News and Reviews

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 Bes…

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 …

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 the…

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 disc…

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…

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 controll…

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 gi…

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: Yes, happy birthday. Ve…

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…

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 st…

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, …

Gregg Mayles recently announced his departure from Rare after 36 years, which means the brains behind such classics as Battletoads, Donkey Kong Country and Banjo-Kazooie is no longer with the legendary British studio. While he's very much focused on his future, Mayles is equally keen to promote his past, and has been digging into his personal archives to unearth material related to Banjo-Tooie, which recently celebrated its 25th birthday. Among the paperwork you'll find scripts, unfilmed TV commercials, lost special moves, maps and unused abilities, but the item that made me smile the most was a fax from Nintendo's Japanese HQ which cleared the game for release in that re…

Edia has announced another compilation of Telenet Japan games. This time, focusing primarily on Wolf Team's Zan series of Japanese-set simulation titles, which see players stepping into the role of a warlord tasked with commanding an army around a battlefield (thanks, Gematsu, for the spot!). In the past, the collection of games has regularly been likened to Koei's Nobunaga's Ambition series of strategy games, and typically shares a similar focus on military affairs, such as arranging your troops into formations, gathering intelligence, and handling other aspects of war. The series first debuted back in 1989 with the release of Zan: Kagerō no Toki on the PC-98 and Sharp X…

Square's Secret of Mana (known as Seiken Densetsu 2 in Japan) is one of my personal favourites in the SNES library, so when I heard the news that a fan-made attempt to bring it to another of my beloved consoles – the PC Engine – is underway, I was understandably excited. As is the case with many of these unofficial porting projects, it pays to keep expectations in check. Developer kaffeeware / not_again admits this is just a demo at the moment, and they haven't even had the chance to test it on real hardware personally. Images: kaffeeware To that end, they're looking for volunteers to help iron out any early bugs on original PC Engine/TG-16 systems – and early reports …

It's the final month of the year, and we're mere days away from one of the most anticipated video games of 2025. Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is the clear headliner of December, but if that isn't your cup of tea, there's some other games that might be worth picking up. Let's see what's in store. December 1Marvel Cosmic Invasion | PC, PS5, PS4, XSX|S, NS December 2Assassin's Creed Shadows | NS2 Red Dead Redemption | PS5, XSX|S, NS2, Mobile Sleep Awake | PC, PS5, XSX|S Rising Heat | PC December 3Let it Die: Inferno | PC December 4Metroid Prime 4: Beyond | NS2, NS Octopath Traveler 0 | PC, PS5, PS4, XSX|S, NS2, NS Blood: Refreshed Supply | PC, PS5, PS4, XSX|S, XBO, NS Son…

Publisher Meridiem Games has announced a March 2026 release date for action-adventure dark fantasy game The Bearer & the Last Flame; it has also revealed that the game will be available digitally and physically. Developed by Dark Reaper Studio, the game is inspired by classic Soulslike titles and set in a world ravaged by death. In a land where man has become extinct, darkness has ravaged all other signs of life. The darkest creatures and soulless sorcerers live in the underworld, where the bloodthirsty warriors are seeking rest. Only faint traces of light remain in the world: a glimmer of hope emerges from the high mountains of Selender. A living soul has received it…

Remember when Microsoft committed to putting Call of Duty on Nintendo platforms amidst all of the ActiBlizz drama a few years back? Well, we've not really seen much activity in this space since, but after confirming that this move was still in the works back in the summer, one of the COD dev teams is now seemingly hiring for Switch development of some sort. Over on LinkedIn, Sledgehammer Games — who most recently developed 2023's Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 — is hiring for a Senior Technical Artist role. What makes this particular job listing different, is that within the finer details, Sledgehammer notes that a bonus for this role would be someone with "AAA Mobile or …

In case you missed it, this week Nintendo released a new update for its Switch mobile app, bumping it up to Version 3.2.0. This latest update features some notable changes, including notifications displaying what software friends are playing, and the ability to send friend requests to players you've spoken to in GameChat sessions. Here's the full rundown via the App Store, including some iOS-specific updates: Nintendo Switch App - Version 3.2.0 (27th Nov 2025)What's New: The app no longer supports iOS versions prior to iOS 16. iOS devices must have iOS 16 or later to be compatible with this app. The notification you received when a friend comes online has now been updated…

Dark Horse and Square Enix are celebrating three decades of the Mana series with an English version of Legend of Mana: The Art of Mana - 30th Anniversary Edition book. This is the first time this book has been published in English and will give fans a "deeper look" at the action RPG. Here's some additional PR: As mentioned, this book includes 80 pages in total. It will be available in hardcover and is scheduled to arrive in bookstores on 28th July 2026 for $29.99 (or the equivalent). Pre-orders are now available on the Dark Horse website and other sites like Amazon and Barnes & Noble. The Video Game Library (via Instagram) has also cleared up some confusion about th…

Nintendo released a new firmware update for the Switch 2 earlier this week, and it's now been followed up with compatibility fixes for select Switch titles. Apart from the update for NieR:Automata The End of YoRHa Edition, several other titles have reportedly received compatibility fixes. Here's the rundown via Nintendo Everything: DOOM + DOOM II Guardian Tales NieR:Automata The End of YoRHa Edition Skies Above Sugardew Island Super Mega Baseball 4 Timespinner Apart from this, some problems with certain other titles have also been identified. This includes an issue with Sports Party, where waiting on the title screen for half a minute can apparently create an issue. Resid…

The Analogue 3D has been updated to version 1.1.9, introducing a range of fixes and improvements for the FPGA-based N64 system. As well as some fixes, this update features "substantial" updates to the Analogue 3D's 'Overclock' mode for titles like Perfect Dark and GoldenEye 007. Here are the full patch notes, taken from the Analogue site: GeneralEnhanced device support for SD connect mode CoreSubstantial upgrades to Unleashed mode Overclock for CPU-bound games such as Perfect Dark and Goldeneye 007 Fixed frame overflow issue Bomberman Hero (PAL) Super Smash Bros. OSAdded manual region selection in the configure menu Added 'Disable Texture Filtering' feature in the configu…

Publisher Fireshine Games and developer Pugstorm dazzled us with the gorgeous survival sandbox game Core Keeper back in September last year, and today they have announced that more is on the way in the shape of a swanky new Switch 2 Edition. Arriving on 28th January, you can expect this one to feature beefed-up graphical fidelity and frame rate (targeting 60fps), as well as a bunch of visual tweaks in the lighting, shadow, water quality and particle effect departments to keep things looking super sleek. What's more, the Switch 2 version will include native eight-player co-op — a substantial step up from the original's four — and anyone can get involved with a session, eve…

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond marks a completely new story where the legendary bounty hunter Samus Aran is unexpectedly transported to the unknown planet Viewros. As you've probably already seen, she's also joined by a team of Galactic Federation soldiers. In the same recently published article on Nintendo's Japanese website, there's an official introduction to the team of soldiers who have also been transported to the same location. Throughout this new adventure, Samus will work and fight alongside all of these characters to return home alive. If you don't want any spoilers, you might want to navigate away from this page right now. Below is a look at each of the Galactic Feder…

Whether you're a veteran of the series or just starting out, Metroid Prime 4: Beyond will have a difficult to match your skill. In a new article on the official Japanese Nintendo website, the difficulty settings in Samus' new mission on Planet Viewros have been detailed. When you start this adventure, you will be able to select from either a 'casual' or 'normal' mode. Casual mode will lower enemy HP and reduce the amount of damage Samus takes, and is recommended for first-time players. And as you probably guessed, normal mode offers the standard Metroid Prime experience. If you want a tougher challenge, once normal mode is cleared, you'll unlock hard mode. If you've play…

With next year (and beyond) on Xbox looking pretty darn stacked, Microsoft could be having some trouble knowing where exactly to place its first-party games in its 2026 release calendar. We know of four big titles landing next year at the moment - and some fresh rumors today are giving us a narrower window for one of those titles, whilst also adding another fifth game into the 2026 mix. Right, let's look at that narrower release window to start off with. NateTheHate — a well-known gaming leaker — has taken to social media this week to reiterate that Forza Horizon 6 is planned for the first half of 2026. We've heard a similar rumor to this one before, but for now, Xbox and…