Dreamcast developer @Falco_Girgis shared the news earlier today on Twitter/X, stating while he has been busy fixing the last couple of bugs in the Mario Kart 64 DC port, ahead of the game's alpha release, JNMartin has started the process of porting the rail shooter Star Fox 64 over to the Sega console. Better yet, it appears the developer has already …

Fans of Suda51’s development studio, Grasshopper Manufacture, is known for games like No More Heroes and the Silver Case series. Up next on the studio’s docket is blood-soaked action game Romeo is a Dead Man. It promises a unique combination of ultra-violent science fiction and super sleek action gameplay, wrapped up in an original (and bonkers) story. This is the first Grasshopper Manufacture title to be published in-house; it will be released in February 2026. It is the studio’s first new IP in five years. Here is a description of the game, via Grasshopper Manufacture: Snatched from the brink of death by his donning of the rad mask “DeadGear”, FBI Space-Time special age…

Pikmin 4 received a free update in November adding new content, but it wasn't a Switch 2 upgrade and didn't include any enhancements for the game on the new hybrid platform. With this in mind, the same Switch title has now reportedly popped up in a section on the eShop, which focuses on first-party Nintendo "games with free updates" and also notes how select titles are enhanced when played on the Switch 2. This discovery was originally shared on the Pikmin subreddit (via My Nintendo News) and has also surfaced in other regions, as highlighted by Universo Nintendo editor Felipe Lima. Here's the attached description along with a look: As you can see, the game featured alon…