Gaming

The new game, inspired by the world of Pokémon X & Y, is coming to Switch and Switch 2 this October 16 2025.

For players who purchase the game on Nintendo Switch, a Switch 2 "upgrade pack" will be available to purchase, which presumably means the game will cost more for Switch 2 users. From The Pokémon Company:

The cover art has also been unveiled, featuring the game’s main characters and their partner Pokémon battling a Mega-Evolved Pokémon at night in Lumiose City.

Pokémon Legends: Z-A is a new frontier for the Pokémon video game series, blending an RPG story unfolding in a single city with action elements and a real-time battle system unlike anything seen before in the franchise. Trainers can look forward to the beginning of a new adventure in Lumiose City—one woven by people and Pokémon together!​

I've been following indie 3D platformer Big Hops development on Twitter, and now Bluesky, for years now. The game features all the bells, whistles and twists that you would expect from a modern take on the genre. And now for the first time I've been able to play it via a demo on Steam.

With elements of The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild and Mario Odyssey, as well as its own unique and clearly fine-tuned art-style, the game feels amazing. In a way that other indie platformers sometimes miss. There's clearly a level of polish that Big Hops is going for. But the team at Luckshot Games might need some help.

Developer Chris Wade at Luckshot Games announced the demo over on Bluesky today, alongside news of a Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 release at the end of the year. He also announced that the games publisher had dropped the game, and they're instead turning to Kickstarter for more support.

Definitely give the demo a go and let us know what you think!

Big Hops on Steam

Tongue-swing, free climb, and build your own path forward in a new kind of 3D platformer! Plant veggie bounce pads, tightropes, hookshots, and much more. Find a way home through huge Desert, Ocean, and Mountain worlds and collect bugs, upgrade your backpack, and meet animal friends along the way.

STEAM

It is a brutal day for institutional games media, and independent media cannot fill the void.

Polygon Acquired by Porn Mogul Who Co-Founded Brazzers

Before he founded Valnet, Hassan Youssef started one of the biggest porn sites on the internet.

404 MediaSamantha Cole

This blog is a "side gig" of sorts for me, so sometimes it's hard to balance finding time to play the latest games before they come out with my real life.

When a review code for Blue Prince arrived around a week ago I assumed I'd get sidetracked and let it slide by. Instead I played 10+ hours of the surprise gem over one weekend. Just one more run, I'd say, before genuinely looking outside and seeing that several hours had passed by and it was suddenly pitch black. I normally hate run-based games where progression can feel just out of reach and luck-based, but Blue Prince almost had a Tetris-effect on me. I'd stop playing and still have the twists and turns of this house running through my brain. At one point I had the room-selection UI pop into my head as I left my real house.

I haven't uncovered every secret the game has to offer, or even rolled credits. I think I'm very close, but also from the sound of things I'm far from done.

But 16+ hours in I'm obsessed and can't stop wondering what's next in this deceptively simple-seeming puzzle game, one that's built around perfect bite-sized runs and strategic play.

Blue Prince has a bit of a board game vibe to it. As the player you explore an inherited house. At the start of each day the house isn't sketched out at all. Every room could be the key to victory, if you can manage to find a path through the house.

Like a board game, each room of the house is generated from a selection of 3 rooms, kinda like picking up 3 cards from a deck at the start of a turn. You're trying to get to a certain room on the board, but this can be limited by your inventory and which randomly selected rooms are offered to you. You might hit a road-block and have to end the day.

Different rooms contain different tools, perks and paths. The currency of the game includes steps, which count down with each room you enter and exit, as well as gems, coins and keys. They're all essential to progression and incredibly difficult to balance. Sometimes finding just one bit of food will save an entire run. Sometimes a key is the difference between today and tomorrow.

Some rooms will punish you, by taking away steps, while others will give you more time to explore the house. You'll find yourself locked out of progressing, or lacking the gems required to open a new type of room that you haven't seen before.

I've felt so many types of emotions playing this game. It has environmental storytelling that just trails along in the background, and everything may or may not be a clue to progression. Simple things that you might walk past a hundred times can eventually become a puzzle to solve. It's best to have a physical notebook by your side as you play, and my own is filled with the scribbles of a mad-man. Everything is a clue, every note, every item.

But runs can also end very quickly. Sometimes you'll get blocked off by a bad set of 3 rooms that equate to a dead end. Sometimes you'll need to collect a key or gem to unlock a door. Some doors are hidden behind specific items. Some specific items uncover powerful specific rooms. Or sometimes you'll have a great run where you're wealthy and able to get extremely far into the house.

When I'd get a great run going, it almost felt like I was winning a lottery. But there's also a need for tactics too, it isn't just luck-based. There are even permanent perks that you'll need to work hard to uncover.

Overall it's best to go in blind though. The best part of this whole review period was simply the fact that barely any discussion around this game existed online, apart from some discussions around a demo released last year.

I think the key tip from me is to explore. Don't worry about how many days have passed, but instead look around. Always pick new rooms if you're offered them, even if it leads to a dead end.

And avoid spoilers at all costs. I've already told you too much (but not really).

(Also yes, the name is kinda a pun for Blueprints, don't let that scare you off)

While the Nintendo Switch 2 is backwards compatible with most Nintendo Switch games, old games won't necessarily run or look any better on the new console.

Instead Nintendo today announced "Nintendo Switch 2 Edition" versions of games, which will be sold at full price, but also with upgrade paths for existing customers. Upgrade pricing was not yet announced.

For The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild and The Legend Of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom, a Switch 2 Edition upgrade will bump up resolutions and framerates. A 60FPS target wasn't specified, so the games might still wobble around that level.

Both titles previously targeted 30FPS, but on the original Switch console the games could definitely struggle, especially Tears Of The Kingdom.

To sweeten the deal additional content and features were also announced for a few of these upgraded editions. But it still would have been nice to see Nintendo give this to customers for free. Hopefully the upgrade pricing is a reasonable $10-$15 and not anything ridiculous.

Nintendo put the highly anticipated follow up to Hollow Knight in a sizzle reel during its Nintendo Switch 2 Direct.

The Australian game from Team Cherry was expected to come out in 2022/2023. A the time, as a title launching on Xbox Game Pass, the game was shown at an Xbox Showcase in June 2022. Since then it's been almost radio silence from Team Cherry, apart from a few hints here and there.

So it was funny to see a new 2025 release window hidden in a sizzle reel for the Switch 2 announcement livestream. The game was always expected to come to Nintendo platforms, but it's been a very long time since we've seen the game.

Fingers crossed it doesn't slip into 2026...

From Nintendo:

The moontears will flow for one and one alone in The Duskbloods, a brand-new multiplayer title from the creators of DARK SOULS and ELDEN RING, FromSoftware. Available exclusively for Nintendo Switch 2, The Duskbloods launches next year. Read more in our upcoming developer diary series, Creator's Voice, with the game’s director Hidetaka Miyazaki, coming on April 4th.

Nintendo is bringing GameCube games to Nintendo Switch 2 on launch day. Starting June 5 2025 subscribers who have the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscription will be able to play a few GameCube games.

At launch you can play The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, F-ZERO GX, and SOULCALIBUR II. More games will be added in the same inconsistent way as with previous Switch Online offerings. And a wireless GameCube replica controller will also be available for subscribers to buy separately.

Currently available for pre-order at JB Hi-Fi and EB Games.

Nintendo also has a very detailed backward compatibility breakdown with the Nintendo Switch 1 here:

Nintendo Switch games compatibility

Learn which Nintendo Switch games may not be supported on or fully compatible with Nintendo Switch 2.

Not only is Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3+4 now official, there's also a pretty wild physical Collector's Edition that comes with a real skateboard deck.

If we do the math, the physical Collector's Edition is $124 more expensive than the digital version, meaning you're paying a pretty penny for the included deck.

But if that's not enough to dissuade, JB Hi-Fi has it for $229 and EB Games has it for $229.95.

The normal game is available for $84 physically or around $75 on digital storefronts and launches July 11 on PlayStation 4 + 5, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Steam and Nintendo Switch.

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 Collector’s Edition

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 Collector’s Edition

JB Hi-Fi

Nintendo will reportedly reveal Switch 2 this week | VGC

Insider claims Nintendo’s next console reveal is set for January 16…

Video Games ChronicleAndy Robinson

in case it wasn't obvious from my tease in Notepad last week, I've heard it should be the Switch 2 reveal this week 👍

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— Tom Warren (@tomwarren.co.uk) Jan 14, 2025 at 2:34

itch.io is back after being "taken down" by Brand Shield, which was being used by Funko for "AI" brand protection.

Brand Shield's website says the software "delivers cutting-edge online brand protection using AI-powered technology to proactively monitor digital landscapes for trademark infringements, phishing attempts, brand abuse, and counterfeit activity. Our dedicated team responds swiftly to mitigate these threats, safeguarding your brand’s reputation, revenue, and customer trust."

I kid you not, @itch.io has been taken down by Funko of "Funko Pop" because they use some trash "AI Powered" Brand Protection Software called Brand Shield that created some bogus Phishing report to our registrar, iwantmyname, who ignored our response and just disabled the domain

— itch.io (@itch.io) December 9, 2024 at 6:13 PM

Funko pops... never again 🥴We're back if you haven't noticed!

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— itch.io (@itch.io) December 10, 2024 at 7:06 AM

This is not a joke, Funko just called my mom pic.twitter.com/P1ST7DDD2i

— itch.io (@itchio) December 9, 2024