It's officially the end of an era, folks – beloved Terraria mod Calamity is officially coming to a close, with developers confirming they'll no longer be continuing development on the fan project from here on out.

Terraria first launched on PC in 2011, with Calamity following in 2016. It quickly grew to become the survival-sandbox game's most iconic mod, with millions of downloads worldwide.

Heck, it's even spurred spin-off mods (don't ask me how many I've browsed myself) and a downright massive fan community. It's caught the attention of Terraria developer Re-Logic itself, too.

So much so, in fact, that the studio previously invited the mod's team to work for it, asking, "Which of you wants to work for Re-Logic and get paid for your work?" It comes as quite a blow then, to learn that Calamity is coming to an end.

The news comes after the modders behind the years-old project's announcement on Discord that "we've come to announce a very difficult decision: we will unfortunately be ceasing all development of Calamity."

They elaborate, citing "the troubled past of Calamity's development" as one reason. "At this point, many of us have felt personally betrayed time and time again after being promised something better that never ended up coming. We're just tired at this point, and almost all passion we had for the mod has been soured, with many of us having chosen to leave as a consequence."

They don't delve further into the details here, but the post goes on.

"Most of us want to simply move on and would be far happier working on our own projects that aren't and won't be tied to something with what we feel is an irrecoverably tainted reputation," it reads, likely referencing accusations that have been making rounds online about some of the mod's leads and whatnot – a situation I'd argue is worth a quick Google as it gets quite dark and might be a tad too heavy here.

There's also the topic of asset removals, which said accusations have spurred. Put simply, a plethora of folks associated with Calamity have pulled out or rebranded, leaving the team looking for… well, a lot more than just new leads.

"Ceasing development is frankly the closest thing we can do to fulfilling everybody's requests" when it comes to the asset debacle, as the devs state – which is obviously not an easy decision to make.

As for the future… it's uncertain. "In terms of where things will go past this, due to legal concerns, no reuploads or forks of Calamity can be made and uploaded (for the sake of clarity, this means that things such as Fables, addons, and such are fine)," writes the team. "Past that, though, we don't really know."

Right now, it's impossible to tell as Ozzatron – the most recent mod lead – would need to work with the devs.

Apparently, however, "he's not responded to anything in the development server recently, and we're hoping to get back in contact soon to resolve all of this." Things aren't looking great, though.

The devs do end on a bittersweet note, thanking fans for their support: "This journey has been long, bumpy, rough and chaotic, yet it's still been wonderful despite that." It's tough to read, even as a casual Calamity enjoyer myself.

This certainly isn't the end that any of us expected, but considering how heavy the allegations seem – and, again, I would advise caution if digging into the situation further – the devs don't have much else that they can do here, likely.

Need something to look forward? Browse through our roundup of the best new games coming this year and beyond for fresh titles to wishlist.

Although The Witcher 3 protagonist Geralt isn't the most visibly (or audibly, for that matter) emotional character out there, he's still human under all that mutating and magic – and actor Doug Cockle wanted to make sure he didn't lose all of that humanity.

The legendary voice behind Geralt of Rivia explains as much in a new interview with Tom's Guide, echoing what he said back in 2018 – that he "never believed" that the protagonist "had no emotion," even if CD Projekt Red wanted him to come across that way.

At the time, Cockle didn't have any source to work from either, having not read The Witcher books or seen the Polish TV adaptation at that point. He only knew what the developers taught him about Geralt.

"The most frequent note I had," as the actor recalls, "was, 'No emotion, Doug. No emotion. Flatten him out.'" Although Cockle definitely understood the assignment, so to speak, he didn't agree entirely with CD Projekt Red's take on Geralt.

"A character with no emotions at all, how can we, as human beings, relate to that? We're not emotionless creatures." That checks out – and doubly so when it comes to actors.

"We deal in emotions," as Cockle puts it. "That's a big part of telling the story." So, that's precisely what he did with Geralt. "I was like, 'Yes, I know, I get it, I'm trying, but he's got to have some kind of emotional life, or why would we care about him?'"

When it comes to The Witcher 3 protagonist, he was aware of Geralt suppressing his feelings – but also of a "dichotomy in himself" that allowed for more than a completely emotionless character.

"He's an emotional being, he does have emotions, but he tries very hard to not let them dictate the actions that he takes." Ciri, Geralt's adoptive daughter (and upcoming protagonist of The Witcher 4, excitingly enough), serves as proof of this – Geralt makes choices that protect her time and time again. Heck, it's paramount to the entire story in The Witcher 3, to say the least. "If he had no emotions," as Cockle says, "he wouldn't make those choices."

CD Projekt Red eventually warmed up to the actor's interpretation, according to him: "As the series of games went on, the writers became more confident in the idea that he can be an emotional being and still be a little bit of a machine."

That checks out, judging by the journey from Wild Hunt to Blood and Wine – and it's evident enough in Geralt's character. It does beg the question though… how will he sound in Songs of the Past?

I suppose we'll just have to wait and see what the new DLC brings…

CD Projekt Red says The Witcher 3: Songs of the Past, Geralt's first expansion in a decade, will get a proper reveal next month

Blizzard Entertainment is reportedly Xbox's best-performing studio and is enjoying its first back-to-back years of growth in almost a decade, and it's mainly thanks to Diablo 4: Lord of Hatred and Overwatch's big resurgence.

In an internal email seen by Windows Central, Blizzard President Johanna Faries reportedly told staff that the company "ended the year as the top-performing studio in Xbox's studios division, and this past year has marked our third highest fiscal for top line revenue in Blizzard's history."

That puts the World of Warcraft and Diablo maker above of Activision (Call of Duty), King (Candy Crush), and Bethesda (Fallout, The Elder Scrolls).

Blizzard's 2026 and 2027 fiscal years also marked the company's "first back-to-back years of growth since" fiscal year 2027, shortly after the first incarnation of Overwatch came out.

"Diablo 4: Lord of Hatred and Overwatch drove exceptional performance in particular, with Overwatch delivering its strongest quarter since 2022," Faries says.

Overwatch kickstarted its big comeback at the start of the year with five new playable heroes, a seasonal reset, and smaller changes to almost every corner of the shooter. A jetpacking cat was sure to drive tons of hype, but since then, the team's put out exciting heroes and solid updates in every season. I'm sure collabs with Hello Kitty, Persona, and K-pop group Le Sserafim moved a bunch of players unable to control their wallets - it's me, I'm players. Blizzard's next tank is another mech-based fighter with a sick-looking sword and shield, for example.

Still, the comeback story comes during a pretty grim time for parent company Xbox. The console maker recently cut 1,600 jobs across its studios, with plans to cut another 1,600 roles within the next year.

Blizzard ends support for Overwatch's MOBA-inspired Stadium mode, no more heroes or maps to be added

Toby Fox's Deltarune has a Pokemon connection: the RPG's recent Chapter 5 features a character designed by artist Hitoshi Ariga, who created painfully cute Ogerpon, among other fan-favorite pocket monsters. However, Fox edited Ariga's notably Grass-type idea before letting it loose in the game.

Fox explains in a new blog post sharing his "Chapter 5 thoughts" and elaborating on Deltarune's newest characters and mechanics, like the bouncy platforming system. He also shares more information about Chapter 5's Netskie enemies capable of assuming the approximate shape and grin of a tricky fox. Deltarune fans knew Ariga helped design the mischievous creatures since he appears in the game's credits as a guest character designer, but Fox elaborates on the extent.

The developer writes in his blog, "Hitoshi Ariga is a Japanese artist who's most well-known for drawing the manga Rockman Megamix and designing a number of Pokemon, including the recently beloved Sneasler, Flutter Mane, and Ogerpon. However, did you know that he also drew the character sprites for many classic games, including Illusion of Gaia?!"

Ariga is indeed an accomplished artist – the designer has been involved in a range of video games since the early '90s, with titles like the ARPG Illusion of Gaia, as Fox noted, and Streets of Rage 2 for the Sega Genesis. He's been creating Pokemon since Pokemon X and Y in 2013, developing fan-favorite monsters like Aegislash since Generation 6, though he's been a Pokemon Trading Card Game illustrator since 2011.

"Anyway, he drew a bit of a fox character," Fox continues, "and then I made some modifications to it for the game."

The character sketch Fox attaches looks more than a little different from Deltarune Chapter 5's actual Netskie enemies, which are rooted to the ground and take the shape of an orange fox with a spread of nine violet tails.

Ariga's original design is much more of a Grass-type baby than that; its body lacks detail other than a few straight lines of wood grain, which scratch out a pair of slitted eyes and a mouth, and its ears and tail are made up of springy green leaves. I think you can sense Ariga's history with Pokemon in his character art – his Netskie would get along well with Leafeon and Deerling and their elegant forested bodies.

But Fox seemed to think this version of a Netskie was better suited for a brighter universe, as Deltarune accommodates dull neon hauntings best.

Deltarune creator Toby Fox says "there are no more wacky silly adventures" as Chapter 6 will finally deal with the RPG's "main mysteries."

Team Asano is remaining hush-hush about whether Octopath Traveler 3 is in production or not, but the developer knows how much fans want another sequel in the HD-2D prognosticator. It's just that a hypothetical Octopath Traveler threequel would need to be ambitious enough to justify its existence.

That's according to series producer Tomoya Asano, speaking to Dengeki Online in a celebratory interview for the Octopath Traveler series' eighth anniversary. (thanks for the translation, Automaton!)

While Asano's not saying much about the game's potential existence, he does recognize how much fans seem to want the series to continue almost 10 years on from its start. "We genuinely feel [fans' expectations], I just wanted to convey that," he says, though he's not able to share anything more concrete.

Should a Octopath Traveler 3 finally come to fruition – assuming it's not already in the oven – Asano says the developers feel they "cannot simply release something half-baked." A continuation of the franchise would need go all out. "If we're going to do it, we're going to push the limits."

Asano likely can't reveal anything about what's brewing in Octo Land, but he does hint that something is probably in the works, regardless: "Keep looking forward to what comes next."

Octopath Traveler first ushered in the era of HD-2D RPGs back in 2018, carving a road for everything from Dragon Quest's recent remakes to the upcoming Final Fantasy Resonance. Octopath Traveler 2 then continued the series' excellent turn-based fights and eight-sided narrative in 2023. And last year's Octopath Traveler 0 most recently adapted a mobile spin-off to insert town-building and eight-character combat to the series' formula.

What's next? 16 active party members? Even more branching story threads to pull on and juggle at the same time? A still-hypothetical Octopath Traveler 3 would have a daunting road ahead of it.

In the meantime, see if Octopath Traveler lands on our ranking of the best JRPGs.

At long last, Deltarune is approaching the end of its story and creator Toby Fox is warning folks to not expect more whimsical detours. Chapters 6 and 7 are all about paying off everything that's been set up over the last few years, but you might need to wait until the finale for it to all make total sense.

Deltarune Chapter 5 popped out of the blue earlier this summer, which means all eyes are now on the episodic RPG's final two installments. Chapter 6 isn't due to come out until sometime next year, but Undertale maestro Fox has now thrown hungry fans a bone.

"Chapter 5 was a really fun chapter, and with that last big burst of craziness out of the way, I'm sure everybody is eager for Deltarune to start directly tackling the main mysteries of the game," Fox writes in a new blog post. "Me too!" (And me three.)

Fox calls Chapter 5 the final "necessary setup" for the story's conclusion, so everything that happens from here on out will be about seeing answering questions and dealing with more pressing issues. "There are no more wacky silly adventures," in other words.

"Chapter 6 is a shorter, straightforward chapter that focuses on one aspect of the story. Because of that, many things are still not touched on here – in fact, it may surprise you what was missing! But one thing will be clarified, whether you're ready or not," Fox continues, very ominously.

He also acknowledges that some fans might be clamouring for longer chapters as we inch toward the finale, not shorter ones. "That's an extremely reasonable concern," he writes, "but... by the end of Chapter 7 I'm 100% sure you'll understand why I feel confident about the way I'm telling this story. Don't worry about the pacing until it's over!"

Deltarune Chapter 6 is still planned for release in 2027 and won't come alongside Chapter 7, according to Fox's note.

"Recently, I finished writing a few more sequences towards the last third of Chapter 6 and rearranging the rooms to fit the new structure. Once we make these adjustments and tie everything together, we will be able to play rough draft of the chapter from beginning to end. Barring any major restructuring, the main things that will continue to need development time are the boss of the chapter and polishing cutscenes," he explains.

Deltarune first began drip feeding fans in 2018 with the same humor and heart that made Undertale such a hit. Fox and his team have since been releasing new chapters whenever they're ready.

Deltarune's "last patch" before Chapter 6 offers "Nicer or Meaner" modes for Chapter 5's Shadow Crystal boss, with a sweeter reward if you up the difficulty.

Nintendo has had an unusual financial quarter since April, recording a decrease in year-on-year sales, but a 150% boost in operating profits, to which it gives its thanks to a $300 million refund in US tariffs – the same money it's already made very clear it isn't planning to pass back to customers.

In Nintendo's latest financial results, the company explains that net sales are down year-on-year for the quarter by 9.5%, but "operating profit rose by 150.5% to 142.5 billion yen, ordinary profit rose by 115.1% to 206.1 billion yen, and profit attributable to owners of parent rose by 53.5% to 147.4 billion yen."

It continues: "We recorded approximately 300 million U.S. dollars as a reduction of cost of sales in connection with refunds of IEEPA tariffs. The tariffs related to the refunds were primarily borne by the company rather than passed on to consumers through product prices."

These tariff refunds, which came after the company sued the US government back in March, also impacted Nintendo's gross profit numbers. Its gross profit margin went up to 54.3%, "reflecting solid software sales and the resulting increase in the proportion of software in net sales, as well as refunds of U.S. tariffs imposed under IEEPA that had previously been recorded as cost of sales, among other factors."

The timing of this is particularly interesting, as it comes a few short weeks since Nintendo requested a dismissal of a class action lawsuit filed "on behalf of millions of consumers who purchased goods from Nintendo during the tariff period and who paid inflated prices" – like the Switch 2 accessories that increased in price in the US before the console was even out, and the Switch 1 consoles that saw increases shortly after. The lawsuit sought "restitution of those tariff overcharges, together with appropriate declaratory, injunctive, and monetary relief."

Nintendo, however, wasn't on board with this, stating in a filing that customers "received exactly what they bargained and paid for" when buying price-hiked products, and that "if a consumer did not want to pay the advertised price, they were free to abstain from purchasing the product or seek out competing products."

Reading Nintendo's latest financial results, I can't help but wonder if the company is getting ahead of any potential criticism here when it notes that the "tariffs related to the refunds were primarily borne by the company rather than passed on to consumers through product prices," essentially clarifying that its new $300 million refund isn't just a double in earnings from its price hikes like the individuals who filed the lawsuit suggested.

Back in April, it was alleged: "Nintendo stands to recover the same tariff payments twice – once from consumers through higher prices and again from the federal government through tariff refunds, including interest paid by the government on those funds."

In its request for dismissal, Nintendo noted that last year's price increases weren't all the result of tariffs, either. Other factors, including surging memory costs, the price of shipping, and labor, also impacted the company's prices, it was stated.

Nintendo got "a lot of angry calls" from parents who thought Animal Crossing's "skin-colored" gyroid "looked like a wiggling penis."

PlayStation is preparing for a future without physical games on its platform and Nintendo is arguably devaluing physical media with the controversial Switch 2 Game-Key cards. But, Capcom isn't too worried about physical game sales shrinking (or being forced to shrink, depending on who you ask) since it sells most of its games online anyway.

Game sales have slowly been skewing digital for years now, but recent months have painted a dire outlook for physical media. Sony's planning to stop manufacturing new PlayStation discs starting in 2028, high-profile blockbusters including GTA 6 aren't bothering with discs at all, and Nintendo's Game-Key cards now operate similarly to download codes (ones you can sell and share, sure, but not ones that let you properly own the game as you would with an in-hand cartridge).

Asked about what impact the shrinkage of physical game sales might have on the company, Capcom sort of just shrugged its shoulders in its most recent investor Q&A. "Approximately 90% of our unit sales are digital. We do not anticipate a significant impact at this time." It's worth noting the Resident Evil and Monster Hunter maker counts Game-Key card sales as digital.

While Capcom's not fearful of the widespread changes in how we buy or manufacture games, PlayStation's decision to end support for discs isn't sitting well with everyone. The move has been called an "attack on our diminishing rights" by a leading digital rights org, another publisher said physical games helped the company reach audiences it otherwise wouldn't be able to, and there were negative reactions to the news across the industry.

As Capcom makes clear, a lack of proper discs and cartridges might not negatively affect companies that make most of their business on digital storefronts. For Sony, it's likely beneficial, financially. But anyone who cares about true ownership or relies on second-hand prices that make the hobby accessible might have more complicated feelings about a disc-less future.

PlayStation killing discs is bad for everyone, whether you care about physical games or not

Thanks to the latest batch of price increases, the over half-a-decade-old Xbox Series S is now more expensive than the Nintendo Switch 2.

While we were warned about it in advance back in June, the latest in the ever-increasing number of hardware price hikes arrived alongside the arrival of August, as Microsoft's sweeping Xbox price bumps hit the market. While there's nothing quite as extreme as Sony's latest bump for the PS5 console, which has seen the PS5 Pro go for nearly $1,000, the Xbox increase has seen the models increase from $100-$150 depending on how much memory is included.

While the US knew what it was getting into since June, Microsoft kept the price increase for its consoles in Europe and the UK close to its chest. But now August is here, we know it's still going to be real expensive.

This latest hike from Microsoft has made the Xbox Series X start at $749.99 / £619.99 / €749.99 for the all-digital version, while the Xbox Series S will be $599.99 / £519.99 / €599.99 or $499.99 / £429.99 / €499.99 depending on whether you want the 1TB or 512GB edition of the console. For comparison's sake, Nintendo's new console will run you $449.99 / £395.99 / €469.99, making it cheaper than the 512GB edition of the Series S.

However, that won't last too much longer, as Nintendo itself is also implementing a price increase for Switch 2 consoles in a month's time. Prices of the Nintendo Switch 2 console will be bumped up by $50 to $499.99 (as of right now, the UK and Europe pricing changes are unconfirmed).

Thanks to the ongoing global ram shortages that are plaguing all aspects of the tech world at the moment – all in the service of being funnelled AI slop farms so someone can generate Homer Simpson singing Benson Boone for a TikTok – this generation has been the antithesis of the usual wisdom of not buying a console at launch.

Nintendo fights Switch 2 scalpers in Japan with new restrictions – only fans with over 50 hours on premium Switch 1 games can buy multi-language consoles.

Hori has released a smorgasbord of adorable controllers this year, but now the Eevee Evolutions Wireless HORIPAD controller for the original Nintendo Switch has reappeared at Amazon US with an October 17, 2026 release date.

As discovered by X (Twitter) user PokeJungle, the $59.99 (Amazon) gamepad originally launched on US and European shelves all the way back in April 2024, but now Hori is re-releasing the officially licenced Pokemon accessory. The only issue is that in the time it's taken for the controller to re-launch stateside, the Switch 2 has come on the scene, and yet this controller is still geared towards the older console. That means it's missing out on that new GameChat button, and likely won't have Wake-up functionality in tow. But at least every Eeveelution is available on the faceplate to make up for its missing next-gen features.

This Nintendo Switch controller might be missing some important functionality you'd expect from a modern-day Switch 2 pad, but at least it's extremely cute. The entirety of the accessory is covered in this pastel lavender colorway, and the D-pad, sticks, and ABXY buttons also sport a pastel purple color.

The illustrations on the faceplate are also adorable. Instead of re-using art of the Eevee evolutions we've seen time and time again, there's a unique sketch-like illustration of the lot from Gen 1's Flareon, Jolteon, and Vaporeon, to Gen 6's Sylveon. Eevee itself hasn't been forgotten about either. At the center top of the pad, where you'd maybe expect to see a big 'Nintendo Switch' logo, instead plays host to a cute silhouette of the original Pokemon's rounded face.

While an older controller, it even sports an improved battery life over Hori's more recent Pokemon pads. The Eevee Evolutions controller relies on Bluetooth for its wireless connectivity and includes accelerometer and gyroscope controllers like the rest of Hori's controller lineup, but it also includes an up to 15-hour battery life. Meanwhile, the brand's recently unveiled Umbreon and Espeon Wireless HORIPAD Turbo only provides an up to 10-hour battery life.

This is true of all the brand's Pokemon-flavored Wireless HORIPAD Turbo controllers. Everything from the Hori Ditto Wireless HORIPAD Turbo that's launching for $64.99 at Amazon on August 6 to the Pokemon Pixel controllers only provide up to 10 hours of juice. It's a little disappointing, but if you care more about substance over style, then the Nintendo Switch 2 Pro controller with its 40 hours is always an option instead.

• View all Hori Nintendo Switch controllers at Amazon

Check out our guides to the best Nintendo Switch 2 microSD Express Cards, the best Nintendo Switch headsets, and the best Nintendo Switch 2 cases if you want to upgrade your Ninty gaming setup.

Legendary Nintendo fellow Shigeru Miyamoto says that he doesn't play video games anymore except for when his grandkids come over. The veteran game designer is well known for his multiple hobbies outside of gaming, and has previously said he looks to hire those who have interests other than video games.

In an interview with Famitsu that's been translated by GamesRadar+, Miyamoto talks about his current gaming habits. When asked if he plays the Nintendo Switch he says, "well, I don't really play games by myself anymore," with a slight chuckle.

Though he doesn't game in his free time, he still keeps video games around the home to play with his grandchildren. "If there are video games in their house my grandkids play them too much, so I keep them at mine and say 'if you want to play games, come to grandad's house,'" he explains. "The little ones can't finish games themselves, so I think it makes them happy when we complete them together. They're really scared of the boss from Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, so I do that one for them."

It might initially come as a bit of a surprise to hear that the Zelda and Mario maker isn't a huge gamer these days, but Miyamoto is well known for his hobbies besides video games as he uses them to inspire his game design. His love for playing instruments inspired Wii Music, Nintendogs came from his love of dogs, and Pikmin was thought up thanks to his time spent outside in the garden.

What's more, in a New York Times interview from 2017, Miyamoto expressed how he looks for those who have outside hobbies when it comes to hiring at Nintendo. "I always look for designers who aren't super passionate game fans," he said. "I make it a point to ensure they're not just a gamer, but that they have a lot of different interests and skill sets." He even explained that some of the people he hired had never played a video game before joining Nintendo.

Even if he isn't really a gamer anymore, we love that he is sharing his love of gaming with his grandkids.

Nintendo legend Shigeru Miyamoto says PCs were once "held in higher regard than consoles," so the NES was made to bridge "the gap" – "It wasn't just a toy."

Splatoon must surely rank as one of Nintendo's most unlikely hits. If you doubt that, try relaying a story about a favourite multiplayer moment and consider how ludicrous you must sound to a casual observer. Our moment of triumph, for example, came during the final Splatfest, a contest designed to crown the global favourite of the two Squid Sisters, the game's resident idol duo.

It happened at Moray Towers, a parking lot spread across two elevated structures, with ramps zigzagging down towards a central zone liberally coated in lurid neon ink. Wearing our pink T-shirt with pride, paired with a fashionable snorkel and a pair of turquoise trainers, our time came in the final 30 seconds of battle, as we swam up a wall carrying a washing-machine drum, passing unseen behind an opponent too busy gazing down his scope at our hapless teammates below to notice us sloshing our colours onto the ground behind his perch. We finished with no kills and six deaths, yet rarely have we felt so responsible for turning certain defeat into narrow victory at the 11th hour.

This was, for all intents and purposes, Splatoon's last hurrah: a 48-hour celebration marking the end of Nintendo's support for the game. It came more than a year after the very first Splatfest, during which time Splatoon has managed to retain a robust playerbase. Plenty of online games have lasted longer, of course, but rarely with the odds stacked so heavily against them. Splatoon arrived in May 2015 with a range of handicaps that would've sunk lesser games. It was, simply, one heck of a gamble. Here was a company known for leaning on established brands choosing to ignore them all in favour of something completely new: an online-focused multiplayer game in a genre in which it had little to no experience, and on an ailing console to boot.

Not long after its launch, Splatoon was widely declared to have been a success. But the real acid test was still to come. It may have had a slender (albeit enjoyable) singleplayer component, but this was a game designed primarily to be played online, and as such couldn't reasonably be judged within its first few weeks. The months to come would be more telling.

And the numbers didn't lie: Nintendo's financial results, published in April, showed that Splatoon had sold to more than one in three Wii U owners. Perhaps more significantly, the number of Splatfest participants had risen – particularly in Japan. The 13th Japanese Splatfest might not have seemed the kind of debate to provoke fierce competition, offering a choice between tuna mayonnaise and red salmon to determine the nation's preferred flavour of rice ball. And yet almost 800,000 players took part – more than half the installed base.

Paint the town

If Splatoon's vibrant presentation and accessibility were what made it appealing in the first place, Nintendo needed ways to hold players' attention. It achieved that simply by regularly providing tangible reasons to keep coming back. It's worth remembering the multiplayer offering seemed miserly at launch, with just five maps and a single game type, the default Turf War mode, available on day one (the King Of The Hill-like Splat Zones would unlock once enough players had reached level ten, which was achieved a mere two days after launch).

Tower Control came later, a thrilling tug-of-war with each team attempting to push a moveable structure deeper into their opponents' territory. Last up was Rainmaker, which had a similar back-and-forth feel to Tower Control, but resembled a running play in gridiron, albeit with the quarterback carrying a weaponised football. Though these three were the ranked options, each was built with accessibility at its core – they can be understood with minimal instruction, with a glance at the overhead map on the GamePad screen making it instantly obvious where your attention should be focused.

The number of stages steadily swelled from five to 16, with each new map adding purposeful variety. Moray Towers was a snipers' haven; Port Mackerel's multi-laned layout led to MOBA-like incursions; Flounder Heights added verticality via an apartment complex; the expansive Kelp Dome felt rather like being invited to vandalise the Eden Project. With later maps, Splatoon's designers began to add more unique features, like Piranha Pit's conveyors, Museum D'Alfonsino's rotating platforms and Mahi Mahi Resort's receding water level. Ancho-V Games, a level set inside the studio of a fictional game developer, featured fan-propelled platforms.

Some would argue that these gimmicks detracted from the game's immediacy, but no one could quibble over getting 11 maps over eight months for no extra outlay, even before considering the new wardrobe options and creative new weapon types. From gatling guns to buckets and bamboo pipes, Nintendo kept giving its players more ways to customise their Inkling and to tailor loadouts to better fit individual playstyles.

Post-launch support is hardly unprecedented, but for a company with a relatively poor reputation when it comes to online gaming, and with precious little experience of handling the expectations of an online shooter community, Nintendo surprised many in how well it kept up its end of the bargain. Free extra content was only part of the equation; Splatfests were another. A tangible sense of spectacle and ceremony surrounded these tri-weekly events, with the Splatoon community encouraged to swear fealty to their chosen side.

Nintendo clearly communicated upcoming events for players through its online channels and within the game itself. In the days leading up to each Splatfest, the plaza hub would fill with other players wearing their team's colours, adding to the sense of anticipation. Then, on the big day, night would fall, Miiverse posts would be displayed as flashy banners stacked high and wide, and the Squid Sisters would leave their studio to perform on stages either side of the lobby – beyond which, matches would be played under darkened skies. From a presentational point of view, Nintendo nailed both the sensation of friendly rivalry and the kind of big-match build-up that would have even Sky Sports taking notes. In the gaps between new stock arrivals at the plaza's various stores, Splatfests offered a further incentive to log in again.

Not to mention putting an additional map in the rotation. One of Nintendo's canniest tricks of recent years was to make a random selection of three feel like a special treat. Yet the perceived weakness of having only two maps available in each game mode at any given time (and limiting ranked matches to a specific game mode) played to Splatoon's strengths. On hardware with a comparatively small installed base, these restrictions ensured waits were kept to a minimum: even now, it rarely takes more than a minute from loading Splatoon up before you're in a game. It's a decision typical of a company that's always sought to curb downtime, and even on the occasions you find yourself idling in a lobby, you've got a choice of simple GamePad minigames with which to busy your thumbs.

If these choices invariably led to occasions where you'd find yourself on the same map several times in succession, they encouraged most players to dip in and out of Splatoon rather than play for hours on end. And by refreshing the maps every four hours, it avoided the fate of many other online shooters where a handful of maps would dominate the voting process. It was clear Nintendo didn't expect people to play Splatoon for long sessions when co-director Tsubasa Sakaguchi expressed his surprise at how quickly players had hit the early level cap of 20. Three months after launch that was raised to 50, with ranking up dependent on wins as well as points scored. It's a testament to Splatoon's longevity that even with Nintendo exponentially slowing progress, you'll still encounter players who've hit the new cap.

The restrictions undoubtedly turned some players off. And there's an argument that Nintendo's hasty abandonment of Wii U helped give Splatoon a bit of a free run, certainly for those Wii U owners who didn't also own other hardware. With gaps between new releases getting wider, a game that gave players something different every time they logged in was obviously a good reason to keep the console plugged in.

Feel-good ink

As such, it's hard to say what lessons other online games could learn from Splatoon. Some of the choices Nintendo made may have suited the game, but wouldn't fly elsewhere: imagine if EA took voice chat out of the next Battlefield, or Activision waited three months after Call Of Duty's launch before adding an option to create private matches for friends. Which isn't to say that other companies shouldn't take note.

Everything Nintendo added after Splatoon's launch was in service of a consistent, focused central vision. While it did respond to user feedback, making minor adjustments to stages and rebalancing weapons, it did so in ways that never compromised the core. Every new weapon or map felt like it had a place in that world. There was nothing to massively unbalance the game, and Amiibo aside, there were no microtransactions to worry about.

These sometimes unorthodox choices have ensured that Splatoon still feels immediate and welcoming, and that isn't always true of competitive multiplayer games. Even so, it's a minor miracle that Splatoon remained on trend for a year on such unfashionable hardware – and no surprise that the series remained fresh long into the Nintendo Switch era.

This Splatoon retrospective was first published in issue 298 of Edge Magazine. To get more like this delivered straight to your doorstep (or digital device) consider subscribing to Edge.

Assassin's Creed: Odyssey player count soared for the first time in years since Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey adaptation released earlier this month, according to data gathered by Alinea Analytics.

Alinea head of market analysis Rhys Elliott explains in a new post on Substack that, once The Odyssey zapped onto IMAX screens on July 17, "the cultural spillover into games was immediate." 10 days later, Ubisoft's 2018 ancient Greek adventure Assassin's Creed: Odyssey had nearly doubled its active player count, swelling from an approximate total of 122,000 players to 233,000 across platforms.

"That's a 90% surge in engagement," says Elliott, "at 1.8x the game's pre-film July baseline." But unlike the Greeks as they piled into their Trojan horse, most recent Assassin's Creed: Odyssey players are unwilling to risk more than a boring afternoon. Only 26% of the action RPG's new recruits came from Steam, while PlayStation players went off like a car alarm up 94% to 114,000 daily active users, and Xbox boomed plus-134% from 36,000 to 84,000 active users.

Probably, Assassin's Creed: Odyssey's luck on console came from PS Plus and Game Pass subscribers – even with Game Pass currently limping toward death. Elliott says, "Lapsed fans jumped straight back in, while new players found a 60+ hour Greek epic waiting inside a subscription they already pay for."

Though, Nolan's The Odyssey also blessed Ubisoft's Odyssey with some fresh sales. "Software sales moved modestly at around 400K copies year-to-date," Elliott says, but the real news "is pure player engagement. The film didn't make millions buy an eight-year-old game, but it got a massive cohort playing it again. That data gives Ubisoft great ammunition for an eventual AC Odyssey Resynced."

The developer's recent Black Flag Resynced has been a gargantuan financial success for Ubisoft, so I wouldn't be surprised to see it capitalize further on Nolan fever – if it stops laying off devs long enough to do so.

Ubisoft had a very on-brand problem with Assassin's Creed Odyssey: there weren't many tall buildings in Ancient Greece even though it's a "climbing-frame game."

Despite the announcement of Super Mario Sunshine's return, some new Nintendo artwork has seemingly confirmed the demise of dear Toadsworth.

Super Mario Sunshine is launching on Nintendo Switch Online next month, Nintendo has confirmed. The title which one GamesRadar+ writer – me – has referred to as a game only cowards think is the worst Mario game also gave birth to one of the series most beloved side characters.

Toadsworth is a posh old Toad and assistant to Peach who joins her and Mario on their Isle Delfino vacation, and since then has become an iconic part of the Toad cast. And despite Toadette – who was introduced afterwards, and not even in a mainline game – becoming more and more prominent in the time since, Toadsworth has disappeared.

13 years… that's how long it's been since we last saw Toadsworth in an original Mario game, outside Smash Bros. cameos and remakes (and underwhelming remakes like Mario Party: The Top 100). Mario & Luigi Dream Team marked his last appearance, and it's fitting as he's only been a part of our dreams since then.

There's even an old Toad character in the movies who could've easily been the moustachioed one, but isn't. Even with the likes of Cataquack and Pianta appearing in spin-offs like Mario Kart World, one of Sunshine's biggest characters is nowhere to be seen.

And now, Nintendo's latest summer wallpaper has referenced an iconic bit of Super Mario Sunshine art, only with Toadsworth removed from the picture. And fans on the Mario subreddit have taken notice. A post titled "are we fucking serious nintendo" points out the missing Toad, garnering responses like "and then there's Toadsworth, he's dead…"

In fact, a few people have speculated that the old Toad has passed away. Some, however, have taken a slightly less grim outlook, saying, "He really is never showing up again."

Meanwhile, another points out an inclusion in the picture that makes things sting a bit more, "they included FLUDD but not Toadsworth," to which a response says "it really goes top[sic] show how much they care about Toadsworth sadly."

Others think his death could be a consequence to his deeds in previous games, with two users speculating that "he was executed" due to actions in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door or Mario Super Sluggers

Toadsworth is maybe a bit too important to be considered a Glup Shitto (I know no one asked, but my favourite Mario Glup Shitto is Strollin Stu, another Mario Sunshine banger), but it's a shame to see a fun character disappear for seemingly no reason. Will it cause me to boycott the next Mario? Of course not, but seeing his warm brown mushroom head again would be a welcome sight.

Super Mario Sunshine gets 10-player online co-op in mod that lets you tag-team the GameCube classic as Wario, Luigi, and Sonic.

Nintendo is releasing two unreleased Virtual Boy games next week, with a game from Fire Emblem developer Intelligent Systems finally seeing the light of day.

Everybody loved the Virtual Boy right? It wasn't such a failure that only 22 games released in Japan and the US, got canceled for other countries, and stopped releasing games in less than a year… right?

Well, even if that somehow was the case, Nintendo has brought back the console as part of the Nintendo Switch Online library, with a majority of the console's entire library releasing earlier this year. And while Jack Bros and Virtual Boy Wario Land are pretty much everything you need to play on the console, it has turned out to be one of the coolest Nintendo Switch Online releases for two good reasons.

Nintendo announced the full lineup of Virtual Boy games coming to Switch and Switch 2 users earlier this year, and as part of that, it confirmed that two of the Virtual Boy's myriad of canceled games will be returning. While the lost Mario game that had screenshots emerge last year unfortunately isn't one of them, we are getting a lost F-Zero game, as well as an Intelligent Systems title. Nintendo confirms the missing Virtual Boy games will be releasing next week via a trailer on Twitter.

Zero Racers was supposed to be the first sequel to the SNES classic and the first game in the series to be in 3D, and would've introduced characters like James McCloud and Jody Summer to the franchise before F-Zero X would do both of those things on N64 a few years later. The game had previews back in the day, but never saw the light of day despite word it was 100% complete.

Meanwhile, Dragon Hopper was another game that had been previewed during the '90s but never saw the light of day, as it was canceled due to the failure of the console. This was to be a Zelda-like adventure game by Fire Emblem developer Intelligent Systems with a playfield that had you jumping between floors. The game was apparently meant to release on August 23, 1996, and now just shy what would've been its 30th anniversary, it's finally seeing a release as D-Hopper.

So who knows, maybe Virtual Boy will have four good games by this time next week.

Super Mario Sunshine gets 10-player online co-op in mod that lets you tag-team the GameCube classic as Wario, Luigi, and Sonic.

Nintendo has confirmed that Super Mario Sunshine will be hitting Nintendo Switch Online for Switch 2 owners next month.

In a video released on the Nintendo Japan YouTube channel, Nintendo confirms that on August 13, Super Mario Sunshine will finally be available on Nintendo Switch Online for people who own a Switch 2 console and have the Expansion Pass version of the subscription.

From the looks of things, that sure is Super Mario Sunshine. Notably, the entire trailer was presented in 4:3, so it looks like the improvements made on the Super Mario 3D All-Stars version of the game are not included – meaning Switch 1 owners may technically be getting the better version of Sunshine anyway (if they can find a copy).

So, if you missed out on 3D All Stars, now you can finally play what cowards call the worst Mario game. Yes it's rushed, glitchy, and somewhat unfinished, but good lord if Super Mario Sunshine does not have the sauce. I'd recommend anyone playing it to just move around on some of the levels from the outset and get to grips with just how incredible Mario feels to control. Yes, the Galaxy games are masterpieces, but Sunshine's movement was the best of the franchise until Odyssey came along. The game itself is pretty good too, even if the lilypad and pachinko levels can do things to themselves that I'm not allowed to publish.

This announcement was presented with the "Super Mario Bros. 40th Anniversary" emblem, suggesting Nintendo isn't quite finished with celebrating it just yet, so perhaps some more Mario could show up in a future Nintendo Direct.

Nate The Hate – who has accurately leaked a number of Nintendo rumors for well over a year now – said the next 3D Super Mario game is planned for 2027 right now. And while not impossible for it to appear in the inevitable September Nintendo Direct, Nintendo's MO for the last few years has typically been announcing games when they're only a few months out – although Fire Emblem Fortune's Weave, Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream, and Rhythm Heaven Groove have subverted that trend as of late.

Super Mario Sunshine gets 10-player online co-op in mod that lets you tag-team the GameCube classic as Wario, Luigi, and Sonic.

Deltarune just got its v0.0.253 patch, which is its final planned update before the release of Chapter 6. It includes a number of bug fixes, including softlocks, and the option to make one of Chapter 5's most challenging bosses easier or harder.

The latest patch focuses on a number of bug fixes, particularly those related to softlocks that occur when you disconnect your headphones in certain parts of the game. Bugs where consumed items are no longer replenished and crashes when specific actions are performed have also been fixed.

However, the change that players are most excited – and angered – by is the change to Chapter 5's Shadow Crystal Boss. This is a challenging optional boss hidden within the chapter that now has three difficulty options. If they defeat you, then a Pink Bomb will spawn outside the arena and you can activate it to make the fight "Nicer or Meaner."

Choosing to make the fight Nicer will show you where certain attacks are targeting, and they will take a little longer before they hit, giving you more time to react. If you choose Meaner, then the boss will deal 25% more damage, and some attacks will be slightly faster.

Minor spoilers for the Chapter 5 Shadow Crystal boss ahead.

The patch notes include a cheeky line teasing that "girls like it when you are better at dodging danmaku." This is actually a hint about the changes to the post-fight cutscene when you defeat Pink at the different difficulty settings. If you defeat her Meaner form, she will reward Kris with a flurry of kisses. However, if you choose the Nicer option, she'll taunt you by poking her tongue out.

These differing cutscenes won't meaningfully change your playthrough, so choose the difficulty you're most comfortable with. However, if winning kisses from your pixel pink waifu are important to you, there's a challenging road ahead.

Deltarune Chapter 5 update stops flirting from freezing the game and makes the final boss easier if you suck.

The Japanese fighting game Ketsu Battler, or "Butt Battler" in English, makes you put a Joy-Con in your pants in order to play it, which I guess I'm supposed to be happy about. A big update due July 30 will make it so players should shake the Joy-Con in their pants extra hard to be truly strong and win the game.

Last summer, Ketsu Battler devs warned Switch 2 players that the game originally made for Nintendo Switch might make their butts that have Joy-Cons in them "unexpectedly overpowered" due to the platform's increased processing ability. This year, spotted and translated by Automaton, developer KAYAC is actually intentionally increasing the "aura" of your bottom with the new "Butt Ass Zone" mechanic.

Now, I will clarify that you shouldn't actually put a Joy-Con up your ass to play Butt Battler. The idea is to put the controller in the waistband of your pants to mimic the way Ketsu Battler's characters have swords, axes, and other sharp objects sticking out from, indeed, betwixt their cheeks. So the upcoming Butt Ass Zone mechanic, or the Serious Zone, will require you to jiggle your controller that's in your pants harder, and with passion, so that your character's butt cheeks are enveloped in a warm glow – the magic ass aura, which improves both your character's base stats and special attacks.

So the Butt Ass Zone probably isn't what you were thinking, which I imagine was some version of a red room where ladies with exposed butts paddle your exposed butt with the USB-C cable you use to charge your Nintendo Switch 2. At the same time, the Butt Ass Zone in Ketsu Battler – where having a special, fast-moving butt fundamentally changes your DNA – is a place I'm wary of.

Otherwise, Ketsu Battler's next update will include new characters, a zero-gravity butt stage, and a permanent Butt Ass Zone stage. If you check it out, I encourage you to practice Joy-Con safety.

Nintendo legend Shigeru Miyamoto says PCs were once "held in higher regard than consoles," so the NES was made to bridge "the gap" – "It wasn't just a toy."

Anime-inspired co-op title Orbitals has confirmed all of the different ways you'll be able to play the Switch 2 game in co-op, with a free friend's pass confirmed for launch.

Orbitals is one of the most highly anticipated games of the year for many, and despite September getting ready to be the pre-GTA 6 armageddon where every game under the sun is releasing, it's certainly one of the standouts. The anime-style adventure looks so visually striking it was immediately on my radar, but with it being co-op, it throws into question how I'll be playing it. Thankfully developer Shapefarm has laid everything out.

Over on Twitter, the official Orbitals account reveals all the myriad ways you'll be able to experience this co-op focused adventure. First, and most obviously, you'll be able to play Orbitals in couch co-op with you and whoever is within your immediate vicinity. But even if your co-op partner is away or… not wanting to play on the same console, for whatever reason, Shapefarm's new game has you covered.

GameShare is available both locally and through Nintendo Switch Online, allowing someone to join the person who bought the game via the power of wireless communications. However, the local play version has the added benefit of allowing players on the original Nintendo Switch to join you via GameShare co-op.

Meanwhile, if you're dedicated to making sure the GameChat button on your Switch 2 is never pressed, there is another way to let your friends play for free. Just like the Hazelight co-op games that inspired it (although given that Orbitals co-director Jakob Lundgren worked on those, maybe that isn't the right word), Orbitals will let the second player download a "Global Friend's Pass" to join you, right from launch. Plus, if you're unsure, the friend pass app will feature a local co-op demo to allow you to dip your toes in space.

If you've already pre-ordered your copy of Orbitals, check out our guides to the best Nintendo Switch 2 controllers, the best Nintendo Switch headsets, and the best Nintendo Switch 2 cases to aid you on your upcoming anime co-op adventure.

Legendary Nintendo fellow Shigeru Miyamoto has said that the major gaming hardware and software company is planning for a future where people purchase and keep multiple generations of the company's consoles. He hopes that this will make game development easier as studios won't have to worry about the new console generation cannibalizing the older platform's sales.

In an interview with Famitsu, that's been translated by GamesRadar+, Miyamoto speaks about how he wants Nintendo's hardware to make game development easier for creators. "We all want to put minimal effort into making a living; live the easy life… I'm half joking," he says with a chuckle. "I think it's really important to reduce workload and streamline development, and in this regard, I think we created the perfect environment."

The "perfect environment" he's referring to is one where developers can reach a wider base of players by making games for both the Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 simultaneously. "There are people who have multiple Nintendo consoles at home," Miyamoto explains. "Those who want to play on high performance hardware use the Switch 2, and games can be developed specifically for that console."

Nintendo wants to offer hardware capable of running high-performance games, but for those who don't need the extra power, they can target both generations at once thanks to the shared hardware architecture. "In a few years, there will come a time when this is the norm," Miyamoto says. "Nintendo is planning for a situation where a new market emerges. We can create different games without asking if [game] sales for the new console will compete with the old. I think that would be the best scenario."

Nintendo hopes to offer developers two options; reach a wider playerbase by releasing on both platforms, or take the greater power of the Switch 2. This is contrary to Xbox's plans with the Xbox Series X|S, where developers are forced to create games with the exact same features that work on both the high performance and lower performance consoles simultaneously.

While Miyamoto's talking points focus on making development easier for creators, the company obviously benefits financially from having multiple Nintendo consoles in each home. As the Switch and Switch 2 are also handheld consoles, many families, particularly those with children, have more than one Switch lingering in their abode.

Nintendo also supports homes with multiple consoles by releasing titles that can use features like Game Share and foster co-operative play. There is also the Nintendo Online Family Plan, which offers online benefits for multiple consoles at a discount. Shrewd move, Nintendo.

Shigeru Miyamoto was "pleased" to sell the original Nintendo Switch for 8 years as "customers aren't always looking for the best specs."

Nintendo fans have created a mod for a GameCube classic, with Better Super Mario Sunshine Online introducing 10-player multiplayer to Mario's most divisive 3D platformer.

There's two camps when it comes to Nintendo's 2002 platformer Super Mario Sunshine. There are those who really like it, and then there are cowards. Yes, it's a weird, somewhat flawed game sandwiched between two genre-defining masterpieces in the 3D Mario chronology, and yes it was rushed and a little glitchy, but beneath that paint covered exterior is a platformer with near-unmatched vibes, music, and – crucially for a platformer – movement.

Thankfully, there are others who are equally passionate about Mario's worst-selling 3D platformer (well, if you don't count the Super Mario 3D All Stars sales), as the modding community for the game is fairly active. The latest gargantuan mod however, brings the game one of the most popular mods from Super Mario 64's massive repertoire, as Better Super Mario Sunshine Online implements online play into the GameCube title.

The mod introduces 10-player co-op to the game, allowing you to collect each of the game's 120 Shine Sprites together. The mod syncs progress across all players modes too, to make the hunt for blue coins a team effort instead of the worst part of the game. On top of that, there's also a 10-player hide and seek mode for those who want something to compete in while taking advantage of the incredible movement tech in Super Mario Sunshine.

This isn't even just a simple mod that has multiple Marios on one screen, as the mod features "15 fully custom characters" with classic Mario legends like Wario, Luigi, Waluigi, and Shadow the Hedgehog, with unique custom animations for some of them. Obviously, you'll need to find at least one fellow Mario Sunshine apologist to play with, but let's be real, if none of your friends are willing to indulge your platforming fantasy, were they ever really your friends to begin with?

Super Mario Galaxy 2 is hiding an unused "joyful zone" area where Mario can't stop somersaulting, and he's absolutely thrilled about it

Mario and Zelda creator Shigeru Miyamoto thinks people don't really care about console specs all that much anymore.

Since the GameCube era, Nintendo seemingly hasn't prioritized having the most "powerful" console. Perhaps this approach is a lesson from the PS2 handily beating it despite being the weakest console between it, GameCube, and Xbox, and the massive sales success of the DS, which dwarfed the still-very-much-successful PSP. The Wii and the Switch proved that innovation works even in the face of being weaker consoles (and I'm sure the Wii U could've done well with a better name, but at the very least, it paved the way for Switch).

So, speaking to Famitsu, and translated by GamesRadar+, Miyamoto explains, "We were really pleased to see that the Switch was around for 8 or 9 years," guessing that, "I think it's because, nowadays, customers aren't always looking for the best specs."

"At Nintendo we always offer 'styles of play that only we can create,' and this includes the [hardware] interface," Miyamoto says. He suggests Nintendo competes with the "play anywhere" nature of mobile games, saying, "Our console has the benefit of being faster and more flexible [to develop for] compared to smartphones. When creating for general-use platforms, the workload is higher as you have to ensure it is compatible with all versions [of smart device]."

While the discussion online about console specs and game performance is certainly very loud, I do think Miyamoto is ultimately right.

There's a reason the original Nintendo Switch is close to becoming the best-selling console of all time, because most people probably just don't care. Sure, it won't be playing Crimson Desert at 4K/60fps, but when you have Super Mario Odyssey, Mario Kart 8, Breath of the Wild, and Animal Crossing: New Horizons, that probably doesn't really matter.

"It's a massive failure": Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto slams short-term profit gains that have "burned through the talents of so many people."

Mario very regularly has a huge smile on his face, whether he's stomping on sentient flowers or chowing down magical mushrooms, but there's one unused area in Super Mario Galaxy 2 that makes our already loveable plumber go into a somersaulting frenzy. And, seriously, I've never heard Mario sound so happy.

Super dedicated blogger and series archivist Supper Mario Broth recently found that Super Mario Galaxy 2 has been hiding an "unused 'joyful zone' area" for all these years. Should Mario step foot into the zone, he gets the zoomies and the giggles or, more plainly, he'll uncontrollably run and somersault and scream "Yahoo!" without stopping.

In a hilarious experiment, Supper Mario Broth recently "enveloped the entirety of Starship Mario in a joyful zone for demonstrative purposes." The result is incredible - you can watch it down below. I dare you not to smile, dear reader.

Rosalina and the Lumas are apparently immune to the joyful bug. Not everyone appreciates jumping high and being obnoxious about it as much as Mario, to be fair, but still.

In the game's files, the zone is apparently called "CometFireDanceArea," perhaps suggesting the mechanic was once intended for one of Super Mario Galaxy 2's Prankster Comets - special missions that would modify a pre-existing level with fun rules, asking you to race your cosmic doppelganger or beat a boss with one health point, say. I can definitely imagine a comet that would make Mario complete levels without stopping or jumping normally.

Nintendo added a bizarre "anti-brother romance failsafe" to NES Remix to stop Mario from getting too close with Luigi on Wii U, expert says

While its spirit lives on in the Xenoblade games, Monolith Soft's Xenosaga series has been dormant since the final game hit PS2 way back in 2006. Fans have been desperate for some sort of revival for years, and those hopes are rising again thanks to a new Xenosaga cameo in the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 Edition of Xenoblade Chronicles 2.

Momo from Xenosaga will be a new equipable Blade in Xenoblade Chronicles 2: Nintendo Switch 2 Edition. "Swap between two forms to change her appearance and elemental affinity," Nintendo says in a new trailer as her light and dark forms are demonstrated.

This is not the first Xenosaga character to appear as a Blade in Xenoblade Chronicles 2, as KOS-MOS and T-elos already had similar appearances in the game. But Momo is awakening a new round of hopes that Xenosaga might live again after a decades-long stay in IP hell.

Developer Monolith Soft built the Xenosaga games under Namco, which maintained control of the IP as it morphed into Bandai Namco. Monolith Soft would be acquired by Nintendo in 2007, and created the Xenoblade series as a sort of spiritual successor to Xenosaga. No entry in the Xenosaga series has gotten a modern remake, remaster, or rerelease since that split occurred.

But fans were quick to note some oddities in the wake of Momo's reveal for Xenoblade Chronicles 2. For one thing, Xenosaga no longer appears as one of Bandai Namco's owned IPs on the company's official website – a removal that occurred just last year. For another, there's no copyright or trademark notes attributed to Bandai Namco in the trailer that showed off Momo, unlike with trailers featuring other Nintendo crossovers with third-party publishers in games like Super Smash Bros.

For some, that's reason enough to believe that Nintendo has acquired the Xenosaga IP, reuniting the rights to the series with its original development studio. That's a mighty big conclusion to jump to, but clearly it's a compelling enough theory for some fans – though that may just be the desperation to see Xenosaga on a modern platform talking.

These are the best JRPGs you can play today.

PATCH NOTES: v24.08.2026 – Nintendo should have been taking a victory lap this week, following the release of Splatoon Raiders on July 23. At a time where discussion should have been focused entirely around the latest Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive, attention on the platform holder's activities has been divided between two ongoing legal battles.

What's going on with Nintendo this week?

• The first Splatoon spin-off launched as a Switch 2 exclusive
• A patent infringement lawsuit hit a new roadblock
• Request was made to dismiss a class-action lawsuit

Why is this happening now?

• The legal system works in weird and mysterious ways
• Nintendo has been embroiled in a dispute with Pocketpair for two years
• Two battles on the same week as Splatoon Raiders is bad timing

Meta Shift

This should have been a straightforward week for Nintendo. After a year of anticipation, Splatoon Raiders finally arrived, giving the Switch 2 one of its most compelling first-party exclusives. At any other time, this delightful spin-off – a confident shift away from the multiplayer focus that has otherwise defined the franchise – would have dominated the conversation for days.

Instead, Nintendo spent the Splatoon Raiders launch window fighting legal battles on multiple fronts. Attention was repeatedly diverted by fresh developments related to the ongoing legal dispute against Palworld developer Pocketpair, as well as a new court filing in a US class action lawsuit over the impact of tariffs.

While none of these stories are directly related, they do provide a window into one of the challenges Nintendo faces in 2026: launching platform-defining exclusives while simultaneously fighting to defend its business priorities in courtrooms all around the world.

Known Issue

• Another strange twist in the Palworld lawsuit

The biggest distraction from Splatoon Raiders' release week was undoubtedly from Japan, with a new development from a patent dispute adjacent to Nintendo and Palworld developer Pocketpair's ongoing legal battle. Nintendo has been attempting to patent the 'in-game monster-capturing system' popularized by Pokemon, which the Japanese Patent Office has rejected.

This decision has prompted Nintendo and the JPO to enter into a pretty extraordinary back-and-forth of counterarguments that, frankly, are well worth your time if you have it to spare. While this fight isn't at the center of the legal battle with Palworld, it certainly doesn't help Nintendo's case at all.

Patent disputes are difficult to follow at the best of times, but that's why this story was so essential – it illustrates just how complex these types of legal proceedings can become, and how entertaining it can be when they boil over in public.

• And then there was the tariff lawsuit

Just as players started to lock into arguments over whether it's even fair for Nintendo to test the strength of gameplay patents in this way (hint: enjoyers of Palworld 1.0 would say that it is not), a legal story with some spice emerged from the United States. This may have flown under your radar, but Nintendo is actually engaged in legal battles over tariffs.

Nintendo filed a lawsuit earlier this year over what it alleges was an "unlawful imposition of tariffs" by the US. This prompted two individuals to file a class action lawsuit against Nintendo; the pair claim that if Nintendo is owed refunds on collected tariffs, then so too should be consumers who purchased Nintendo products at increased prices.

Nintendo bit back hard, suggesting that players were "free to abstain from purchasing the product or seek out competing products" and that they got "exactly what they bargained for and paid for." Ouch.

Patch Notes Summary

• One company, three conversations

Nintendo spent the Switch era cultivating an image that it was consumer-first and software-focused. To see three separate conversations kickstart within days of each other – one about a platform exclusive, one around Japanese patent law, and the other around US consumer litigation – has created the impression that Nintendo's priorities are now being pulled in different directions.

Lawsuits and legal filings landing the same week as Splatoon Raiders is unfortunate – the courts work to their own schedules, not to the hype cycles we spend our lives following. But the diverting of attention in this way has been fascinating to witness.

Nintendo will have plenty of other moments to celebrate this year, with Fire Emblem Fortune's Weave, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and The Duskbloods all expected to land. Whether they will also converge with ongoing legal disputes remains to be seen, but one thing's for certain: Nintendo needs to pull the focus of players back to video games and away from the courts.

Still, regardless of all the legal drama that has (admittedly) been pretty entertaining to watch from afar, I'll be spending this weekend diving into Splatoon Raiders. What about you?

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Super Mario and The Legend of Zelda creator Shigeru Miyamoto is on the long list of developers not planning on taking their hard-earned retirement when given the opportunity.

I don't know what it is about game developers, but a shocking number of them really don't want to retire. When Metal Gear Solid developer Hideo Kojima turned 60 a few years back, he pledged that he will never retire, while Bethesda's Todd Howard recently said that he used to think about what his retirement would look like, but no longer does after seeing the work being done at the studio.

Speaking to Famitsu (via Nintendo Everything), Miyamoto was asked if there is anything he is especially eager to pursue, and outside of saying "I would be happy if I could start a movement where 'everyone and their dog' joins in," he admits: "There's nothing that I feel like I'm going to see through to the end."

Miyamoto also adds: "My family is telling me, 'Isn't it about time you stopped?'"

Famitsu then asks if he hopes to be doing the same thing he's doing right now in 10 years time when he'll be 83 years old, and Miyamoto responds: "Yes, that's right. The feeling of 'I hope we can keep going' fits perfectly."

He appears to refer to the making of The Legend of Zelda movie when he says: "On set, we say things like, 'It wouldn't be surprising if I collapsed tomorrow, so make sure you're OK (laughs).' I just hope we can keep going without any problems."

And granted, Miyamoto's role at Nintendo has changed somewhat significantly, with the last game he was credited with a director role being Super Mario Run 10 years ago (and his last original concept credit being Super Mario Maker the year prior).

While he's still been involved as a producer on many games, Miyamoto has also been seemingly focused on leading the charge on Nintendo's presence outside of gaming, with him being involved in the Super Nintendo World areas at Universal parks and the production of Mario and Zelda movies. But regardless, it'll be sad to see him go when he does decide to hang up the moustache.

Shigeru Miyamoto admits Nintendo's been pumping out "a lot of remakes" as Ocarina of Time approaches, but says most people stopped playing the original games within 5 years anyway.

A former Disney CEO can only barely remember the name Kingdom Hearts, and he definitely can't recall what made him give Square Enix's (or SquareSoft at the time) pitch the thumbs up.

Kingdom Hearts' entire existence already seemed like an impossible Disney miracle come true. Some of the company's biggest mascots, Mickey Mouse included, being deeply involved in a nonsensical JRPG's twisty storyline for over two decades, while crossing over with Final Fantasy characters, I might add, doesn't sound like it would've made Disney loosen its usually tight grip on its IP. (This preceded Fortnite's bonkers crossovers, mind you.)

Trying to get to the bottom of what turned Square Enix's wish upon a star into a long-running video game franchise, The Game File's Stephen Totilo managed to get a hold of Michael Eisner, the man who ran The Walt Disney Company for over 20 years.

According to the outlet, Eisner apparently didn't remember Kingdom Hearts at all until it was referred to as the "Final Fantasy plus Disney characters" project. "Oh, I remember now," he then says. Asked if he recalls why he green-lit the first game, he simply says, "I don't." Ouch.

As the story goes, famed character designer Tetsuya Nomura and producer Shinji Hashimoto were early in development on a game that would try to emulate the free-flowing movement of Super Mario 64. When Hashimoto found himself in an elevator with a Disney executive, conversations about what eventually became Kingdom Hearts began in earnest.

Finding out what convinced Disney to relent and have its most iconic characters fight darkness alongside an anime protag wearing clown shoes and a key-shaped sword would've been fascinating, but Eisner likely signed off on many deals during his tenure, so all is forgiven here. Even well before Fortnite, Disney wasn't a total stranger to wacky video game ideas, either, between Disney Infinity and Epic Mickey.

Kingdom Hearts has had a life of its own many years after Eisner's departure, too. Kingdom Heart 4 is up next, with a "deep dive" into the series also scheduled for next month's D23 event.

Canceled Kingdom Hearts spin-off's intro apparently leaks online and not even veteran fans understand what's going on: "Why does it look like Pacific Rim but with Keyblades"

Lead developers of Castlevania: Belmont's Curse have spoken about the process that led to the creation of Rose Belmont, the game's protagonist. Initially, they didn't have a specific gender for the protagonist in mind, but after developing the story, they wanted to base it around the strong bonds between mother and daughter.

In an interview with Famitsu, as translated by GamesRadar+, director Yukiko Hokao explains how the process of developing Belmont's Curse began without a specific protagonist in mind. "At the start we hadn't decided that the protagonist would be a woman," she says. "While we were building the world and the story, we thought the role would best suit a woman, and it was decided that it should be Trevor Belmont's daughter."

She goes on to explain how the original concept for the game had the protagonist's mother die before the beginning of the game. After discussing the game's world with Motion Twin and Evil Empire, it was agreed upon that the main character should be a woman.

Producer Tsutomu Taniguchi expresses how the game's world didn't feel right for a male protagonist. "For example, if this story featured a male protagonist, we'd have to consider the type of world depicted, and I think that could be cool," he says. "However, for this story, it was naturally decided that a female protagonist would be the best fit."

Creative director Emmanuel Nouaille further explains how the protagonist's gender fits into the game's themes. "Particularly, considering her mother Sypha's curse would be inherited by her daughter, there's a bond between parent and child," he says. "There is a strong connection between the two, and it gives her a clear motivation to avenge her mother's death and face her cruel fate. From this, the protagonist became Rose Belmont, and the role was best suited for a woman."

Castlevania: Belmont's Curse wants you to find the "joy" in the difficulty and it won't be "simple or easy": "That's not Castlevania."

Nintendo's release calendar, dotted with Star Fox and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, might make you think you got sucked up by a wormhole and thrown back to the '90s (until you look at the price tags). Mario creator and Nintendo director Shigeru Miyamoto can empathize. He knows the developer has been fiddling with a lot of remakes lately, but he thinks it's reasonable to do so when fans have such short attention spans.

Miyamoto tells Famitsu in a new interview (translated by Nintendo Everything), "Some people might say there are a lot of remakes, but after five years, a lot of people have outgrown games and stop playing them."

Just guessing, but I think there are probably a few people out there who would take issue with the idea that they have "outgrown" one of the developer's titles, especially after a measly five years. I, for one, have been gladly helping my Nintendo DS Cooking Mama in the kitchen for a glorious 17 years.

But Nintendo seems eager to introduce newcomers to what first made it a major video game brand.

Miyamoto continues, "Young people today don't have the opportunity to play games from 10 years ago, so remaking them to be more playable and releasing them again is a good way to meet the demand."

I'm a little skeptical of this, too – I think young people would have more opportunity to play Nintendo's old games if the developer didn't actively kill servers for hardware like the 3DS and Wii U. That said, I don't expect developers to keep their old hardware alive forever.

Instead, I wish Nintendo realized that a fresh crop of fans might be willing to donate their organs if it started releasing undeniably creative, new games the way it used to all the time – and is now trying to replicate, but heavily through remakes. It's willingly stuck in the past.

Earlier this summer, former Nintendo marketing leads Kit Ellis and Krysta Yang expressed frustration with Nintendo's remake strategy in a YouTube video on the topic, worrying that a "truly creative company like Nintendo" had resigned itself to being a nostalgia act.

"That would be so sad if they kind of buried that [innovative] part of themselves away because they were too scared to take the risk," Yang said at the time.

Miyamoto seems to think remakes are one way Nintendo can earn stardom among a new generation, telling Famitsu, "Letting people know the original games also leads to future developments, so we've been actively pursuing that recently."

It's heartening to know Nintendo is at least keeping "future developments" in mind as it revisits its older titles. But if Miyamoto really believes players completely drop a lovable game after just five years, he might underestimate what made Nintendo's greatest games so great to begin with.

Nintendo promises to keep "aiming for unique entertainment that only we could produce" as it shouts out its continued "originality" following recent fan vote.

The lead designer behind pioneering MMO Ultima Online says the genre has finally broken free from the shackles of World of Warcraft.

Speaking to 80LV, Raph Koster, whose MMO resumé also includes a suite of early 2000s titles including EverQuest and its sequel, as well as Star Wars: Galaxies, says that he is finally returning to the genre after several decades, in part because it no longer has to chase World of Warcraft.

After Blizzard began what has proven to be an almost uninterrupted stint at the top in 2004, there was a rush to create 'the WoW killer' - a feat Koster suggests was a fool's errand.

In returning to MMOs with Stars Reach, Koster says he was encouraged by the feeling that "MMOs were finally free of the fever dream of imitating World of Warcraft." That's partly because of "the rise of sandboxy gameplay in multiple genres at once." Citing the broader multiplayer options of games like Minecraft, Animal Crossing, Stardew Valley, Valheim, and No Man's Sky, Koster says that "it's clear that there's interest and demand for more than killing orcs over and over."

Whether that's a fair criticism of World of Warcraft in 2026 is a debate I'm not qualified to have, but it's undeniable that multiplayer gaming has gained a lot of depth in the last decade. Fortnite and Roblox are other key examples, showing off a world in which the desire to simply spend time together is just as important as having a dedicated goal. The rise of 'friendslop' titles like Peak are other examples, even if they're not 'massively' multiplayer sandboxes.

For Koster, "the unique thing" that MMOs offer is a persistent world and large numbers of players. Most of those games listed above offer that persistence, albeit with smaller populations, and their popularity meant Koster thought "the time was ripe" to make his return to the genre.

Disgaea series creator and former president of Nippon Ichi Software, Sohei Niikawa, has spoken out against Sony's decision to kill discs for new PlayStation games from 2028, saying the company "may as well go all the way" and "eliminate the hardware too."

Sony's controversial announcement earlier this month has sparked outrage across the games industry, with everyone from players to devs raising concerns about the future of physical media, game preservation, ownership, and more. I'm honestly struggling to think of a single person I've seen in favor of the decision, and Niikawa certainly isn't one of them.

In an interview with Noisy Pixel at Anime Expo 2026, Niikawa explains that he thinks "physical editions of games are very important." For a start, he begins, there's the collectible aspect: "For fans, being able to keep a game they love as an object can have a great deal of value. It becomes a memory or a keepsake connected to something that matters to them," he says.

That point is clearly fresh on his mind given his attendance at Anime Expo. "They can also bring that physical game to an event like this and ask someone to sign it," he continues. "Afterward, they can take it home, display it, and decorate their room with it. Physical games are important because they can carry that kind of meaning."

Niikawa notes that he can understand Sony's decision "from a purely business perspective," but thinks that "the executives who decided it have probably never experienced" a fan approaching them to sign a physical game at an event. He adds: "I don't think they understand the feelings of those fans, and they may never have considered what physical editions mean to the people who value them."

As for the future of physical games, Niikawa sounds almost defeated as he suggests that, without physical games, there's little point in having consoles in the first place. "If they're going to go as far as eliminating physical packages, they may as well eliminate the hardware too," he says. "A television would be enough. Why would you need the console? If you're going to get rid of physical games, you may as well go all the way."

It's fair to say that with the likes of cloud gaming, there's a genuine possibility of that being the case going forward. Xbox may have shoved its odd "this is an Xbox" marketing under the rug, but Game Pass Ultimate's cloud functionality really can let a lot of devices function like a console, albeit with limitations like the constant internet connection requirement and smaller choice of games. Sony is delving more into cloud gaming now, too – following an update last year, you no longer need to own a PS5 in order to use the PlayStation Portal.

Is this a future people would actually want, though? I suspect not – the backlash over the disc situation has been bad enough. Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima previously said that the concept of a digital-only future where media can suddenly become inaccessible is "frightening."

As PlayStation kills discs, Nier Automata creator Yoko Taro is "saddened by the loss of physical media" and despairs over "the future" of games: "That's just the way things are going."

Leads working on Castlevania: Belmont's Curse have spoken out about how it will continue the series' tradition of challenging difficulty, while allowing players ways to mitigate it through level ups, exploring alternative paths, and if none of that works for you, difficulty settings.

In an interview with Famitsu that's been translated by GamesRadar+, Belmont's Curse's producer Tsutomu Taniguchi describes how people might mitigate the difficulty by using the game's mechanics. "People might find the game difficult if they can't win a certain battle, but there are always numerous alternatives," he says. "There is also a level up system so new players and those who are not good at action games can still play. That's always been a part of the series."

Though there are ways in-game to negate the difficulty, there are also settings that deal with potential issues more directly. "For those who still feel that it's difficult, there are settings that adjust the level of difficulty in the options menu," he continues. "Whether someone is good at action games or not, there should be a setting that will leave as many players as possible satisfied."

However, the game's director Yukiko Hokao wants to emphasize that Belmont's Curse will still have the challenge the series is known for. "We didn't want it to be a simple or easy game," she says. "That isn't Castlevania. Looking at early games in the series, I think there is a kind of joy in making progress steadily through a difficult game."

Creative director Emmanuel Nouaille also weighs in with how fairness is at the core of the gameplay. "We also placed a big emphasis on gameplay being 'fair,'" he says. "We're confident that the level of difficulty will satisfy existing fans, and by removing barriers for new players it should be easy for them to get into the game as well."

Castlevania: Belmont's Curse was made to enlighten players who "love Metroidvanias" but have "never played a Castlevania game," Konami lead says.

DBD Chaos Shuffle, along with 2v8, is one of the most prominent limited-time modes added to the horror game. It only comes around occasionally, so I for one am always looking forward to the next iteration of the LTM.

By randomizing your perk loadout in every match, you never know what's going to happen - especially since the other four players also have random perks, too. Not only is this just a recipe for fun, but it's also a great way to learn some of the more obscure perks you might not use much or even own, so here's when DBD Chaos Shuffle returns next.

When is DBD Chaos Shuffle back?

DBD Chaos Shuffle returns from Tuesday, July 28, 2026, at 8AM PDT / 11AM EDT / 4PM BST, and end at the same time on Tuesday, August 4, when it will be replaced by the Lights Out modifier.

This is just a short period of one week, so make sure you don't miss the return of Dead by Daylight Chaos Shuffle. The reason this event is so short is that it makes up just one third of the Summer of Screams, with Chaos Shuffle, Lights Out, and DBD's 2v8 mode each making a return for one week only.

As I've mentioned above, Chaos Shuffle randomly selects your four perks, but you can still choose your item, add-ons, and Offering. You won't know what your perks are until you load into the game, so I recommend using the first few seconds of the match, before play begins, to read your perk descriptions. You can do this by entering the menu and hovering your mouse or controller cursor over each perk. You can look at these at any time, but you will be out of commission while you do so.

This latest Chaos Shuffle event comes ahead of the next DBD update, which is coming soon, boasting heaps of thrilling new content, so redeem the latest DBD codes to ensure you're stocked up on Bloodpoints to spend on the next new character.

© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission.

Konami has revealed the performance targets for Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Volume 2, and 4K 60fps Metal Gear Solid 4 is finally within reach, even if Switch 1 users are getting shortchanged again.

Konami released details about both Metal Gear Solid 4 and Peace Walker's performance on its website. It's mostly as you would expect based on the previous game: Xbox Series X, PS5, and PC will be running at 4K 60fps; Switch 2 and Xbox Series S will be 1440/60 – with 1080/60fps in MGS4's handheld mode and for both on Peace Walker for Switch 2.

Once again, the original Nintendo Switch is stuck with 1080/30fps in docked and 720/30fps in handheld. That includes Peace Walker – a 2010 PSP game that ran at 60fps when its HD edition was released on 2005's Xbox 360.

Metal Gear Solid 4 at 60fps was already revealed a few months back with the first gameplay of the re-release. On Switch 2, the game has selectable image modes between "Adjusted and Original," with the handheld mode only getting Original. Presumably, one of these matches the other platforms, with a slightly more inconsistent framerate.

Funnily enough, Metal Gear Solid 4 was always capable of 60fps, but getting it to run as such on PS3 was only possible in really specific circumstances, and most of the time you'd be dealing with sub-30fps in action scenes. But having the game run at a stable 60fps will be a game-changer.

Peace Walker, on the other hand, has a number of different resolution and upscaling options. Konami also released a video showing off the "High Resolution" mode for the game's hand-drawn cutscenes, with the new version having a much clearer image compared to the somewhat blurry original.

While Metal Gear Solid 4's big return is the clear star of the show here, I'm hoping to see Peace Walker's stock rise with this re-release, so people can finally see it for being one of the best Metal Gear Solid games… perhaps even better than MGS4 some may say.

After almost 25 years, Metal Gear Solid 2 players are still finding secrets: "This is the kind of stuff somebody posts on an online forum in 2005 and no one believes it"

Splatoon Raiders producer Seita Inoue and director Yoshihiko Ito have discussed why the team chose to focus on a spin-off game rather than the series' next mainline entry, and basically, it's just because they wanted to. One of the big draws of developing the single-player spin-off, Splatoon Raiders, was that it allowed them to work on something different after 11 years of developing multiplayer games.

In an interview with Nintendo, Inoue discusses how the team wanted to work on a different type of project. "We’ve been going full speed ahead for over 11 years since the series’ launch, developing and updating three titles along the way," he says. "We thought it might be interesting to create something with a slightly different approach to gameplay, where you can really savor the action on your own."

Despite the team's pivot to a single-player game, Nintendo hasn't given up on Splatoon's multiplayer roots, with Inoue hinting that Splatoon 4 will be the next step for the team.

"One of our motivations for developing this game was our desire to create a new entry point into the series by releasing these non-competitive elements not just as a secondary feature, but as a standalone spin-off," he explains. "That said, we will continue to develop competitive gameplay going forward."

Ito previously worked primarily on Splatoon's single-player Salmon Run mode, so it makes sense that he would lead a Salmonid-based spin-off.

"Originally, around the time our work on updates to Splatoon 3 was winding down, we were exploring whether we could develop a single-player experience that players could dive into to their heart’s content, leveraging the gameplay of Salmon Run," he says.

With how frantic the attacks during Salmon Run are, the team started discussing using it as a way to leverage the Switch 2's power.

"We'd discussed developing the next Splatoon game for Nintendo Switch 2, and that being the case, we thought we could really take advantage of the system’s performance," he explains. "This prompted various experiments, such as ramping up the number of Salmonids for the 'ultimate multitasker' experience, where a single player battles them all."

Splatoon Raiders review: "Smartly translates Squidling vibes into a looter shooter I keep coming back to, even if some repetition grates"

Nintendo is requesting a dismissal of a class action lawsuit filed against it following Nintendo's own lawsuit against the US Government, as it argues that it doesn't owe customers any money back if they paid for price-hiked products.

Back in March, it was reported that Nintendo was filing a lawsuit over the allegedly "unlawful imposition of tariffs" in the US, and requested that "all tariffs collected under the IEEPA Duties must be refunded with interest."

However, as reported by Game File in April, two individuals then went on to file a class action lawsuit against Nintendo, claiming that, "unless restrained by this Court, Nintendo stands to recover the same tariff payments twice – once from consumers through higher prices and again from the federal government through tariff refunds, including interest paid by the government on those funds."

The individuals were referring to the Nintendo price hikes we saw last year in the US – first, we saw the price of Switch 2 accessories go up before the console even launched, and a few months later, the Switch 1 family of consoles also saw price increases. The class action complaint, filed "on behalf of millions of consumers who purchased goods from Nintendo during the tariff period and who paid inflated prices," seeks "restitution of those tariff overcharges, together with appropriate declaratory, injunctive, and monetary relief."

Now, though, as Game File reports, Nintendo is asking for this proposed lawsuit to be dismissed, reportedly stating in a new filing that customers "received exactly what they bargained and paid for" when they purchased goods after the price hikes. It notes that "the common thread" in the claims against it is "that it is somehow 'unfair; that Nintendo has not retroactively adjusted its prices for completed sales in response to the outcome of the tariff litigation," but says "that is now how commercial transactions work."

It continues, noting that customers willingly paid the hiked prices – "Plaintiffs are not entitled to a rebate simply because of intervening legal developments related to tariffs," it adds.

Beyond that, Nintendo also claims it didn't "simply increase each product's price by the amount of tariffs it paid on that product or impose an across-the-board tariff surcharge," saying it instead "imposed modest and selective price adjustments" and "chose to bear the costs of tariffs on some of its most popular products of 2025, including its flagship console, the Nintendo Switch 2."

The price hikes clearly weren't the sole result of the tariffs, either, as Nintendo points to "market conditions including costs of memory, labor," and "shipping," too – making the concept of trying to work out exactly how much a given product's price had increased by as a result of the tariffs alone a more complicated affair.

Doubling down on the idea that consumers willingly paid the prices set out in front of them, Nintendo also argues that the individuals behind the lawsuit don't have grounds to sue since, well, they could have simply chosen not to pay. "If a consumer did not want to pay the advertised price, they were free to abstain from purchasing the product or seek out competing products."

Nintendo thinks that the case be dealt with via private arbitration – its call for dismissal is reportedly in case this is denied.

It's not just Nintendo that's been rolling out price hikes over the last year or so – just last month, Xbox announced yet another console price hike (the third one since 2025), while Sony announced PS5 price increases back in March. At the time, Sony blamed "continued pressures in the global economic landscape." As Nintendo notes in its recent court filing, the increasing price of memory is also no doubt a huge factor here, and unfortunately, Valve engineer Yazan Aldehayyat recently stated that the RAM crisis is "still getting worse."

$1,049 Steam Machine is still a "good value," Valve engineer says, even though it was supposed to be $789 like the Steam Deck.

Nier series director Yoko Taro has expressed his concerns over the decline of physical video games, after Nintendo started to replace some Switch 2 cartridges with Game-Key Cards, and PlayStation announced plans to end physical disc production for new games in 2028.

Following up from a tweet in which he showcases his physical copy of Hi-Fi Rush, the legendary game designer writes about how he is "saddened" by the loss of physical games. Yoko thought that publishers would continue to distribute games physically in some form, but now believes the industry is going in a different direction.

As translated by GamesRadar+, Yoko says: "Personally, I'm saddened by the loss of physical media, but that's just the way things are going." He goes on to explain that he never thought physical media would be phased out completely.

"As keeping control of physical distribution has its advantages compared to just releasing games on Steam etc, I thought that in the future, even if digital game downloads were pushed, there would still be expensive limited editions (like what we see with CDs). Seems I was wrong," he writes.

He continues by talking about Nintendo's controversial Game-Key Cards, which the company has been offering as a replacement for some physical releases. Rather than having the data for the purchased game on the cartridge, Game-Key Cards allow players to download the digital game once they are inserted into the Switch 2.

"Switch 2 keycards are more confusing than normal ROMs," Yoko says. "And they're specified with a huge label on the cover of the box like 'THIS IS A KEY CARD.' I guess that's just the future…"

It seems as though like many players, Yoko has resigned himself to a future without physical games despite how unpopular Sony's announcement has been.

As PlayStation declares nobody wants physical discs anymore, Gen Z is helping fuel a 16% surge in US music CD sales.

Razer has unveiled two new collaborations with the Pokemon Company just days apart, including the Espeon and Umbreon Collection and the Razer Pikachu and Eevee Collection, and they're just as adorable as you'd expect them to be.

Both collections include accessories like the Razer Kraken V4 X headset, which has hung up its plain all-black looks for imagery of the adorable Pokemon instead. Yet as stunning as its new purple starry Espeon and Umbreon or pastel pink Pikachu and Eevee look is, I wish that the best Razer headsets and other top-of-the-line accessories in the brand's back catalog got the same treatment.

These collections always revolve around existing Razer headsets, keyboards, mice and mouse mats, but they typically encompass products on the lower end of Razer's price range. That means that while you might be getting one of the cutest pairs of cups out there, you won't be getting the one with the best features - which is a shame given the extra $30 cost you're paying for the privilege of your headset looking fit for a Pokemon master.

Brands like Razer always have to factor in the licensing fee that's required whenever it produces new lines with big-name companies like The Pokemon Company. With that in mind, there is some sense in always utilizing its lower-end accessories for these kinds of collaborations. I can only speculate, but if I were Razer and I knew I had to factor in that extra $30 cost for each item regardless, I could understand wanting the products to be as appealing as possible, and that'd involve keeping prices low to make them more accessible to a wider range of fans.

If you take the Razer Kraken V4 X headset into consideration, it's normally priced at $79.99 at Amazon when there are no sales around. When you incorporate the extra $30 cost, that takes the pair up to $109.99, which is exactly how much you can expect to pay for both the Espeon and Umbreon and Pikachu and Eevee Razer headsets. However, if Razer were to incorporate one of the best gaming headsets in its back catalogue instead, like that of the Razer BlackShark V3 Pro, it'd be a far higher price to contend with. The wireless headset has an MSRP of $249.99 (Amazon), which would mean fans would have to spend $279 for its own Pokemon makeover.

That price tag is likely one that would not appeal to passing fans of the franchise who just want cute accessories and don't care much for its specs. Or even parents of kids who are eager to please their kids with cute accessories featuring their favorite Pokemon but don't have the budget to spare on high-end accessories - particularly ones that little ones may not know how to take full advantage of. But I don't like to assume that people who yearn for cute accessories don't also care about specs - especially as I care about both, and I know I'm not alone.

In particular, I wish more feature-rich headsets were regularly part of these new collections. The pair frequently used by Razer for its Pokemon tech isn't bad by any means, but it's missing some key features that may not appeal to fans who care about substance as much as style.

The Razer Kraken V4 X carries the same Triforce 40mm audio drivers as past pairs like the Razer Barracuda X, a pair that frequently topped out best Nintendo Switch headset guides for years due to its quality. The brand's drivers enable a leveled sound that still makes games sound incredible regardless of which pair they're in. However, the V4 X is a wired-only headset, which makes it more limited compared to other Razer alternatives.

As someone with the Gengar Edition Razer Kraken Kitty V2 USB at my disposal, its wire gets tangled easily, and its USB-A connection makes it suited for PC platforms only. The Kraken V4 X fortunately comes with a USB-A to USB-C adapter, but you still have to put up with being tethered to a wire. I'd much rather prefer donning a cute headset on my head while experiencing the freedom of Bluetooth and 2.4GHz low-latency wireless, which is what you'd get if the BlackShark V3 Pro were selected for these new collections instead.

The Razer BlackShark V3 Pro doesn't just have the option of a wired 3.5mm or USB connection, but you can utilize Bluetooth or 2.4GHz wireless too. It's also decked out with the brand's TriForce Bio-Cellulose 50mm Gen 2 audio drivers, which "entralled" our team's own Tabitha Baker in her review with how much space it conjured in its low end - a sound that many Pokemon fans would appreciate.

These limitations are just going to be apparent with the headsets chosen for these releases, but they're apparent with other accessories too. The Razer Cobra is the gaming rodent of choice when it comes to all of Razer's Pokemon sets, and it's a wired-only mouse that doesn't have all the bells and whistles of, say, the Razer Deathadder V4 Pro. Currently sitting as our best gaming mouse top pick, the Deathadder V4 Pro provides both wired and 2.4GHz connectivity options, includes Razer's Gen 4 optical switches over that of the Gen 3 found in the Cobra, and is even more lightweight at just 56g over the Cobra's 58g form factor.

It'd be incredibly neat if Razer chose a mouse like it, and options like the Razer Huntsman V3 Pro Mini, which joined our best gaming keyboard list last year, for their future Pokemon collaborations. That way, those who want to create a cute and cozy PC gaming setup don't have to feel inclined to settle for cheaper and less feature-full accessories.

It'd at least be nice to have the option as to what Razer accessories to add to your setup that are covered in cute Pokemon accessories instead. Razer even currently has a customizability option hidden amongst its online store, which could be perfect to utilize for just that purpose - pleasing those who are okay with budget-friendly accessories, and those who want something with beefier specs instead.

Within the Razer Customs page, you can select the Razer Orochi V2 mouse, Razer Gigantus V2 mousemat, and your smartphone to be bestilled with art from a selection of notable IPs that Razer has partnered with, including Squid Game, The Smurfs, Borderlands 4, and even art and designs from VTuber Iron Mouse. Pokemon is notably absent from the customization process, but its inclusion, along with a larger range of Razer gaming products, could be a great way to appeal to a wider selection of Pokemon and hardware fans.

Of course, it'd be entirely dependent on whether The Pokemon Company and Razer would agree to slapping Pikachu, Eevee, Gengar, and the Eevee evolutions across a wider variety of products, rather than the ones that are chosen time and time again. I can only speculate, but there's every chance that the Razer Cobra mouse or the Razer Kraken V4 X appear time and time again, as they're the only products allowed to be chosen for these collaborations.

In the meantime, by the time Razer announces its fifth Pokemon partnership, I hope I have a chance to pick up a headset that is dripping not just in cuteness the kind of impressive specs my PC gaming setup yearns for.

Check out our guides to the best PC controllers for gaming, the best PC headsets for gaming, and the best gaming chairs if you're on the hunt for new accessories that focus on substance over style.

Final Fantasy 10's developers chose to move away from sci-fi after finding out that The Lord of the Rings was being adapted into a big-screen trilogy, and hoping they could be a part of the "next big global trend."

Square Enix is now celebrating 25 years since the original Final Fantasy 10 first launched, and in an effort to stop fans crumbling into dust, the company released an interview between Takashi Tokita (of Chrono Trigger and Parasite Eve fame) and series producer Yoshinori Kitase about the iconic game's production.

While Final Fantasy frequently flips between the sci-fi and fantasy genres, Final Fantasy 10 was originally supposed to follow on from Final Fantasy 7 and Final Fantasy 8's more tech-forward approach. According to Kitase, that quickly changed.

"During development, we initially took a more sci-fi approach at first, but when we thought about what would be trending in Hollywood around the time of FF10's release, we learned that The Lord of the Rings was in production," Kitase explains. "So we thought fantasy was going to be the next big global trend, and that was one of the reasons we decided to go with fantasy rather than sci-fi."

The timing worked out perfectly, too. Final Fantasy 10 began development in 1999 and came out in 2001, just a few short months before The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring and Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone made waves in theatres.

Yuna's pilgrimage and Frodo's trek aren't too dissimilar when you take a step back, either. Both are tragic characters carrying a literal burden too heavy for anyone else, tasked with saving the world from a calamity that'll likely kill them in the process. But Final Fantasy 10's sci-fi routes still show up here and there in the final game, as well.

"It began with Mr. [Kazushige] Nojima wanting to explore a fantasy atmosphere that wasn't rooted in medieval Europe, but instead drew from more Eastern influences, since both FF7 and FF8 had maintained a sci-fi tone," Kitase adds.

Japanese gamers vote Final Fantasy 10 the most tear jerking JRPG of all time, but it seems the emotional appeal of Western indies like Undertale and Omori is universal

A former Rockstar Games producer says the famed studio is careful to scrub cut content from its game files in an effort to avoid accidentally shipping anything it doesn't want the public to lay eyes on, and we can thank the GTA San Andreas Hot Coffee scandal for that.

For context, more than two decades ago, GTA San Andreas and Rockstar Games found themselves in the middle of a scorching scandal. The open-world game maker at one point developed a sexually explicit minigame for 2004's San Andreas, but eventually decided to scrap the idea before launch to avoid getting slapped with an 'Adults Only' rating that would keep the game out of most US retailers.

But instead of outright bleaching the minigame off the game's files, the GTA San Andreas devs simply made it inaccessible to players. That didn't stop the modding community from finding the hidden code come launch, enabling the so-called Hot Coffee minigame, and then kickstarting a wave of legal backlash against Rockstar. The controversy got so loud, the studio had to reissue a version of the game devoid of Hot Coffee.

Speaking to Kiwi Talkz, former Rockstar Games lead producer John Ricchio said the scandal made the studio much more careful about how it handles cut content. "One of the things after Hot Coffee, obviously having things on the disc is dangerous," he explains. "You don't want to necessarily have stuff on the disc that people can find."

Ricchio goes on to say that Rockstar now puts in "a huge effort" to "strip everything that is not included out of the game," and ensure that unintended content doesn't accidentally ship, even if it's hidden in the game's code.

On the topic of cut content, Ricchio shares that it's not very common for Rockstar Games to reuse scrapped ideas in future games. An exception is GTA 4, which actually includes some levels that originally began life in a different unannounced and eventually-canceled game. Transferring code or scripting tools just depends on how much the tech has changed from game to game. Maybe don't expect GTA 6 to include anything left on GTA 5's cutting room floor, then.

Former Xbox boss says GTA: San Andreas and its infamously NSFW Hot Coffee minigame "signified a maturing of the industry" and put games "on par with movies and music"

Final Fantasy Resonance is going heavy on the Final Fantasy fan service – from the iconic series heroes who temporarily join in on battles to the nostalgic pixel art and fate-defying story – but the fan service goes so deep here that the upcoming game even includes a callback to one of the franchise's most infamous challenges of all time, Final Fantasy 9's jump rope minigame.

Final Fantasy Resonance is somewhat of a celebration of the entire series. After all, you can literally summon fan-favorite characters, such as Cloud and Lightning, to slash enemies into tiny little pixel squares. But good fan service celebrates the uglier, less popular parts of the fandom, too. Enter, Final Fantasy 9's jump rope.

Square Enix recently revealed a couple of minigames you'll be able to partake in when the turn-based game launches later this year, including one that has you play hide-and-seek with Moogles and another that tests your timing with a skipping rope. (Thanks, Gematsu!)

Anyone that's played even the first few hours of Final Fantasy 9 might remember a section that puts us in the oversized shoes and pointy hat of Vivi, the black mage, who can choose to simply remain in the early-game area and jump rope with some kids forever. Or until he becomes delirious since the minigame is really tough. Like, my knuckles are aching and my brows are clammy and all I can hear is the sound of Vivi's boots knocking on the ground, echoing up and down my skull, kinda tough.

Better yet, the challenge was tied to a few really powerful cards used in Final Fantasy 9's Tetra Master minigame. Nowadays, completionists and super fans are even more incentivized to reach 1,000 consecutive, successful rope jumps thanks to two achievements – a challenge that one fan twisted into a FromSoftwarian nightmare by going in with a blindfold.

Either way, for better or for worse, you can partake in the jumping of ropes in Final Fantasy Resonance thanks to a group of kids playing in a village. Perhaps Square Enix will take it easier on our thumbs this time around...

Each town supposedly has a different minigame, so the door's open to other fan-favorite/fan-abhorred activities as well. Blitzball? Fort Condor? Just fishing? We'll find out when Final Fantasy Resonance comes to PC and all current consoles on October 22.

More traditional Final Fantasy remakes could happen, as Square Enix says it'll follow what "truly resonates" with fans, even if that's not open-world action.

The sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – now known as The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom – was such a tightly-guarded secret within Nintendo's corridors that the vast majority of employees only found out about the game's existence along with the fans.

Nintendo of America ex-marketing and PR leads Kit Ellis and Krysta Yang (formerly the director of social media marketing and original content, and senior manager of creator relations and original content, respectively) recall that the open-world sequel was perhaps the most top secret project in all of their years working at the company, courtesy of a recent YouTube video.

Ellis says the sequel held a "higher level of security than anything else" he's ever worked on, and "less than 10 people probably at Nintendo of America" knew about the game before its similarly shadowy reveal trailer during the Nintendo Direct at E3 2019 – one that didn't even come with an official title, release window, or gameplay glimpse attached.

"I had to do all of these teams' jobs in secret, and when this [the reveal] happens, feed them this thing and tell them what to do with it," Ellis, one of the few people who did know about the game's existence before its reveal, says. "For example, the social team, who I was overseeing at the time." Ellis didn't usually create social media content for the publisher's various channels or write press releases and whatnot, but in this case, he did because the rest of the team had to remain in the dark.

That also means that for many Nintendo employees, including Yang, their first time finding out about the sequel came when they watched the Direct stream live together. Although Yang had already seen the rest of the presentation in advance, the trailer's appearance at the end came as a complete surprise.

"We popped off," Yang says. "That was the first time I've had a surprise at Nintendo in all of my, at that point, 12 years or something... It was crazy." The duo also remember that it was the first and perhaps only time Nintendo had ever kept a secret from that many staff members so close to a project's reveal.

Before E3's eventual demise, Nintendo would also screen their presentations for the media before they went live for the rest of the world. The version of the Nintendo Direct that the press saw and that Nintendo employees rigorously prepared was missing that final One Last Thing moment.

I can't say I'm entirely surprised, either – Breath of the Wild was the game that ushered in the Nintendo Switch era and it very quickly became one of the most lauded games of all time. For good reason, I might add. It's still one of the best Switch games ever, and funnily enough, also one of the best Switch 2 games so far thanks to some very sweet technical improvements. No surprise that it's follow-up carried so much hype, then.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 lead says Zelda: Breath of the Wild was "the first open-world game that actually delivered on the promise of an open world."

Nintendo has hundreds upon thousands of hardware patents up its sleeve.

Not all of these come to fruition, but I'm totally on board with the one published in China that was discovered by the aptly named Nintendo Patent Watch on BlueSky, which pertains to a dock for the Nintendo Switch 2 that is also compatible with the older Switch handheld.

As it stands, the official dock packaged with every Switch 2 handheld is not compatible with the older console, as its power output is only adapted to suit the newer console. If you want to play your original Switch on the big screen, you have to go old-school and dig out your dock instead. However, according to Nintendo Patent Watch, this dock can recognize which of the consoles it's connected to and act accordingly - something we've not yet seen in a first or third-party accessory so far.

A Nintendo patent published in China describes a Switch 2 dock that can also support Switch 1 console. Since NS2 and NS1 handle the Power Delivery negotiation differently, the dock can recognize which console is connected (imgs 1-3) and behave accordingly.worldwide.espacenet.com/patent/searc...1/

— @ninpatentswatch.bsky.social (@ninpatentswatch.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2026-07-17T13:34:11.791Z

For a dock to accommodate both handhelds, there's a more to consider than what the average best Nintendo Switch 2 accessories have to deal with. Nintendo Patents Watch reiterates this in their BlueSky thread: while the original device's dock features a standard USB 2 alongside a lower-res video output and a lower-fan RPM (Rotations Per Minute) to keep its internals nice and cool, the Switch 2 dock is a bit beefier.

The Nintendo Switch 2 dock uses USB 3, can output in 4K, and has a higher fan RPM. There're also the power differences, which is notably why the Switch 2 dock is not currently compatible with the older console. As it stands, the Switch 2 has a power delivery of up to 60W, while the original handheld requires 18W, so there's a lot at stake and likely why we didn't get a backwards-compatible version at launch.

Like plenty of other hardware patents, likely nothing will ever come of this. Brands like Nintendo and, more recently, Sony PlayStation with its bizarre joystick controller patent like to publish patents all the time with no end product in sight. While we can only speculate, these patents very likely have less to do with creating new products for one of the best gaming handhelds and more to do with cultivating a "we won't make one but you can't either" approach to prevent third-party brands from thinking of it first.

Personally, I'd at least like the opportunity to dock both devices in the future, even if it seems like a pretty redundant accessory given the Switch 2's masterful backwards compatibility. Even with the Switch 2 versions in tow, some games like The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom just look better on an OLED Switch's display, but having the plug socket real estate to set up both devices is a bit of a pain.

Yet while this new dock might not ever come to fruition, Nintendo Patents Watch states the drawings included in the filing help "settle a debate among Nintendo hardware enthusiasts." According to them, the illustrations show a setup where a "fan (#23 in img 1) takes in air from opening 21F. The air flows over the dock’s circuitboard 22, enters the console from the bottom opening 30B, and exits from the top opening 30C", which suggests the Switch 2 dock fan does in fact cool both the dock and the handheld. I'll take that new factoid over no new shiny universal dock.

• View all Nintendo Switch 2 docks at Amazon

Creating the ultimate Switch 2 setup? Check out our guides to the best Nintendo Switch headsets, the best Nintendo Switch 2 cameras, and the best Nintendo Switch 2 controllers.

The past couple of weeks have been undeniably difficult for the video game industry, with Microsoft's plan to cut 3,200 employees at Xbox affecting various in-progress titles and studios – one of which is id Software, the team behind Doom.

In fact, id Software producer Andrew Willis has spoken at length about the layoffs and their impact across the board. A few days ago, he called them "incomprehensible," saying that small worker-owned studios are "the only path forward" from here.

Since then, he's continued to share his thoughts over on LinkedIn, writing, "The games industry must change if it is going to create art and franchises that have long-term sustainable value."

As the producer states, "Right now, it feels like the monopolies that control it are simply trying to extract as much goodwill and value (that took decades to build) as they can with little concern for the diminishing returns it's leading to. This is what happens when the people who control it (most Ivy League MBAs) do not play games, have never shipped a game, and fundamentally do not understand the industry they manage."

Willis then says, "You'll never get another WoW or Morrowind in the current climate" – a statement I can't help but feel rings especially true right now.

It's difficult to imagine such impactful games releasing when so many developers are struggling to mitigate the blow that widespread layoffs are leaving in their wake… and according to the producer, a lot of the issues stem from improper management.

"One thing that drives me nuts while watching the games industry be mismanaged is how everyone is looking for these massive 10x returns but is so focused on short-term growth that they essentially kill the goose before it can start laying eggs," as he explains.

"Disbanding and destroying a team after just one commercial letdown… makes it so you won't ever have a group that learns from their mistakes and perfects their next attempt (see Helldivers 2)."

With such quick trigger-pulling, Willis says studios will "never get that breakout success" they're after.

"These people would've turned down funding for George Lucas, Walt Disney, etc., and they wonder why they can't establish another colossal IP that pays dividends for decades. It's mind-boggling. There is lots wrong with the game industry, but I believe that one of the main things is that the people who manage it today have no idea how it actually works and refuse to learn or listen to the people that do."

The producer cites how wild it is to see spending on hardware and software go up, but layoffs never settling.

"It's really amazing how demand and consumer spending on video games continues to increase year over year, and yet the supply side continues to be extremely volatile for employees," he describes. "The failure to connect these two sides in a way that creates sustainable growth points to a direct failure of executive leadership – the consequences of which are only suffered by workers."

Willis signs off with one final thought: "The more I think about it, the more I come to the conclusion that the executive management class that controls the video game industry is so severely inept that they have somehow failed everyone all at once in every aspect – the shareholders, the consumers, the employees, and anyone who cares about games. They tried to sacrifice quality for profit, and they didn't even manage to generate the latter. Abysmal choices."

I'm inclined to agree with Willis on his point about a "breakout success" in this climate – it feels near impossible. Here's hoping the industry is able to heal a bit over time, and that we see less news regarding mass layoffs, too.

Layoffs might offer "better short-term financial results," late Nintendo president Satoru Iwata admitted in 2013, but "employees who fear that they may be laid off" will never produce the same results

Tales of series lead Yusuke Tomizawa has apologized for the long wait for a new mainline entry in the series.

Bandai Namco's Tales of series has been one of the most consistent RPG series of all time since it kicked off with 1995's Tales of Phantasia. Since then, the series has been an annual release, with occasional one- or two-year gaps. The wait between 2016's Tales of Berseria and 2021's Tales of Arise was the longest in the series history; however, Arise was at least announced in 2019. Come September, it'll have been five years since Arise was released, without any word of what the next game in the series will be.

While the series has been getting consistent releases over the last year and a half thanks to the Tales Remaster Project, which has seen Graces f, Xillia, and Berseria all remastered (with Eternia's remaster releasing this October), Tomizawa, general producer of the series, acknowledged the long wait in an interview with Famitsu (translated by Automaton).

Tomizawa says that one challenge the series faces is the lack of ways for players to get acquainted with older titles in the series, which spurred the remaster project. However, he notes that a new entry living up to expectations is "absolutely essential" and, unfortunately, that, mixed with the ever-increasing development time for AAA games, can be to blame for the long wait.

"The bar has risen when it comes to the scale of development and other factors, and to be honest, we’ve kept players waiting for quite long," Tomizawa explains. He adds, "While we haven’t been able to share concrete information yet, we are continuing to work on it while thinking of the series’ future."

Final Fantasy 14 and 16 director and longtime Square Enix developer Naoki 'Yoshi-P' Yoshida said earlier this year that the long wait times between entries in the JRPG series has made it somewhat harder for younger players to engage with the series. The first 10 years of Final Fantasy had seven mainline entries released, while 1999-2002 had four mainline entries released in back-to-back years. In comparison, the last 10 years have had two mainline entries.

JRPG fans crushed again as latest Tales announcement turns out to be another bust: "The way they hype things up is just terrible"

These days, it's hard to imagine a world without Stardew Valley. Eric "ConcernedApe" Barone's pixel perfect village escape is the modern standard bearer by which all other cozy and retro-styled games are measured against. Explicitly inspired by the early Harvest Moon games, Stardew Valley has ballooned in popularity beyond anyone's expectations since its release in 2016, taking on its own identity and inspiring countless other indie games of the cute and cuddly variety. None of this would be true, however, if Barone hadn't been able to salvage the game data from a computer crash that happened about a year into development.

PC Gamer recently republished a 2016 interview with Barone in which the solo developer brushed with the idea that his ragtag Harvest Moon-like could become a phenomenon. Barone couldn't have had any idea just how revolutionary Stardew Valley would one day become, but he had the foresight to know he was very lucky to recover from a PC crash that almost put Stardew Valley in a pixelated grave before it was ever born.

Barone told PC Gamer that the project was almost canceled when the PC he was using to develop the game unexpectedly crashed. Since he had no backups, Barone thought it was over for Stardew Valley, but was ultimately able to restore the project from the old hard drive and build a new rig.

"In retrospect, it feels crazy that it all worked out," he said. "The whole development was so sloppy. It was the most indie development you could imagine: no professional style at all, figuring it all out as I go, and just the scrappiest code you could imagine. I'm almost embarrassed to have other people look at my code!"

Barone's next game, Haunted Chocolatier, very much seems to be being built using the foundation laid down by Stardew Valley, and with Barone having all of that experience under his belt, not to mention a small team helping him put everything together, fans can expect a much smoother development process while they wait for the darker, sweeter follow-up.

Haunted Chocolatier is "taking a long time," admits Stardew Valley creator ConcernedApe – but going "over every last detail" is just what it takes "to make a game I'm satisfied with"

Square Enix has announced Nintendo Switch 2 Edition versions of two of its beloved RPGs, and it still refuses to offer upgrade paths or cross save.

Square Enix has been one of the best supporters of the Switch 2 so far, with ports of the likes of Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Rebirth – not to mention Final Fantasy 7 Revelation will be the first mainline title to release on a Nintendo platform on day one since the original Final Fantasy 7 jumped ship to PlayStation. But unfortunately, when it comes to the games that were already on Nintendo Switch, Square Enix really hasn't been the best at treating original users to the cross-generation benefits that have mostly become commonplace in the industry.

Octopath Traveller 1 and 2 are next to receive the upgrade, with Square Enix announcing the titles' new editions to celebrate the eighth anniversary of the eight-protagonist RPG series. The Nintendo Switch 2 Editions of Octopath Traveller 1 and 2 release on October 1 – unless you're in Japan that is, where both have released today – with Square Enix promising improved resolution and frame rates.

Unfortunately however, just like with the announcement of Dragon Quest 11's Nintendo Switch 2 Edition, Square Enix isn't offering an upgrade path for existing Switch 2 owners, and on top of that, there won't be save transfer available for anyone who wants to continue their playthrough on Switch 2. The games will cost the same as their Switch 1 counterparts at $60 (making the eight-year-old game more expensive at launch on Switch 2 than Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Rebirth are).

Naturally, the comments on the announcement trailer are unhappy with this, with one user saying "thanks for telling your consumers that buying a game early isn't a good thing after all, very disappointing," while another adds, "If your goal for this announcement was to make your most dedicated fans – the fans who are the reason HD2D thrives in the first place – feel like they’ve been spat on the face. Then congratulations. You’ve succeeded!" Meanwhile, someone else puts it pretty simply: "no upgrade path, no save data transfer, no buy."

Dragon Quest 12 Beyond Dreams announced, replacing the previous version of the JRPG as Square Enix hits the reset button.

Modders have been reanimating classic games inside of other classic games for almost as long as reanimation has been a thing (200 years or so; thanks, Mary Shelley) - from a Morrowind remake built within Elden Ring to, now, a Final Fantasy Tactics mod that plops the strategy game's combat onto Final Fantasy 6's scenarios.

Over the last three years, a modder known as Conman on the FFHacktics forum has been hard at work on a mod called FF6: Tactics, alongside a group of other contributors.

Rather than remaking the entirety of Final Fantasy 6 in Tactics' style, which would probably take much longer than three years, the goal was to "avoid any world map/randoms/stores and just jump from one battle to another."

Conman called this a "battle rush style" with the mod assuming "the player already knows the story." Final Fantasy 6's biggest battles, but in a strategy format, then.

That includes having most of Final Fantasy 6's main cast playable with their own quirks along for the ride: Terra's a scarily powerful magic user, Locke can steal, Cyan can pull off fancy sword moves... You get the idea.

New stages, reworked sprites, and that banger soundtrack filtered through FFT's sound font. After all that hard work, the mod is finally done and out now - you can find it here.

As you might be able to tell from the adorably chunky assets on show and the project's development timeline, the mod is built off the back of the original PS1 version of Final Fantasy Tactics, not the more recently modernized The Ivalice Chronicles remaster, so don't expect its quality-of-life improvements or cleaner graphics to show up in the mod.

And elsewhere in the realm of remakes, Square Enix recently said more traditional and official Final Fantasy remakes could be in the pipeline depending on what "resonates" with fans the most.

Perhaps that sparks hope for that long-rumored Final Fantasy 6 remake, but even if that's a far-flung dream at this point, at least we have the above gorgeous mod that's halfway there.

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation lead thinks a potential Final Fantasy 6 remake would "be in better hands if it went to another creator in Square Enix"

Cult of the Lamb may have launched back in 2022, but the official X (Twitter) profile page announced on July 10, 2026 that a Cult of Lamb Collector's Edition is headed to the PS5 and Nintendo Switch 2.

The $149.99 (Amazon) / £129.99 (Amazon) physical edition is set to launch on March 12, 2027 and includes a boxed version of the Definitive Edition of the game on either platform alongside a smorgasbord of physical goodies, including a 200+ page artbook, double-sided metal poster, a comic book, and my favorite addition of the lot - a 7-inch vinyl record that includes the tracks Praise the Lamb and Start a Cult, composed by the masterful and late game composer, River Boy. If you want a copy for yourself, this "once-in-a-lifetime release" is now available for both UK and US fans.

If Sony's July 1, 2026 announcement had you worrying that publishers like Devolver Digital (alongside developers Massive Monster) would stop releasing physical editions, this upcoming collector's edition should help quell your fears for the interim. However, this specific "once-in-a-lifetime release" wording, as found under the Amazon UK listing for the game, has me worried this could be one of the last few chances fans have to own the game physically. Or at least a version this bursting at the seams with physical merchandise.

If you pre-order the Cult of Lamb Collector's Edition ahead of its March 12, 2027 release, you get all the goodies I mentioned above, including a 44-card Oracle Deck + guide on how to read 'em (which I assume is the developer's version of a Tarot Card deck judging from the name alone), and a steelbook case featuring disturbing yet immensely cool art of The Lamb. Yet as much as I adore the steelbook case, I grabbed my copy for the vinyl record, which includes a green and black splatter effect and The Lamb on the front doing their best 'Midsommar' impression.

I collect and play video game OSTs on vinyl but missed out on owning the limited 2LP Splatter Colored Vinyl release of the soundtrack in the past. I was also moved by the Cult of the Lamb's X (Twitter) thread, which mentioned its inclusion was "dedicated to our beloved friend River Boy" and couldn't not own his work and a little part of indie game history.

If you want a copy of the Cult of the Lamb: Collector's Edition for yourself, the PS5 and Switch pre-orders were originally available in the UK first. However, both versions are now live on Amazon US for $149.99, respectively.

Trying to grab what physical game releases you can? Check out the Halloween: The Game Limited Collectors Edition pre-order, which includes a Michael Myers action figure by Trick or Treat Studios.

A modder has made Grey Fox playable in the original Metal Gear Solid, and it's way more impressive than it sounds.

Despite Snake (and Snake, and Snake, and Snake, and…) being a contender for the greatest video game character of all time, Metal Gear has a variety of side characters that all absolutely rule, and many hope for the chance to play as them. And while there's been the odd opportunity to play as whoever isn't the main protagonist of a given game (Tanker and Snake Tales in MGS2, Ocelot in Metal Gear Online), Metal Gear is pretty strict about having you play as the main character.

One such legendary side character is Grey Fox, who – after appearances in the MSX2 originals – appeared in Metal Gear Solid 1 as the series' first Cyborg Ninja. The character was so popular that he was the selling point and cover star of Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions, where he was briefly playable for a couple of missions. And while Hideo Kojima wanted the character to get his own game as a sequel to Metal Gear Rising, it never materialized.

However, Grey Fox is finally getting his day in the cold alaska moon, as YouTube user Perfect Pizza has released a first look at the final version of their "Playable Grey Fox mod" for Metal Gear Solid. On first read this may not sound that impressive, perhaps the thought of "oh they just moved the VR Missions character into the main game," crossed your mind? Well this mod is not nearly that simple.

Watching the trailer, right away you'll notice you have access to Grey Fox's arm cannon, which saw use throughout Metal Gear Solid, but never actually got used in his previous playable appearance. The High Frequency Blade has gotten a buff too with a new trailing effect and the ability to ricochet bullets back at enemies, and there's new movement options with crouch walking introduced. The mod promises a ton of changes, like "automatic open and close face visor upon alert,""custom animations," and "custom codec calls".

On the mods Discord, Perfect Pizza explains "This mod uses the PSX decompilation project’s ability to modify the game’s C code and build a new executable using the developer version of Metal Gear Solid." Adding "At the time of creation, neither the AI Grey Fox boss nor the playable VR Ninja have been fully decompiled. As a result, everything shown so far has been recreated through reverse engineering, existing game code, experimentation, and educated guesses."

They explain, "The goal is to let players experience an expanded version of Grey Fox vs what was given to us in VR missions with as many of his signature abilities and some new ones as the game’s limitations allow, while preserving core gameplay features such as crawling, elevators, weapons, and environmental interaction." and that "This project also lays the groundwork for a future version that could allow players to experience the entire game as Grey Fox."

Perfect Pizza also says "This is not a complete story-mode conversion" but that "A separate project, which I am not affiliated with, is working toward making the full campaign playable by rebuilding all the stage overlays and making the compiled exe shiftable. The future of a complete Grey Fox playthrough depends heavily on that effort."

Regardless it's an impressive mod that actually allows playable Grey Fox found in VR Missions to live up to the version we hoped he would be all along, and even if a full version doesn't show up, it'll be fun to play about with.

After almost 25 years, Metal Gear Solid 2 players are still finding secrets: "This is the kind of stuff somebody posts on an online forum in 2005 and no one believes it"