This week, Donkey Kong Bananza knocked our collective socks off in a very strong Nintendo Direct dedicated to the Switch 2's next big exclusive, and Marathon, the next big game from Destiny maker Bungie, was delayed in the wake of an alpha earlier this year that left many players underwhelmed. Also, the most famous and enduring mod site in existence has been sold, and Nintendo is already cracking down on Switch 2 piracy. Read on for these stories and more.
Nexus Mods is changing hands. The vast database for free mods of PC games ranging from The Witcher 3 to Stardew Valley has been sold for the first time since it was created 24 years ago. “The strain of being responsible for the behemoth I created has taken its toll,” previous owner Dark0ne wrote in an update on Monday. “The stress of the job has been a regular source of anxiety and stress-related health issues.” - Ethan Gach Read More
It took hackers over a year to jailbreak the original Switch, but the Switch 2 has one vulnerability its predecessor didn’t: backwards compatibility. Some new console owners have already tried to use a type of flash cartridge associated with the piracy of Switch 1 games on their Switch 2 consoles, and were promptly banned by Nintendo. - Ethan Gach Read More
Donkey Kong Bananza just went from looking like a neat new spin-off for Nintendo’s long-standing ape to one of the Switch 2's first killer single-player exclusives. A 15-minute dedicated Nintendo Direct showed off stunning levels and more mechanics, collectibles, and secrets than you could shake a golden banana at. From environmental destruction to ancient Kong power transformations, Bananza looks like it’s pulling out all the stops. We still don’t know who’s making it, but it’s looking like the Super Mario Odyssey launch year successor some (read: me) had been hoping for. I’m now a Bananza believer. Here’s everything we just learned about Nintendo’s next big 3D adventure. - Ethan Gach Read More
Final Fantasy Tactics - The Ivalice Chronicles will make the PS1 classic playable on modern hardware in September for the first time since the PlayStation 3 generation over a decade ago. Why did it take so long for Square Enix to bring back the beloved strategy spin-off? It might have had something to do with missing source code. - Ethan Gach Read More
On June 17, Xbox announced the next wave of games coming to Game Pass in June and July, including two new (and very different) video games that are available right now on Xbox and PC. - Zack Zwiezen Read More
Bungie announced that Marathon, the Destiny studio’s next big video game, has been delayed and will no longer be launching in September. The company gave no new release date but promised to add features and make several changes that players requested after Marathon’s alpha test earlier this year. - Zack Zwiezen Read More
For over a year now, online retailer Amazon hasn’t directly sold new first-party Nintendo games or accessories. It also skipped out on the Switch 2 launch. But over the weekend, the situation changed, and now some first-party Switch 2 games and accessories are available on the retailer. - Zack Zwiezen Read More
It was my very first match in Elden Ring Nightreign. I loaded in and my team was dropped in the southern part of the map by the swampy marshes. I had no idea what I was doing or where to go. We stumbled upon a towering building. It looked like a turtle made of rock with a cathedral for a shell. We tried to fight it but couldn’t hurt it. We moved on. Over 60 hours later I haven’t seen another one. I’m not alone. - Ethan Gach Read More
Prices are finally calming down on the Pokémon TCG’s latest set, Destined Rivals, meaning the resale market is no longer quite so bonkers. As such, it makes for a good time to see which pulls from the long-awaited return of Team Rocket are fetching the big bucks, and how much you’re going to need to fork out if you want to add a specific special art to your collection. - John Walker Read More
Stellar Blade is a mashup of classic arcade action and modern Soulslike about a defense force officer with big tits and an even bigger ass saving the post-apocalyptic ruins of Earth from the aliens who destroyed it. Paradise lost? Not for the gooners, or for general fans of fun combat in cool sci-fi settings held together by the sensibilities of an old-school PlayStation 2 game. - Ethan Gach Read More
