Bang For Your BuckHope you've got lots of spare time, because the next wave of Xbox Game Pass titles for January has 14 games coming to the serviceThat might be too many games...Image credit: Microsoft News by Oisin Kuhnke Contributor Published on Jan. 21, 2025 Crikey, if you're someone that likes to play as many Xbox Game Pass titles as possible, the second January wave will certainly test you.We're a good bit into the second half of January now, and Xbox has finally confirmed the rest of the games that will be coming this month, as well as one that'll be arriving in February, so let's just jump straight in! Kicking things off today through the Ultimate and PC tier on cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X/S is Lonely Mountain: Snow Riders, a low-poly snowsports game that can be played in 8-player multiplayer. Then, on January 22, there's a whole bunch of games coming. Flock is another multiplayer game "about the joy of flight and collecting adorable flying creatures" which will be available on console through the Standard Tier now, alongside Capcom's Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess, a unique strategy action game.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Magical Delicacy, a food themed pixel art platformer, is due out on the same day, also on console through the Standard tier, as well as The Case of the Golden Idol, a narrative puzzle game set across 40 years in the 18th century. Also coming on January 22, is Gigantic: Rampage Edition, a 5v5 MOBA hero shooter that you can get through Ultimate, PC Game Pass, or Standard. Chill open world, island exploration game Tchia will be coming to Game Pass Standard on the same day on Xbox Series X/S, and Starbound, aTerraia-esque game where you play as a bounty hunter already available on PC Game Pass, is coming to cloud and console through Ultimate and Standard. To see this content please enable targeting cookies.A few days later on January 28 you'll be able to play Eternal Strands, a brand new elemental RPG from industry veterans that have worked on games like Dragon Age, Mass Effect, Watch Dogs, and Assassin's Creed (this one's available day one through Ultimate and PC Game Pass, on cloud, console, and PC). The same day will add Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap, an "action-packed, third-person shooter and trap defense game", also available day one on Ultimate and PC Game Pass, and available to play on cloud, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. Lastly on January 29 is Shady Part of Me, a game where you play as a "little girl and her shadow" that sets out to "overcome emotional struggles through surreal dreamscapes" - this one's on every Game Pass tier, on cloud, console, and PC.Jump forward a day to January 30 and you've got Sniper Elite: Resistance on day one, via Ultimate and PC on cloud, console and PC, a game where you quite simply snipe bad guys. January 31 then sees the arrival of Citizen Sleeper 2 day one, a dice-driven RPG with a "human and heartfelt sci-fi world", available on Ultimate and PC across cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X/S.And finally (woof), there's Far Cry New Dawn coming to cloud, console, and PC, across all tiers on February 4. This is the one set in a "transformed, vibrant, post-apocalyptic Hope County, Montana, 17 years after a global nuclear catastrophe," which only feels slightly on the nose given recent political events.Happy playing, folks!

Sharing Is CaringI know Nintendo won't do it, but I really hope the Switch 2 brings back the DS' best featureIn another world we're all still enjoying the DS.Image credit: Nintendo/ VG247 Article by Oisin Kuhnke Contributor Published on Jan. 21, 2025 As popular as the Nintendo Switch has been, and as successful as the Switch 2 will likely be, I don't think there'll be a Nintendo console I'll look back on more fondly than the DS. The blinds of notalgia are highly likely to be an influence on that fact, with many an hour spent on car rides on the way to school spent playing Mario Kart with my friends, but who cares, I'm getting close to my thirties, now is the right time to wax poetic about my childhood.Still, I can't deny I love the Switch too. It's had some incredible games released for it, and the industry is clearly catching up with it after some likely COVID-induced delays by releasing different kinds of portable consoles (the Steam Deck, PlayStation Portal etc.). The Switch will forever be an incredibly influential console, and even if it is one that's designed to be shared with friends through the power of those Joy-Cons, I still feel like it's missing the DS' greatest feature: download play.Watch on YouTubeFor those of you that never owned a DS, or simply forgot about the feature, it was a simple one. Say your friend owned Mario Kart DS, but you didn't, you could use download play to play with them in local co-op. This worked for a range of other games with co-op modes too, and was a super convenient way to play things with your pals that had different tastes from you.Now, I know what you're thinking: why do we even need this when the Joy-Cons exist? Just pick one of them up and you can instantly play together! Well, sure, that's fine for games where splitscreen works, but honestly, it's not ideal. I love me some Mario Kart 8, but if you've ever tried playing it with a friend, it's not the most fun of experiences. The screen just gets much too crowded, it's harder to see what you're doing, and if you want to play it undocked, think again.Take Splatoon, too - maybe you would like to play with a friend that doesn't have it, but you use download play to let them hop in, the two of you trialing it out with computer-controlled teammates? Splatoon certainly wouldn't work in splitscreen, after all, the element of tactics would be thrown out the window (we've all been victims of screen sniping in the days of Halo or GoldenEye matches with your supposed best buds).To see this content please enable targeting cookies. The introduction of Joy-Cons certainly opened more doors for local co-op, but honestly they really only work when you're at home, and they don't work for games that are more complicated than Mario Kart. Portable consoles are such personal things that just feel too hard to share properly, so something like download play would be such a welcome addition, even if I know it's an unlikely one.A benefit of the Switch 2 is that, obviously, it's bigger, so perhaps some of my qualms about playing games undocked with friends will go away. I just can't help but look back to a time where sharing a game was as easy as one, two, three. Sure, it probably wouldn't help sales - why buy a game designed to be played with friends if you don't need to because your friend has it - I'm just feeling nostalgic, I suppose.Hell, maybe Nintendo is cooking up some features so interesting and weird that I won't care about this particular, honestly not that important grievance. I really hope that is the case, because I do understand why some are a bit underwhelmed by the Switch 2 so far (even if it doesn't really need a new hardware gimmick to surprise us with (plus, let's not forget those rumours about a mouse-like functionality in the Joy-Cons)). They really should bring back the Virtual Console, though.

Desperate ShippingBabe, wake up, a new GTA 6 trailer two release date theory has dropped, and it's definitely not people reading too much into some desperate shipping container mathsThe moon may have let them down, but they theorise on, unperturbed.Image credit: VG247/Rockstar Games. News by Mark Warren Senior Staff Writer Published on Jan. 21, 2025 Look, I know you might be a bit sick of GTA 6 fans desperate for a second trailer clutching at straws so hard they're on the verge of getting kicked out of Macccy Ds for theiries that might point to when such a thing could arrive, but some of them are at it again. The spark that lit the speculation fire this time? Some numbers on a shipping container.To be fair, at least it's not all that different from the stuff that's set folks off before, which includes moons, playlists, and the number 27 over the course of the final months of 2024.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. So, what's gone down that's got GTA 6 superfans all riled up when they should clearly have been combing over last week's Switch 2 reveal like proper GTA 6 truthers? Well, as with the moon theories, Rockstar Games posted an image in a Twitter post about some stuff for GTA Online."Claim a free Vapid Dominator GT muscle car and more with GTA+," it wrote, "Members also earn bonuses on Priority FIB Files and Terrorbyte Client Missions, save with Arcade Property discounts, and much more". So, just a 'hey, come join our premium subscription thing, you get a free car, please give us money' post, accompanied by a nice picture of a Dominator driving past some shipping containers, in case you forgot what one looked like. To see this content please enable targeting cookies.But wait, in the words of Billy Mays, there's more. An eagle-eyed fan on the GTA 6 subreddit was quick to spot some numbers on a red shipping container to the left of the car. Thus began the maths. All of the numbers on the container, aside from a two that's in a box, which I guess is a special anti-theorising box it's paid for because it's sick of this bollocks, were added up, giving a total of 30. So, the poster theorised, January 30, 2025. Trailer two date, book it. It's coming.. byu/douknowwhyareuhere inGTA6To see this content please enable targeting cookies.Oh and, they added, January 30 is a Thursday, which is the same day of the week GTA 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2 had their final release dates announced. Phwoar. Coincidence, I think not. They also added that Rockstar's next earnings call is on February 6, because, you know, Rockstar doing a thing, so surely they'll finally do the thing this fan wants.Even a lot of commenters on the GTA 6 subreddit, a place where theories like this are most likely to be heard out, aren't buying this one. So, with any luck, it'll turn out to be 100% accurate, just so we all get a good laugh.Are you at least finding the endless GTA 6 trailer two theories amusing, even if just as a distraction from any discourse about how much it might cost? Let us know below!

Keeping It ClearWorried you're going to get confused about whether a DC film is canon to the DCU or not? Don't be, as Elseworlds films are getting their own unique opening to make the distinction clearThis'll save at least some of you from asking why there's two Batmen.Image credit: DC News by Oisin Kuhnke Contributor Published on Jan. 21, 2025 Keep calm, casual comic book film viewers, because DC is developing a special opening for Elseworlds film to make it clear what is and isn't canon.With DC opting to have a main canon universe with the option for unconnected Elseworlds films, it's understandable that some audience members might be a bit unsure of what is and isn't canon. You can't expect everyone to be as much of a nerd as we all are, staying up to date on the comings and goings of the DCU in such minutiae. Plus, eventually the DCU will likely get its own Batman separate from Robert Pattinson's, and I'm sure that'll make at least a few people go "hey what happened to Edward?" Lucky for this subset of people, DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn has made it clear that Elseworlds films will have a distinct opening of their own.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. In response to a fan on Threads, who asked why shows like Harley Quinn and The Penguin don't use the DC Studios logo if they're now technically DC Studios shows. "All DC television & film projects are now under DC Studios," Gunn explained. "Because Harley Quinn was developed long before us we didnt think it was fair to put the DC Studio fanfare on there. On Penguin, which we had a small hand in developing, we have a different DC Studios anim at the end." Gunn then noted that they're "currently working on the DC Studios Elseworlds opening," meaning it'll be pretty clear what you're in for as soon as the film starts (going forwards at least). View on ThreadsTo see this content please enable targeting cookies.Presumably the first project to use that new opening will be the upcoming The Batman: Part 2, even if it has now been delayed for a second time all the way to 2027. Luckily, there will be some actual DCU projects to tide us over while we wait, like Gunn's Superman film, which is due out this coming July 11.

MindfulHow do you remaster an overlooked cult classic like Star Wars Episode I: Jedi Power Battles? By leaning into how "fun and quirky" it is, says the developerThe even goofier side of The Phantom Menace.Image credit: VG247/Aspyr Article by Fran Ruiz Contributor Published on Jan. 21, 2025 The surprise remaster of Star Wars Episode I: Jedi Power Battles is right around the corner. I and other retro Star Wars gaming sickos are celebrating already, but before its January 23 release across all modern platforms, I had the opportunity to shoot Aspyr some burning questions about the process of revisiting such an overlooked Star Wars oldie.The developer-publisher is no stranger to remastering classic Star Wars games, and even though 2024's Battlefront Collection faced a rough kickoff due to some baffling choices and overall lack of polish at launch, its hit rate has been remarkable: Episode I - Racer, KOTOR 1 & 2 (Switch), The Force Unleashed (Switch), and Bounty Hunter, among others, all successfully refreshed the originals for old and new fans alike. We've yet to see whether Jedi Power Battles is a Forced-powered win or another fall to the dark side, but color me excited.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Chris Bashaar, Director of Product at Aspyr, was kind enough to shed some light on why and how Aspyr and Lucasfilm Games remastered the (originally divisive) arcade-like beat 'em up. The developer has been steadily working its way through LucasArts' rich back catalogue, and even though games like The Phantom Menace have been rescued by Disney and Lucasfilm as straightforward re-releases instead, most of the Star Wars titles we millennials blasted through in the late 1990s and early 2000s are getting a new coat of paint.Elsewhere, Aspyr has also been killing it with the recent remasters of Soul Reaver 1 & 2 and Tomb Raider's original trilogy (soon to be followed up by IV-VI), so Star Wars hasn't captured them if you're worried about that. Image credit: Lucasfilm Games, AspyrThe following Q&A has been editorialized, trimmed, and rearranged for clarity and cohesion."The decision to bring it back stemmed from the perfect combination of fan nostalgia, the games 25th anniversary, and the opportunity to introduce it to a new generation. Lucasfilm Games has been an incredible partner, and together we recognized that now was the right time to celebrate this cult classic," Bashaar explained. While the 'direct tie-in' Phantom Menace game (developed externally by Big Ape Productions) was released in 1999, Jedi Power Battles, a wacky retelling of sorts of the first prequel movie, was internally developed at LucasArts and dropped the following year. With the Battlefront Collection also dropping during a marked anniversary (the original's 20th), we have to wonder what might be coming from Aspyr this year...Of course, 2005's Revenge of the Sith tie-in, another underrated fan-favorite, comes to mind, but Bashaar sidestepped the question, stating Aspyr the team was "just focused on bringing Jedi Power Battles to players." All right then, keep your secrets (the Disney snipers are scary, we get it). He did note, however, that "Lucasfilm Games has been an incredible partner" so far.I believe most fanatics of this game, myself included, will admit Jedi Power Battles wasn't like good good, but it's looser approach to the property and charming bits won you over if you stuck with it (it's infamously hard, at least in its original PS1 iteration). At Aspyr, Bashaar notes that "several members of our team grew up playing Jedi Power Battles... That personal connection really fueled the passion behind this remaster. Its not just about bringing back a gameits about honoring the fun, quirky spirit that made the original so memorable." If you've paid attention to the trailers (we're sharing the co-op-centric one below), it's easy to see what he means by that.Players who only experienced the PS1 version might also be confused by some of the visuals and overall art work the remaster sports. It actually isn't a huge 'redo' of that initial release, but a direct upgrade of "the Dreamcast version because it was the most refined iteration of the original game." Again, he's not wrong, check out this longplay of the Dreamcast release; on top of looking sharper and running much better, a number of changes were made to tricky areas and jumps. The team has, however, kept some of the superior UI elements from the PS1 release around: "We upscaled its textures, re-baked lighting, and improved overall visual fidelity, all while staying true to the games aesthetic. We also preserved some elements from the PlayStation release, like parts of its iconic UI, to keep that nostalgic connection intact."A big selling point of the remaster is all the new playable content that comes with it, which fully transforms the game into a generous 'couch co-op' package that doubles down on playstyle variety and flexibility to experience all the levels. Since most of the new character and cheat additions work with assets that were already there, was it all leftover and unfinished from the original development or brought to life by Aspyr for the first time?"We are adding all-new content, including 13 newly playable characters. We wanted to expand the game in ways that felt organic to the Star Wars galaxy. These elements were carefully crafted to enhance the gameplay experience while staying true to the spirit of the original. We are all about additions not revisions so nostalgic players are going to feel that classicness back 25 years ago." You can even play as Jar Jar Binks and make him fall to his death repeatedly! Image credit: Lucasfilm Games, AspyrA downside to the unlockable characters in the original (Captain Panaka, Padm Amidala, and Darth Maul) was that they couldn't be leveled up, not even to get extra HP and more Force capacity. It seems that hasn't changed for none of the remaster's bonus characters, as they're designed as a challenging, extra way to experience the game: "The 13 new playable characters are part of a New Game + experience without progression, unlockable by beating the main campaign once. Except for the Loader Droid, which requires a cheat. Youll have to stay tuned to get that code." Prepare accordingly for wilder runs.Another big question mark every time a new Star Wars game (old or new) releases is where Lucasfilm is at regarding the public perception of events and content depicted in them, as the Story Group has been safeguarding a firm canon continuity for well over a decade now. All retro Star Wars games are either considered Legends or their own, what-if, madcap thing. Jedi Power Battles is clearly one of the latter. But still, this franchise is strictly controlled, so how does that work when you're remastering a very silly game?"Lucasfilm Games worked closely with us to ensure everything aligns with the Star Wars galaxy. Their collaboration allowed us to add new content, like characters, that feel authentic to the franchise." I mean, I'm fairly sure random mercenaries aren't able to uppercut and send Jedi Knights flying, but yes, that's an Ishi Tib model that looks like a background alien from the movies. I dig this mix of attention to detail and flexibility. Let Star Wars be silly and over-the-top more often! Image credit: Lucasfilm Games, AspyrThe general 'silliness' of Jedi Power Battles also extended to its sound effects, with Yoda's classic laugh playing for absolutely no reason (other than it being really f**king hilarious) every time you picked up an item or power-up. The good news is that none of those have been cut or remade, and the same goes for John Williams' fantastic Episode I soundtrack. "All the original audio and music remain unchanged to preserve the authenticity of the experience," Bashaar confirmed.Last but not least, we asked Aspyr about the matter of those wonky platforming sections (which, in all honestly, are part of the original game's challenge) and whether something has been done about them. It wasn't an easy thing to figure out and decide on, it seems: "This is a very heated debate for us at Aspyr. While yes, those mushrooms on Naboo are particularly tough to navigate, especially as a first time player, the designers made those jumps with a very particular intent. If you break down the jump mechanics, forward momentum doesnt apply on a double jump. This is very unique to Jedi Power Battles compared to other contemporaries. If we alter jumps, or the jumping mechanic, the knock-on effects start to remove the charm of the design. What I can say is, single-jump those mushrooms and itll be a much easier platforming section." It must be noted the Dreamcast port already saw big improvements to many sections, but long story short: Git gud. Image credit: Lucasfilm Games, AspyrStar Wars Episode I: Jedi Power Battles is coming to PC (Steam and GOG), PS4/5, Xbox Series X/S plus One, and Nintendo Switch on January 23.

He's Got The LookThe live-action How To Train Your Dragon's latest teaser trailer doesn't look much better than the first, but it does have a bunch of semi-realistic dragons that will make you question why Toothless looks like thatMaybe this one should have stuck to being animated.Image credit: Universal Pictures News by Oisin Kuhnke Contributor Published on Jan. 21, 2025 There's a new teaser trailer for the live-action adaptation of How To Train Your Dragon, and it has some slightly too realistic looking winged lizards if you ask me.Last year, Universal Pictures released the first trailer for the live-action How To Train Your Dragon which led me to one simple question: why? This weekend saw it release the second teaser, and to be honest, I'm still asking that same question. To be honest, it doesn't show all that much more off than the first one, but there are a whole lot more dragons this time around, which has led me to another question: why does Toothless look like that? The live-action version of everyone's favourite dragon looks exactly the same as he does in the animated version, albeit a bit more realistically textured. All these other dragons though? They look mighty realistic.Watch on YouTubeDragons aren't real (sorry to break this to you), so you know, there's only so realistic they can look, and you can spot a few designs that are ever so slightly cartoonish in nature, but for the most part you could put them in a more serious film about dragons and not bat an eyelid. Toothless, in turn, just looks a bit silly, sillier than he normally does. It feels particularly odd considering the original film has a whole bunch of different designs for the dragons, all of which are just as if not occasionally more cartoonish than Toothless. To see this content please enable targeting cookies. There's not much to be done about it now though! At the very least, the director of the animated original Dean DeBlois is back for this one, and Gerard Butler is reprising his role as Stoick the Vast, so there should at least be some amount of consistency, even if the dragons look a bit off. You'll have to wait a little while longer to find out how it actually is though, as it's not due out until June 13, later this year.

Nora-t Good NewsUnannounced Horizon MMO from NCSoft reportedly cancelled, possibly leaving us with only one other multiplayer Horizon thing in the worksThe Horizon multiplayer thing Guerilla itself's been working on is seemingly still coming at some point.Image credit: Guerilla Games News by Mark Warren Senior Staff Writer Updated on Jan. 21, 2025 An unannounced MMO based on PlayStation's Horizon series has reportedly been cancelled, with this being one that was in the works at South Korean publisher NCSoft.This MMO - which is seemingly separate from the Horizon multiplayer game that's reportedly in the works at Guerilla itself - was first reported to be a thing back in 2022, with the studio behind games like Guild Wars and Throne and Liberty working on it as part of a partnership with Sony.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Now, however, South Korean publication MTN - which was also the source of that 2022 report - is seemingly reporting that NCSoft's Horizon MMO has been cancelled, assuming a translation that comes via ResetEra is accurate.The report cites a "feasibility review" at NCSoft having been followed by the canning of this game - codenamed Project H - as well as some others, with H and a project codenamed J being cited as having "already disappeared from the company's organisational chart".VG247 has reached out to PlayStation for comment."The decision to stop development of 'Pantera,' 'H,' and 'J' was made at the end of last year, and at the beginning of the year, the development team members were reportedly notified to prepare for internal transfers," the report's translation adds, "In the case of 'H', it is reported that the team will be transferred to Lineage's IP headquarters after the development office is disbanded."This news would come not long after Sony cancelled live service games in the works at Bend Games and Bluepoint Games, the latter of which was reportedly a God of War live service thing. That was just the latest bit of bad news for the live service push PlayStation embarked on a couple of years ago, which has so far produced Helldivers 2, and not much else in terms of big successes, with many titles being cancelled before they're even released.

In MintyberranzanBig Baldur's Gate 3 custom campaign mod about an all-new adventure to Minthara's terrifying home town is aiming to release a demo pretty soonTime to see if all the horrifying tales Minty's spun after starting a sentence with the dreaded 'In Menzoberranzan...' are true.Image credit: Larian/the Path To Menzoberranzan team/VG247 News by Mark Warren Senior Staff Writer Published on Jan. 21, 2025 Back when Baldur's Gate 3 first got its official modding tools last year, one of the big questions folks were immediately asking was whether it'd be possible to create any big custom campaigns, and whether many modders would actually take on the daunting and time-consuming task of delivering such a thing.Well, some of them started working on stuff pretty rapidly, and now one ambitious project spearheaded by one of those early experimenters is hoping to release a playable demo this year (thanks, TheGamer).To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Modder Lotrich was one of the folks messing around with custom maps not long after the toolkit arrived, and for what looks like the past few months, they and a team of others have been working on a full custom campaign called 'Path To Menzoberranzan', which'll be fully voice acted, as well as coming with a new map filled with fresh "items, companions, locations, quests, romances, [and] story".Building on some work to re-create locations from Baldur's Gate 2 in BG3, the mod's aiming to deliver an all new adventure that, as you might expect, allows you to visit the city in the Upper Northdark that Minthara's from in its final act. Here's hoping all of the tall tales she's told us about it don't turn out to be a bunch of Lolth-themed lies. You'll have bring a whole new set of companions through, with the team having opted to leave out the established ones "due to copyright reasons".Watch on YouTubeAnyway, Lotrich has just shared a fresh look at an area the modders have been working on - the streets of Athkatla, a city you might remember visiting in BG2. It's mostly three minutes of jogging through a quite Mediterraneany market with plenty of NPCs roaming around, but they do also cut through a shop at one point.It's pretty cool, and you might well get to see it for yourself soon, with Lotrich writing in a Reddit thread that the team is expecting run a beta in 5 to 6 months' time, while the FAQ section of the project's Discord server says that they've been "working towards the first playable demo in Spring 2025." That'll be followed by an eventual full release on Nexus Mods down the line, with the team noting the exact time "will depend on the feedback from that demo"."We are planning to provide you with the ability to play both campaigns at the same time - the main BG3 campaign, and our campaign, however the canonical way of walkthrough will be playing only on the custom campaign. We can't change the dialogues in the official version, and can't bend the story," Lotrich added, also noting that thare are currently no plans in place to bring the mod to consoles right away.So, certainly something to keep an eye on if you're in the mood for some BG3 custom campaign action or enquire about contributing to if you think you've got the skills in things like writing, level Design, and coding that the team's currently looking for.

C&C CommethC&C successor Tempest Rising is one of the most promising RTS games of 2025, and there's a demo you can play right now2025 is looking very much like the year of the return of the RTS, and one of the most anticipated of the bunch wants you to play it ahead of launch.Image credit: Slipgate Ironworks, 3D Realms, Knights Peak News by Sherif Saed Contributing Editor Published on Jan. 21, 2025 Tempest Rising may not be a name youre immediately familiar with, but if you keep with with RTS news even a little bit, youve likely seen some of its impressive gameplay many times over the course of last year.The upcoming Command & Conquer-inspired real-time strategy game mainly takes cues from the Tiberian series, and you can put all those claims to the test today.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Tempest Rising has released its latest demo, as part of Steams Real-Time Strategy Fest, offering anyone interested in experiencing what a modern revival of classic Command & Conquer feels like a chance to play it.Tempest Rising comes from Slipgate Ironworks. It has been in development for a while, but quickly earned a place in the hearts of many RTS fans from the moment it was announced. The game is set in a Tiberian-like, near-future universe, where two asymmetrical factions vie for control in a post-nuclear war Earth. And, just in case its inspirations werent clear enough, the games soundtrack is composed by none other than the legendary Frank Klepacki. To see this content please enable targeting cookies.This is the games first multiplayer demo, and it offers 1v1 and 2v2 action across three maps. If youre not interested in multiplayer, you can duke it out in skirmish against the AI on the same maps. The demo is available until February 3.Tempest Rising is a classic 2000s RTS, so expect base building, resource management - with action being the main focus, just like the ol days. The game arrives April 24, and you can pre-order it now on Steam. The same Steam store page is also where you can grab the aforementioned demo.

Sounds RightMarvel Rivals newbies are drawing up handwritten playbooks to help teach themselves the ideal Venom strategy: arrive, do damage, then yeet yourself off a ledgeFlawless tekkers, no notes.Image credit: NetEase News by Mark Warren Senior Staff Writer Published on Jan. 21, 2025 It can be hard getting into a game like Marvel Rivals when everyone else has already had a full season to get up to speed, pick which heroes fit their playstyle, and learn how to best deploy the attacks at their disposal. It's ok, though, one newbie with a buddy on Reddit has seemingly found a way to help themselves learn the ropes - drawing up handwritten playbooks for characters.To be fair, I get it. You're aware that you've got a lot to learn so you don't get merked by some weirdo who's playing as a Thomas the Tank Engine that's technically just a mod that makes Jeff the Land Shark do some very trainy cosplaying, so you do all the prep you can.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. That seems to be the mindset of a buddy of r/marvelrivals user KaijuBlaze, who's drawn up a "playbook" to help them remember the steps they've been told to follow in order to not be a crap at playing Venom. It's clearly a piece that belongs in the Louvre, with little images to help them remember the six steps their mate's informed them make up the ideal Venom assault."The idea is he doesn't play these types of games and knows nothing about Marvel, so we're gonna do SUPER simple guides to help him get used to how they characters are supposed to operate," KaijuBlaze explained. Nice one.As you can see below, the plan is roughly as follows: swing in, dive like Ralph Wiggum did through The Simpsons front window that one time when he was a brick for a frenzied arrival, activate cellular corrosion, "attack until low health", then press E, and swing your bottom out of there. Heal up, rinse, repeat. Told my buddy how to "play" Venom and this is the playbook he wrote up byu/KaijuBlaze inmarvelrivalsTo see this content please enable targeting cookies.Naturally, the Rivals regulars were quick to suggest some minor improvements to this plan. "I rarely ever swing in because you can run on walls and just dive directly from the wall," wrote one, "Whereas if you swing in and everyone turns, theres a good chance they can pump more then 2k damage in less then 8 seconds." The playbook was duly updated.One of the players on the subreddit has even decided to give the instructions an in-game trial run themselves to make sure this newbie was on the right path. They pretty much followed all the steps to a T, aside from the three they kinda didn't, and ended by swinging themselves right off a ledge to their death, because it's funny and also because - listen in KaijuBlaze's buddy - you're not at risk of being killed by the enemy if you've already died to gravity. The more you know.I don't know about you, but I think if these hand-drawn playbooks start to do well in Rivals, NetEase might need to ban getting your paper and pencils out as strictly as it recently did keyboard and mouse adapters. Unfair hardware advantage, you know, the ability to draw.

Just Like ThatGood news, US-based Marvel Snap fans, the card game is back online, and its developer has a slightly surprising plan to make sure it doesn't go down again"Well continue to update with more information as soon as possible!" News by Oisin Kuhnke Contributor Published on Jan. 21, 2025 After a surprise ban in the US, Second Dinner has confirmed that Marvel Snap is up and running again, but it's also planning some changes.It's been a bit of a whirlwind weekend for apps getting banned and unbanned! This Sunday just gone, January 19, TikTok was banned in the US for absolutely silly reasons, but awkwardly, it came back in less than a day. One surprising effect of the ban, though, was that Marvel Snap was also hit with a ban in the US. That's because the game is published by Nuverse, which is in turn owned by ByteDance, the same company that owns TikTok. It came as a surprise to developer Second Dinner, who seemingly had no idea the ban would affect Marvel Snap too, which is why there was no prior announcement. Luckily, as confirmed on Second Dinner's Twitter account, the game is back and available to play in the US again, but the developer is now planning to find a new publisher.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. "Marvel Snap is back online in the US," Second Dinner wrote. "But to make sure this NEVER happens again, were working to bring more services in-house and partner with a new publisher. This is the start of a new era for Marvel Snap. We know this probably leaves you with even more questions than answers. We appreciate your patience, but in the meantime enjoy playing Marvel Snap. Well continue to update with more information as soon as possible!" Changes like that obviously take a lot of time, so don't expect a new publisher to be ready and waiting next week. To see this content please enable targeting cookies.Some players have expressed that they're still having problems, like making in-app purchases, and being unable to download it from the iOS App Store, but according to Second Dinner it's still working on fixing these issues - the PC version of the game seems to be working fine, though. What a mess! Maybe let's not ban an entire social media app without thinking about it a bit more next time, 'ey?

Good RiddanceEA is killing its Origin PC app soon, so it's a shame the EA app that replaced it isn't that much betterEA is officially shutting down the old and creaky Origin PC app because it runs on such old code Windows no longer supports it.Image credit: EA News by Sherif Saed Contributing Editor Published on Jan. 21, 2025 Origin, the original PC app for publisher EA, will be ceasing operations on April 17, 2025. Origin was EAs first foray into creating its own PC store, back when it was common for major publishers to ditch Steam in order to avoid paying a 30% cut to Valve.Origin, of course, was later replaced with the EA app, but because of its lack of features compared to Origin, many kept using it in place of the EA app. Those people will soon be forced to switch.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. EA announced Origins shutdown this week. The decision is the result of Microsoft ending support for 32-bit software on Windows. Origin does not run on 64-bit code - but its replacement, the EA app, does.EA is asking players who still use Origin to migrate to the EA app before Origin is gone forever, and this goes for anyone on Windows 10 as well as Windows 11. If you're on Mac, refer to this support article for more. In theory, all the games you own should transfer over. The same is true for games you currently have installed, too.The only - official - winkle here is cloud saves. If some of your games dont support the feature, youre going to have to migrate those saves manually. Anyone who did the Origin-to-EA app transition in the last couple of years, however, will tell you that some games may not make the jump, and its very common for existing installs not to be recognised by the new app.The best way to do this is install the EA app on top of Origin, essentially letting the installer upgrade Origin into the EA app. This should save you from having to redownload games. In some cases, restarting the app a couple of times may be required for some of your games to show up, so don't immediately panic if you see something missing.No matter what you do, however, its always best to create a backup of your game saves - just in case.Origin originally launched in 2011. It remained the only place to play EA games on PC for nearly a decade, until the publisher decided to return to Steam. By that point, EA was gearing up to replace it with the better-looking - but worse-performing - EA app in 2022.

Seriously ThoSure, the Nintendo Switch 2 has finally been revealed...but what does that tell us about GTA 6?Right, everyones fired off their hot takes - now its time for the real work to begin.Image credit: Rockstar Games/Nintendo. Article by Mark Warren Senior Staff Writer Published on Jan. 20, 2025 Ive been staring at the moon for so long that the man in its taken out an injunction.Im no longer allowed to come within landing distance of his little ball in the sky. I may never find out if its made of cheese. Its a necessary sacrifice.Because I think the moon might have something to say about GTA 6. Some lunar leaks, some interstellar info to convey about what wont just be the biggest game of 2025, but the biggest event human history has ever seen. Scratch that, that the universe has ever seen.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. The kind of s**t thatd make Doctor Manhattan stop, draw in breath, and start thinking about making sure he was there to witness it firsthand. Its much, much, bigger than the Nintendo Switch 2 reveal which happened last week, or so the fellow GTA superfan Ive employed to keep an eye on everything else happening in the world while I continue to stare at this moon tells me.However, I drag my eyes away for a few minutes, because what if - I ask myself, in a voice thats some weird, monstrous amalgamation of every GTA protagonist ever - the Switch 2 reveal has anything to tell us about GTA 6?Unlikely, yes, but thats what they - our mysterious, mischievous masters at Rockstar would want us to think. Its a Nintendo console launch, no secrets about GTA 6 hidden here, just a bit of Mario and some Joy-Cons, yes? No, I say, I will not write you off without thorough interrogation, like Trevor Phillips did to Mr K in the GTA 5 mission By The Book. I will hook a car battery up to your nipples if needs be, Nintendo! Now, TELL ME WHAT YOU KNOW!Things start off pretty un-GTA 6. Theres a Nintendo logo. Hang on a minute, theres a little R in a circle near the top of the last O. Rockstars logos an R, albeit a with a different font. It could still be a message that the developer is here, in the background of this Switch reveal, its hand on Nintendos shoulder like Roman teaching Niko how to perfect his bowling stance. Cousin, this is no time for bowling, the Switch 2 reveal is on. | Image credit: Rockstar GamesWell have to watch on. Theres a Nintendo Switch. GTA 5 isnt on Switch, except when it was thanks to modders. Maybe GTA 6 will be coming to the original Switch? As a launch title. I know, its a console thats literally having its replacement revealed right here and will therefore soon be a bit out-of-date, but this is Rockstar, and you have to expect the unexpected.The Switch splits into three bits. GTA 5 had three protagonists. GTA 6 has two protagonists, Switch 2, hang on, SWITCH 2 PROTAGONISTS. Does that confirm it? Yes. No. Maybe. Well have to watch on. The Switch starts spinning, and some weird chips come off it. It reminds me of a car spinning out of control, with tyre smoke coming off of its, well, tyres. GTA has cars. With tyres that smoke. Ive spun out while driving around Los Santos more times than I can count.This is promising. We must watch on. Its growing some new ports. THE PORT OF LOS SANTOS, WHICH PLAYS A BIG ROLE IN GTA 5S MERRYWEATHER HEIST. Especially if you choose the freighter option. Ports confirmed in GTA 6? That first trailer sure had a lot of water, but lets not get ahead of ourselves here.Then there are lines, which give way to a stand. People do lines in pretty much every GTA game. Drugs confirmed in GTA 6? Stand. You can stand in a GTA game. Your character can literally stand, and there are also things like bus stands. Its fake America, so no ones gonna be using them because they all have great massive SUVs and Ford Mustangssorry, Vapid Dominators, but theyre there. I tried outrunning the cops on a bus once. It ended badly. | Image credit: VG247/Rockstar GamesThen, it jumps. You can jump in GTA games. Kind of. Its more of a weird forward fall unless youre actually next to a ledge, but its something. Ooh. The Switch is turning black. Like the black screen some GTA 5 players on PC were once greeted with on loading up the game due to an issue. GTA 6 coming to PC at the same time it hits Switch 2, maybe? They are very similar platforms, in that they both play video games, and have computery bits inside.It zooms in on one of the controllers, and a kinda flesh-coloured bit starts protruding from it. I cant even begin to recall every single instance in GTA games when a flesh-coloured thing has protruded. Or been implied to protrude. There are just too many. The other one has something blue protruding from it. There are also too many times in GTA when its been implied that something protruding got blue - if you see what theyre clearly implying here - to count. Good, the old Rockstar sense of humour in GTA 6, confirmed.Ah, now the Joy-Cons seem to be sliding around like computer mice. Its a bit like theyre having arace. Races, of course, have always been a big thing in GTA - especially with online lately, an entire generation of YouTubers having been weaned from the teat on endless playlists where youre driving about on a Hot Wheels track in the sky, doing jumps, getting the boost, crashing into people, having them scream into a camera rather than leaving you a message that you should probably call the police about.More races in GTA 6 maybe? Against giant mice? No, thats absurd. Two Joy-Cons. Maybe multiplayer races in the singleplayer bit? Singleplayer races in the multiplayer bit? A LAN Party mode? Just a s**t tonne more online races for you show off whatever the GTA 6 equivalent of the chrome-wrapped Adder will be early in its lifespan? All I know is, my minds certainly racing. This flying car is also racing. Will it be in GTA 6? | Image credit: Rockstar GamesThe Joy-Cons join with the screen to make one device. Three becomes one? Cant be the protagonists again. Hang on. 2 become 1. Are the Spice Girls recording new music for GTA 6s soundtrack? Surely not. Rockstar does love its 90s and early 2000s pop tunes, though. Will the entire GTA 6 soundtrack - aside from that one Tom Petty song, obviously - be performed by the Spice Girls? Even the heavy metal, rap, and country stations? Are we gonna be able to rob a store while blasting a version of Wannabe where the Yo, tell me what you want, what you really really want is preceded by a death growl from the depths of Emma Buntons soul that perforates every single eardrum within a fifty mile radius?Sorry, Ive gotten lost in thought. Theres now Mario Kart on the thing. GTA Onlines very Mario Kart-style races getting an actual Mario Kart crossover confirmed? Mario as the guy who runs all of GTA 6 onlines races? It wouldnt be the first time a guy with Italian ancestry has featured prominently in a GTA game. Is Mario mob-affiliated? Has he brought his crime family down from Liberty City to Vice City, making the same trip Tommy Vercetti did all those years ago?S**t, is Mario the bad guy? Will GTA 6s tale of Bonnie and Clyde-style lovers revolve around them building up to one final big stick-up on the overall-wearing king of Vice running things like a mustachioed Scarface, with a mushroom-fueled drug empire and trophy wife named Peach that he married after taking out the King Koopa who used to rule the streets?2025, the Switch 2 reveal says. S**t, thats when GTA 6 is coming out! Its all true, it has to be! Thank you, Nintendo! Thank you for all of this GTA 6 info, I howl at the moon.The man in it looks down and sighs. He picks up a phone made of cheese, and calls his lawyer.

February 2025, a month that's famously not going to feature many big video game releases (to be fair, one of those has since been delayed), has just been revealed as the arrival point for another cool thing you might want to play. It's Keep Driving, the driving RPG thingy that has you fight stuff in turn-based fashion while accumulating stuff.In case you're not familiar with this wonderfully quirky game, I played its Steam Next Fest demo last year and only ended up being killed by a puddle like once. Basically, it's a game about going on a road trip to your mate's house, and both you and your car have to battle you way through the typical hazards presented by driving and being a human that needs food and sleep en route.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. The full version of Keep Driving has now been penned in to release on February 6 on PC via Steam, with Swedish developer YCJY Games having revealed this in a nice tweet.There's also fresh trailer, which naturally features clips of turn-based car fights with tractors, sheep, and potholes, while offering a glimpse at the couple of extra cars you'll be able to fill with all the stuff you, your car, and the hitchikers you'll pick up will need to survive and thrive. I liked the demo's not quite Volvo, but I'd be lying if I said the idea of running around in a pickup truck instead isn't calling to my inner Johnny Cash fan. To see this content please enable targeting cookies.As I mentioned eariler, Keep Driving's PC only for now, but one of its devs has suggested in a reply that it'll be in line to come to consoles at some point down the line, writing that they're "not really sure which consoles yet, besides Switch". Come on lads, PS2 port, so I can easily flip between this and Need For Speed Underground.In the meantime, here's hoping the full version of Keep Driving can supercharge those vibes I loved first time around.

Number Go Up!People just can't get enough of that edgy black and red hog, as Sonic the Hedgehog 3 outruns its predecessor to become the highest grossing entry in the seriesAnd who can blame them?Image credit: Paramount/ Sega News by Oisin Kuhnke Contributor Published on Jan. 20, 2025 Sonic the Hedgehog 3 has clearly proven itself a hit with fans, as it has overtaken the second film at the box office.We already knew that the Sonic film universe was here to stay, but day by day it's getting clearer and clearer. For one, the series was confirmed to be getting a fourth film in 2027 before the third film had even released, and earlier this month the three films had amassed a collective box office taking of $1 billion. On top of that, Sonic the Hedgehog 3 took the record of being the second highest grossing video game movie in the US, with only The Super Mario Bros. Movie ahead of it (admittedly quite a bit ahead of it). Now, as reported by Variety, the third entry in the film series has achieved another record, this time within its own franchise.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Over the weekend, Sonic 3 hit a box office total of $420 million globally making it the highest grossing movie across the three films to have released so far. Previously that title belonged to the second film, which took home $405 million at the box office, still an impressive and healthy figure. I'm sure Paramount will be pleased to see growth like this, even if it's only marginal (if $20 million can be marginal), as this would presumably be the point where things would start to dip if they were to at all.I have no doubts that the presence of Shadow helped bump up sales for this one, considering he is a fan favourite character, but now there's the question of whether or not the fourth film will do quite as well. The post-credits scene does introduce another fan favourite, one that I'm personally excited for, so we'll have to wait and see if the blue hog can keep up his momentum.

Squid Schism"Somehow, this feels like an insult" Helldivers 2 players get a helping hand from J.O.E.L, as their current mission becomes the latest bugdiver vs order follower rowThe more things change in the Galactic War, the more they stay the same.Image credit: Arrowhead News by Mark Warren Senior Staff Writer Published on Jan. 20, 2025 Uh oh, Helldivers 2's latest Major Order is looking like it's gonna be a tough task to score a W in at this point, even though J.O.E.L's recently given the divers a helping hand by intervening with a friendly blizzard. Some of them aren't happy with it though, mainly because it's come about due to lots of players electing to go bug-diving rather than fight The Illuminate.If you missed it, the big thing about this latest MO is using the freshly-repaired Democracy Space Station - which just got some changes that should make it a little bit more effective and stop it from being as lethal to the divers themselves.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Sadly, it doesn't look like it's helped too much so far, with the divers only having managed to fend off four of the 14 Illuminate attacks they need to as of writing, with just over two days remaining on the order. One of the factors which looks to have played into this - especially in the eyes of some hardcores on Reddit - is that a whole bunch of divers have just spent a while fighting to liberate the icy planet Heeth from the Terminids.Yep, it's looking like the long-established quarrel between those dubbed the bugdivers - folks who simply perfer to go for the Termninds whenever they log on, regardless of whether the current MO is pushing Super Earth to battle another enemy like the Automatons - and their strict order-following peers. You can add in some squids, but folks who love fighting bugs will just keep on keeping on, it would seem. Somehow, this feels like an insult. byu/Fil-is-Theo inHelldiversTo see this content please enable targeting cookies.According to an in-game dispatch, the bugdivers even recived a little help from Arrowhead game master J.O.E.L himself in their battle for Heeth - which they've now succeded in liberating as of just a few moments ago. There was a "catastrophic weather event" on Heeth, which "decimated enemy forces, leading to a significant friendly unit advance". Surely everyone's happy about that fortuitous turn of events, right?Well, not quite. "Somehow, this feels like an insult," one player wrote in a Reddit post about the helpful weather, "It's like J.O.E.L is saying 'if you idiots are willing to lose the MO over this planet, then have it and be done with it'." That's not a consensus though, with a highly-upvoted replier arguing: "The squid MO is lost if half of the divers are on Heeth failing to take it for the duration. J.O.E.L is giving us a boost so it's done with. No insult felt."Regardless of their feelings on the aid, a fair amount of players do look to have concluded that this Major Order could be another one that's specifically designed so that they either lose it or have to pull out absolutely all of the stops. We'll have to see if it does end in an L that nicely sets up the next stage in the war, but until then here's hoping folks don't give up now Heeth's fallen.

Real Slop HoursOne of the worst Resident Evil games could be coming to current-gen consoles, if a new ESRB rating is accurateThough it seems more like a remaster than a remake.Image credit: Capcom News by Oisin Kuhnke Contributor Published on Jan. 20, 2025 Desperate to play Resident Evil 6 on modern consoles? No? Well, a new rating suggests you might be able to anyway.I'm not going to sit here and pretend like Resident Evil 6 is a widely beloved entry in the survival horror series. It's not! By this point, the games really had jumped the shark, leaning way too much into the action, and away from the survival part that the series started off with. But, no matter how bad it gets, Resident Evil fans pretty much always love Resident Evil, so there might be some of them out there that wish they could play it on their Xbox Series X or S. As it turns out, they might get that wish. It seems that over on the ESRB's website, as spotted by VGC, that the game has a new rating specifically for the Xbox Series line of consoles, which obviously includes the X and the S.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. The rating doesn't reveal anything in particular, it just explains some of things that justify its Mature 17+ rating (and slightly humorously notes that "the word 'f**k' appears in the game"), it's just the mention of the Xbox Series that's the interesting thing. Resident Evil 6 was originally an Xbox 360 and PS3 title, having been released in 2012, later receiving Xbox One and PS4 ports in 2016 alongside 4 and 5, some graphical improvements, and all of its DLC. Resident Evil 5 and 6 also received Switch ports in 2019. This new ESRB rating doesn't make mention of a PS5 release, but you can probably assume that it would get one too, and it would be odd if 6 got a re-release but 5 didn't.This might also come as a bit of a disappointment to some fans though, as it does seem to imply this will be another remaster as opposed to a full on remake like other entries in the series have received. Not much to be done about it! So we'll all just have to wait for Capcom to make an announcement, if there is one coming at all.

Cross-BlockedYou'll be able to turn cross-play off on consoles in Black Ops 6 and Warzone Ranked Play sometime in Season 2Treyarch is making a few changes to Ranked Play in Black Ops 6 as well as Warzone, as the developer gears up for the launch of the game's second season.Image credit: Activision, Treyarch, Raven. News by Sherif Saed Contributing Editor Published on Jan. 20, 2025 Ahead of the launch of Season 2 for Black Ops 6 and Warzone, Treyarch has been offering some updates on many of the topics currently hot amongst the community. Among them is the evergreen discussion on the viability of cross-play in ranked matches.The developer also addressed many other contentious topics, including the apparent rise of cheating across the two games, as well as the moderation teams decision to silence players who dont believe they were abusive in their language on voice comms.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. In a community update, Treyarch revealed that its working on several changes to improve the experience of playing Black Ops 6 and Warzone in Season 2. The post addresses several growing grievances the community has had for a while now.Getting down to it, the developer confirmed that players will soon be able to toggle cross-play off on consoles, but only in Ranked Play. This goes for both Black Ops 6, as well as Warzone. The feature is currently in testing, and will arrive sometime during Season 2.Ranked players will also be happy to know that Vote to Forfeit is coming back, letting you end a losing match early rather than have to sit through it. A forfeited match counts as a normal loss, but wont result in SR penalties. The even bigger news is that join-in-progress is coming to Ranked Play, which should get your teammate who keeps disconnecting back in quickly. Do these updates actually convince people of anything? | Image credit: Activision, Treyarch.The post also addresses the player sentiment that theres an apparent increase in cheating. According to the post, there are several contributing factors at work, which dont all come back to simple aimbotting or other blatant cheats.In particular, the developer touched on the degrading quality of matches, which causes a lot of rubber-banding and cases of severe packet loss that both contribute to a poor gameplay experience. Eventually, this could also lead to server disconnects.There are indeed some players who seem to be common in crashed lobbies. While it doesnt sound like the team has a permanent solution yet, Demonware developers have been working to identify the root cause of these targeted crashes, and upgrade server infrastructure and code to combat them. Its also worth noting that some regions suffer from this more than others, depending on how large the player pool is and how wide server capacity is. Don't be a dick. | Image credit: Activision, Treyarch, Raven.A particularly touchy subject since midway through the first season has been a growing concern that voice chat moderation is a little too eager to take action against players for simply taunting or trash talking other players. At least, thats the story those players tell.Treyarch, however, believes the system is working as intended to stop harassment and hate speech, but those unsatisfied with the teams moderation decisions will be happy to learn that the moderation team hosts several regural tuning session to examine the process and make sure everyone is on the same page regarding what constitutes inappropriate language.Finally, the blog post stressed that mass-reporting does not result in the player getting reported being banned. Some cheat makers sell tools that essentially let you mass-report a single player, but Treyarch says those are useless, as mass reports are always flagged as suspicious and show up on the system as a single report. The team is able to identify actual multiple reports against one player, and there are systems in place to detect when certain groups of cheaters play together and raises red flags so the team can investigate.The post is fairly comprehensive, and you can read it at the link above. Season 2 kicks off Tuesday, January 28.

Beast ModeDragon Ball: Sparking! Zero looks to be giving fans exactly what it wants in its first DLC pack: characters that will inevitably end up being way too OPIt's Dragon Ball! What else did you expect.Image credit: Bandai Namco News by Oisin Kuhnke Contributor Published on Jan. 19, 2025 The first DLC pack coming to Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero has been properly revealed, and fans probably won't be surprised to see it's based on the most recent movie.While Dragon Ball might have a new anime in the form of Daima currently, it's technically a sequel to the original Z series, set before the events of Super. Currently the furthest entry in the series is Super Hero, the 3D animated film focused on Gohan and Piccolo that gave the pair of them some powerful new forms. Fans of the film have been hoping that these forms would come to the game for a while, as it had already been confirmed that a couple of characters from it, Gamma 1 and 2, would be appearing. And now a new trailer released by Bandai Namco this week has shown off all of the characters coming in the first DLC pack, which yes, does include Orange Piccolo and Beast form Gohan.Watch on YouTubeThe trailer confirmed that a total of 11 playable characters are being added in, four for Gohan which includes his new base form, Super Saiyan form, Ultimate form, and the aforementioned Beast form. Piccolo makes up four of them too, with a new base, powered up, Orange form, and even the giant Orange form he takes to try to beat Cell Max. Speaking of, Cell Max is there too, and like Great Ape Vegeta and other characters, he's giant too. And, as previously confirmed, Gamma 1 and 2 will be playable too, complete with their onomatopoeic impact sounds showing up while fighting. I'm sure Gohan and Piccolo will be notably strong, so I can't wait to see them being used constantly online.It doesn't look like any story stuff is being added, but it is getting three new custom battles at least. You also get Piccolo's Red Ribbon soldier disguise as a costume, and Bandai also said "that's not all" but it's not particularly clear what that means. In any case, those with the season pass will get the DLC three days early on January 20, so you've only got to wait until tomorrow to play it now. Happy punching!

You Know The MemeTurns out the devs behind Crysis made its highest settings so hard to run is because they were thinking about the PC you would own in 2010, not the one your were stuck with in 2007Do I even need to ask the question?Image credit: Crytek News by Oisin Kuhnke Contributor Published on Jan. 19, 2025 Crysis was such an infamously hard game to run at its max settings it became a meme, but apparently you weren't even meant to do so at release."Can it run Crysis?" That's probably a meme you saw everywhere in gaming spaces about a decade ago, in fact it's so prolific the only thing I know about the game is that it was meant to be hard to run, I have no idea what the story even is. But with the advancements since its release almost two decades ago in 2007, it's not really a joke that works anymore because most computers can, in fact, run Crysis now. As it turns out, though, that kind of works out, because the developers behind it had intended it to be future proof, so that it would always stand the test of time as soon as hardware got better.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Speaking to PC Gamer as part of a larger retrospective on the game, Crysis director and Crytek founder Cevat Yerli spoke of the meme and the game's legacy, saying that he wanted to "make sure Crysis does not age, that [it] is future proofed, meaning that if I played it three years from now, it should look better than today." The game's highest graphic settings were designed with hardware you might have in 2010 and further, even though of course people still tried to crank them up back in 2007. "A lot of people tried to maximize Crysis immediately. And Im like, 'Oh, thats not why we built the Ultra mode, or Very High'."Luckily, as prevalent as the joke once was, Yerli never took it to heart in any particular way, saying, "It was this ambivalent kind of meme that was good and bad, but I actually enjoyed it. Last year, Jensen [Huang] for Nvidia announced a new GPU, and they said, 'Yes, and it can run Crysis.'" Maybe if you played the game all the way back in 2007 on medium settings you can finally find out if your rig can run Crysis (I really imagine it can).

It's been a year since Palworld launched into early access, and today a roadmap showing off plans for future updates has been revealed. Read more

Forward ThinkingNintendo says Switch 2 backwards compatability was the "best direction" for players, even if it's still staying quiet on which games won't workYou'll have to wait until that April Direct.Image credit: Nintendo News by Oisin Kuhnke Contributor Published on Jan. 19, 2025 The Nintendo Switch 2 will definitely be backwards compatible, but that confirmation did come with a bit of an asterisk, and the house of Mario won't explain why yet.Something that Sony really messed up on back in the PS3/ PS4 era is backward compatibility - neither console could play games from the generation before it (bar those very early PS3s), so the PS5 being backward compatible was obviously welcome news. Nintendo too allowed Wii games on the Wii U, but the switch (pun intended) to cartridges on the Switch obviously ruled that. With the Switch 2 finally being revealed this week, the question on everyone's lips from the moment the trailer started was "ok but can I play all these games I already own." The answer? Yes! But not all of them. All the same, it's pretty clear Nintendo knows it needs to keep its players happy.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Speaking to Game File, the developer explained why it did decide on making its games backwards compatible. "Nintendo Switch is played by many consumers, and we decided that the best direction to take would be for consumers to be able to play their already purchased Nintendo Switch software on the successor to Nintendo Switch," Nintendo said. "As a result of that thinking, Nintendo Switch 2 plays Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive games, as well as both physical and digital Nintendo Switch games. Certain Nintendo Switch games may not be supported on or fully compatible with Nintendo Switch 2. Details will be shared on the Nintendo website at a later date."Honestly, it's more than likely that this applies to games like Ring Fit Adventure and Labo, which can only use the original Joy-Cons - the new ones are larger so wouldn't fit in their respective peripherals, and you obviously don't want people calling up and complaining about that. That doesn't mean Nintendo is ready to say which games won't work yet, as it explained it has "nothing more to announce on this topic" and that if you want more details, you'll need to tune into that Direct on April 2.Hopefully it is a limited selection of games that will be unplayable, as there will be plenty of players who will upgrade rather than add to their collection. Mostly I just don't want Nintendo to charge $60 for ports of games that are only a generation old (it should stop doing that for games that are older than that too (and to credit its developers better too)).

Empty Your PocketsWhoopsie, after allegations from the FTC that Genshin Impact has been misleading players about lootbox odds, its developer has been left with a $20 million fine and some rule changesProbably a long time coming, really. News by Oisin Kuhnke Contributor Published on Jan. 19, 2025 Genshin Impact maker HoYoverse is in a spot of trouble, as it has to pay a $20 million fine to the Federal Trade Commission over accusations of deceiving players.HoYoverse has made a bit of a blunder. In a recent complaint filed by the US Department of Justice for the FTC, the Genshin Impact developer was accused of having "unfairly marketed loot boxes to children that obscured real costs and misled all players about the odds of obtaining prizes." That's obviously not an ideal complaint for HoYoverse, but as it turns out, as reported in a press release from the FTC, the developer has actually agreed to pay a $20 million fine to settle the charges. Not only that, though, but the company is now blocked from allowing children under 16 from making in-game purchases without parental consent, something I'm surprised wasn't around in the first place.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. In a statement, the director of the FTC's bureau of consumer protection said that "Genshin Impact deceived children, teens, and other players into spending hundreds of dollars on prizes they stood little chance of winning. Companies that deploy these dark-pattern tactics will be held accountable if they deceive players, particularly kids and teens, about the true costs of in-game transactions."The press release itself noted that the complaint "alleges that Genshin Impacts purchasing process obscures the reality that consumers commonly must spend large amounts of real money to obtain 'five-star prizes,' and that some children have spent hundreds or even thousands of dollars to win them Players must exchange real dollars for bundles of virtual currency that then have to be re-exchanged multiple times to open loot boxes, with exchange rates in unusual denominations. This complicated system, according to the complaint, misleads consumers about the amount of money that players spend on loot boxes on an ongoing basis, and the amount of money that players would likely need to spend to obtain certain prizes."On top of that, the developer will now be "prohibited from selling loot boxes using virtual currency without providing an option for consumers to purchase them directly with real money." Sorry HoYoverse! Maybe next time don't make a game with currency systems that are purposefully designed to exploit players.

Keeping CountOne industry analyst says that the Nintendo Switch 2 is "exactly what people wanted and expected", but it might not be enough to beat the first one's sales"There may be more revelations that no one has thought of."Image credit: Nintendo News by Oisin Kuhnke Contributor Published on Jan. 19, 2025 The Nintendo Switch has been ridiculously successful, but one analyst thinks the Switch 2 might not reach the same heights.At the time of writing, the original Nintendo Switch has sold around 146 million units, making it the third-best-selling console of all time, only eight million behind the Nintendo DS in second place, and 14 million behind the PS2 in first place. With the Switch 2 now officially announced, it's less likely the OG Switch will take the top spot, though it obviously has cemented itself as one of the best-selling consoles of all time, even if it somehow goes down a spot or too. So, there's obviously some big expectations for its successor, and one analyst thinks there's a chance the Switch 2 won't do quite as well as the original.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Speaking to GamesRadar, Mat Piscatella of market research firm Circana said that the "Switch 2 can (and I expect it to) be a massive success. But I also don't expect it to reach Switch. It's tough to forecast for an outlier. It could happen, but it's not likely." He went on to note that it's "great that it looks to be a bigger, more powerful Switch. Fantastic. Exactly what people wanted and expected. But also, it looks to be primarily a bigger, more powerful Switch, which may not be enough to attract an audience outside of buyers of the original Switch."This initial trailer for the Switch 2 mostly just shows that it's bigger and has a new Mario Kart, which isn't a bad thing at all, but obviously isn't exactly a console seller. "There may be more revelations that no one has thought of and that haven't leaked in some fashion," Piscatella noted. "Looks like we'll have to wait until the Direct for that."I'm sure that even if the Switch 2 doesn't do Switch 1 numbers, it'll do plenty well enough, especially considering that the only way to play Nintendo games is on a Nintendo console. We'll just have to wait and see what that Direct has in store for us.

ExoFebruaryExoborne, the exollent-looking exosuit extraction shooter, is hosting a playtest soon - and you can sign up right nowSharkmob's next big shooter, Exoborne, will be opening its doors to players in February, giving many their first chance at going hands-on with the game.Image credit: Sharkmob News by Sherif Saed Contributing Editor Published on Jan. 17, 2025 You know that 2025 is well and truly underway because were starting to get news and updates about games we expect to play this year. Exoborne is one such game, and itll be letting some lucky few play it for the first time next month.Exoborne is the new game from Sharkmob, the team behind the ill-fated (but beloved) Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodhunt, and its already generated a lot of positive buzz from the few times its been shown to the public last year.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Exoborne is an extraction, PvPvE shooter whose main mechanic revolves around the use of the Exo-Rigs, which not only help you navigate the world of the game and pull off stunts measly non-exod humans cannot, they also act as platforms that factor into your loadout and play style.As is pretty much the standard in extraction games, youll be inserting into a highly-contested zone where AI factions fight each other - and you. Other players, often vying for same loot, will be dropping in all across the map. Another major element in Exobornes gameplay is its chaotic weather system, which effectively creates another element of danger you also have to contend with.This next playtest will be available on PC through Steam. It kicks off Wednesday, February 12 at 5am PT, 8am ET, 1pm UK. Youll be able to play until Monday, February 17 - which should be long enough for most to get a few hours of gameplay in. All you need to do is hit the Request Access button on Exobornes Steam page, and youll be notified by Steam if youre chosen. To see this content please enable targeting cookies.We played Exoborne in August last year, when Connor also talked to members of the Sharkmob team about how the studio plans to avoid another Bloodhunt situation. The live service space has gotten even more brutal since the end of Bloodhunts service. Were now seeing games that spent years in development get shuttered before they even have a chance to make a case for themselves, so the odds are certainly not in anyones favour there - but you cant ever bet against great gameplay.

Thank Super EarthHelldivers 2's DSS is back online with a beefy overhaul that should more permanently stop it being a friendly fire menace, as the Iluminate jump back in your sightsIt's back, and this time it shouldn't double the amount of helldiver casualties by being a bit too explodey.Image credit: Arrowhead News by Mark Warren Senior Staff Writer Updated on Jan. 17, 2025 Helldivers 2's Democracy Space Station is back with a vengeance, just in time for the Galactic War to shift back to the Illuminate front. And, thank Christ, Arrowhead has implemented some changes to the giant space station that should make it a little bit more effective an asset to the cause - as well as stopping it from being very lethal to friendly forces.In case you weren't around to get blasted into the stratosphere by a careless teammate, back when the DSS first arrived back in November last year, it quickly got on the bad side of a lot of players, due to its orbital barrage proving to be very good at killing helldivers, even more so than the intended target of enemies.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Now, after players beat the terminids in the last Major Order, the DSS has returned from a bit of a break with the latest MO, which turns the action back to the Illuminate front. You've got 14 attacks from the Illuminate to repel with the "repaired" station's help, and two have already been repelled, because this is Helldivers 2 and things never stop moving for a single second, ever.The official reason being given by Arrowhead for the DSS' little chill sesh is that it suffered "a system-wide breakdown during the initial Illuminate invasion", which, to be fair, we all got a bit excited then, so it'd have been easy for a floaty space thing to over-exert itself, fall over, and temporarily die. To see this content please enable targeting cookies.But, now it's been repaired, and has had some adjustments made. "The Planetary Bombardment tactical action has been taken offline, until adjustments to optimise certain undesirable externalities has been taken," Arrowhead writes in its briefing, "The Heavy Ordnance Distribution tactical action has been added, which will augment Helldiver loadouts on the orbited planet." The station also can now move more often - "six times more frequently" according to the devs.What are the early reviews of the changes like? Well, as ever with Helldivers, a bit mixed. Some like it, some think it still needs a bit of work and have conveyed that through Lamar Davis from GTA 5.Anyway, at least you're now less likely to be killed instantly when you drop, sharing the fate Arrowhead's CEO wants for any A-list actors cast in the Helldivers movie.

Veilgone?Dragon Age: The Veilguard game director Corinne Busche is reportedly leaving BioWare, having spent 18 years at publisher EABusche, along with John Epler, was one of the main figures responsible for overseeing Veilguard's final push across the release finish line.Image credit: Bioware News by Mark Warren Senior Staff Writer Updated on Jan. 17, 2025 Dragon Age: The Veilguard game director Corinne Busche is reportedly leaving BioWare, having spent a total of 18 years at publisher EA working on various titles.This is according to Giant Bomb's Jeff Grubb, whose confirmation of Busche leaving has since been corroborated by Eurogamer. Rumours of Busche's departure had been coupled with speculation about the closure of BioWare's Edmonton studio, the latter of which Grubb has suggested he doesn't currently believe to be happening.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. "Corrine BuschE, director of Dragon Age, really is leaving BioWare," Grubb's tweet reads in full, "But I don't think EA is closing BioWare Edmonton. Was told there is nothing solid about that part of the rumour." Eurogamer reports that it's heard Veilguard's "commercial performance was not a direct factor in Busche's departure".VG247 has contacted both EA and Busche herself for comment. To see this content please enable targeting cookies.Prio to becoming game girector on Veilguard in 2022, Busche had racked up a total of 18 years at EA, both as part of BioWare in various postitions, as well as working on The Sims series. She and creative director John Epler were key figures on the latest Dragon Age game in the run up to and following its release in October last year."This is a proficient, polished game with certain mechanics and ideas that threaten to be best-in-class," our Alex Donaldson wrote in his review of Veilguard, "In a certain sense, this game has it all - but that all doesnt quite coalesce in the way Id hoped, which leaves features that are deep on paper feeling shallow. Its a head-scratching conundrum."As recently as December 2024, Busche was discussing ideas that could be potentially explored in future Dragon Age games in interviews conducted with her and Epler, saying that tackling the Elven and blighty stuff Veilguard's story revolves around had left her "curious about the other aspects that are less explored and equally as interesting: the nature of the qunari, what's across the seas, what's happening with the titans, the development of the dwarven people".How do you feel about Busche reportedly departing BioWare and did you like Veilguard? Let us know below.

Takes The CakeBelieve it or not, a years-old cake recipe has reignited Hollow Knight: Silksong hopes for the millionth timeIt sounds too good to be true. It probably is, but it's the most refined Silksong copium we've seen yet.Image credit: Team Cherry News by Connor Makar Staff Writer Published on Jan. 17, 2025 If you've been a fan of indie games over the past, uh I don't know, six years since Hollow Knight: Silksong was announced, you've probably been aware of the savage hunger the gaming community at large has been for a taste of a release date. The game is just that anticipated. It turns out after years of silence, a desert recipe is the current source of hope for desperate fans, and it might just take the cake for the funniest potential Silksong tease we've seen yet.It all starts with an otherwise innocent move by a member of Team Cherry, changing their Discord tag and profile picture to a slice of delicious cake ahead of the Nintendo Switch 2 reveal. However, eagle-eyed Silksong fans discovered that if you reverse image search this cake image, you come across a single online cake recipe. Suddenly, Silksong fans found the first breadcrumb - or perhaps cake crumb - that led towards some more info.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. This recipe is Bon Appetit's Brooklyn Blackout Cake, written and published on the food outlet's website on April 2, 2024 by one Rick Martinez. If that date sounds familiar, that's because the next Nintendo Direct has been set for April 2, 2025. Now you see how a little bit of fun actually started to look like a delicious tease of what's to come.But it turns out, there's even more. If you look down at the comments on this Brooklyn Blackout Cake, you'll find comments by both Ari Gibson and William Pellen. They are an art director and game designer at Team Cherry respectively, and while their comments aren't exactly smoking guns, Gibson's comment is an absolute eyebrow-raiser. He comments, "I give this cake a rating of 4/2" - another reference to the date of publication and the date of the next Nintendo Direct.So it seems, if this little treasure hunt is to be believed, that those of you out there who have been praying for more Silksong over the last few years might actually get what you've been asking for in a mere few months. Either that, or Team Cherry have gone and done the funniest joke at the expense of the Silksong-starved. Funniest, or cruelest, depending on your perspective. It has been a while since we've seen anything, and one hopes the good folk over at Team Cherry have been doing more than making delicious cake all these years.So, with this, an already exciting Nintendo Direct has seemingly pointed to the stands in preparation for a home run. It's no understatement to say that a direct with not only a host of new Switch 2 reveals and Silksong would be an all-timer. So please, don't be a wild goose chase!Do you think Silksong will actually show up in April? Or are Silksong fans cursed to stay parched forever? Let us know below!

No Stopping the BornDespite getting nuked, Diablo 4's Spiritborn is still one of the strongest classes going into Season 7The glory days of the Spiritborn's utter dominance in Diablo 4 may be about to be over, but it's looking like the new class will still be among the strongest.Image credit: Blizzard Entertainment. News by Sherif Saed Contributing Editor Published on Jan. 17, 2025 We pretty much know everything there is to know about Diablo 4s Season of Witchcraft, the games upcoming seventh season. Blizzard recently revealed all the new content, and major changes coming to the game with the new season.Last night, the Diablo team hosted its first livestream of the year to dig a little deeper into some of the finer details on class balance, gameplay tweaks, and many of the updates made since the December PTR.To see this content please enable targeting cookies. Class rebalance is always one of the most interesting aspects about any new Diablo 4 season. Season of Witchcraft is no different, and its especially true in this case because it's the first season where the new Spiritborn class is going to see a few major changes.The Spiritborn is the class introduced with the Vessel of Hatred expansion. Its launch coincided with the start of Season 6, so the class hadnt yet spent enough time in players hands to justify any big changes to how it plays.Once people started playing with it, however, it became clear that it was far and away that seasons most powerful class. Even setting aside the silly exploits players took advantage of early on (before they got fixed), the sheer power of the Spiritborns various builds simply put it a tier above the rest.Rather than alter that meta in the middle of the season, Blizzard decided to allow players to have their fun with the Spiritborn, but warned that much of what players relied on to create their room-clearing builds will be adjusted in Season 7.Well, were now days away from the end of Season 6 and the beginning of Season 7, and the Spiritborn has indeed had much of its power stripped away. The only surprise? Its still looking like one of the most powerful classes! To see this content please enable targeting cookies.The Spiritborn was already strong in the patch 2.1 PTR, and Blizzard hasnt made major changes to that iteration - apart from fixing some unintended synergies that caused the power spikes of Season 6. That said, Razor Wings builds will have a new Unique to play with, as well as a new Aspect that should make that build more viable.On the opposite end of that, the Sorcerer has emerged as the weakest class in the Season 7 PTR, so Blizzard buffed a bunch of its passives. Searing Heat, and Icefall are two Legendary Paragon nodes that got some love, too, mainly to make them compatible with a wider range of builds. Sorcerers are also getting two Uniques this season that seem to be designed for lightning builds.Elsewhere in the patch, other classes have seen a few tweaks of their own. The Druid has seen what could be its most impactful change yet. The class early game has traditionally been characterised by a slow regeneration of resource. Season 7 smoothes out that curve, in part thanks to some updates to Spirit Boon. Blurred Beast has been reworked (again) to help with shred builds, too.The Barbarians Hammer of the Ancients has been buffed yet again, which should nicely complement the power enabled by the new Unique chest added to the game - for all your earthquake build needs. Whirlwind has also seen some numeric buffs.For all the nitty gritty details, check out the 2.1.0 patch notes on the official blog. Season of Witchcraft begins Tuesday, January 21.

SighGod of War live service game reportedly cancelled alongside one other live service project, as PlayStation's live service push continues to go just fineThe studios that were working on these titles reportedly wont close, but it's unclear right now what they'll be doing next.Image credit: Sony Santa Monica News by Mark Warren Senior Staff Writer Published on Jan. 17, 2025 An unannounced God of War live service game has reportedly been cancelled by Sony, alongside another live service game that was in the works at Days Gone developer Bend Games. This is according to a report from Bloombergs Jason Schreier, who cites the God of War title as something Bluepoint Games - best know for its remasters and remakes like Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection and 2020's Demon's Souls - "has been working on for the last couple of years".To see this content please enable targeting cookies. As well as telling Schreier that the two projects had been canned "following a recent review", a spokesperson said that neither studio will be shut down as a result of this change in plans, and the PlayStation will keep on making both online and single-player titles.They also added that the company will be "working closely" Bluepoint and Bend in order to determine what their next projects are, now that these live service games have bitten the dust before ever seeing the light of day.This news is yet another body blow to the big live service plans PlayStation announced just a couple of years ago - when it said it hoped to put out 12 new live service games by 2025. Since that point, aside from the rip-roaring success that has been Helldivers 2, things have been pretty damn dire in terms of this plan.Concord's release and then almost immediate un-release is obviously the most high-profile example, and a situation that you really for the devs in, but it's not the only one. For every title like Bungies Marathon reboot that, while it might have had a rocky path in its own way, we're still expecting to play at some point soon, there's a cancelled game like Bungie's Destiny spin-off Payback.For every Horizon Online from Guerilla, a The Last of Us Online. It's a pretty shocking batting average, and not exactly a great use of the considerable first party studio firepower PlayStation's amassed, even if it's jettisoned some of that in now depressingly typical for the games industry layoff fashion recently.Would you have been interested in trying out a live service God of War? Let us know below!