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Horizon Zero Dawn introduced an amazing foundation to Guerrilla Games’ post-post-apocalyptic world, one overrun with robotic creatures as stunning as seeing a brachiosaurus for the first time in Jurassic Park, centered around an instant PlayStation icon in Aloy, and layered with a surprising level of mystery, lore, and history. Following it up is no small feat, but after four hours of hands-on time with early portions of its sequel, Horizon Forbidden West is shaping up to be a fulfillment of all the promises made by its predecessor.

Zero Dawn was by no means a disappointing start, and in fact, was a hugely successful beginning for a new PlayStation franchise. But there were clear areas for refinement, and Guerrilla seems to have addressed nearly every one of them based on my time with Aloy’s new journey. Combat is more complex, exploration is more free, and the world is teeming with more intriguing life (both robotic and human) and meaningful things to do. The Forbidden West in all its glory still waits to be seen, but I’m not forbidden from telling you about so much of why it’s an adventure I can’t wait to embark on.

My time with Forbidden West didn’t start exactly where Aloy’s journey begins in the sequel - Guerrilla is still preserving plenty of secrets - but rather a little into her quest to find new answers, and maybe save humanity along the way.

A Super Nintendo classic was almost playable within Metroid Prime on Nintendo GameCube, until Nintendo stepped in and stopped it from happening.

In the latest episode of the Kiwi Talkz podcast, Metroid Prime developer David "Zoid" Kirsch shared insight into the development of Prime, including this retro easter egg. Zoid said he first played Super Metroid after he was assigned to work on development of Metroid Prime, but he completed the game twice in under a week because he loved it so much.

"I got assigned to Metroid, and I'm like, well I should probably play this Super Metroid since we're making kind of a sequel to it," Zoid said. "Holy crap, I missed [out on] this game! This game's incredible. I played through it twice in like three days, I just loved it."

This led Zoid to put Super Metroid into Prime itself through an unofficial SNES emulator. Nintendo ultimately rejected the idea because the emulator wasn't approved, but Zoid said this little side project led to the inclusion of the original Metroid from the NES.

"That started the idea churning, and Nintendo did have the NES emulation library that they had built for the GameCube, and so that turned into bringing the original Metroid to the game."

Super Metroid is still one of the greatest games ever made, coming in at #5 on our list of the top 100 games of all time. Metroid Prime itself came in at #42, so it would have been pretty wild to have to of the best games ever on the same disc back on the GameCube.

Suppose you are looking for a way to make the Nintendo Switch a lot more portable-friendly. In that case, this new Kickstarter campaign might have the answer: an all-in-one modular case that makes Nintendo's hybrid console more convenient as a companion gadget when traveling.

The G-Case by Plenbo is aimed to be the "all-in-one" solution for those that play their Switch primarily in handheld mode. Outside of adding additional protection to the back of the console, the G-Case includes a 5000mAh battery pack that provides up to 5 hours of additional battery life and the option to detach the battery pack and use it to charge other devices such as your smartphone or a tablet.

To minimize the number of items you are carrying, the G-Case also includes two cards slots: one on each side of the grip cases, allowing you to hold up to three Nintendo Switch games with the attachment.

The G-Case also allows you to detach the case and Joy-Cons themselves from the Switch. And the added option to connect the grips together is similar to Nintendo's official Joy-Con grip. The grips on the Joy-Cons are also replaceable with three grip sizes to fit most hands.

I watched Duke Nukem Forever emerge from its tomb, dripping with amniotic fluid, after an unprecedented 15- year development cycle. I can go play the long-gestating S.T.A.L.K.E.R., and its many spinoffs and expansions, right now on my Steam account. Final Fantasy XV finally left the assembly line at Square Enix, same with Persona 5 at Atlus, and I still go watch the Beyond Good & Evil 2 E3 trailer when I need a lift. (I'm holding out hope, Ubisoft. Always and forever.) But for my money, the greatest remaining white whale in gaming was first speculated about on Blizzard forums in 2004, right as we were getting our feet wet in the arcadia of Azeroth: "Man, do you think they'll ever port World of Warcraft to consoles?"

Those hopes never came true. The Alliance and Horde have dispatched countless evildoers across eight different expansions — cleansing this universe of all scum and villainy, to the point where players are traveling to the literal afterlife to find someone else to fight. And yet, Blizzard's flagship MMO remained exclusive to those who wielded a PC. Yes, the company has flirted with cross-platform migration in the past; Hearthstone can live on your phone, Diablo III on your Switch, but Azeroth was never accessible through an Xbox. For whatever reason, that was a third rail in Irvine. But as Blizzard gets profoundly reshuffled with a new set of owners, maybe, for the first time in WoW's venerable history, all of that is going to change.

A new gameplay overview of Elden Ring has revealed FromSoftware's focus on making sure players aren't overly stressed while playing the game – but seemingly without reducing the difficulty you'd expect from Souls game enemies.

Speaking during Taipei Game Show, producer Yasuhiro Kitao repeatedly explained how elements of the game had been tooled to reduce player stress – in effect making the game difficult in the right places, but gentler in how you reach them.

"With the game's world being so large, that can produce real depth and breadth of enjoyment, but it can also lead to unnecessary stress for some players," explained Kitao. "The dev team has been very careful to avoid that where possible."

Interviewer Misuzu Araki replied: "With battle already being fairly difficult, I can understand wanting to reduce stress elsewhere." Kitao agreed: "Yes, especially as the enemies are so strong."

With that in mind, it seems Elden Ring's enemies and bosses will be as tough as you'd hope/fear from a new game from the Dark Souls developer, but Kitao made clear that a number of changes have been made to how you get to them.

Elden Ring's new ability to summon and ride a horse, for example has been touted as a major part of that focus. "Horses provide a stress-free method of traveling across the long distances the player needs to travel in the game," explained Kitao. He continued that your horse's ability to travel up air currents was also a part of that thinking: "That system was introduced as a means of quickly and enjoyably moving vertically upward in order to explore those higher areas."

Elden Ring can be finished in 30 hours, says producer Yasuhiro Kitao, but there are 'many dozens' of hours of optional content for fans to sink their teeth into. And no, you won't be able to see absolutely everything in one playthrough.

As part of a new interview on the game during the Taipei Game Show, Kitao spoke further about the game's length and what fans can expect from the action RPG when it launches next month. "This will differ significantly by player," Kitao explained when asked how long Elden Ring would take fans to complete.

"But in terms of the targets set during development, the idea is that the main route should be able to be completed within around 30 hours. The game as a whole is quite massive, and contains many dozens more hours worth of gameplay, but if we are talking about the main route only, it shouldn't take much longer than that."

Elsewhere in the interview, Kitao spoke about the additional ways that Elden Ring will look to stretch out its experience for players. Similar to other previously developed FromSoftware games such as Bloodborne and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, Elden Ring will feature a New Game Plus mode, which will allow players to play through the campaign again, with extra challenges.

"Like our other titles, the game features replayability features," explains Kitao. "After clearing the game the first time, you can carry across your character data and play the game again, against powered up enemies." Kitao added later that you'll take equipment with you back to the start of the game in New Game Plus.

Warcraft 3: Re-Reforged is a fan-made campaign mod for Warcraft 3: Reforged that looks to give fans the remastered experience that Blizzard itself never really delivered.

As reported by Ars Technica, the fan-made project – which has been put together single-handedly by modder InsaneMonster – recently received a pretty substantial update following its initial launch a year ago.

The mod itself looks to improve upon Blizzard's lackluster release of Warcraft 3: Reforged by offering improved cinematics, further detailed lore, and a number of other changes to give the game a more well-rounded aesthetic feel – one that fans were expecting to get the first time around.

While InsaneMonster's Patreon-supported project had already added the Exodus of the Horde orc campaign prologue, the latest update brings the number of total playable chapters to ten with the addition of the first five levels of the game's Scourge of Lordaeron human campaign.

Behaviour Interactive and Lionsgate Films have announced Archives Tome 10: SAW, the latest content addition to Dead by Daylight that sees notoriously sadistic horror movie villain Jigsaw (voiced by Jigsaw movie actor Tobin Bell) make a foreboding appearance in the trailer above. The new SAW content will be available on all platforms on January 26.

Players will explore the memories of Amanda Young and Detective Tapp, unlocking the Book of SAW Collection as well as new rewards: new outfits for those two characters as well as 60 new cosmetic items for their own characters. Check out the new reveal trailer at the top of the page, as well as older screenshots in the gallery below:

“Over and above our primary objective of providing our fans with fun and continuously renewed content, one of our goals when integrating a powerful movie franchise such as SAW is to invite a larger community into the Dead by Daylight universe," said Dead by Daylight game director Mathieu Côté. "We’re truly grateful to our partner Lionsgate for offering us this opportunity.”

Don't miss IGN's re-review of Dead by Daylight from last year.

Elden Ring, the highly-anticipated action-RPG by FromSoftware (and with additional world-building elements from Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin), has officially gone gold.

As revealed on Twitter by @EldenRingUpdate, a Taipei Game Show video confirms the game has now gone gold and shouldn't receive any delay from its release across PC and consoles on February 25.

For those unfamiliar with the term, going gold offers an important step forward in a game's development process because it indicates that a master version of the game has been finalised and that it's on its way to being turned into digital and disk-based copies, ready for sale (although Day 1 updates are often worked on after going gold).

Here's a compilation of the new Elden Ring footage from Taipei Game Show today

The best news: Elden Ring has gone gold and will not be delayed! https://t.co/64MZT9QNyO

— Mordecai (@EldenRingUpdate) January 24, 2022

Originally due to launch this month, fans across social media will be delighted to hear that everything is on schedule for the game's latest February release date. As explained in a new video, FromSoftware‘s Yasuhiro Kitao further reassured fans over the game's development during a presentation at the Taipei Game Show.

Fans think that an item found inside a Kingdom Hearts-themed hotel room in Tokyo may be important to the future of the series' plot.

Last year, Tokyo Disney announced that it was bringing to life a Kingdom Hearts-inspired hotel room in celebration of the series' 20th anniversary. As summed up by resetEra user Desma, fans now believe that the room might hold a secret toward the franchise's future.

Disney originally advertised that the room would include a secret item for fans when announcing the Kingdom Hearts stay last year. Among a number of other themed decorations, the room includes a treasure chest that fans can open during their trip. Now, thanks to Kingdom Hearts fan and Twitter user aitaikimochi, the community has finally found out what's inside.

Details of the treasure box and the Sora and Kairi beds pic.twitter.com/SvLgZsRc3L

— ☆オードリーAudrey☆ (@aitaikimochi) January 23, 2022

While aitaikimochi wasn't able to photograph the contents of the chest, due to images of the item existing under embargo until April 28, they were able to give a description of what they saw. According to the fan, the chest contains a copy of the games' Oathkeeper keyblade - though with a number of distinct differences.

Members of the Raven Software QA team, alongside other Activision Blizzard workers, have called off their strike action. The news follows on from Friday's announcement, which confirmed that members of the QA team had officially voted to unionize.

The decision to end strike action was announced on social media by the Activision Blizzard Workers Alliance Twitter account. "Pending the recognition of our union, the Raven QA strike has ended," read a statement from the account, which then went on to thank the community for its support throughout the strike.

Pending the recognition of our union, the Raven QA strike has ended. Unused strike funds are being stored for future organizing/strike efforts.

We'll post or retweet any GWU updates here. Appreciate all the community support throughout the strike!

— ABetterABK 💙 ABK Workers Alliance (@ABetterABK) January 23, 2022

The group highlighted it was still waiting for positive or negative recognition of its union from Activision Blizzard, but that it was "acting in good faith and asking for good faith," by ending the strike.

The group also point out that remaining money from strike movement's crowdfunding campaign will be stored and used in any further unionization or strike efforts.

We've been seeing a tremendous amount of Switch discounts in the UK recently. With a huge sale on Switch games last week, and now £10 off a Switch OLED console (see here), the deals aren't slowing down yet. Our favourites right now include Breath of the Wild for £36.99, Super Mario Maker 2 (and 3-months of Switch Online) for £28.99, and Pokemon Legends Arceus preorders for just £38.24.

That's not all, however, as we've also got plenty of other stellar discounts to show off in the UK right now. This includes the perfect PS5 SSD, WD Black 1 TB with Heatsink, now down to just £150, that's over £115 off the list price. There's also 50% off ExpressVPN, one of the most effective and affordable VPNs available, an Xbox Series S for £234 using code MYJL15, and even a Triple Cheeseburger for 99p via the McDonald's App.

TL;DR - Our Favourite Deals Right Now

Nintendo Switch OLED Model on Sale in the UK

Even More Amazing Discounts on Nintendo Switch Games

While many were excited about the arrival of N64 games on the Switch via the new Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack service, it was quickly discovered that the performance of these classic games left much to be desired. Fortunately, it appears Nintendo has quietly improved the N64 emulation and, in turn, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time in the Switch's latest update that arrived with Banjo-Kazooie.

As reported by VGC and noticed by those like @OatmealDome, Ocarina of Time on Nintendo Switch Online suffered from not only input lag and audio delay, but also graphical issues that caused certain scenes - like the Water Temple's Dark Link fight - to look worse than previous versions of the game.

In the Switch version, the room where you face Dark Link lacked the reflections in the water and the ambient fog that created a very specific mood in the room. The latest update hasn't fixed the fog, but the reflections in the water have been adjusted to look better and input lag seems to have been reduced. You can check out a comparison from images shared by @zfg111 on Twitter below. The pre-update version is on the left, and the current version is on the right.

NetEase Games has announced that it has established Nagoshi Studio, a new game development studio that is led by Yakuza series creator Toshihiro Nagoshi.

As reported by Gematsu, Nagoshi confirmed that he would be leaving both Ryu Ga Gatoku Studio and SEGA back in October 2021 and a report came out that said he was in "final negotiations" with Chinese developer and publisher NetEase to join the company. Nagoshi had been with SEGA and RGG Studio since 1989.

Nagoshi shared a message to commemorate the news, saying he and his team are committed to "creating content for the world to enjoy."

"The sea of change that began in the entertainment industry in the late 20th century has brought even greater change to the industry in the 21st century," Nagoshi wrote. "Changes to entertainment content, how it’s made and the business model driven by technology and infrastructure advances have sparked a paradigm shift, and these changes are continuing to unfold with greater and greater speed.

Following the discovery of a "serious exploit," the PC PvP servers for Dark Souls: Remastered, Dark Souls 2, and Dark Souls 3 have been temporarily deactivated as Bandai Namco works on a solution.

On Reddit, users like TripleBrownMeow shared a Discord message in the Elden Ring Subreddit saying that a RCE (Remote Code Execution) exploit was discovered that could let hackers "run arbitrary code on your machine without permission."

This RCE exploit could allow these hackers to "brick your computer," "steal your logins and banking information stored on your computer," "execute malicious malware like bitcoin miners," and more.

It was also said this issue could have caused similar problems in FromSoftware's next game, Elden Ring.

Bandai Namco thanked the posters on Reddit and said the "topic was submitted to relevant internal teams earlier today." It also followed up with a Tweet confirming an investigation was underway.

"PvP servers for Dark Souls 3, Dark Souls 2, and Dark Souls: Remastered have been temporarily deactivated to allow the team to investigate recent reports of an issue with online services," Dark Souls' Twitter account wrote. "Servers for Dark Souls: PtDE will join them shortly. We apologize for this inconvenience. This downtime does not affect PvP servers for Xbox or PlayStation consoles."

Halo Infinite's multiplayer will let players earn Credits in its Season 2 Battle Pass that they will be able to use in the in-game shop to buy items, cosmetics, and even a new Battle Pass.

Shared by 343 Industries Head of Design Jerry Hook and following "continued feedback" from the community, 343 has decided to make it so Credits will be earnable in Halo Infinite's next Battle Pass, which will begin after Season 1 comes to a close in May 2022.

"Thanks to your continued feedback, we are happy to confirm Credits will be earnable in Season 2's Battle Pass," Hook wrote. "That means you will be able to earn Credits as part of your Halo Infinite progression. We’ll have more to share on this as we get closer to Season 2."

Hook also gave an update on the team's focus on "reducing pricing across the board" in Halo Infinite's multiplayer. He shared that while this week was all about reducing the prices of the weekly bundles, next week will see some individual items from those bundles appearing on their own.

The Assassin's Creed series has always paired exploring historical time periods with modern-day technology and storylines, but we're now learning the original plan for the Assassin's Creed trilogy almost took that concept to an entirely new level.

As reported by Eurogamer, details of the franchise's original ending were published by a student from a Belgian research university. In a work examining developer Ubisoft's use of religion, Ph.D. student Lars de Wildt of KU Leuven wrote that modern-day characters Desmond Miles and Lucy Stillman would escape Earth on a spaceship, setting off to start human civilization elsewhere.

de Wildt described this plan, saying it was pieced together based on interviews de Wildt held with Assassin's Creed creator Patrice Désilets and Assassin's Creed 3's creative director Alex Hutchinson.

"Briefly put, the third game would end with a resolution of the conflict in the present day, with Desmond Miles - voiced by [Nolan] North - taking down Abstergo using the combined knowledge and skills of all his ancestors, including AC1's Altair and AC2's Ezio," de Wildt wrote. "Also, it is the end of the world in 2012, and Desmond Miles and Lucy are starting a new civilization somewhere else - as Adam and Eve."

When de Wildt asked Désilets where they were going, Désilets said, "Boom! It's a freaking spaceship!"

Uncharted 4: A Thief's End crescendos at its midpoint with a bombastic, all-out chase action sequence that is not only a highpoint for the game itself but for the entire Uncharted franchise, ranking as one of Uncharted's best chases and action scenes. It's a thrilling, lengthy chase through city streets and rocky terrain, against seemingly unstoppable odds (and one frightening truck), and plenty of Uncharted's coolest moments., but it's also one rooted in its character work, a reflection of Nathan Drake's journey so far, his various personal ties to Sam, Sully, and Elena, and so much more.

It's a high point of Naughty Dog's action work, and to find out more, IGN spoke to two Naughty Dog team members - Kurt Margenau and Shaun Escayg - about how the chase came together, its emotional resonance, and more in our latest Art of the Level.

Among the many important things to get right about this sequence was ensuring it worked as a summation of all the character relationships at play so far in A Thief's End.

"So we've laid out the story structure. We know where the highs and lows are, and in particular, this particular sequence was the midpoint," Escayg explained. "There's a lot of emotional charges of these brothers being reunited. And we knew that at some point we wanted all of the dynamics, Nate, Sam, Sullivan, Nadine, Rafe and all the history that came with that to crescendo at a midpoint and in almost like a false victory, if you will, or the band's back together kind thing.”

A PC mod has been released for the original Final Fantasy 7 that cranks that framerate up to 60fps, and the resulting game is... almost disturbingly smooth.

Today is the day! The BETA version of the 60 FPS Mod for FF7 is ready to be tested. To use the mod, you'll only need to have FFNx v.1.10.1.105 or higher and the IRO mod containing animation files found here: (https://t.co/3ftUhNl0ax). More information on the Tsunamods Discord! pic.twitter.com/ddcs5mhF9q

— Tsunamods (@tsunamods) January 19, 2022

This comes courtesy of the FFNx modding project, a modding platform for Final Fantasy 7 and 8 that endeavors to make both games look, feel, and sound better on PC. This specific 60fps mod endeavors to make the lackluster, 15fps PC versions of Final Fantasy 7 look not just playable, but downright silky, including not just battles but cutscenes, dungeons, and the overworld. It's a heck of an achievement, even if watching such an old game run that well is a bit disarming at first.

When Microsoft released the Xbox Adaptive Controller in 2018, it allowed people with disabilities to play games more accessible thanks to its design. If you are looking to play with the PS5’s DualSense controller with one hand, a YouTuber has created a 3D-printed adapter allowing such a feat to be achieved.

YouTuber Akaki Kuumeri uploaded a video earlier this month of a new adapter he created, allowing him to use one hand to play with the PS5’s controller. In the nearly seven-minute-long video, Kuumeri demos the adapter with a hand cam on the bottom right corner of the screen while showing gameplay from titles such as Grand Theft Auto V and Rocket League.

"PlayStation Does Nothing For Accessibility"

Kuumeri says the adapter was created in part due to Sony's lack of accessibility options.

"Microsoft has the Xbox Adaptive Controller, and Copilot mode, which are an amazing contribution for accessible gaming (albeit quite expensive)," Kuumeri told IGN. "Switch has remappable buttons, and Joy-Cons can be held in a few different ways. Sony’s PlayStation does nothing for accessibility."

Welcome back to IGN Game Scoop!, the ONLY video game podcast! This week your Omega Cops -- Daemon Hatfield, Tina Amini, Sam Claiborn, and Justin Davis -- are discussing what will likely end up being the biggest story of the year: Microsoft acquiring Activision Blizzard. They also look at the best-selling games of 2021. And, of course, they play Video Game 20 Questions.

Watch the video above or hit the link below to your favorite podcast service.

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Find previous episodes here!

It’s a new year, which means it’s time for a new wrestling game. WWE 2K22 is set to release for PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC on March 11 (see it on Amazon). The cover superstar this time around is Rey Mysterio, whose career highlights are also featured in this installment’s Showcase Mode.

The game is now available for preorder, and as usual it comes in a whole lot of editions. Below, we break down exactly what comes in each edition so you can choose the one that best suits your needs. Let’s get to it.

Rainbow Six Extraction is heading to PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC, and Stadia on January 20. The game, formerly known as Rainbow Six: Quarantine (but changed for obvious reasons), is now available for preorder (see it at Amazon).

It's coming in a couple of editions, so you'll want to take a look at what's in each one before locking in your preorder. Read on for the details.

Netflix is aiming to have the 'absolute best' gaming service in the industry as it looks to expand its array of playable titles in 2022.

During a recent earnings interview, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings was asked about how the company will approach interactive content over the long term. His answer was simple: "We have to be differentially great at it, there's no point of just being in it," said Hastings during the interview.

Hastings effectively pointed to the idea of Netflix becoming a gaming service that's competitive with the current industry heavyweights. "We're definitely 'crawl, walk, run' and, like, 'Let's nail the thing, and not just be in it for the sake of being in it or for a press release'. But we've got to please our members by having the absolute best in the category."

Hastings finished bullishly, asking the intervieweer to ask the question again when Netflix was "winning games".

Netflix began rolling out its gaming service in November 2021, allowing players with an active Netflix subscription to jump into a set of mobile games for no extra cost. The service initially included five games that rolled out to Android and Apple devices across 190 countries including Stranger Things: The Game, Stranger Things 3: The Game, Card Blast, Teeter, and Shooting Hoops.

In the shorter term, Netflix plans to keep building on that early offering. As part of a shareholder letter dated January 20, the company spoke further about its gaming service's future:

Cardy, Joe, and Matt unite to discuss this week in video games, because actual video games have happened. There's chat about the ridiculously entertaining Windjammers 2, and we perform an alien autopsy on the weirdest Tom Clancy game of all time, Rainbow Six Extraction. Plus, thoughts on spooky PvP game Midnight Ghost Hunt, Oscar Isaac's accent in Moon Knight, and an absolute truck full of feedback.

Want to get in touch to talk about your favourite lunch box snack or maybe even video games? Feel free to send us an email at ign_ukfeedback@ign.com.

IGN UK Podcast #628: Operation Wotsit Rescue

• IGN UK Podcast #627: Our Big Video Game Sequel Predictions
• IGN UK Podcast #626: The 15 Best Things We Played and Watched Over Christmas
• IGN UK Podcast #625: The Big 2022 Preview
• IGN UK Podcast #624: Alternative Movie and TV Awards 2021
• IGN UK Podcast #623: Alternative Game Awards 2021

Ian McCollum is a gun expert who runs Forgotten Weapons, a website and YouTube channel dedicated to obscure and prototype firearms, as well as more conventional guns. We asked for his expert opinion on how well six games – from Call of Duty: Vanguard to Escape From Tarkov to Metal Gear Solid 3 – have recreated the legendary bolt-action rifle, the Mosin-Nagant. Here’s what he had to say…

ESCAPE FROM TARKOV

Nintendo has announced that The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask will be the next game to feature as part of Nintendo Switch Online's expansion pass service.

As detailed on Twitter, Nintendo has stated that Majora's Mask will be the next N64 game to launch on its premium online service.The game is set to launch in February, but a specific release date has not yet been given.

Save Termina before it’s met with a terrible fate!

The Legend of #Zelda: Majora's Mask comes to #NintendoSwitch for #NintendoSwitchOnline + Expansion Pack members in February! #Nintendo64 pic.twitter.com/WN2Q0Wqc8Q

— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) January 21, 2022

Nintendo just recently launched this month's expansion pass title in the form of Banjo-Kazooie. The colorful platformer sees players take control of Banjo (a bear) and his loveable feathered friend Kazooie as they attempt to thwart the evil escapades of a witch named Gruntilda.

Welcome to Nintendo Voice Chat! This week, Kat Bailey is joined by Peer Schneider, Rebekah Valentine, and special guest Imran Khan to talk about how Xbox's huge Activision acquisition impacts Nintendo moving forward. Hear the panel discuss the potential fate of franchises like Overwatch and Crash Bandicoot on Switch, and the crazy scenario where Microsoft tried to go after Nintendo 20 years ago. Plus, some quick Nintendo sales news, Banjo-Kazooie coming to Nintendo Switch online, and a whole lot more.

Timecodes:

• 00:00:00 - Intro
• 00:01:09 - Activision Blizzard impact on Nintendo
• 00:24:29 - Nintendo sales numbers
• 00:39:52 - Banjo-Kazooie on Switch
• 00:51:00 - News undown
• 00:56:04 - Kat Take
• 01:06:15 - What we’ve been playing
• 01:14:15 - Question Block
• 01:19:23 - Outro

Linktree!

For an easy way to find NVC on your favorite platform, check out our NVC Linktree!

You can also Download NVC 595 Directly Here

You can listen to NVC on your preferred platform every Thursday at 3pm PT/6pm ET. Have a question for Question Block? Write to us at nvc@ign.com and we may pick your question! Also, make sure to join the Nintendo Voice Chat Podcast Forums on Facebook. We're all pretty active there and often pull Question Block questions and comments straight from the community.

Logan Plant is the Production Assistant for NVC. You can find him on Twitter at @LoganJPlant.

It’s been nearly five whole years since the pioneering PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds first appeared on Steam and popularized the idea of pitting 100 players against each other until only the best (or last) among them survives. Since then, the original battle royale has been locked in a fight for relevance against the many games it inspired, and only now has it dropped its entry fee and joined the ranks of its free-to-play competition. Now that the novelty has worn off, in some ways PUBG has been left wanting compared to newer and more innovative battle royales, but its unique focus on massive zones and realistic simulation means it hasn’t lost its touch either.

Survival after parachuting into PUBG’s relatively realistic open world requires you to be much stealthier and more deliberately tactical than you would in, say, the run-and-gun style of Fortnite. For example, you might wait for a passing aircraft to drown out your footsteps so you can enter a household undetected, or you might use a smokescreen to distract a squad of enemy players that are pinning you down from a nearby ridge. Firefights are regularly tense and enjoyable, though the wide selection of guns tend to be clunkier to fire than other modern shooters too (even after you’ve modded them with scopes and extended magazines).

In the wake of Microsoft's blockbuster acquisition of Activision Blizzard, some Call of Duty devs are reportedly eager to move away from the annualized released schedule that has defined the series for much of its existence.

In a new article that provides an overview of Activision Blizzard's internal reactions to the acquisition, Bloomberg reports that "high-level employees" have discussed ditching Call of Duty's current release schedule. Currently, Activision continues to put a new Call of Duty every year from a rotating series of studios — a strategy that has proven an awkward fit since the release of Warzone.

These developers are said to feel that slowing the franchise's release cadence would please players who have grown weary of Call of Duty's steady drumbeat of releases. Bloomberg's article cites Call of Duty: Vanguard's 36 percent sales decline in the UK, though it still managed to top 2021's sales charts.

According to Bloomberg, the shift may not happen until "next year or later," with this year's release "expected to redeem the franchise's fortunes."

There are a lot of questions still left to be answered following Microsoft’s announcement that it will acquire Activision Blizzard. But with everyone involved keeping details close to the chest, some details are beginning to emerge, including Phil Spencer’s excitement to dive into Activision Blizzard’s library of retired franchises.

Speaking briefly with The Washington Post Spencer avoided talking about the future of ongoing blockbuster franchises like Call of Duty and World of Warcraft under Microsoft. Instead, Spencer spoke about the overlooked franchises Activision owns that Microsoft will get access to.

“I was looking at the IP list, I mean, let’s go!” Spencer exclaimed. “King’s Quest,’ ‘Guitar Hero.’... I should know this but I think they got ‘HeXen.’”

Spencer says once the deal is finalized — it’s expected to close by the summer of 2023 — the Xbox team will speak with its many developers about what possible franchises from Activision Blizzard they might like to work on.

In recent years, Activision Blizzard has pointed its many teams towards key franchises with studios like Toys for Bob now lending support for Call of Duty and Diablo. But this deal could potentially free them to pursue different opportunities within the Xbox Games Studios.

Students from Warsaw University in Poland have created a fully detailed, to-scale map of The Witcher universe's continent, and it's a doozy that shows off the scale of Geralt's adventures from Kaer Morhen to Skellige and beyond.

Ever wondered how far it is from Beauclair to Novigrad or where exactly is Vengerberg? Check out this map of the world of The Witcher prepared by students of Warsaw University! 🗺️

High res: https://t.co/VmO22mned6 pic.twitter.com/XHAdYMhw1d

— The Witcher (@witchergame) January 20, 2022

Here's a more accessible version of the same map.

The map reads a lot like any other professionally designed map, just you know, with fantasy cities and countries. It even comes with a helpful set of symbols that divides cities by population scale, country borders, and even elevation.

The whole thing really puts Geralt's adventures into perspective. In The Witcher 3, a journey from Skellige to Kaer Morhen really only takes a minute while the game loads the aging fortress. On this to-scale map, it's a literal continent away in polar opposite corners.

I do also appreciate having the map to show how remarkably close Novigrad is to Oxenfurt, despite the cities feeling relatively distinct. It's like Novigrad is Chicago and Oxenfurt is Joliet.

The future of Call of Duty hangs in the balance following Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, which will bring the massively popular first person shooter series under the Xbox umbrella along with a handful of other franchises. The move is raising questions about how Microsoft will handle Activision Blizzard’s extensive list of properties – whether they will remain on platforms like PlayStation 5 or become entirely exclusive to the Xbox.

Microsoft has already shown some of its hand with the Bethesda acquisition, which was completed close to a year ago. Microsoft opted to honor Bethesda's previous deal with PlayStation, keeping Deathloop as a timed exclusive for PlayStation 5. However, Starfield, the next massive RPG from the developers of The Elder Scrolls and Fallout, will be an Xbox exclusive with a day one release on Game Pass.

Developers of LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga can now see light at the end of the tunnel due to the game's new release date, but a new report sheds light on how developers dealt with extensive crunch at TT Games to get the game out the door.

A new report from Polygon details the issues within TT Games, sharing the accounts of over 30 current and former employees, many of whom say calls for change within the studio have been mostly ignored.

“It was a very soft-spoken blackmail,” one former employee told Polygon, saying the vibe was that “‘If people don’t start doing overtime, there’s going to be problems’”.

The report says developers were promised a longer development timeline and a new engine. However, employees told Polygon the extended development did not reduce the crunch, and that there were issues with the new NTT engine. This led to an employee effort to use Unreal Engine, but management stuck with NTT to save on licensing costs. Employees say that decision essentially negated the benefits from extended development time.

However, the report says the history of crunch goes back long before development on The Skywalker Saga began in 2017, with some employees saying the company's decision to release a new Lego game each year led to a sustained culture of crunch.

Brace yourself: it appears extremely likely that if Microsoft’s purchase of Activision-Blizzard becomes final, within a couple of years PlayStation gamers will never see another Call of Duty, Overwatch, Diablo, or Tony Hawk game, nor any potential Warcraft or StarCraft console games. Yes, Microsoft has so far declined to state that outright as of yet (based on Sony’s history, it’s hard to imagine it wouldn’t have already done so if it had made such a purchase), but if we look at Microsoft’s history and its motives in throwing around tens of billions of dollars to acquire studios and entire publishers in recent years, the idea that it will continue to publish any major Activision-Blizzard games on the Xbox Series X’s main rival’s platform that it isn’t contractually obligated to runs contrary to all of it.

When things go bump in the night, the solution is to shoot said things with a massive shotgun filled to the muzzle with salt. Or a spectral energy cannon. Or a shoulder-mounted harpoon. And when your poltergeist pest is little more than ectoplasmic sludge on the floor, you can vacuum it up and consider the spook exorcized. That’s business as usual for Midnight Ghost Hunt, a ghostbusting PvP game from new studio Vaulted Sky Games.

After playing a handful of matches with the developers, though, I’ve found that blasting spirits is just one of Midnight Ghost Hunt’s many ideas. Its 4v4 setup is split across two teams, the hunters and the ghosts, each of which has very different goals and gameplay styles. As a hunter you’re playing an FPS where you enter a haunted location with the goal of finding and eliminating the four enemy spectres within. Ghosts, meanwhile, must disguise themselves as one of the dozens of everyday objects littering the map in an attempt to avoid the wannabe Venkmans until the in-game clock strikes midnight.

It’s hide and seek with proton packs, then. But there’s plenty more going on that gives me reason to think that Midnight Ghost Hunt could be more than just an unlicensed Ghostbusters novelty. Much of that comes from its asymmetry, which is surprisingly Rainbow Six Siege-ish in its execution. Each match consists of three distinct phases, starting with 90 seconds of preparation during which ghosts can explore the map to find the perfect item to possess and set up defences. Simultaneously, the hunters choose their equipment off site.

Razer is known for making some very high quality gaming hardware. Right now, you can save $30 off a pair of limited-edition Star Wars-themed Xbox controllers made by the company. There’s one modeled after Boba Fett and one after the Mandalorian. Each controller comes with a matching charging stand. They normally cost $179.99, but Amazon has them on sale now for $149.99 each. It’s a good deal, but it’s unclear when it will end, so grab one if you want it.

Xbox Mandalorian and Boba Fett Controller Deals

Both of these special controllers are officially licensed Xbox Series X|S controllers, though they’ll work on Xbox One as well. And if you pick up a Xbox Wireless Adapter (see it on Amazon), they’ll also work wirelessly on PC.

So what makes these controllers worth the premium price? They don’t have all the same features of the Xbox Elite Series 2 controller that’s currently on sale for $139.99 at Amazon, but they have a few features in addition to looking cool.

For one, they come with their own matching charging stand, something you normally have to pay extra for. The controller connects to the stand magnetically to help keep it in place while charging. The stands look great, and they offer quick charging that gets the job done in under three hours. That gets you 12 hours of play time.

They also have “impulse analog triggers” that vibrate while playing games, and they’re pressure-sensitive. And to help keep things in place during intense play sessions, they have textured grips on the triggers, bumpers, and back case.

Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick has described the launch issues that plagued last year's release of Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy as a 'glitch' that has since been 'resolved'.

During a CNBC interview, Zelnick spoke about the release of Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy, where he appeared to draw a line under the issues that the collection of classic games suffered from across a number of consoles.

"With regards to the GTA trilogy, that was actually not a new title," Zelnick stated when speaking about the game. "That was a remaster of preexisting titles. We did have a glitch in the beginning, that glitch was resolved."

For those who didn't follow the release of last year's GTA remastered trilogy - or others who may have burned the memory from their mind - the title's launch was far from smooth. Issues across consoles and PC ranged from seemingly downgraded character models to poorly implemented weather systems, bizarre effects caused by rendering distances, and much more. In response to the game's poor launch and technical problems, Rockstar even ended up relisting the original versions of the game on PC while it set to work on fixing the remasters.

NFTs and cryptocurrency have seen a massive wave of attention in the tech space in the last year, and continue to be controversial subjects. In games, at least, over a quarter of game developers have said they are interested in using cryptocurrency or NFTs in their games -- but only 1% are actively using them now.

This comes from the GDC's annual State of the Industry survey, which polls 2,700 games industry professionals on various industry topics. The survey concluded that 27% of developers in 2021 were interested in using cryptocurrency as a payment tool, and 28% were interested in implementing NFTs.

But even among those interested, some indicated that they may hesitate to implement either due to their reputation. Comments included:

“How this hasn’t been identified as a pyramid scheme is beyond me.”

“Blockchain is a foundational technology that will transform organizations and accountability, but NFTs and cryptocurrencies in general are a scam.”

“I’d rather not endorse burning a rainforest down to confirm someone ‘owns’ a jpeg.”

“I personally am quite interested in NFTs and cryptocurrency, but many people in my studio and friend circle do not like them and won’t develop for them. I think NFTs need to get a better reputation when it comes to [the] environment and art theft first, then it might be an interesting way to give digital content unique value.”

PlayStation has released a 2021 Wrap-Up tool, which allows you to log into your account and check out your gaming accomplishments from across the last year.

As detailed in a PlayStation Blog post, the tool is somewhat similar to Spotify's yearly Unwrapped event, but instead of revealing your pop-hit guilty pleasures, instead, Sony is giving players the chance to jump into their own personal gaming data to find out how they played across the last year.

Your PlayStation 2021 Wrap-Up report is ready 📁 Discover your most-played game, total trophies earned, and more: https://t.co/CG2Zym24sq pic.twitter.com/oZOrmEtzNY

— PlayStation (@PlayStation) January 20, 2022

Across the display, fans can find out further information about how much time they've sunk into Sony consoles as well as a breakdown detailing what percentage of your time was split between PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 titles. The Wrap-Up event also comes with further information detailing how many new trophies you've collected this year as well as data showing you how well (or in my case poorly) you've utilised the games Sony includes as part of its premium monthly PS Plus membership.