Latest news with #EthanGach
Yahoo
26-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Switch 2 Preorders Open To Pure Chaos And More Of The Week's Top Stories
This week saw a few massive happenings in the world of games. First and foremost, after being delayed to allow Nintendo to take stock of the potential impact of President Trump's chaotic implementation of tariffs, the company finally kicked off retail pre-orders for the Switch 2 here in the U.S., and the results were chaotic. People struggling to place orders on sites like Walmart's and Target's encountered all kinds of errors, confusion, and sometimes even cancelation of orders they thought they'd successfully placed. Elsewhere, Bethesda finally released The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered after years of rumors and speculation, and Marvel Rivals support players are going on strike. Read on for these stories and more. Switch 2 preorders went live online at 12:01 a.m. ET and were every bit the mess some fans feared: pages timing out, error messages that weren't real, and email cancelations being received just moments after it seemed like orders had gone through. There must be a better way to do these. Not in time for the Switch 2 launch, unfortunately. - Ethan Gach Read More After many reports, leaks, and rumors, Bethesda officially unveiled The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered. And the $50 remaster is launching today on Xbox Series X/S, Game Pass, PS5, and PC. - Zack Zwiezen Read More Though we've known it's coming for a few days now, today Bethesda showed off its fancy new remaster of 2006's The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and it looks spectacular. It's also out, like, right-friggin-now! If you want to check out the whole reveal, you can do so here. But if you just want to peruse some lovely screenshots we nabbed during the reveal, read on. - Claire Jackson Read More Being a support player in a hero shooter is a thankless job. You keep everyone alive, and then your bad teammates still blame you when they run off and die trying to 1v6 the enemy team. Things have gotten so bad in the eyes of some Marvel Rivals' Strategist mains that a group of them are going on 'strike' by refusing to play the role and instead queueing up to play as tank and damage heroes instead. - Kenneth Shepard Read More After years of rumors, leaks, and speculation, Bethesda has finally confirmed the worst-kept video game industry secret of 2025. Yes, we are getting an Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion remaster. - Zack Zwiezen Read More The worst-kept secret of the year, Bethesda's current-gen remaster of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, finally shadow-dropped yesterday and the Xbox-360-era open-world RPG has wasted no time in reminding fans why it was such a hit nearly two decades ago. Complete with refreshed graphics, updated gameplay, and cherished memes intact, Oblivion Remastered is already topping Steam charts and taking players on an Unreal Engine 5-made trip down memory lane. - Ethan Gach Read More Switch 2 preorders don't begin in the U.S. until late tonight (12:01 a.m. ET on April 24), but they've already been underway in other parts of the world and even Nintendo has been shocked by the level of demand so far. The company said that, with over 2.2 million fans seeking to preorder a Switch 2 directly from My Nintendo in Japan alone, the demand already 'far exceeds' its ability to fulfill shipments to that country at launch. - Ethan Gach Read More Just an hour after Switch 2 pre-orders went live on April 24 in the United States, Kotaku has spotted over two dozen eBay listings for the upcoming Nintendo console. Some are real. Others are actually people making fake listings to throw off bots and scalpers. - Zack Zwiezen Read More kinjavideo-197541 The 4X strategy sequel just got a ton more highly requested features kinjavideo-197531 It seems like Goofy's son Max is a fan of his dad's multiverse adventure For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Yahoo
12-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
The Latest On How Trump's Tariffs Could Impact The Switch 2 And More Of The Week's Top Stories
This week, all eyes continue to be on the Switch 2, Trump's tariffs, and how the latter could impact the former. With the president putting a 90-day pause on the bulk of his announced tariffs and instead maintaining a 10-percent across-the-board tax, Nintendo is stockpiling consoles in the U.S. in advance of the planned June 5 launch date. In other news, new puzzle game Blue Prince has taken critics by storm, becoming the highest-rated game so far this year, and the developers of No Mercy, a visual-novel-style game with subject matter many find reprehensible, announced that they will be pulling the game from Steam, though they also defended the game in the same announcement. Read on for these stories and more. Switch 2 preorders were originally supposed to go live today but were halted by Nintendo in the U.S. and Canada after President Trump's latest round of tariffs threatened to torpedo its original $450 price. The White House is now suddenly backing off the most extreme import taxes less than a day after they went into effect. Is the Switch 2 in the clear, or will the latest act of brinkmanship just lead to more questions amid the uncertainty? - Ethan Gach Read More The studio behind No Mercy, a recently released 3D visual novel featuring non-consensual sex and incest, has announced that it plans to remove the game entirely from Steam after the game attracted controversy online. Valve pulled the game from the United Kingdom version of Steam after a government official slammed Valve for allowing No Mercy to be sold on the storefront. - Zack Zwiezen Read More Blue Prince is an ingenious first-person adventure about exploring a house and uncovering its tantalizingly unexpected secrets. It's already the highest-rated game of 2025 on Metacritic so far, and it also happens to be hitting Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Plus the day it comes out. - Ethan Gach Read More The Final Fantasy Universes Beyond set for Magic: The Gathering doesn't drop until June 13, but previously unrevealed cards have already been spotted in the wild after a starter kit seemingly got into someone's hands early. Thanks to the decks inside, fans have now gotten early looks at Steiner from Final Fantasy IX, Barret Wallace from Final Fantasy VII, and a bunch of other favorites from the Square Enix RPG. - Ethan Gach Read More All of the cool stuff revealed in last week's Switch 2 Direct was quickly overshadowed by worries about its higher prices, including $450 for the console and Mario Kart World being Nintendo's first $80 game. Then the company halted pre-orders in the U.S. in the face of unprecedented tariffs that could push prices even higher. Now Nintendo has gone on record to defend those prices and claim tariffs weren't part of the original arithmetic. - Ethan Gach Read More Hollow Knight Fans have been waiting years for the metroidvania's sequel Silksong to appear at a new gaming showcase alongside an actual release date. Last week, the game finally was briefly featured during the Nintendo Direct for Switch 2, but a 2025 launch window wasn't all fans were blessed with. A new screenshot over on Nintendo Japan website offers a new glimpse of a scene we also saw in the original 2019 reveal over six years ago. - Ethan Gach Read More Marathon is Bungie's first new project in over a decade. It feels like a lot is riding on the extraction shooter as the studio behind Halo and Destiny becomes slowly subsumed into the larger PlayStation portfolio. But in the meantime, all we know is Marathon continues to be one of the coolest-looking shooters around and is about to get its big gameplay showcase reveal later this month. - Ethan Gach Read More The Switch 2 is shaping up to be one of the messiest console launches ever in the U.S., at least from Nintendo's point of view. The company's new $450 console is set to come out on June 5, but it's also being forced to navigate a chaotic circus around tariffs that could torpedo the rollout at any moment. Bloomberg now reports that the Mario maker has been diverting Switch 2 shipments to stockpile them in the U.S. before tariffs potentially skyrocket again, but even in the current environment some analysts believe Nintendo would be selling the console at a potential loss. - Ethan Gach Read More On April 2, Nintendo revealed a lot about the Switch 2 via a big Direct. And in the days since that event we've learned more about the Switch 2 via statements from Nintendo, interviews, and more. For example, did you know that Nintendo confirmed Friend Codes are back, or that the Switch 2 carts will taste disgusting? - Zack Zwiezen Read More Big gaming showcases shouldn't just be for major console makers and Geoff Keighley, which is why the team behind Dead Cells' ongoing support, Evil Empire, launched the Triple-i Initiative last year. The event puts the spotlight on smaller projects ahead of Summer Game Fest season and returned this year with updates on a whopping 36 games, including world premieres for a few that look really cool. - Ethan Gach Read More For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Yahoo
15-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
An Amazing Steam Sale, A Major Pokémon Go Development, And More Of The Week's Top News
This week saw Pokémon Go become the property of the Saudi government as Scopely, the mobile game maker owned by Savvy Games Group which itself was founded by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, acquired POGO developer Niantic for the tidy sum of $3.5 billion. In other news, Steam has launched one of its best sales in years, full of massive discounts on great games, and as Battlefield 6 leaks emerge, hype only seems to be increasing for what looks to be a return to the modern combat glory days of the series' most beloved entries. Read on for these stories and more. One of the defining games of the last decade, Pokémon Go, now belongs to the Saudi Arabia government. Mobile game maker Scopely, which is owned by the Saudi royal investment fund, announced its purchase of the hit game along with the rest of Niantic Labs game business for $3.5 billion. The sale comes after the tech company failed to create any more hits on the scale of Pokémon Go. - Ethan Gach Read More Right now some of the best games available on Steam, including Undertale, Doom (2016), and Spiritfarer are all on sale for incredibly cheap prices. Combine that with Steam's annual Spring Sale and you have a recipe for some fantastic discounts. - Zack Zwiezen Read More ZA/UM Studio, the entity which at one point released Disco Elysium, a critically acclaimed detective RPG about navigating the ruins of capitalism and solving a murder, has finally revealed its next game nearly six years later. Instead of Disco Elysium 2, it's a spy RPG still mostly shrouded in secrecy called Project[C4], and one big question facing it is whether it will bear any resemblance to the studio's previous work after years of internal upheaval and tumult. - Ethan Gach Read More The next Battlefield game—referred to unofficially as Battlefield 6—is currently holding an early beta and despite players having to sign an NDA to participate, footage has leaked online. Encouragingly, the reactions are overwhelmingly positive as players seem excited about new features, details, and the return to the modern combat seen in past entries. - Zack Zwiezen Read More Another month, another bunch of games is joining the catalogs for PlayStation Plus' Extra and Premium tiers. This time around, fans of arcades, punching people, 2D platformers, and retro robot warfare should all be very excited. - Zack Zwiezen Read More Occasionally the stars align and a once-in-a-generation group of creatives come together to make something spectacular and ahead of its time. That's how Chrono Trigger was made, an RPG for the SNES that came out 30 years ago this week and still blows me away. Playing it was a formative gaming moment for me and one I'm grateful to have experienced firsthand. - Ethan Gach Read More Hunts in Monster Hunter Wilds can take anywhere from 10 minutes to half an hour depending on the level of difficulty and how geared up the player is. But a recent discovery makes it technically possible to clear a hunt in just two seconds. Fans are having fun with the exploit despite it not actually saving them any time. Let me explain. - Ethan Gach Read More The long-rumored Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion remake, which Kotaku confirmed was real in January, reportedly might be announced very soon and could launch as early as next month. - Zack Zwiezen Read More The Dungeons & Dragons community is extremely skeptical of generative AI, and publisher Wizards of the Coast has come under fire in the past for using AI art in material for its games. But the CEO in charge of the D&D and Magic: The Gathering maker continues to sound like he's all in on the technology, recently calling himself 'an AI bull' and speculating about how it could be used for D&D subscription services. - Ethan Gach Read More Earlier this week, a Mountain Dew collector shared some sad news with the Mountain Dew subreddit: A huge chunk of his collection of sodas was ruined by a single leaky can. After he shared photos depicting the aftermath of the leak, which damaged a wall and destroyed 60 cans of Mountain Dew Thrashed Apple, a discontinued and sought-after variant, I reached out to the collector about the situation. - Zack Zwiezen Read More For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Yahoo
14-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Kotaku Weekend Guide: 3 Great Games Keeping Us Grounded
Next week is a big one. Assassin's Creed Shadows launches on the heels of new reporting that Ubisoft is looking to spin off the franchise into a standalone company backed by Chinese conglomerate NetEase. The 2025 Game Developers Conference kicks off in San Francisco with talks from people behind some of the biggest hits and blockbusters. And the first day of spring officially arrives less than two weeks ahead of the Nintendo Direct for the Switch 2, which some analysts think will cost over $400 and ship in June. Before all that arrives, we'll be taking a breath this weekend and spending time with these great games, which range from new indies to older gems. Play it on: Xbox Series X/S, PC Goal: Take down Boss_Wallducker. I like boomer shooters just fine, but Mullet Madjack has me hooked in a way other games in the subgenre rarely have. Originally released last year on PC, the arcade FPS roguelite just hit Xbox Game Pass this week and is scratching my 3D Hotline Miami itch (happy 10-year anniversary to that game's sequel, by the way). While the shooting is snappy and the weapon upgrades are neat, it's the hyper-stylized art and fun level design that's kept me entranced. The premise is simple enough—save a minor internet celebrity from robber baron robots in a futuristic world that feels like The Matrix huffing neon glitter glue—but it's a perfectly alienated fit for the sicko event horizon our online culture currently finds itself sucked into. Never has a game met the moment with a vibe so pure (and engagingly deranged). — Ethan Gach Play it on: PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC Goal: Brew a decent cup of tea. I'm excited to try Wanderstop, the new game about, as its Steam page puts it, 'change and tea,' for a few reasons. One is that it's the first game from Ivy Road, a studio founded by Davey Wreden. Wreden previously created The Stanley Parable and The Beginner's Guide, both highly original games that were fully committed to their own distinctive visions. On the surface, in the trailers that I've seen, Wanderstop looks like it could be a fairly conventional 'cozy game,' another chill, low-key release in which you soak up the pleasant vibes while running a business of some kind—in this case, a tea shop. However, given Wreden's involvement, I suspect there's more to Wanderstop than that, and that sooner or later the game's gonna throw me a curveball. Which is what I want! I want to be surprised, caught off guard, to have my expectations undermined. The other reason I'm excited is that I've seen the game receive a pretty wide range of critical reactions, from lukewarm praise to enthusiastic raves. (I haven't read these reviews yet because I want to go into the game knowing as little as possible, but it's clear to me that there's a good assortment of opinions on it out there.) I believe that most games should receive a much wider range of critical reactions than they do, but given that mainstream game criticism sadly still tends overwhelmingly toward consensus, when a game does receive a decent spread of critical responses I tend to sit up and take notice, because it inevitably means that the game is doing something interesting. It doesn't mean that I'll love it; it just means that even if I don't like it, I'll probably at least think it failed in an interesting way, and I'd typically much rather play a game that tries something distinctive and doesn't quite come together than a game that plays it safe and succeeds. Of course, it's also possible that I will end up loving Wanderstop. I intend to find out one way or the other this weekend. But right now, this moment before I've even started it, is sometimes one of the best parts: to be on the cusp of beginning a new game, and not having any clue of just what to expect. — Carolyn Petit Play it on: 3DS Goal: Remember where everything is in Kalos Pokémon's sixth generation has always been a weird one for me. I love the lore of the Kalos region and the Mega Evolutions battle gimmick, but despite that, I've never gone back to the 3DS games after all these years. With Pokémon Legends: Z-A coming out this year, however, it feels like the right time to return to my old copy of Pokémon Y and refresh myself on what came before. Game Freak was definitely still getting used to making games in 3D with X and Y, and as a result, a lot of the visual character the Pokémon had exuded in earlier games was drained from them in favor of mostly pretty lifeless 3D models. Back when the games came out, it still felt like a huge deal to finally see Pokémon in 3D on a handheld, but despite this visual shift, X and Y were a breaking point for me as I finally grew tired of the original Pokémon formula. Today, Pokémon Y is a relic of a bygone era in a series that has started to think outside the box in recent years, which makes it kinda quaint to go back to after games like Legends: Arceus and Scarlet/Violet have taken some pretty big leaps. That said, the simplicity of old Pokémon still has its charms. If I'm going back to reacquaint myself with Kalos, I'd rather not have something dense and cumbersome. It's fine! It's pleasant! I can't complain too much about hanging out with my Raichu in a place we haven't visited in a decade. — Kenneth Shepard For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Yahoo
09-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
How To Snag Avowed's Best Weapons, 5 Great Mods To Make Monster Hunter Wilds Even Better, And More Hot Tips
If, like us, you're currently spending a lot of your spare time in the Living Lands of Avowed, you may want to check out our pointers on where to find some of the game's best weapons, as well as some of its rarest upgrade materials. We'll also point you to a handful of mods that can make your time with Monster Hunter Wilds better, guide you to Ares in Hades 2, and more. Avowed's fiery Last Light of Day isn't just the best one-handed sword in the game, it's arguably the best weapon you can find period, thanks to its high damage, fire accumulation, and fantastic enchantment that restores your health upon killing enemies. The fact that it can be obtained so early in the game makes it even more incredible. - Billy Givens Read More Monster Hunter Wilds has already sold over 8 million copies, making it the fastest-selling in the action-RPG franchise's history. Many of those players are on PC, which means their eligible to take advantage of dozens of player-made mods to alter and even improve the game's overall experience, including bypassing Capcom's annoying character and Palico edit vouchers which cost $2.33 each. Here are some of the most popular mods Monster Hunter Wilds players are downloading. - Ethan Gach Read More When you're not testing different weapon combos in Avowed, you're probably searching for the many collectibles and resources within The Living Lands. Out of everything there is to find, the finite resource Adra is one of the most important. You'll need these when it comes time to upgrade your weapons and armor to higher quality tiers. Knowing how to get Adra is your biggest obstacle, but we can help with that. - Samuel Moreno Read More There are a whole bunch of Great Axes that are worth hauling around in Avowed, and it's hard to go wrong with any of them. There's a specific Great Axe obtainable at the very end of the game that would likely take the top spot overall, but given that you have less than an hour of playtime left when you reach that point, it's a rather disappointing find. As such, your best bet is to grab the mighty Seven Strivings Great Axe early in the game, and keep it upgraded throughout your adventure instead. Here's what to know and where to find it. - Billy Givens Read More Split Fiction is equal parts heartwarming tale and heart-pounding adventure, expertly blending sci-fi and fantasy into a creative cooperative journey unlike anything you've seen. Before you dive in with a friend or loved one, though, here are four things you should know about the game. - Billy Givens Read More Daggers are the tried-and-true weapon of a rogue, but they can be mixed and matched into any playstyle in Avowed, thanks to the game's focus on class freedom. Whether you're a dagger user slinging spells with your other hand, or wielding a shield for some extra protection, you'd do well to grab the powerful Sheathed in Summer dagger during the opening hours of the game. Here's what to know about this fiery dagger and how to get it. - Billy Givens Read More Picture this: You've just capsized and crashlanded on a remote island with a fort looming overhead. You're defenseless, and a strange blue being is sifting through your ship's remnants. You need a weapon, and in the moment, anything will suffice, like the dagger or wand on the ground before you. That's all good, but a bit of wood and steel won't suffice for long. You need to upgrade your weapons and armor in Avowed if you wish to go toe-to-toe with some of Eora's fearsome beasts. Here's how I survived untold encounters with a better weapon and a bit of fire magic. - Brandon Morgan Read More Whether you followed an intricate online build guide, or decided to wing the entire experience and choose fabulous skills and passives, Path of Exile 2 offers a metric ton of variety regarding how you grow in power. But one of the most essential aspects isn't your class or abilities; it's the gear you wield. If you're rocking standard-tier gear, you're in for a bad time. You need to up your game by farming uniques in Path of Exile 2 to stand toe-to-toe with end-game bosses and other players. - Brandon Morgan Read More Looking to get some help from Ares in Hades II? In the second major patch since the game launched in early access, the Warsong Update, Supergiant has added this new Olympian, and you can get him on your side. However, you'll have to impress him before you can earn any of his boons—here's what you need to do to unlock Ares in Hades II. - Parker Johnson Read More Hazelight Studios has once again brought a whole heap of co-op joy with its newest game, Split Fiction, which sends two players on a high-stakes quest across high fantasy and sci-fi settings. There are plenty of funny and heartfelt moments for you and a friend to experience in this adventure. But if you're wondering how many hours of cooperative fun there is to be had, we've got the answer for you. Here's how long it takes to beat Split Fiction. - Billy Givens Read More For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
