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Although the new game Pokémon Legends: Z-A is now in full swing with its events and unlocks, The Pokémon Company and Game Freak are still showing support for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet with distribution events. With this in mind, the latest one is now live and it offers up a Whimsicott based on the same one used by Federico Camporesi to win the 2025 Pokémon North America International Championships (thanks for the heads up, Serebii.net). This also lines up with the 2026 Latin America International Championships running this weekend. To obtain this latest distribution Pokémon, the code you'll need is LA1C26TA1LW1ND. You can redeem it in the mystery gift section of the game, and it's available until 30th November 2025. The same titles are currently giving trainers the opportunity to catch a Goodra with the Mightiest Mark. This event is now underway and will repeat on 28th November - 30th November 2025. In case you missed it, earlier this year, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet also received a free Switch 2 upgrade - adding frame rate improvements and higher resolution. You can find out more about this in the full patch notes for Version 4.0.0. Apart from this new distribution event for Scarlet and Violet this week, Pokémon Legends: Z-A also revealed a new Mega Evolution recently for its upcoming DLC, due out next month. The new entry's Ranked Battle Season 3 start date and rewards have also been detailed. View full article

Update [Fri 21st Nov 2025, 10:30pm]: This Shadow Labyrinth update is now available for the Switch and Switch 2. Alongside this, Bandai Namco has released a video that runs for close to six minutes, explaining everything included in Patch 1.1.0. You can see it above and download the patch now. The written patch notes for this latest update are available in the original story below. Original Story: Bandai Namco announced at the end of last month that it would be revamping Shadow Labyrinth with a major update. It's now officially rolled out Version 1.1.0 across multiple platforms. These updates aren't out on the Switch 2 and Switch just yet, but will "release soon". For now, here's the full rundown of this next major update, which includes the addition of "Explorer Mode", balance adjustments for the existing mode and improved play control for Mini-PUCK. Bandai Namco notes how this update has been designed to "enhance" the overall enjoyment of this title. Here's the full rundown: Shadow Labyrinth - Update 1.1.0 (Switch, Switch 2 - Coming Soon)Supported PlatformsPlayStation®5 / Xbox Series X|S / STEAM® are available now Updates are also incoming for Nintendo Switch™2 / Nintendo Switch™ and will release soon. Thank you for your patience! AdjustmentsAddition of Explorer Mode This mode significantly lowers the difficulty of combat and exploration, allowing you to better enjoy the story and world The existing mode, which was playable upon Shadow Labyrinth’s first release, will now be distinguished as "Veteran Mode," allowing you to continue enjoying the intense gameplay you've come to expect! Switching Method You can switch modes at any time during save data selection on the title screen or within the Miku Sol (Save/Warp Point) menu There are no disadvantages to selecting "Explorer Mode," so please enjoy the game in the mode that best suits your playstyle Main Adjustments in Explorer Mode Sword Fighter and GAIA's attack power increased Damage taken is reduced Contact damage is nullified Contact damage occurs when certain enemies are hit, or when enemies perform specific actions such as charging Various energy consumption rates are reduced and recovery effects increased ESP consumption is reduced Increased GAIA energy recovery during predation (consuming foes) GAIA Energy automatically recovers while in Sword Fighter phase Increased ESP recovery speed while crouching Increased recovery speed after ESP reaches 0 Athletic Recovery Support In certain areas with particularly high athletic (platforming) difficulty, failing three times in a row will cause a warp point to appear, allowing you to skip that specific challenging athletic area "Tenacity Boost" becomes available "Tenacity Boost" further increases attack power! When "Tenacity Boost" is ON, the Sword Fighter's cloak turns red, and attack power gradually increases each time you die Players can toggle Tenacity Boost ON/OFF and adjust its level at any time via Miku Sol (Save/Warp Point) MAZE difficulty adjustments Including boss weakening, MAZE stage adjustments, and changes to item placement within MAZE. The following adjustments apply to both Explorer Mode & Veteran Mode Adjustments to Miku Sol (Save/Warp Points) Significantly increased the number of Miku Sol (Save/Warp Points) and Simple Miku Sol (Save Points) Additionally, some Simple Miku Sol have been replaced with Miku Sol that allow warping, greatly improving player convenience Added Mode Change/Settings to Miku Sol Menu You can now switch between Explorer Mode and Veteran Mode at any time from the Miku Sol menu. Additionally, you can now toggle "Tenacity Boost" ON/OFF and set its level. HP tanks now recover even in Simple Miku Sol MAZE Adjustments Adjusted MAZE clear rewards The reward score required to clear MAZE has been reduced, making it easier to obtain Additionally, Ora can now be obtained when the score gauge is at maximum, or when the reward acquisition score is reached even if the reward has already been obtained Maximum bonus fruit acquisition increased from 100 to 200 If you fail the MAZE for Red Bragza: Terrias-Gilba, Blue Bragza: Terrias-Juno, Orange Bragza: Terrias-Valou, or Pink Bragza: Terrias-Boz Rag, players can choose to skip it Added save/load support for the retry function from MAZE boss battles! MAZE that have progressed to the boss battle can now resume from the boss battle after restarting the game Mini PUCK Play Control Adjustments Added operation tutorial stages within Miku Sol's menu, certain MAZE, and after some events Added a dedicated button for neutral jump (jump without directional input). This reduces the chance of accidental inputs Added diagonal forward-up stick input to the normal jump button. Inputting the stick diagonally forward-up and jumping now follows the same trajectory as a neutral jump, making the controls more intuitive Improved mid-air control after jumping Other Adjustments If defeated during the final battle against the last boss, you can now retry from the final battle! Reduced consumption and increased recovery of various energy sources No ESP consumption when Devour as the Sword Fighter Reduction in ESP consumption during evasive maneuvers Increased GAIA energy recovery during Devour (Recovery also slightly increased in Veteran Mode) Fixes Fixed an issue where the game could crash during the staff roll. (Nintendo Switch version only) Fixed an issue where, in certain MAZE, the speed when ejected from a booster slowed down at high refresh rates. (Steam version only) Fixed an issue where ESP would not naturally recover and the menu could not be opened after dying under specific conditions Other minor fixes View full article

20 years, eh, where does the time go?! Yep, Microsoft's Xbox 360 console launched on November 22nd, 2005 - which means the system has now hit the ripe old age of 20. To celebrate, we've been looking back at what made this gaming machine one of the very best - from the system itself to its launch games lineup and the experiences it delivered over time, Xbox 360 is simply an awesome console and one that's worth looking back on. You may have seen that in recent days, we started the party early here at Pure Xbox! I raved about Project Gotham Racing 3 once again because of course I did, while Fraser went back and played Perfect Dark Zero for the first time in over a decade. We also recently listed off some of the biggest things we miss from the 360 era in more general terms. You can take a look at all of those PX features down below. There's more where that came from too — including a fun little poll we're soon to publish about your favorite Xbox 360 launch games — but for now, we want to get some discussion going about what this anniversary means to you. Do you remember November 22nd, 2005 like it was yesterday? Did you discover the library later on, perhaps via modern Xbox backwards compatibility? We want to know! For us here at the PX offices, Xbox 360 remains a special thing - it's the era we look back on most fondly; a time where Microsoft was firing on all cylinders in its gaming department. The games released on it — from first and third-party — were largely brilliant, the controller was amazing and is still one of the best around, and all-in-all, we just have great memories of being Xbox fans at that time. The system had its issues, sure (who can forget the RROD and those strange Kinect years?), but it represents a time where Xbox really was at the top of the gaming tree. So, what does Xbox 360 and this anniversary mean to you? Do chat with us about that in the comments, and be on the lookout for plenty of other 360 stories here on Pure Xbox! View full article

Analogue's amazing FPGA-based N64 clone, the Analogue 3D, will go back up for pre-order next week – but the price is getting a bump thanks to President Trump's infamous tariffs. The company announced on social media that a new batch of the systems will be available for order at 8 AM PT / 11 AM ET on Monday, November 24th. The big catch is that the price is rising from $249.99 to $269.99, as the company has had to absorb the tariffs imposed by the US government on goods imported from abroad. These systems will begin shipping on December 2nd, but Analogue has stated that “all open orders will ship before restock orders ship.” That means if there are any issues with getting existing pre-orders out the door before the 2nd, you might be waiting longer. Still, this leaves a glimmer of hope that you might get your machine in time for Christmas. View full article

The promising MARS FPGA console is dead, according to one of the project's developers. Todd Gill – a longstanding and influential figure within the FPGA community – broke the news on Discord recently. Gill, who was designing the console's casing, reveals that the person in charge of the MARS board development "just disappeared", putting the project on ice. Gill says that the rest of the MARS team was effectively "Ghosted" by the individual, meaning work could not continue. MARS was promoted as a rival to the established MiSTer FPGA system and would have used a more powerful FPGA chip to emulate consoles like the Sega Dreamcast on a hardware level. Image: Discord Image: Discord Its rumoured price point would have been around $699, and it was claimed that it would allow users to plug in their original controllers and cartridges. In addition to Gill, the MARS FPGA team also included Flxel (developer of 3DO and Dreamcast emulators) and RetroTINK creator Mike Chi. FPGA developer Wizzo parted company with the project last year on good terms. View full article

Rockstar Games have released a new teaser trailer and screenshots of the purchasable mansions as part of the upcoming GTA Online update. The company also revealed the name of the new DLC. Whilst a release date was not given today, we already know, December 8th, based on what Rockstar said in the past. The next update will be called GTA Online: A Safehouse in the Hills according on the titles of recently released media by Rockstar. You can also find the logo for the update below. It is “A Safehouse in the Hills” in a simple font. Mansion Shown OffRockstar also published a short, 15 second teaser trailer for A Safehouse in the Hills. Whilst it shows several shots of things we’ve seen before in GTA Online, 7 seconds in shows the exterior of one of the new mansions you’ll be able to buy in GTA Online next month. You can see a screenshot of it below; click to enlarge. A few details we can spot: a swimming pool with several poolside beds plus a jacuzzi. The roof of the house features a garden and seating area. This is a new mansion located in Vinewood Hills. There are reused assets from Devin’s mansion but you can see some new assets made bespoke for this property. Based on the statement below, it will be more than just a new building. There will be new personal assistance features to go with it. New VehiclesFour cars can be seen driving up the roads of Vinewood Hills in the teaser trailer. These are likely new vehicles that will be coming as part of this update though the view we have of them is not so clear. Check out all of them below and view them in full resolution by clicking on the images below. New ScreenshotsAlongside the new trailer and blog post, Rockstar published two new screenshots showing the driveway of one of the mansions. You are able to see some of the doors and more. There also appears to be a security guard stood outside the front door. How do you feel about mansions being up for sale in GTA Online in December? How much do you think these new properties will cost? Let us know down in the comments section below.

Fellow air riders! It is time to...ride the air. We're big fans of Kirby Air Riders, as if you couldn't tell from our 8/10 review, and one thing that it's got plenty of — especially given that this sequel has a great big story mode — are unlockable bits and bobs. From new machines to riders, racetracks, and a seemingly endless array of Things™ with which to customise your fleet of wonder whips, there's a ton of swag to get busy gathering up. So. Where to start? Well, we've honed in on the big things, the most important stuff, to get you up to speed with beginners' tips and tricks (below), as well as how to unlock every playable character and every machine in the game. We'll also be bringing you guides on how to unlock every track, as well as a bunch of other gameplay secrets. So stay tuned. Ready? Let's get into it! Kirby Air Riders Guide - UnlocksBefore we get to the beginners' tips, let's cover machine and character unlocks. Full Character RosterThere are plenty of characters to unlock across Kirby's latest racer, each with different unlock conditions in different modes, and we have no doubt you'll want to nab them all ASAP. So, rather than bashing your head off each mode until you randomly do the right thing, here we have a handy guide to exactly what's required to unlock the full lineup. All Playable Characters & How to Unlock Them Full Machine ListThe different machines are undoubtedly the highlight of this one, and luckily there are plenty to get out there and start unlocking. In this guide, we show you how to grab each and every last one of them in world record time.* All Machines & How to Unlock Them *may not officially be a world record How to Unlock the True EndingIf you're looking to totally finish the game with all characters, machines, and everything else, you'll need to 100% Road Trip mode. How to Unlock the True Ending in Road Trip Mode Kirby Lore RecapThere's a Story Mode in the game which sets up some key characters and lore points you might have missed. If that's the case and you don't mind mild spoilers, find out about them here: Lore Explained - Who Are Zorah & Noir Dedede? Kirby Air Riders Walkthrough - Tips & Tricks For BeginnersIt's not exactly natural, this air-riding malarkey. It's a little bit different to your normal racing that we do here on Earth, so here are some top tips accumulated throughout our time with the game to help you get a handle on this unique racing experience. Boosting is at the heart of everythingThe boost button ('B') in Kirby Air Riders isn't like other boost buttons, in that it also slows you down, until you stop! The flip side is that the longer you hold it down, the bigger and faster the boost you'll get in return. So, think about it strategically, even just a little, and consider where is best to boost. Corners are an obvious example, and timing it right can see you slow with other riders and then boost out of the apex to take a lead. Follow the shimmering trails!As you approach a rider in front of you, you'll notice a shimmering trail behind them, which acts as the game's version of drafting or slipstreaming the vehicle in front of you. Here, though, the drafting boost is quite exaggerated, and therefore riding this trail can see you pick up crazy speed as you approach and pass by opponents. Use this to your advantage, and factor it into when you decide to use your own boost or turbo your machine in other ways. Images: Nintendo Life Use your environmentThe tracks in Kirby Air Riders may feel like great big automated rides to the uninitiated, but once you know what you're doing, and once you're scrapping against opponents who've got skills to match, you'll want to wring every last opportunity out of the game's track designs. Look out for jumps to quick spin on, boost pads, and sharp corners where you can really charge your boost up and let fly down straights. Knowing where to green a little extra pace on the tracks here makes all the difference. Think about what pickups are actually forIf your current vehicle is slow, you'll want speed pickups. A ride that can't turn well will require as many boosts to its turning ability as you can grab. Consider this as you play. Think about your attack and defence stats when facing a boss. Once you relax into it, you'll be able to build and rebuild your machine's capabilities on the fly and as you battle/race. Switch lanes on Auto-RailsDon't make it easy for your opponent to pick up and ride on your trail, shift about plenty, even when not avoiding obstacles on these trails, and always make sure to position yourself best for coming off rails because... Image: Nintendo Life Auto-Rails charge your boost!That's right. When grinding on a rail, or any other aspect of a track (such as some vines and fences), you'll get your boost topped up without having to worry about slowing down any! Think about how this can prep you for a fast exit from rails, and any corners that are coming up. Power graphs FTW!Press '+' during a City Trial and you can take a look at what power-ups you've currently got in order to gauge your current levels of attack, offence and racing skill. Image: Nintendo Life You can hold multiple items at oncePick up as many items as you see during events, as they'll use themselves up automatically for the most part, so you don't need to wait to pick up more! Hold back on the left stick to zoom out the cameraIf the default view is a little too close, you can adjust it to widen the view slightly. Or zoom a tiny bit more, if that's your preference. Your special bar fills up in these ways!By taking damage, doing damage, and automatically over time, your special bar refills. Make sure to use it within 10 seconds once it's primed, too, or you'll lose it. Images: Nintendo Life You can set quick spin to a controller shakeDon't like wiggling a stick to spin? You can up the sensitivity a little, or you can turn on the option to shake your controller instead! Don't sweat the chaos, find your own paceThis advice goes for all modes, really, but if you can master this in City Trials especially, you'll soon find yourself quite zen-like, even when faced with the most chaotic of multiplayer match-ups. There's always loads going on in races and in City Trials, but pick your own way of approaching it, have a strategy for the track you're on, and make sure to aim for the pickups (there are a lot of pickups onscreen at times) that suit your style of play! Image: Nintendo Life Make sure to play all modes for unlocksWhilst it can be natural to just stick to one mode of play, make sure to check out everything this game has to offer, as each mode has a ton of collectibles, and loads of cosmetics to get your hands on. Choices lead to different paths in Road TripAs you may or may not be aware, the Road Trip mode of the game allows you to switch routes, giving you a bunch of different paths to play through on revisits. To make sure you get to see everything, once you've played through the game once, you'll see helpful icons highlighting routes and game choices you haven't taken before, making it all easy to understand so you can see it all. However, it's worth noting on your first pass that certain choices you make regarding a handful of icons that pop up on the road will lead you to different paths after the fact. So you'll see some random items here and there, and depending on the one you choose, you'll get a different set path. Again, once you've done your first route, all of these things will be highlighted for you, so don't sweat it. That's all for now - hopefully you've found these tips useful. Now go get 'em! View full article

Implicit Conversions, the studio behind emulating some of your favorite PS1 and PS2 games as part of PS Plus Premium, is quietly working on a PS3 emulator. While boss Bill Litshauer insists improving its support for PS2 is his company’s current focus, he revealed in an interview with Mystic that he believes it will be “feasible” to emulate PS3 games in the future – potentially on the PS5 and “certainly” on the PS6. He said: Litshauer explained that supporting PS3 is a “back burner project” for his team and that it actually hasn’t had many requests for the console. But it’s something it’s working on anyway. He continued: Many believed that PS3 emulation may never happen due to the complicated nature of the console’s architecture, but in recent years we’ve seen PC-based solutions like RPCS3 come on leaps and bounds. As Litshauer appears to allude to, the biggest bottleneck here seems to be the time and resources required to do it. Hopefully it’s a project Sony will eventually put some muscle behind, as it’d be great to see PS3 games added to PS Plus Premium in the future. View full article

Today marks the 25th birthday of one of Treasure's most acclaimed titles, Sin & Punishment. Released exclusively in Japan on 21st November 2000, the game is a 3D rail shooter directed by Hideyuki Suganami. Built around the N64 controller's unique setup, Sin & Punishment is famed for its intense action, superb visuals and surprisingly mature and deep storyline. While it was never released in the West, it is playable on Nintendo Switch Online, complete with translated menus. Almost a decade after it hit the N64, a sequel appeared on the Wii under the title Sin & Punishment: Star Successor. Just as beloved as its predecessor, the game is one of the company's last releases; it would be followed by Bangai-O HD: Missile Fury (2011), Gaist Crusher (2013) and Gaist Crusher God (2014). While Treasure is still active, most of its staff are now at other companies, and it primarily exists to oversee the release of its back catalogue on modern-day systems. View full article

If rumors are to be believed, Ubisoft's next game might be a remake of Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag. While nothing has been confirmed by Ubisoft, numerous reports have been leaked or hinted at through the years, of a potential remake to one of Ubisoft's most successful entries in the series, giving building credence to the idea of a remake actually being developed. However, other rumors claim that there will be major changes within the potential Assassin's Creed IV remake, including doing away with all modern-day sections of the game, or reportedly modernizing it with more RPG-like gameplay elements. Adding fuel to the fire, Ubisoft's financial report today showcased that the company has a handful of games due out before the end of the fiscal year, including one unannounced title, believed to be the ACIV remake, meaning it would theoretically launch sometime before March 31, 2026. Source View full article

One of the many circular Wild Zones in Pokémon Legends: Z-A, Wild Zone 3 is an entirely flat park with a handful of fun Pokémon. But what Pokémon, you ask? Well, we'll tell you exactly what you can catch in Wild Zone 3 in this guide below. Wild Zone 3 Location Wild Zone 3 is another big plaza, this time Rouge Plaza. You'll hey there by coming up from Rouge Street. Places of interest nearby include the Looker Bureau, the Sushi High Roller restaurant, and the Galerie de la Lune shopping plaza. You'll be coming back here for a Side Mission much later in the game, so remember it well! How to unlockWild Zone 3 is another plaza available right from the start of the game. You'll come here during the main story once again, as you and your rival are heading over to meet Emma. All Wild Zone 3 Pokémon Another modest selection of Pokémon, but some very good ones! With 6 Wild Pokémon to choose from, well, you're spoilt, honestly. We're climbing up a few levels here, too — you'll want to be Level 8 and above, ideally. Pokémon Type Location Pikachu Electric Southeast quadrant Gogoat Grass Southwest quadrant Pancham Fighting Northwest quadrant (a little rare so you may need to wait) Litleo Fire/Normal Northwest quadrant Flabébé Fairy Centre of the circle Espurr Psychic Northeast quadrant; careful they'll run away if they spot you! Alpha Pokémon Locations You'll find one Alpha Pokémon in Wild Zone 3, the same as Wild Zone 1. Pokémon Type Level Location Litleo Fire/Normal 24 Inside the building on the west side, sleeping Best Wild Zone 3 Pokémon to catch That's a pretty good selection of 'mons, and what you keep with you will probably depend on your favorites or what you already have. Flabébé actually ended up staying in our team for the whole game, filling in a much-needed Fairy-type gap. It doesn't Mega Evolve, but it's got great defensive skills. Pikachu isn't bad, particularly if you want that Mega Raichu that'll be available once the DLC lands. If you didn't pick Tepig, then Pancham is worth a shoutout, as it's a Fighting-type. Litleo, too, for the potential Fire-type gap. View full article

Publisher Ubisoft is making no secret of its plans to utilise generative AI tech — at least, it certainly sounds that way in new comments from CEO Yves Guillemot. The controversial technology has been a hot topic of discussion in the industry for a while now, and as it begins to feed into the games we're playing, it's rubbing some people the wrong way. Games like ARC Raiders, The Finals, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, and more used AI tools to varying degrees in their production, and they're being criticised by onlookers who are concerned about the tech replacing original creative work from human beings. It seems Ubisoft is going whole hog on the AI front. Speaking to investors, Guillemot says the publisher is "making great strides in applying gen-AI to high-value use cases that bring tangible benefits to our players and teams". He goes on to call generative AI "as big a revolution for our industry as the shift to 3D", and it sounds as though it's being implemented in quite a meaningful way. Guillemot brings up "neo-NPCs", AI-powered characters capable of "unique and responsive" conversations with players to deliver "fully personalized and immersive experiences". He says this concept is now out of prototyping, so we can probably expect to start seeing Ubi's neo-NPCs in future games. "On the production side, we now have teams in all our studios and offices embracing these new technologies, and constantly exploring new use cases in programming, art, and overall game quality," Guillemot says, essentially saying AI tech is planned to be a major part of how the publisher makes games going forward. Whether that works out in the long run remains to be seen, of course. It's very likely there are use cases for AI tools in the production pipeline, but the concerns from fans are more to do with creative disciplines within that; generating art, music, animation, and so on, rather than having talented artists helming those areas. Again, we'll have to wait and see how things play out. View full article