IGN

EA Sports is reportedly on the verge of agreeing to a new six-year deal with the English Premier League worth some £488 million — a contract said to be worth more than double the value of the original deal.

Sky Sports reports that clubs were briefed on the deal on Friday, which is expected to bring in more than £80 million annually. In return, EA will retain the rights to some of the most popular teams in the world, including Manchester City, Arsenal, and Liverpool.

The new deal reflects the strength of the EPL, which has grown into the most profitable league in the world thanks to its lucrative television deals. It has made the EPL an international powerhouse, allowing it to steal away major stars like Erling Haaland.

The EPL's brand recognition makes it a major catch for EA, which recently lost the FIFA license after the group reportedly asked for some $1 billion. In addition to changing the name for the first time in nearly 30 years, EA Sports FC will lose access to the World Cup. However, EA has signed deals with hundreds of teams and athletes, as well as more than 30 leagues, allowing it to retain real-world names and venues.

This gives it a valuable edge over Konami's eFootball series, which has signed valuable deals with clubs including Barcelona, Manchester United, and Inter Milan, but otherwise lags well behind EA's soccer juggernaut in terms of licenses.

The weapons wizard, Xûr, is now live in Destiny 2 for the weekend until next week's reset. If you're looking to get your some shiny new Exotic armor or weapons for your Guardian, look no further.

Each week, Xûr has a random assortment of Exotic armor, one for each Guardian class, as well as a random Exotic Weapon and an Exotic Engram available for purchase. In addition to his Exotic wares, he's got a random collection of Legendary weapons and armor to deck out your Guardians.

We've rounded up all the info on Xûr for the week including where to find Xûr, which Exotic weapons and armor are available, as well as which Legendary weapons you should pick up, either for PvE or PvP.

Where Is Xûr Today?

Xûr's location today can be found at Watcher's Grave on Nessus on February 10 through February 14. To reach him, travel to the landing point at Watcher's Grave. When you arrive, make for the red moss-covered tree straight ahead. Climb up the roots and you'll find Xûr waiting at the top to sell you exotic items and legendary weapons.

Nintendo said that it will evaluate the $70 price tag for its games on a case-by-case basis. Additionally, the company clarified that the $70 price for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom will not set a precedent for every Nintendo title.

In a statement to Game Informer, Nintendo explained the reasoning behind the higher price for its most anticipated game of 2023 so far. “We determine the suggested retail price for any Nintendo product on a case-by-case basis.”

When asked whether the $70 price tag will be the trend for first-party games going forward, Nintendo reiterated, “No. We determine the suggested retail price for any Nintendo product on a case-by-case basis.”

During the February 2023 Nintendo Direct, Nintendo showed off a brand new trailer for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. When preorders for the game appeared shortly after, the updated price tag of $70 was revealed. It also has the highest file size at of any first-party Nintendo game, sitting at 18.2 GB. Hopefully, this means that the amount of content in the game justifies the higher price.

IGN Fan Fest is back! From Diablo IV to HBO’s The Last of Us, we’re excited to bring you a ton of exclusive interviews and sneak peeks from some of the biggest movies, shows and games you love. If you’re wondering what types of reveals happened at Fan Fest last year, including which special guests made an appearance, here’s a list of everything announced at Fan Fest 2022. Some key franchises covered last year included Sonic, Marvel, DC, LEGO, TMNT, WWE, The Walking Dead, as well as coverage around indie games, anime, horror, action, and so much more. Many big actors in the gaming, comics, and entertainment spaces joined the fun last year, including Jim Carey, Idris Elba, Michelle Yeoh, Jamie Lee Cutis, Stephanie Hsu, Ke Huy Quan and Ryan Reynolds, to name a few!

This time around, you can look forward to even more special cast and crew interviews across big fandom titles, plus never-before-seen clips, images and footage for a jam-packed, two-day Fan Fest in 2023. Keep reading for the full lineup!

Jump to:

• When is IGN Fan Fest?
• IGN Fan Fest Preview Days
• IGN Fan Fest Day 1
• IGN Fan Fest Day 2
• Where to Stream Fan Fest

When is IGN Fan Fest?

IGN Fan Fest 2023 is a two-day event, taking place on Friday, February 17 and Saturday, February 18.

TL;DR

Nintendo has admitted that Switch sales are unlikely to grow at the same pace going forward as the console prepares to enter its seventh year on the market.

Following its financial results being released earlier in February, Nintendo shared the English version of its investors Q&A session which revealed that the Switch's best selling year might be behind us.

"Nintendo Switch is coming up on its seventh year of sales in March, and we see this as uncharted territory in the history of our dedicated video game platforms," said Nintendo director and president Shuntaro Furukawa. "Under these circumstances it is hard to imagine that hardware sales will continue to grow at the same pace they have to date.

"Nintendo is still hopeful that sales could increase, however, through the launch of new games like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom or from customers buying a second console.

"There are titles under development for Nintendo Switch, and new titles will continue to be proposed going forward," Furukawa said.

"We are seeing both new demand and multiple system demand for the hardware, so we think there is still room for growth in sales. To that end, we want to maintain a high level of engagement with the hardware and create new demand not only by releasing new titles but also by working further to convey the appeal of existing titles."

This week’s Unlocked column is a little different. As a seasoned Apex Legends player, I’ve been playing the game ever since it was released. With its biggest update ever on the horizon, I spoke with the developers to see what’s in store.

Apex Legends turns four this year and ever since it hot-dropped on February 4th 2019, it’s held its ground as one of the best battle royales in the market. It set the bar for mechanics every battle royale should have, such as the intricate ping system, resurrection for eliminated teammates, and Evo armor that evolves into higher tiered protection as you do more damage. But Apex has had its ups and downs since launch.

In recent seasons it’s been very apparent that Apex needed an overhaul to its game to keep up with the four years of Legends, weapons, and map updates poured into it. The community called for a season health update for Apex to match the seasonal updates applied to Fortnite, where the game would be taken offline over a few days to have massive quality of life changes implemented before being restored.

While Apex Season 16 Revelry isn’t forcing the game offline for a few days, it is providing a huge overhaul to how it’s played, most notably with the rework of Legend Classes that now give different exclusive gameplay perks to each one. This completely changes how you play as specific Legends, as any Control Legend can now scan the Ring Console to see the next circle location on the map as opposed to giving that ability to Recon Legends.

This week, Emma and Jesse have been playing Hogwarts Legacy and they discuss the new game set in the Harry Potter universe at length. Mat’s also here to tell us why Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is worth a watch, and brings us a Shrek-tastic Endless Search.

Got a game for us to play, or just want to tell us the weirdest thing you've eaten for breakfast? Drop us an email: ign_ukfeedback@ign.com.

IGN UK Podcast 683: Magical Castles and Talking Cats

• IGN UK Podcast 682: Creating the Next Best Video Game TV Show
• IGN UK Podcast 681: Shadow Drop It Like It's Hot
• IGN UK Podcast #680: Dead Space and Other Games We Want Remade
• IGN UK Podcast 679: The Last of Us is Very Good
• IGN UK Podcast #678: Wot We Did Over Christmas

The English voice actor for Genshin Impact character Tighnari, Elliot Gindi, has been accused of grooming underage fans, transphobic behavior, and emotional abuse by moderators of his Twitch and Discord server. Gindi has since admitted that numerous screenshotted chatlogs demonstrating him engaging in such behavior are real, and both he and Genshin developer HoYoverse have issued statements.

The chatlogs were posted to Twitter by FretCore and phiotan, two of Gindi's moderators. FretCore shared a 21-page Google Doc containing screenshots that show multiple victims coming forward to mods about Gindi's behavior, which included asking for inappropriate photos and videos, pursuing relationships with underage individuals, sending sexual content, and making diminishing or invalidating remarks toward multiple individuals for being transgender or asexual, including refusing to acknowledge their pronouns. He was also accused of streaming in his underwear repeatedly, allegedly standing up and stretching on camera while in this state in one situation.

In a Twitlonger apology post, Gindi has acknowledged that all of the screenshots were real, and affirmed that he also engaged in emotional manipulation by threatening suicide if victims came forward. He admits to streaming in his underwear, though he denies it had a sexual intent. Gindi also denies "knowingly" engaging in inappropriate behavior with those who were underage, or disrespecting pronouns changes. Gindi has since stepped away from social media.

The Division 2 development team has notified players that a recent update has caused an error that is now preventing the team from updating the game at all.

The Division 2 development team took to Twitter to explain the unfortunate situation, saying it was caused when they were trying to deal with a localization issue. While they were fixing that particular problem, another one popped up that "brought down the build generation system for The Division 2." This, in turn, broke the whole updating system.

A message from #TheDivision2 team. pic.twitter.com/KuPiz7t9PL

— Tom Clancy's The Division (@TheDivisionGame) February 9, 2023

"Dear Agents, last week, we shared news that the season would be delayed due to a localization issue," The Division 2 development team wrote. "This past Saturday, in the process of creating the update which would resolve the issue, we encountered an error that brought down the build generation system for The Division 2. As a result, we cannot update the game until this system has been rebuilt."

In the past, when a season was delayed, the team had been able to extend activities from the previous season. However, they are unable to do this as they can, once again, make no updates to the game until "the build generation system is restored."

After years of smaller updates, Team Fortress 2 is set to get a major update this summer that will add items, maps, taunts, Steam Workshop Creators' content, and much more.

The Team Fortress 2 team shared the update in a blog, and addressed it mainly to Steam Workshop Creators.

"Steam Workshop Creators, can we have your attention please," The blog reads. "The following message is so urgent, so time-sensitive, we made the executive decision to skip TikTok and Twitter entirely and break the glass on the most bleeding-edge communication technology available. Welcome to the future. Welcome… to a 'blog-post.'"

After the funny intro, it went on to confirm that, while "the last few Team Fortress summer events have only been item updates," there are much bigger plans in store for this year.

"We're planning on shipping a full-on update-sized update — with items, maps, taunts, unusual effects, war paints and who knows what else?! Which means we need Steam Workshop content! YOUR Steam Workshop content," The TF2 team said.

For those interested, be sure to get your submissions into the Steam Workshop by May 1 so they can be "considered for this as-yet-unnamed, un-themed, but still very exciting summer-situated (but not summer-themed) (unless you wanted to develop summer-themed stuff) update."

A good action game lives and dies by the strength of its combat, true, but combat mechanics are just one part of the equation. Equally important are the enemies that put those combat mechanics to the test. And so one of the things that I was most curious about during my visit to Respawn was the enemy design of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. Fortunately, I had Design Director Jason de Heras and Production Director Kasumi Shishido to walk me through a handful of new enemy types that are determined to stand in the way of Cal Kestis.

Our first look at Pacific Drive in Sony's September 2022 State of Play left us with more questions than answers: what is going on in this spooky forest, what is up with this station wagon, and most importantly, what is this game about? After a short hands-off demo session of the upcoming first-person driving survival game with the developers at Ironwood Studios, I came away intrigued to see just how crazy this survival road-lite game will be.

I sat in the passenger seat while Pacific Drive's developers took the wheel to show me what to expect from this quirky car game. I got to see the world, its dangers, and, most importantly, the station wagon. Pacific Drive’s anomaly-filled version of the Pacific Northwest will take you deep into what's referred to as the Olympic Exclusion zone, filled with all sorts of mysterious phenomena. The goal is to venture further into the world across five biomes, each filled with unique anomalies and challenges, in the hopes of discovering the mystery at the center. Runs are split into different legs of a trip between checkpoints, where you must gather supplies to ensure your car can survive in the long run. Each section will have you searching for a magical orb called an anchor that will allow you to warp back to your garage for a short respite before beginning the next area. Failing to find the anchor and reach your exit point before running out of gas or power or losing your car to damage will cost you resources and send you back to your garage.

Hogwarts Legacy has had one of the biggest early access launches in Steam history for a paid, single player game.

As spotted by VGC, analyst Benji-Sales tweeted that Avalanche Software’s wizarding RPG has already achieved an all time concurrent player peak of 474,144, which has since risen by over 15,000 to 489,139.

Benji-Sales noted that the pre-launch figure represents the second highest player peak for any paid, single player game in the history of the Steam platform according to SteamDB.

Hogwarts Legacy Early Access has passed the All-Time Steam Peak of Fallout 4

Hogwarts Legacy is now the #2 highest peak in history for a paid single-player only game (Elden Ring has multiplayer) only behind Cyberpunk 2077

Peak
• Hogwarts Legacy: 474,144+

• Fallout 4: 472,962 pic.twitter.com/HFOEiFFCup

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom has the largest file size of any first party Nintendo Switch game, even coming in larger than its predecessor Breath of the Wild.

As spotted by Reddit user Bob (below) and confirmed on the Nintendo eShop, the base file size of Tears of the Kingdom comes in at 18.2 GB.

While this is still a small number in comparison to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series games, which can often use upwards of 100 GB of storage, it's enough to put Tears of the Kingdom atop the list of first party Switch games.

Breath of the Wild was once the largest first party Switch game by a long shot at 14.4 GB, though other Nintendo first party titles have since brushed shoulders with it such as Xenoblade Chronicles 3 at 14.38 GB and Fire Emblem Engage at 12.68 GB.

The larger file size certainly indicates that Tears of the Kingdom will be a bigger game than Breath of the Wild and other first party Switch titles, evidenced further by Nintendo giving it a $69.99 price tag.

While the latest trailer for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom gave fans plenty of new things to get excited about, it also appeared to show a classic enemy from the N64's Ocarina of Time.

The infamous ReDead monster can be seen nestled between a Lizalfos and what appears to be a giant Bokoblin in a gameplay trailer shared during February 8's Nintendo Direct.

The trailer only showed the ReDead for a couple of seconds, but those familiar with previous Zelda games will understand how it fits into a darker version of Hyrule.

It’s been four months since we last saw The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, but with less than a hundred days to go until we get the sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Nintendo couldn’t help but give us another look at the game.

Despite two new trailers within months, we’re still not any closer to learning more about what is happening in Hyrule during the events of Tears of the Kingdom. We do, however, get a better glimpse of some of the new gameplay mechanics we’re sure to see when we dive back in.

Here are the biggest surprises we saw in the new Tears of the Kingdom trailer.

Vehicular Fun

Do you remember how weeks after Breath of the Wild released players began sharing videos of themselves creating homebrewed airplanes and cars made from barrels and baskets? It seems like Nintendo thought those were pretty good ideas and decided to integrate vehicles directly into the sequel, Tears of the Kingdom.

The ancient Master Cycle Zero was obviously added to Breath of the Wild as part of the Champions’ Ballad expansion, but the trailer highlights many more new vehicles players can ride, including some kind of hovercraft, a land rover, and a hot air balloon.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom was shown off again at Nintendo's most recent Direct live stream, and featured a few minutes of new gameplay footage. The game is officially up for preorder in the UK, and will now cost £59.99 (and $69.99 in the US, unfortunately for them).

But, if you're savvy enough you can definitely save some money on your preorder in the UK. Affordable gaming retailer Hit (previously Base) and ShopTo both still have their preorders for Tears of the Kingdom down at £49.85. Other retailers such as Amazon, GAME, and Argos have the game available to preorder as well, but now at the new price of £59.99.

The Collector's Edition was also briefly available to preorder at GAME, but is now out of stock. You can also now register your interest for the Collector's Edition and Link -Tears of the Kingdom amiibo from Nintendo, but keep an eye on @IGNUKDeals as we'll tweet when these are available to preorder as well.

TL;DR - Best UK Deals Right Now

Is the Nintendo Switch too old? Can Nintendo's wildly successful handheld, now in its sixth year, maintain its momentum amid concerns about horsepower and a potentially barren release schedule in the second half of 2023? Is The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom really worth $70?

These were some of the questions being asked heading into the first Nintendo Direct of 2023 — a show that Nintendo typically uses to set the agenda for the rest of the year. There was excitement among Nintendo fans, but wariness as well. Coming off a year marred by releases with notable technical problems, and with the long-rumored Switch Pro failing to materialize, the calls for a next-gen Switch have become difficult to ignore.

A busy week of Xbox news has us discussing the recent cancellation of a secret Titanfall single-player project at Respawn and why we sadly may never see Titanfall again. Plus: live-service multiplayer games are getting shut off left and right, so what does it mean for the industry? Also: how will DC's plan to integrate video games into the DCU go over with developers, MLB The Show 23 adds a wonderful new feature that celebrates a key part of baseball history, Tim Schafer heads to the Hall of Fame, and more!

Subscribe on any of your favorite podcast feeds, to our YouTube channel, or grab an MP3 of this week's episode. For more awesome content, check out our interview with Todd Howard, who answered all of our Starfield questions after the big reveal at the Xbox Showcase:

For more next-gen coverage, make sure to check out our Xbox Series X review, our Xbox Series S review, and our PS5 review.

Ryan McCaffrey is IGN's executive editor of previews and host of both IGN's weekly Xbox show, Podcast Unlocked, as well as our monthly(-ish) interview show, IGN Unfiltered. He's a North Jersey guy, so it's "Taylor ham," not "pork roll." Debate it with him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan.

Kirby's Return To Dream Land originally came out in 2011, right at the tail end of the Wii's incandescent lifespan. It aimed to be Kirby in its purest, SNES-aping form; a bright, side-scrolling beat-em-up laden with digestible power-ups, airy platforming, and a flat difficulty curve. (In other words, it wasn't a kart racer, or a pinball machine.) Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe, which hits the Switch later this month, is effectively the same game with some notable bells and whistles tacked on. If Kirby's recent foray into the Forgotten Land has you hungry for more of his trademark dayglo hijinks, then Nintendo will gladly let us explore the fairly recent past.

Return to Dream Land was built around the chaos of four-player co-op, which translates nicely to the Switch's flexibility. I played the game using a single Joy-Con on its side, and given how Kirby has never been the most mechanically dexterous series on the planet, I had no trouble chowing down on the many hapless Waddle Doos in my reign of terror. If Kirby doesn't resonate with you, players can also strap into either Meta-Knight or King Dedede — both of whom have apparently defected to the side of righteousness for this adventure — to aid in the campaign. The controls are eerily similar to what you might find in Super Smash Bros., with distinct attack abilities mapped to the directional tilt of the joystick. Yes, Kirby has an up-B, a down-B, and even a bubble shield in Return to Dream Land. All that's missing is a grapple.

Nintendo has announced the first details on Wave 4 of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe's Booster Course Pass at today's Nintendo Direct, revealing the first glimpse of a new track and confirming Birdo is joining the racer roster.

Yoshi's Island is the first new course confirmed for Wave 4, which will contain seven other tracks as per the three previous waves. Nintendo stopped short of revealing a specific arrival date for Wave 4 of the Booster Course Pass, but it's set to arrive during the Northern Hemisphere spring.

The previous wave of tracks for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe arrived on December 7, 2022. The new courses are only available as part of the Booster Course Pass and cannot be purchased individually. Eight courses are being released at a time over six waves by the end of 2023.

For more news from today's Nintendo Direct, check out our roundup of everything announced.

Luke is Games Editor at IGN's Sydney office. You can chat to him on Twitter @MrLukeReilly.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom will officially be the first Nintendo Switch exclusive to retail for $70, moving up from the previous standard of $60.

The title was listed on the Nintendo eShop at the price after today's Nintendo Direct, which also revealed some Tears of the Kingdom gameplay footage.

The confirmation comes after the wildly anticipated sequel was briefly listed on the Nintendo eShop for $70 ahead of today's Direct, but then removed. That's not before it was noticed and circulated on social media, however, and major retailers like Amazon, Best Buy, and GameStop stopped taking pre-orders that were previously set at $60.

Tears of the Kingdom is now available for pre-order at Best Buy for $70, though other retailers do not appear to have updated their prices yet.

With that $70 price point having leaked, debate already ignited on social media, with some taking issue with the higher price. Others, however, argue that it's justified, especially given inflation and the fact that other publishers have adopted the $70 price point as the new standard.

It won’t be popular but Nintendo can absolutely justify charging $70 for Tears of the Kingdom. It’s their most premium game and they can point to earlier pricing by Sony and Xbox as setting the market. I doubt this will be their default pricing for everything from here on.

A new Fantasy Life game was announced during today's Nintendo Direct livestream.

Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time is an RPG life-sim game and is likely a sequel to Fantasy Life, which launched back in 2014 for the Nintendo 3DS. In the upcoming title, players will get to travel through time as you build your island in the best way you best see fit.

Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time will have players swapping between roles from woodcutter to blacksmith and paladin as you use these roles to help complete tasks and progress through the game.

In our review for the original Fantasy Life, which we gave a 7, reviewer Megan Sullivan noted that the game "is an addictive blend of life simulation and RPG that kept us playing long after the credits rolled."

While no specific release date was given, Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time will launch sometime this year exclusively on Nintendo Switch.

Taylor is the Associate Tech Editor at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.

A familiar top hat made an appearance during today's Nintendo Direct, as a new teaser revealed that Professor Layton would be coming to the Switch in a new game called Professor Layton and the New World of Steam.

No release date was given, and as the teaser contained no gameplay or other details it's unlikely to come this year.

The last time we heard from the puzzle-solving lad was in 2017 with Layton's Mystery Journey on the Nintendo 3DS, making this the first entry in five years and the first time Layton has appeared on the Switch.

Professor Layton was an incredibly popular series for the DS and 3DS for years, spawning four main games on the DS, three on the 3DS, and a spin-off mobile game. It also inspired a feature film in 2009, a 50-episode anime, and a manga.

Check out everything announced during today's Nintendo Direct, including a Metroid Prime Remastered shadow drop and new The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom footage, right here.

Travis Northup is a freelance news writer at IGN.

Nintendo has shared our longest look at The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom thus far, and we're sure to be dissecting it for months. Along with the new footage, Nintendo showed off a collector's edition and amiibo figure releasing alongside the game.

Revealed in today's Nintendo Direct, the new footage showed a very dark time for the world of Hyrule. Lightning strikes, rainfall, and Blood Moons set the stage for what's looking like a grim adventure for Link. An unknown narrator says, "Rise, rise my servants. Sweep over Hyrule, eliminate this Kingdom and her allies, leave no survivors!" Zelda later tells Link she's not sure he can beat this unknown foe. Time will tell if this is Ganondorf or some other unknown enemy.

We also got a look at some new enemy types and features not seen in 2017's Breath of the Wild. New Wyvern-like creatures are shown carrying Moblins into battle, while Link faces off against a giant mechanical enemy made out of blocks.

Plenty of sky gameplay is also seen, which has been a big theme so far in Tears of the Kingdom's pre-release coverage. We see Link gliding around on some new form of technology, while also driving it on the ground like a car. The trailer ends with Zelda asking someone, "Please, lend him your power," as we're left with a shot of Link reaching for Zelda as she falls into a chasm. Don't forget to breathe while you watch the brand new trailer below.

It's a great day for fans of the GameCube, because out of the polluted, barren earth, we have found a future in the sky once again: it's Baten Kaitos, baby! This Monolith Soft RPG and its prequel are emerging from the fog of 2003 for a much-deserved HD remaster, and it's coming this summer.

The remastered collection appears to have new and improved UI and main character graphics, a stabilized framerate, and new features including the ability to turn off encounters, auto battling, skipping cutscenes, and autosaving. Interestingly, the voiceover languages listed only seem to include Japanese for now - though the English voice acting of Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean was one of the main criticisms of it at the time.

Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean was first released in 2003 for the Nintendo GameCube as a collaboration between Monolith Soft and tri-Crescendo, published by Bandai Namco predecessor Namco. It takes place in a world of sky islands hovering far above a polluted earth, where a group of nefarious actors are attempting to awaken an evil god and ignite an era of chaos. You play as the guardian spirit of a man named Kalas on a mission of revenge, joined by a young woman named Xelha with a much greater mission in mind. Its prequel, Origins, has similar but improved systems, and a whole new cast of characters exploring new and familiar locations from the first game on a quest of their own.

Nintendo has announced Deca Police for Nintendo Switch, a new game from Professor Layton and Ni no Kuni developer Level 5. The announcement comes via today's Nintendo Direct.

The short segment teases the game as a "suspenseful thriller" that features two separate worlds – one of which is virtual and used for detective training. This virtual world appears to be attacked by hackers during the game.

A precise release date was not confirmed, but Deca Police will be available on Switch during 2023.

For more news from today's Nintendo Direct, check out our roundup of everything announced.

Luke is Games Editor at IGN's Sydney office. You can chat to him on Twitter @MrLukeReilly.

Nintendo has announced that it is adding Game Boy and Game Boy Advance games to the Nintendo Switch Online subscription service, and they're coming later today.

Revealed as part of today's Nintendo Direct event, Nintendo said that classic Game Boy games will be available as part of the basic Nintendo Switch Online subscription, while Game Boy Advance games are coming as part of the premium Expansion Pack upgrade for Switch Online.

Game Boy games included at launch include Tetris, Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins, The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX, Gargoyle's Quest, Game & Watch Gallery 3, Alonme in the Dark: The New Nightmare, Metroid II: Return of Samus, Wario Land 3, and Kirby's Dream Land. You can use the Game Boy, Game Boy Pocket, and Game Boy Color filters.

The launch lineup for Game Boy Advance includes Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3, WarioWare Inc.: Mega MicroGames, Kuru Kuru Kuruin, Mario Kart: Super Circuit, Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, and The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap.

More games are coming in the future for both platforms. The trailer teased: Metroid Fusion, Kirby and the Amazing Mirror, Fire Emblem, F-Zero: Maximum Velocity, and Golden Sun.

After years of rumors, Metroid Prime is finally getting a remaster on Nintendo Switch, and it's out on eShop today.

Announced during today's Nintendo Direct, the remaster will feature new twin stick controls among other enhancements. A physical release was also announced, with a release date planned at a future date.

Metroid Prime was released for GameCube in 2002, and translated the series' 2D style into a first-person game with huge success. At the time we awarded it a 9.8/10 review, calling it "an instant classic that you will use to measure forthcoming software by."

After a trilogy of games, Metroid Prime went quiet, but 2017 saw the announcement of a fourth game – although that game went through some development issues before being handed to original developer Retro Studios.

It seems Nintendo is finally embracing Metroid once more, however – between this remaster, Metroid Prime 4, and the excellent Metroid Dread, the series is undergoing something of a renaissance.

Metroid Prime will be out on Nintendo eShop today. Check out everything announced during today's Nintendo Direct right here.

Developing...

Harmony: The Fall of Reverie, a new game from Life Is Strange developer Don't Nod, was announced during today's Nintendo Direct.

The game is a narrative adventure, set in a world where the mystical "Reverie" plane has intersected with the real world. Players will step into the shoes of Polly, "an upbeat young woman who can travel between our world and Reverie."

When a megacorporation theaters the balance between these two worlds, Polly must use the power of "divine clairvoyance" to travel between worlds, see the future, and "decide humanity's fate." The game features many branching narrative paths, with the player ultimately deciding to side with one of the six different god-like "Aspirations."

Harmony features a beautiful hand-drawn art style, and a soundtrack from Celeste-composer Lena Raine.

Harmony: The Fall of Reverie is coming to the Nintendo Switch in June 2023.

For more from today's Nintendo Direct, including a Metroid Prime Remastered shadow drop and a new look at The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, check out our roundup of everything announced.

Bo Moore is IGN's tech editor.

A port of the Nintendo DS title Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective, a detective game where you solve crimes as a spirit named Sissel, was announced by Capcom during today's Nintendo Direct.

The port will be available on PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC via Steam. It will also come with higher gameplay quality, adapted for 1080p/60fps visuals; optimitized UI features; three new languages (Korean, simplified Chinese, and traditional Chinese); new challenges; and fresh music and illustrations.

The game follows Sissel, a brace phantom who's been unexpectedly stranded in the afterlife and lost his memory. The players helps Sissel solve the mystery behind his death by using his newfound supernatural abilities.

Ghost Trick was originally released in North America in 2011, which IGN had high praise for at the time for its innovation of the point-and-click adventure genre and compared it to the likes of Ace Attorney and The Secret of Monkey Island -- high praise indeed.

If you're a fan of the Ace Attorney games, you might be interested to know that this game was written and directed by Shu Takum, the creator of that series iconic series (he sure does love his murder mysteries).

Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective will be available this summer. Checking out everything announced during today's Nintendo Direct right here.

Travis Northup is a freelance news writer at IGN.

Atlus has announced that the first three Etrian Odyssey games are coming to Nintendo Switch and Steam in a remastered collection on June 1.

Revealed as a surprise announcement during the February 8 Nintendo Direct, the Etrian Odyssey Origins Collection will include HD versions of the original trilogy alongside several other improvements, and can be purchased as one package or separately.

Changes include a remastered soundtrack to go alongside the remastered graphics, various quality of life improvements including difficulty selection and save slots, easy access to the monster compendium, skill tree, and quest log, plus 24 new character portraits.

The Nintendo Switch version will also have touch screen functionality that lets players plot their progress through the labyrinth by marking certain paths, drawing walls, and adding icons to indicate special events and items.

The Steam version will offer something similar, using full mouse support to assist the player in menus, on the map, and while exploring dungeons.

Preordering the Origins Collection will also reward players with bonus content in the form of three DLC packs that include popular characters from other Atlus games. DLC Set 1 includes Joker from Persona 5 and Ringo from Soul Hackers 2, DLC Set 2 includes Demi-Fiend from Shin Megami Tensei 3 and Teddie from Persona 4, and DLC Set 3 includes Aigis from Persona 3 and Nahobino from Shin Megami Tensei 5.

The DLC packs will otherwise be available for $2.99 once the remastered Etrian Odyssey games are released in June.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer and acting UK news editor. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

Splatoon 3's paid DLC is giving players an ink blast from the past, as Wave 1 features a return to Splatoon 1's hub world, Inkopolis.

Announced during today's Nintendo Direct, the first wave of the newly-revealed Splatoon 3 Expansion Pass allows squid kids to go revisit all their favorite shops and characters from 2015's original Splatoon. Wave 1 is coming sometime this Spring.

In Inkopolis, you'll be able to go shopping at the classic stores from Splatoon 1, but the products will be the same as in Splatoon 3's main hub world, meaning you'll be able to pick whichever hangout spot fits your vibe best. Squid Sisters Callie and Marie will also perform live in Inkopolis during Splatoon 3's Splatfests.

The Splatoon 3 Expansion Pass also teased Side Order, which will be a new mode included in Wave 2 sometime in the future. The footage showed off a colorless world, where it will presumably be our job to paint. It's safe to assume this DLC will be somewhat similar to Splatoon 2's Octo Expansion, which added an entire campaign's-worth of new single-player levels.

We called Splatoon 3's multiplayer amazing in our review, saying, "Building from the solid foundations of its predecessors, the deluge of impressive quality of life changes and exciting improvements Splatoon 3 brings make it hard to imagine the ink-based shooter series as it was before this."

For the classical Disney geeks yearning for some good old fashioned Mickey Mouse nonsense, today's Nintendo Direct gave us a new look at the upcoming four-player co-op platformer, Disney Illusion Island. And it came along with a release date of July 28, 2023.

Disney Illusion Island was first shown off in September of last year at D23, where we got a look at co-op play with Mickey, Minnie, Donald, and Goofy. This new trailer shows a bit more of each character's unique animations and powers, and we see them jumping, swinging, swimming, and exploring the mysterious island as a group. There's even a cute moment where Mickey and Minnie share an adorable hug, and we see Goofy performing silly aerial feats on a giant squirting mustard bottle.

Overall, the gameplay looks a bit like Ori and the Blind Forest but with up to four characters (you can play solo or in smaller groups, too). There are various NPCs scattered around to meet, as well as boss battles that appear to take advantage of the platforming mechanics for some potentially interesting challenges.

Looking to stock up your board game cabinet? Now is a good time to do so, because Amazon is offering a Buy One, Get One 50% Off promotion on select board games. The quality of the deal varies; some board games are priced lower than on Black Friday after the discount, and others are markedly higher. Below, we've picked the best board games that we think are worth getting.

Wingspan

Wingspan from Stonemeier Games is an incredibly good board game. So good in fact that we deemed it the best board game of 2019. Wingspan looks like a deceptively simple game; the endgame goal is to attract as many birds as you can to your wildlife preserve and help them proliferate. There are only four actions you can perform: draw a bird card, play a bird card, get food, and lay eggs. Sounds simple enough, right? Well let's just say these four actions mask an incredibly complex (albeit very newbie-friendly) engine-building game with which you will have to juggle between bringing new birds into the fold and keeping your existing birds well stocked and in a breeding frenzy. Wingspan is infinitely replayable and you'll find yourself developing and honing new strategies with every subsequent playthough.

Gloomhaven: Jaw of the Lion

In a major surprise for practically everyone, during today's Nintendo Direct event, the company revealed a new Samba de Amigo game would be coming to the Nintendo Switch.

Samba de Amigo: Party Central is a rhythm game that features a playlist of over 40 songs across a wide range of genres like Latin and pop music. Alongside the core gameplay, which requires motion controls to shake high, middle, or low spots visible on the screen, Sama de Amigo: Party Central also includes a slew of mini-games and challenges to partake in. Party Central also features local and online multiplayer support with up to 8 friends to join in.

The last Samba de Amigo game released was a port made for the Nintendo Wii, which launched back in 2008. In our review of Samba de Amigo for the Wii, which we gave a 7.5, we noted that it's good for casual gamers, but might be a bit frustrating for fans that played the original game on the Dreamcast.

Samba de Amigo: Party Central will be released sometime this summer.

Taylor is the Associate Tech Editor at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.

Last year, after seven years of fuzzy, half-baked mentions of the game in intervies and sundry, we finally got the for realsies announcement of Pikmin 4. However, thus far we've only had the most teasing glimpse of what the little plant friends' new game would look like...until now.

Today's Nintendo Direct included our first gameplay trailer of Pikmin 4, featuring a new player character, a new Ice-type Pikmin, and a strong dog friend named Oatchi who can help you and your Pikmin crush walls, pull heavy objects, and traverse water. We also got a release date: Pikmin 4 is coming on July 21, 2023.

Pikmin 4 has reportedly been in the works for years now, with Shigeru Miyamoto saying way back in 2015 that it was "very close to completion" and rumors surfacing again in 2016 and 2017 that work was still going on. Then it was radio silence until last fall, when we got an official announcement at a Direct. Our review of its freshly Switch-ported predecessor said that Pikmin 3 Deluxe made "an already excellent game even better", making it worth picking up before Pikmin 4 if you missed the Wii U rendition.

It's the best kind of day because a brand-new Nintendo Direct has arrived. It was an exciting show that gave us a brand-new look at The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, a shadow drop of Metroid Prime Remastered, the reveal of today's launch of Game Boy and Game Boy Advance games on Nintendo Switch Online, a Pikmin 4 release date, and so much more.

There were a TON of other big announcements, and we've gathered each and every reveal and trailer for all the games headed soon to Nintendo Switch.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Gets a New Gameplay Trailer, Collector's Edition, and Link amiibo

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom was the final game featured in the Nintendo Direct and we got a brand-new look at the much-anticipated sequel to 2017's The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. In addition, Nintendo also shared a first look at the game's collector's edition and a new Link amiibo.

The standard edition of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom will be the first Switch exclusive to retail for $69.99. The collector's edition, on the other hand, will cost $129.99 and it includes a physical version of the game, an artbook, a Steelbook case, an Iconart steel poster, and a set of four pin badges.

The new Link amiibo will give players access to "material and weapons, as well as a special fabric for Link's paraglider.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is still set to be released on May 12, 2023.

Microsoft has been putting out new Xbox controller designs at a steady clip for years now. The latest is an eye-catching entry called Xbox Wireless Controller - Stellar Shift Special Edition. It continues the Shift line that includes the Aqua Shift and Lunar Shift designs, and it looks pretty great. It costs $69.99 and you can order it now at Best Buy and the Microsoft Store.

Xbox Wireless Controller - Stellar Shift

The controller is a somewhat shiny kind of purple-blue color that shifts hues as you turn it. You can see the color-changing effect in a video in the official announcement. Xbox PR says it has “deep space vibes.” It also has marbled purple and black textured grips on the handles that goes well with the overall somewhat trippy design of the device.

Textured grips are also in place on the triggers, bumpers, and back case, meaning your fingers shouldn’t be slipping off this thing no matter how intense your gaming session gets. Most of the rest of the features are pretty standard for Xbox controllers. Xbox makes the best controller of them all, in my opinion.

Following a two-week delay, Activision has fully revealed the Season 2 roadmap for both Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and its free-to-play companion game, Warzone 2.0.

The extensive list of updates includes new maps for both games, the return of popular modes, and even a new watercraft vehicle. More importantly, it will add ranked play to multiplayer in Modern Warfare 2, which will offer "plenty of rewards and bragging rights."

Season 2 is currently slated to launch for both games on February 15 at 9am PT.

The #CODBlog has everything you need to know about Call of Duty #Warzone2 and #MWII Season 02 👉 https://t.co/7IPLy2iMju

🌊 Resurgence is back on Ashika Island
📈 Grind to the top with MP Ranked Play
🎯 Infected and Gun Game return
🔥 Major BR changes including 1v1 Gulag pic.twitter.com/sz7uLLItCC

— Call of Duty (@CallofDuty) February 8, 2023

In a blog post detailing the updates, Activision laid out the changes while revealing Warzone's new Japanese-themed Ashika Island map. Here's the official description.