By 2004, video games were well into their adolescence. The war between Sega and Nintendo that defined the early 1990s was in the rear-view mirror the PlayStation had knocked both of them off their perch, and Microsoft had released the Xbox. The critical and commercial hits of the day were not cartoon platformers but operatic space shooters (Halo) and anarchic crime games (Grand Theft Auto). There were lots of guns, and most games were embracing increasingly cinematic cutscenes.Nintendo, meanwhile, had fallen into third place with its Game Cube home console but it still owned the handheld game market with the Game Boy Advance. Everyone was expecting the next iteration in the Game Boy family. But instead, Nintendo released a strange-looking silver clamshell console that you controlled with a stylus.The Nintendo DS turns 20 this month. Despite its weird looks and unconventional controls, it was Nintendos biggest-ever hit, selling more than 150m units. It catered not just to people who wanted to play Mario on the go, but also to those who had never thought of picking up a video game console before. Intuitive touchscreen controls opened video games up to millions more people than the Game Boy had been able to reach. On the DS, you could play sudoku, language-learning games and raise virtual pets. Many people bought it not for Pokmon but for Dr Kawashimas Brain Training.The idea of a dual-screen console had been knocking about at Nintendo for a while. It was an idea that Hiroshi Yamauchi, president of Nintendo from 1949 until 2002, was especially fond of, and he mentioned it often to his successor, Satoru Iwata, and to Shigeru Miyamoto, Nintendos creative lead. As Iwata put it: The demand to make something with two screens had been with us for a while, a persistent source of motivation, to the point where Miyamoto and I basically reverse-engineered the thing.Iwata always had confidence in the idea, but the markets and the public met the DS with enormous scepticism. At first, lots of people were confused, he remembered. When we announced, Were going to release a console that has two screens and a touch panel, most people must have thought, Nintendo has gone off the deep end.The DS marked the advent of touchscreen gaming The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. Photograph: undefined/NintendoIn retrospect, the Nintendo DS prepared the world for the iPhone, and for the explosion in touchscreen smartphone gaming that would eventually kill off the whole idea of a handheld games console. We dont need them any more, now that we have one device that fits in our pockets and can do everything from giving us directions and taking photos to playing games. The DS was a half step between the Game Boy and the smartphone a device that played games but could also do other things.I was there for the games, of course. When I bought my DS, nobody knew that it would vastly expand the gaming population. And it had some tremendous games, including plenty of weird and wonderful ones. The DSs new control method seemed to inspire developers to do all kinds of playful, unexpected things. Touchscreen control was this consoles most lasting innovation, but the dual-screen clamshell of the DS is surprisingly adaptable, and lent itself to a bunch of uses.Brain Training had you holding the console sideways like a book, writing answers to simple maths and logic questions on the touch-screen. The puzzles in adventure game Another Code had you opening and closing the DS to stamp documents, or angling the screens to reflect off one another to decipher a symbol. In Electroplankton, you draw paths for small musical organisms. There was even a Guitar Hero game that came with a small attachable fretboard and plectrum. In the DS Zelda game Phantom Hourglass you have to shout at a character through the microphone to get them to lower a bridge for you. You could talk to your Nintendog, too.More than anything, the DS inspired variety. I have a huge collection of DS games ranging from unexpectedly heartbreaking desert-island simulators (Lost in Blue) and the basketball game Mario Hoops 3-on-3 to rhythm games and visual novels (the courageously heartfelt lawyer-drama series Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney has never been better than it was on the DS). Among its bestsellers were, as youd expect, New Super Mario Bros and Mario Kart, but also Brain Training, Nintendogs and Professor Layton (a charming puzzle game about an English professor and his child protege). Its catalogue was anything but homogeneous.The 3DS, released in 2011, was a worthy successor with its own great lineup, but by then smartphones had already dealt a killer blow to the handheld games console, and the industry was becoming more conservative. The kind of wide-ranging, open-ended experimentation that defined the DS catalogue would never be seen again. The DS will be remembered by the world as the console that pioneered touch-screen control but for me, itll always be the console with the most eclectic selection of games ever.What to playA classic pick Mario Kart. Photograph: NintendoThe most obvious classic DS picks are Mario Kart, Advance Wars: Dual Strike, Nintendogs (dont @ me) and Animal Crossing: Wild World. But since when have I ever served you whats obvious?Osu! Tatakae! OuendanElite Beat Agents outside Japan), is the perfect encapsulation of this experimental age in handheld game design. It is an interactive musical opera-manga in which you take control of a team of cheerleaders to help people through moments of strife in their lives, soundtracked by massive J-pop tunes. You use the stylus to tap and swipe in time with the music, directing the cheer squad to help a pottery artist rediscover his muse, a school pupil ace his exams and a ghost tell his still-living wife that he loves her. There are carts on eBay for less than 15.Available on: Nintendo DS Estimated playtime: skip past newsletter promotionSign up to Pushing ButtonsFree weekly newsletterKeza MacDonald's weekly look at the world of gamingPrivacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.after newsletter promotionWhat to readStar Wars Outlaws, which is up for a Grammy, weaves in-universe and player-focused music together. Photograph: UbisoftThe Grammy nominees for best video game soundtrack have been announced. They are: Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora; God of War Ragnark: Valhalla; Marvels Spider-Man 2; Star Wars Outlaws; and Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord. We recently profiled the people behind the music of Star Wars Outlaws in our High Scores video game music column.Deadline reports that the stars of Amazon Primes excellent Fallout TV adaptation will be joined next season byMacaulay Culkin, as a crazy-genius type character.Sony and Nintendo announced quarterly financial results this week. Highlights on the PlayStation side: Sony has now sold 65m units of the PS5, and 1.5m of the delightful Astro Bot. On the Nintendo side: it has now sold 146m Switch consoles, which still falls just short of the DS (154m) as Nintendos bestselling console ever.The next Nintendo console will be backwards-compatible with Switch games, Nintendos president, Shuntaro Furukawa, confirmed in a press conference. More details on the new machine are coming before the end of this financial year.What to clickQuestion BlockMonument Valley, one of the smartphone games available with a Netflix subscription. Photograph: ustwoReader Lewis asks:I love playing mobile games of all types, but the one I play the most often is a Puzzle Bobble/Bust-a-Move copycat that I use to mindlessly destress after a long day (Im on level 5,264). The only issue with these games is the endless onslaught of confusing, long and weird adverts. Do you have any suggestions for solid, well designed, free puzzle games will keep me from doomscrolling?Alas, the price for free games on your phone is, almostNetflix subscription? It comes with a bunch of smartphone games, some of which are very good puzzlers: Monument Valley, Paper Trail, Arranger, Cut the Rope and a variety of appealingly mindless match-3 and word games.I also asked the fine people of Bluesky to weigh in, and here are the recommendations they came back with (thank you, everyone): Slice & Dice, Konamis Pixel Puzzle Collection, Township, Threes, Match Factory! and Twenty. A dev shouted out their game, Vectic Lite, which has ignorable banner ads, alongside another banner-ad-only puzzle game called Nokama. Theres also an independent puzzle games website, Thinky Games, that lets you search its database for recommendations.If youve got a question for Question Block or anything else to say about the newsletter hit reply or email us on pushingbuttons@theguardian.com.

In 2004, Holly Longdale was a game designer on EverQuest, then the champion of a new genre of video game that allowed for multiplayer role-playing on a huge scale. In these online fantasy worlds, players could quest together rather than alone, adding a fascinating new social and competitive dimension to the static, offline role-playing that Hollys generation had grown up with. But whenever she could, Longdale would sneak in a few hours playing EverQuests main competitor instead. That game was World of Warcraft (WoW).There were so many moments in WoW I was envious of, she says, and completely lost in. I remember running through Ashenvale as a Night Elf Hunter and the music and the ambience there was a mood you couldnt deny. Then I saw another player running in the opposite direction, a Druid who buffed me on their way by. That was when I knew I was going to be in this for the long-haul. Twenty years later, Longdale is now WoWs VP and executive producer at its developer, Blizzard, as well as one of millions who embraced the game as part of their lives.By 2021, players had collectively clocked up a total playtime of nearly 9m yearsFor two decades, World of Warcraft has been emblematic of nerd culture, referenced everywhere from South Park to The Big Bang Theory to Family Guy. WoW became a useful shorthand not just for a certain type of gamer, but any and all geeky, nerdy and dorky subcultures. In the 00s, it was advertised by the likes of Ozzy Osborne, Chuck Norris and Mr T, with his infamous Night Elf Mohawk. It counts Henry Cavill, Mila Kunis and Vin Diesel among its fans, while a movie adaptation in 2016 grossed $439m, without being particularly good. In 2021, Blizzard revealed that players had collectively clocked up a total playtime of nearly 9m years.WoW is more than a game Holly Longdale at BlizzCon 2023. Photograph: Robert Paul/ Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.There were certainly other role-playing games prior to WoWs release in 2004. But 3D graphics were still in their infancy. The likes of Star Wars Galaxies and Everquest had large, mostly barren worlds that relied on reams of in-game text for exposition, and clunky rules lifted from tabletop games. Then along came Blizzard a developer that had made its name and a small fortune from superb online competitive strategy games such as StarCraft and Warcraft III. Unlike its competitors, WoWs world of Azeroth felt lived-in, with gorgeous scenic vistas and vast numbers of animals and monsters prowling its landscapes. Iconic bright-yellow exclamation marks hovered above the heads of non-player characters, letting you know a quest awaited. And, of course, youd see other players everywhere, taming beasts, taking down monsters for quests, drinking in inns, mining ore or just running by in high-level gear that filled you with jealousy as you struggled to tackle a pack of lowly Murlocs.It was the social side of the game that came to define early WoW. The worlds tightly curated zones encouraged players to stumble across other people as they quested through Azeroth. And when you created your character, you had to pick between two factions, Alliance and Horde, giving players an immediate sense of allegiance. Whether it was grouping up to tackle dungeons, rallying into 40-person bands to take down colossal raid-bosses, or even rushing the enemy capital as an army of low-level cannon-fodder, seemingly every player has a story about their time in Azeroth.A perfect storm is brewing ... World of Warcraft: Shadowlands. Photograph: Blizzard EntertainmentI still romanticise my role in sneaking up to the Alliance capital of Stormwind alongside a group of low-level Undead Rogues. What wed imagined as a daring raid ended up with us running for our lives. Another time, I asked a better-geared passerby for help taking down a particularly tough monster in the Night Elf zone of Darkshore, only to end up chatting to him for hours. I messaged that same player for months after.WoW was quite simply a phenomenon. Blizzard had to more than double its headcount within a year, employing legions of people to answer players questions, solve their technical issues and keep servers up and running. WoW racked up staggering subscriber counts, boosted further by the release of two expansion packs: The Burning Crusade in 2007 and Wrath of the Lich King in 2008.By 2010, more than 12 million players had active monthly subscriptions. Some called themselves WoWaholics. Other players found WoW to be an escape from the limitations of real life, as evidenced by the touching story of Mats Steen, recently told in the Netflix documentary The Remarkable Life of Ibelin. Mats had muscular dystrophy before his untimely death at 25, but he was living a vibrant life inside WoW, a life of which his parents were totally unaware until his online friends sent long messages from all over Europe telling them how their son had touched their lives. Five members of Mats WoW guild went to Norway for his funeral.skip past newsletter promotionSign up to Pushing ButtonsFree weekly newsletterKeza MacDonald's weekly look at the world of gamingPrivacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.after newsletter promotionThe way were social on the internet has changed and WoW is a reflection of thatBut no game can stay in the spotlight for ever. While WoW went from strength to strength in its first six years, as the game aged, so did its players. As then lead game designer, now game director, Ion Hazzikostas put it in 2014: The person who picked up the game in 2004, who was a student with tons of free time, is now a career person with a family. Blizzard had to attract a new generation, while keeping existing fans. For the 2010 Cataclysm expansion, a decision was made to shake up the game through a massive revamp of its world, with a new design philosophy suited to faster gameplay that it was thought modern gamers demanded. The changes are still controversial.Questing through Azeroth today is a scarcely recognisable experience compared to those early years. WoW has had several distinct eras: theres the classic WoW era running up to Wrath of the Lich King (2004-8); the world revamp that defined Cataclysm (2010) through to Warlords of Draenor (2014); the pivot to a long endgame grind, where players could become endlessly more powerful in Legion (2016) through Shadowlands (2020); and WoWs modern era, beginning with Dragonflight (2022) and continuing into the recently launched expansion The War Within (2024). These eras are so distinct that it feels as though the game reinvents itself every six or so years.The social aspect has also changed with the times. As Taliesin one half of the husband and wife WoW YouTube duo Taliesin & Evitel puts it: The way were social on the internet has changed and WoW is a reflection of that; 2004 was a time of message boards and forums and a more underground internet. The internet today is much shorter and sharper. Its TikTok, its all your social media focused on one or two megasites. What we do socially on the internet has changed, and so has WoW.Anger protesters in 2021. Photograph: David McNew/AFP/Getty ImagesIts common to hear complaints that WoW has changed so much that its original spirit has been lost. Players have often been left confused about design decisions they felt were inconsistent with the traditional experience. Unfortunately for Blizzard, these reached their peak following the launch of Shadowlands in 2020, precisely when a perfect storm was brewing for the company. Not only was game development upended by Covid, but in 2021 Blizzard was hit with a lawsuit brought by Californias department of fair employment, accusing it of fostering a frat boy workplace culture, with sexual harassment and poor treatment of women.The lawsuit had wide-reaching implications for the company and the wider gaming industry. Several senior executives, including Blizzards president J Allen Brack, stood down, and the company agreed to pay millions to address gender discrimination and wage inequality concerns. The suit ultimately contributed to the formation of the first labour union at a major US gaming firm.Within WoW specifically, the suit led to rapid changes in-game. Characters named after accused abusers were renamed and many in-game assets deemed inappropriate in light of the allegations, such as sexualised depictions of women, were replaced or tweaked. Many of the changes were ridiculed by the playerbase, who urged Blizzard to combat toxicity, rather than turning women into fruit bowls.Showdown in Azeroth a WoW battle. Photograph: Blizzard EntertainmentLongdale had only just joined Blizzard in 2020 when the lawsuit kicked off. It was heartbreaking, she says. I was only a few months in. To see the team just devastated, wondering what the future will be, was truly heartbreaking. The fallout, combined with the already-present malaise about the state of the game, could easily have been the beginning of the end for WoW. But a commitment from both the WoW team and the new Blizzard leadership to build back better meant the game held on. What Im really proud of, says Longdale, is that the diversity of our team has grown significantly. Theres a lot more voice in the content that we make now and people are creating content that is very personal, based on their own experiences.Every time WoW seemed at risk of losing relevance over the years, it has managed to reinvent itself and claw its way back. And while its cultural reach has lessened over time, the impact its had is undeniable. ountless fantasy roleplaying worlds and characters have been inspired by WoWs pantheon of heroes. The game is in the DNA of every subsequent generation of video games that have been developed since 2004.While the WoW of today may not spark that same wonder that early players felt roaming the green hills of Stranglethorn or taking that first ship from Kalimdor to the Eastern Kingdoms back in 2004, the fact its still going, and still changing, is testament to the incredible foundations it laid down 20 years ago. And as for WoWs future? My goal, and I think the teams goal, is that WoW is more than a game, says Longdale. Its essentially part of your lifestyle. It can be for your friends, it can be for parents playing with their kids. Its a charming fantasy world that connects you with people.

EXCLUSIVE: World of Warcraft is one of the most popular games in the world on PC, but could it come to console eventually? We asked executive producer Holly Longdale at the game's 20th Anniversary

EXCLUSIVE: As part of the celebrations, the team at Blizzard has a whole slew of announcements across the core strategy franchise, WoW, Hearthstone and Warcraft Rumble

Honouring 30 years of Warcraft: how remasters and classic Classic WoW will workGameCentralPublished Nov 14, 2024, 1:00amWorld Of Warcraft is bigger than ever (Blizzard Entertainment)Blizzard is celebrating three decades of Warcraft, with remasters of the original two games and a reset of World Of Warcraft Classic.World Of Warcraft celebrates its 20th anniversary on November 23, but the franchise is far older than that. Its often forgotten nowadays, but World Of Warcraft is actually a spin-off, from a franchise that started off as a series of real-time strategy games. And so it was on November 15, 1994 that developer Blizzard released Warcraft: Orcs & Humans and took the first step towards a game that is only getting more popular with age.With the original game now being 30 years old, that means the franchise is enjoying a double anniversary this month. To celebrate the fact, Blizzard has announced remasters of both the original game and its 1995 sequel, plus a new 2.0 update for the disastrous remaster of Warcraft 3, which was originally released in 2002.Blizzard previously said the original two games were too old to be enjoyable anymore but the remaster of Orcs & Humans includes new modern controls, a new interface, faster gameplay, and completely hand-drawn graphics that you can toggle on and off at will.Warcraft 2 is getting the same treatment, plus online multiplayer and backwards compatibility with all existing custom maps, which is certain to please fans. Meanwhile Warcraft 3: Reforge 2.0 will have a new UI, a new lighting system and improved environments, and various quality of life improvements.The three games are currently only available via Battle.net (so not Steam) and cost 8.99 for Warcraft 1, 12.59 for Warcraft 2, and 24.99 for Warcraft 3. Or you can get them all in one Battle Chest for 34.99 (so a saving of 11.58).Its a very welcome way to celebrate the anniversary, especially as so many people today are likely to be unaware of the games and indeed the entire real-time strategy genre. Orcs & Humans was heavily influenced by Westwood Studios Dune 2 which established the template for all future games, including both Warcraft 2 and Westwoods follow-up Command & Conquer.While turn-based strategy games have seen a resurgence in interest in recent years, real-time games never have, in large part because they dont work well on consoles and greatly benefit from mouse and keyboard controls, and high resolution monitors.Although Warcraft sister series Starcraft kept the real-time flag flying for a little while, thanks to its popularity as an esports game, by the mid-2000s the genre had completely fallen out of fashion, as new ideas dried up and even the most popular series experienced ever decreasing returns.Thats ironic given that the MOBA genre, including games such as League Of Legends and Dota, were born from mods made for Warcraft 3. That success came years later though and in the meantime Blizzard tried to expand Warcraft with a point n click graphic adventure. But that was also a dying genre at the time and production problems meant it was never completed.However, its story did influence work on World Of Warcraft, especially in terms of orc character Thrall, and in late 2004 the massively multiplayer online (MMO) game became an instant hit and remains to this day one of the most popular video games in the world.Technically, World Of Warcraft is an MMORPG, as most MMOs are, which means it works like a traditional action role-playing game but within a game world populated by hundreds of other human players, who you can co-operate with in group events or largely ignore if you want to play on your own. Although the setting and characters are the same, in gameplay terms World Of Warcraft has nothing in common with the original three games, so its going to be interesting to see what new players think of the remasters.The moment World Of Warcraft became a hit every publisher immediately tried to emulate it with their own MMO, in a rush to jump on the bandwagon, which is highly reminiscent of current attempts to follow in the footsteps of Fortnite and other live service titles. Especially in the fact that it quickly became clear that there was only room at the top for a small handful of games.At this point, World Of Warcraft has had 10 major expansions, with another two already announced. One of the secrets of the games success though, is that it also receives a constant stream of smaller, free updates that ensure theres always new things to do and reasons to keep playing.The 30th anniversary update, for example, is number 11.1 and called Undermined. Itll be out later this year and involves goblin capital city Undermine, where it adds a new dungeon to explore, a new PvP competitive map, and a new raid zone with eight different bosses. More unexpectedly it also adds cars, in which you can race through the city streets.Thats the sort of addition no one wouldve guessed at when World Of Warcraft first launched but given so much has changed over the last 20 years many players have begun to get nostalgic about how the game used to be, without all the modern additions. That led to the release of World Of Warcraft Classic in 2019, which has been slowly adding back in the new expansions in chronological order.But thats been going on for so long now that Blizzard has announced a classic Classic version of the game, resetting it for a second time and meaning therell now be three different versions of the game running at the same time. Officially known as World Of Warcraft: Classic 20th Anniversary Edition, the new (old) version will start on November 21 and offers a chance to play the original game as it was in 2004, before any of the expansions were released.Nevertheless, there will be some mod cons, such as the Chronoboon Displacer and the revamped honour ranking system. Plus, hardcore mode will be available from the start, where if you die thats it and theres no way to resurrect yourself although you can stay and chat as just a ghost.Its very likely that in another five years therell be a need for a third Classic version of the game, because World Of Warcraft as a whole has never had more players than right now. Thats in part because China has really got into it in recent years but its also a testament to the fact that if you keep your audience satisfied, some games really can last forever.Warcraft: Orcs & Humans is where it all began (Blizzard Entertainment)Emailgamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below,follow us on Twitter, andsign-up to our newsletter.To submit Inbox letters and Readers Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use ourSubmit Stuff page here.For more stories like this,check our Gaming page.MORE : 00s pop icon completely ageless starring in Netflixs number one Christmas movieMORE : Xbox handheld in the works but its release date is surprisingMORE : Halo and Gears Of War can come to PS5 confirms Xbox bossSign up to all the exclusive gaming content, latest releases before they're seen on the site.Privacy Policy This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Can the Xbox Series X be bottled into a handheld? (Microsoft)Microsoft has confirmed prototypes are being developed for an Xbox handheld, as it seeks to rival the Nintendo Switch and Steam Deck.Over the past year, Microsoft has explicitly teased its next generation plans, as the Xbox Series X/S continues to lag behind its competitors.While weve heard the company boldly proclaim its next console will see the biggest technological leap ever in a generation, there have also been several clear indications that it is pursuing the handheld market from both Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer and Xbox president Sarah Bond.Spencer has now confirmed Xbox is building prototypes for a handheld device, although it seems rumours of a 2026 release may be overly optimistic.In an interview with Bloomberg, Spencer said the expectation is that we would do something in the handheld gaming market, before confirming Microsoft is working on prototypes and considering how to market them.According to the report, Spencer has asked his team to analyse the handheld market and develop its vision based on what it learns. Crucially, Spencer is noted as saying that any device is still a few years out.While its unclear if this potential handheld will be the primary model for the next generation, it sounds like hes simply waiting to see what Nintendo pulls out of its hat with its impending Switch successor.Could it be a hybrid console like the Switch? (Nintendo)As for the near future, Spencer notes that the company is looking to improve the Xbox app on existing portable devices, and partner with hardware companies to make sure Xbox games are in sync with their platforms.Longer term, I love us building devices, Spencer added. And I think our team could do some real innovative work, but we want to be informed by learning and whats happening now.In the same interview, Spencer said there are no red lines when it comes to bringing Xbox games to other platforms. Xbox has doubled down on its multiplatform strategy over the past year, with its next major exclusive, Indiana Jones And The Great Circle, set to come to PlayStation 5 in 2025.With Nintendo, Valve, and (with the PlayStation Portal) Sony all finding success in the handheld space, its no surprise Xbox is planning a move into the market. The big question, which applies to its next gen plans in general, is what exactly Xbox can offer that the others dont.Indiana Jones And The Great Circle is Xboxs last hurrah for 2024 (Bethesda)Emailgamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below,follow us on Twitter, andsign-up to our newsletter.To submit Inbox letters and Readers Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use ourSubmit Stuff page here.For more stories like this,check our Gaming page.MORE : The best early Black Friday 2024 deals on PS5, Xbox, and Switch consolesMORE : Black Myth: Wukong fans should check out this overlooked Xbox 360 gemMORE : Marvels Wolverine director changes allegiance from PS5 to join XboxSign up to all the exclusive gaming content, latest releases before they're seen on the site.Privacy Policy This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Climate change and fish farming are endangering its future

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Agatha All Alongs last witches standing headed off on a new journey when the series ended just before Halloween, but before we see whats next for them (still no season two announcement, for what its worth), its time to look back down the Witches Road. Marvel Studios Assembled: The Making of Agatha All Along is the latest behind-the-scenes doc for a Marvel Disney+ series, with an accessible twist: itll hit YouTube, so even folks without a Disney+ subscription can check it out. The Assembled hits YouTube at 6 p.m. PT tonight: Marvel Entertainments YouTube page has a playlist going of Assembled specials past, but most dont make their debut there; the studio also does them for Marvel movies, and the newly released Deadpool & Wolverine Assembled is currently only viewable on Disney+. Premiering the Agatha All Along special on YouTube is a little bit confusingyou have to think most fans have Disney+ already (where the special will presumably also live after it hits YouTube). And fans who havent watched the show yet wont want to view the Assembled first, because itll no doubt contain spoilers. However, any time you can get some free Disney+ content without signing on a dotted line is something to be celebrated, and hope that it signals Marvels continuing excitement about promoting the show.Heres the Disney+ description for the WandaVision spinoff: The infamous Agatha Harkness finds herself down and out of power after a suspicious goth Teen helps break her free from a distorted spell. Her interest is piqued when he begs her to take him on the legendary Witches Road, a magical gauntlet of trials that, if survived, rewards a witch with what theyre missing. Together, Agatha and this mysterious Teen pull together a desperate coven, and set off down, down, down The Road The coven, er, cast includes Kathryn Hahn, Joe Locke, Sasheer Zamata, Ali Ahn, Patti LuPone, and Aubrey Plaza. Will you be assembling in front of YouTube to learn more about Agatha All Along? Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, whats next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.

Fans were shocked in the run up to this yearsDoctor Who revival that former showrunner Steven Moffat would return to the TARDIS and write his first episode for the series since he departed in 2017, only to be shockedagain when it was quickly confirmed that he would also write the 2024 Christmas special for the series. But it turns out that at least part of the reason why we got that double-barreled release of news is for a simple reason: Russell T Davies is really,really busy. Davies had planned to pen the second Christmas special of his sophomore tenureand had previously teased progress on it while discussing Whos return to the traditional festive TV slotbut, according to Moffat, constraints on the showrunners time as Doctor Who ahead of Ncuti Gatwas second season as the Doctor necessitated a change in holiday plans. The email [from Davies] came through and said Steven, Ineed to get on series 2, Im never gonna this Christmas script could you come in and write one?' Moffat recalled in a new interview with BBC News. Not complete his script, but do another one from scratch. Production on the second season of Davies new era began very quickly after conclusion on the first. Fans saw set pictures of the incoming companion played by Andors Varada Sethu well before she was formally introducedand even before Gatwas first season began airing. Its no surprise then, that Davieswho already, for better and worse, scripted the majority of Gatwas first season himselffound himself in need of another writer when turnaround was so demanding.As for why Moffat returned, the writer added both a professed love for writingDoctor Whos seasonal episodes, but also teased the central hook to the upcoming episode, titled Joy to the World. Imagine in the far far future a hotel chain got hold of the idea of time travel, Moffat teased. Whats the first thing a hotel chain would do if they had time travel? Theyd realize they had an opportunity to sell all the unsold nights in their hotels in history.Its presumable one of those unsold nights, then, that brings Gatwas 15th Doctor crashing into the life of Nicola Coughlans new character, Joy, as well as the return ofDoctor Whos ancient amphibian foes, the Silurians. A Time Lord is a bit more than any hotel could bargain for if it came to time-travel reservations, it seems. Joy to the World is currently expected to broadcast on the BBC in the UK, and Disney+ internationally, on Christmas Day. Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, whats next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.