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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 at Amazon soon too). The discount unfortunately doesn't apply here in the UK, where the lowest price we've found is at Harvey Norman for £479.00. In terms of whether it's worth it, we've only been hands on with the more powerful ROG Xbox Ally X version, but that system is fantastic and offers great ergonomics, cooling and access to a ridiculous number of games through the Xbox app, Steam, Epic Games Store and various other storefronts. The standard ROG Xbox Ally offers the same thing, but with reduced performance - similar to how the Xbox Series S stacks up against the more powerful Xbox Series X. Here's a look at those deals, and do let us know if you spot any other great offers beyond the US! View full article

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 Playground to figure out what it was — apparently it's a Kinect-like system for "kids and families" that's got amazing reviews and only costs $249 USD. The things you learn! As you can see, it wasn't great in the UK either. The Game Business reported that Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S only accounted for 10% of the market during Black Friday week, with the PS5 racking up a whopping 62%. Before we get all doom and gloom though, this is exactly what was to be expected. Xbox basically had no Black Friday deals for the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S apart from some extremely slight reductions at a handful of retailers (mostly in the UK), whereas the PS5 received massive reductions and therefore ended up selling predictably well. Industry experts have warned that the BF sales data doesn't tell us much about "consumer demand" for Xbox: Nevertheless, the fact that Xbox Series X|S apparently lost to the NEX Playground in the US not only makes for an interesting angle, but adds fuel to the narrative that nobody's buying Xbox consoles anymore. There is a good reason behind it in this case, but that part's inevitably getting overlooked by many fans of the industry. Should Xbox have made a bigger effort to sell Series X and S consoles during Black Friday this year? Maybe that's a lesson to learn for next time, but we have a feeling Microsoft's more focused on the future of its hardware, services and software rather than continuing to push the Series X and S right now. View full article

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. Ultimately, Nightdive succeeded in its goal, and System Shock received mostly positive critical acclaim upon release. Taking place in the year 2072, you play as an unnamed hacker who awakens in a station under total control of SHODAN, an AI completely removed from its moral and ethical restraints. Grotesque mutations and cyborgs roam the station, and it's up to you to defeat SHODAN. With visuals blending pixel art textures and modern lighting technology, the System Shock remake is, to put it lightly, a vibe. It's a significantly different experience compared to System Shock 2, which Nightdive also released on the Switch earlier this year. If you're curious, we definitely recommend giving it a shot. For those on Switch 2, the game will offer up both gyro aiming and optional mouse controls. Images: Nightdive Studios View full article

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, drawing up a list of rules to stick by and everything, and it's fascinating to watch along as a Switch Lite console is stripped right down, very carefully, whilst designs are drawn up for how to have every part of the Wii U GamePad still fully functional whilst making it useable and comfortable. Images: @KouzexMods Images: @KouzexMods There are even some improvements made to the base Switch console's performance during the process here, with upgrades to its battery, screen and a few other things that you can check out in the vid. Honestly, it's worth watching the full thing to see just how much effort and ingenuity went in here, and how problems met along the way were circumvented. The vid wraps up with what we have to say looks like a very polished hybrid console, and muscle memory tells us that — let's face it — it's probably way more comfortable to hold than a vanilla Switch Lite. Man, that GamePad was comfortable. Like the modding job that's been done here? Fancy turning your GamePad (if you're one of the seventy or so people who owned one) into a Switch? Let us know! (But also, don't blame us when you break it) View full article

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 Fantasy XII, Vagrant Story, Gradius V, Valkyria Chronicles and many, many more. He founded the music and audio production firm Basiscape in 2002, after leaving Square. "Music crafted by Basiscape under the direction of Hitoshi Sakimoto has always held a special place in the hearts of millions of gamers worldwide," adds Game Music.net. "The Colors of Harmony concert will feature beloved themes from Vanillaware titles such as 13 Sentinels: Aegis Rim and Odin Sphere Leifthrasir, as well as Square Enix classics including Final Fantasy Tactics and Final Fantasy XII. Beyond the concert itself, there is an accompanying event planned with Hitoshi Sakimoto, the details of which will be revealed at a later stage." You can secure your tickets here. View full article

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 shown off to the press, but the poor performance of the 32X convinced Sega to pull the plug and focus all of its energies on Saturn instead. View full article

Moments after Rockstar Games unveiled the next GTA Online update, A Safehouse in the Hills, the company have also announced and released a new merch line just in time for Christmas. The Rockstar Store is home for all of the official Rockstar merchandise. They sell clothing, collectables, games and more. This new line of items is mainly made up new clothing but there are some nice new items in the first store refresh since last year. ClothingThe Screenshot Collection Nine Rockstar Games titles have been chosen to have an screenshot from the game put onto a t-shirt. This new design features an iconic image or scene from the game on a coloured shirt. The games included are: Grand Theft Auto III, Manhunt, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Bully, Midnight Club: Los Angeles, Red Dead Redemption, Grand Theft Auto V, and Red Dead Redemption 2. Can’t help but think GTA IV is missing here. These will cost £34.99. The Varsity Collection A new crewneck sweatshirt has been added to the store. It comes in three colours and a matching Rockstar Games Sticker will be included with any purchase while supplies last. Each costs £79.99. Collectibles The new collectables come in a variety of types. There are two new candles that have been created in collaboration with New York-based fragrance designers Joya Studio. The scents are inspired by Vice (lemon california, yerba mate, fig leaf, jasmine petals etc) and Liberty (cedar, blood orange, black pepper, campfire smoke etc). They have an approximate burn time of 65 hours. Five new Enamel Pin Collections can be picked up and they focus on various Rockstar titles: GTA V, Red Dead Redemption 2, GTA III, GTA Vice City and a general Rockstar branded one. On top of that, there is a new reflective Rockstar sticker pack. A doormat displaying the Rockstar motto of “Say Sorry Be Nice Mat” will greet those who visit your home. Going out? Use the new Black Rockstar Baggu and 32 oz Nalgene water bottles. Rockstar have also provided key days for Christmas delivery. You need to place your order no later than December 19th in the UK, December 18th in Europe, and December 12th for North America and the rest of the world in order to get them by December 24th. Shop the new collection here.

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 been confirmed yet, and this will not be a 100% accurate list by any means. Some of these games might leave, some of these games might stay, and many others might be added to the list. The most common (but definitely not the only) trend with Xbox Game Pass seems to be that games stick around for one year, so we've gone back to January 2025 to look at the games that were added to Game Pass at the time. That said, we've also gone back to the January 2024 list as well, just to see what may potentially stick around for two years in total. Based on those original announcements, here's what we think could potentially leave Xbox Game Pass in January 2026: Date It Joined Xbox Game Pass Game Platform January 9, 2024 Assassin's Creed Valhalla (seems unlikely?) Console, PC, Cloud January 16, 2024 Resident Evil 2 Console, PC, Cloud January 19, 2024 Palworld Console, PC, Cloud January 25, 2024 Go Mecha Ball Console, PC, Cloud January 30, 2024 Brotato Console, PC, Cloud January 7, 2025 Road 96 Console, PC, Cloud January 21, 2025 Lonely Mountains: Snow Riders Console, PC, Cloud January 22, 2025 Starbound Console, PC, Cloud January 23, 2025 Ninja Gaiden 2 Black (seems unlikely?) Series X|S, PC, Cloud January 28, 2025 Eternal Strands Console, PC, Cloud January 28, 2025 Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap Series X|S, PC, Cloud January 29, 2025 Shady Part of Me Console, PC, Cloud January 30, 2025 Sniper Elite: Resistance Console, PC, Cloud January 31, 2025 Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector Console, PC, Cloud As usual, there could be plenty of additions to this list, and a few of these games might stick around on Xbox Game Pass for even longer, but it seems likely that we'll lose at least some of these in January 2026. Our predictions usually turn out to be anywhere from 30%-80% correct - you never know how accurate they'll be! We still have another batch of titles to come to the service this month too, including Mortal Kombat 1 which headlines next week on Xbox Game Pass! View full article

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 tweet. Just like it, comment on it, and see what happens later this month... I'm personally of the belief that the ROG Xbox Ally X is a really cool handheld that opens up so many possibilities for PC gaming on the go, and if you can manage to grab one for free, you've pretty much won the jackpot in our eyes! View full article

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 problem this has become for some players: There is seemingly no clear solution or fix to stop these game crashes, but it hasn't stopped players sharing their own ideas. Some suggest playing the title exclusively in docked mode, making sure the game is installed on Switch 2's internal storage, changing the system resolution, turning off HDR, disabling various other options, and even reinstalling the game... Some users here on Nintendo Life have also reported encountering crashes in Assassin's Creed Shadows for Switch 2. Critics have noted issues with frame-pacing, and recommend handheld mode for the best experience, but there seems to be fewer reports about game crashes during the review phase. TheSixthAxis was one site that directly acknowledged this "underlying issue" – referencing "a series of crashes" not long into the adventure, but "no clear trigger". Nintendo World Report also mentioned the "occasional" software crash. In our own review here on Nintendo Life, we admitted Assassin's Creed Shadows wasn't the perfect port, but still felt it was a colossal achievement on Nintendo's new system. So, when might we see a patch for this problem? As highlighted in the Reddit thread above, the YouTube channel 'What's It Like?' (which also "experienced several crashes" during its review of the game) says it reached out to Ubisoft's support and there's supposedly a patch planned for mid-December, which will apparently address "some" technical issues with the Switch 2 version. And with so many player reports now, Ubisoft has hopefully got the message. Until we get an update from Ubisoft, tell us how your time with Assassin's Creed Shadows on the Switch 2 has been so far? Have you experienced any crashes? Vote in our poll, and let us know in the comments. View full article

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 World - Version 1.4.0Changed the course layout of below courses for "VS Race", or "Race" in "Online Play" or "Wireless Play". Race that heads from "Koopa Troopa Beach" to "DK Spaceport". Race that heads from "Koopa Troopa Beach" to "Crown City". Race that heads from "Koopa Troopa Beach" to "Peach Stadium". Race that heads from "Whistlestop Summit" to "Koopa Troopa Beach". Race that heads from "Desert Hills" to "Koopa Troopa Beach". Race that heads from "DK Spaceport" to "Koopa Troopa Beach". Race that heads from "Crown City" to "Koopa Troopa Beach". Race that heads from "Peach Stadium" to "Koopa Troopa Beach". *Changed it so that, in all races heading toward "Koopa Troopa Beach", including the above courses, you will cross the finish line after two laps once you arrive at "Koopa Troopa Beach". What do you think of these course layout updates? How are you finding this new patch for Mario Kart World? Let us know in the comments. View full article

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 got the game running on the machine after just two days, with the usual caveats being applied here, such as missing sound and graphical glitches — issues that will likely be ironed out as time goes on (much as they were with the Mario Kart 64 port before this). Star Fox 64 (or Lylat Wars as it was known in Europe) was originally released on the N64 in 1997, and is widely considered to be one of the best games available on the console. As a Nintendo property, it was never released on a Sega console back in the day, but now thanks to Sonicdcer's decompilation project and homebrew developers like JNMartin, it appears we'll finally see this become a reality, giving us a brand new version of the title to experience at home. Given the Sega Dreamcast was launched a couple of years after the N64, it will be interesting to see whether this will be a straightforward conversion, or whether the team will try and incorporate some new Dreamcast-specific features. We'll try and keep you posted as more news becomes available. View full article