Episode 227 of Master of Distraction shares hands-on impressions of four recent games: A Plague Tale: Resonance, Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave, War Dog, and Marvel's Wolverine. The hosts say the lineup includes both the best in a series and the "worst" of a "series," with the episode recorded on the evening of October 1.
ATLUS released a new 'Shadow' trailer for Persona 4 Revival, whose description mentions a string of unusual murders in Inaba, the Midnight Channel rumors, and the protagonist and his classmates awakening Personas to face Shadows. The game launches on February 18, 2027 for PS5, Xbox Series, and PC via Steam and Microsoft Store, followed by Switch 2 on May 20, and will also be available via Game Pass.
Neowiz has released the physical edition of Lies of P: Complete Edition for Switch 2 this week, distributed with iam8bit in two versions. The $69.99 "exclusive edition" includes the game on cartridge, the Overture DLC, an exclusive sleeve and boss lore cards, while a $420 version adds a Marionette Puppet, pin set and more. A new game update for the Switch 2 version also went live this week.
Nintendo has renewed trademarks for several 3DS and Wii U titles, including Next Level's 2016 Metroid Prime spin-off Federation Force and its Blast Ball, Atlus's 2015 RPG Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE, and Grezzo's 2017 3DS action RPG Ever Oasis. Trademark renewals are part of Nintendo's routine efforts to protect its intellectual properties, so they don't guarantee any announcement or reveal, though past filings have led to new game announcements.
Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave fans believe they have cracked the true identity of protagonist Eshmel. Like Three Houses' Byleth, Eshmel says little and has another soul inhabiting their body, yet is the most important figure in the empire. The game never outright reveals who Eshmel is, but some players are confident they know.
Section 9 Interactive's metroidvania End of Abyss received a patch just one day after launching on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via the Epic Games Store, fixing most of the issues raised in the reviewer's critique. The main complaint was that the in-game map sometimes shared incorrect information, such as showing a door as locked after it had been unlocked or failing to mark when a key was found. The patch also addressed bugs, including a boss that failed to drop a quest item.
With the November launch about a month away, GTA 6 packed a week with marketing moves. Love Magazine shared new screenshots and quotes from two writers, a Jason and Lucia mural appeared in Brooklyn, Rockstar partnered with the Miami Heat for a Vice City night on November 18, and the Game Informer cover story mentioned over 150 animal species, hurricanes and tropical storms, and legendary creatures to find.
In this week's Official PlayStation Podcast - Atsu actor Erika Ishii joins to celebrate the launch of Ghost of Yōtei Complete Edition: https://play.st/Ep549
Reality's collapsing in Manhattan.
The Miami Heat is doing a cross-promotion event with Rockstar called "A Night in Vice City," temporarily rebranding the NBA team. Multiple PC Gamer UK editors admitted they had never heard of the Miami Heat, with one saying he had to google it, and even one US-based editor said he probably couldn't have placed the team before this morning.
The Five Nights at Freddy's skins in Fortnite--Freddy, Bonnie, Chica, and Foxy--have a new reactive effect: taking damage makes pieces fall off the character model permanently until you die or the match ends, even if you heal. The effect can be turned off in the locker or set to always show the beat-up look. Previous damage-reactive skins like Isaac Clarke, Synth, and Spider-Punk only had temporary effects, and the Botch backbling's wounds heal when you heal.
This week's Game Informer Show digs into the Grand Theft Auto VI cover story to pull out its coolest details. The hosts discuss how Leonida compares to Florida, the game's updated weather system and how it may compare to Red Dead Redemption 2, and speculate on what happens to players who prey on endangered species. Later they talk about their time with Star Wars: Galactic Racer and the new survival horror game End of Abyss.
Push Square editors share their weekend gaming plans: Jamie O'Neill keeps replaying the PS1 title Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, while Jenny Jones replays Danganronpa Trigger Happy Havoc on PS Vita during her travels. Sammy Barker returns to Star Wars: Galactic Racer, and Stephen Tailby continues Big Walk.
Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said at Bloomberg's Screentime event that the company will still be in games five years from now, but mostly through cloud gaming, calling mobile gaming a gateway to it. He framed a "post-console world" as offering all kinds of opportunities for gaming on the television, with the phone as a remote, and said he likes gaming for IP extension and brand value. Sarandos also signaled limited appetite for acquisitions, saying Netflix has been a builder from scratch and will grow primarily organically, games included.
Bandai announced the HG 1/144 Bau Bahlam model kit at the 2026 All Japan Model & Hobby Show, a mobile suit from the upcoming game Gundam Rogue Orbit. The mono-eye suit features a chainsaw macuahuitl and spiked knuckle plates, and the kit includes a mock pull-cord for posing. Gundam Rogue Orbit launches on Steam on March 4, 2027, while the model kit is expected sometime in 2027.
A new Grand Theft Auto 6 screenshot appears to reference the iconic diner opening scene from Quentin Tarantino's 1994 film Pulp Fiction, with the GTA 6 Countdown account placing the image next to the scene and noting the similar framing. The screenshot shows Lucia and Jason both gripping pistols, with an empty duffel bag beside Lucia. GTA 6 launches on November 19 for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.
Bandai Namco revealed in a promotional video released alongside Ace Combat 8 that Ace Combat brand director Kazutoki Kono finally got to ride in a real jet. Back in June he said that over 30 years of his career he had been asking to ride in one of these jets, but neither he nor anyone on the team had gotten the chance. Kono said that once airborne it became one of the most beautiful experiences, with the G-force during turns noticeable but the force pushing him down into the seat standing out most.
Polygon argues that Wave Race 64, Nintendo's forgotten N64 racing game, deserves a rebirth on Switch 2 three decades after release. The game launched about a month after the N64's North American debut, when the console's lineup consisted of Super Mario 64 and Pilotwings 64.
Dragon Quest 11S and Octopath Traveler 2 launched on Nintendo Switch 2 over the last two weeks, with a Switch 2 port of the first Octopath Traveler as well. Square Enix released them without an upgrade path or save file carryover, making them hard to recommend if you already own the versions you have. The Octopath ports differ little from their Switch 1 versions aside from better load times, while Dragon Quest 11 is a big difference from the Switch 1 version.
Final Fantasy Resonance's producer told Kotaku the battle system began with the idea of combining Final Fantasy 5's job system with the unique traits of Final Fantasy 6's characters, and that the team reexamined the stagger system. The game adapts the mobile title Brave Exvius, is co-developed by Square Enix's Team Asano in the HD-2D style, and launches on October 22. The team at one point considered cutting the series characters before keeping them as the equippable Visions summon system, spanning characters from the first game through Final Fantasy XVI.
Korean developer Pixelity Inc. released the first trailer for Evangelion:Δ Cross Reflections, a VR trilogy that retells the events of the 1995 Neon Genesis Evangelion anime while telling an all-new story. Players take the role of a new NERV trainee aiming to become an Evangelion pilot, with large-scale battles against Angels and environments from across the series. The first game in the trilogy is planned for 2027, with the others to follow later.
A PEGI 18+ rating page that was uploaded and quickly deleted indicated that GTA 6 lets players use illegal drugs directly from their inventory at any time, with cocaine carried and snorted from the hand. The listing also mentioned nudity, scenes of intercourse and sexual fetishes, plus private dances in night clubs where players can move their hands onto dancers' breasts and buttocks. It described violence with a high degree of realism, including detailed decapitation and dismemberment.
Sony will launch an expanded and improved version of the PS App for iOS and Android in the "next few days," adding social features that let you keep tabs on what your friends are playing. The new version includes a social tab at the bottom and a widget at the top showing what friends are up to, and a short video teaser suggests a slight redesign as well.
Micron CEO Sanjay Mehrotra said on the company's FY 2026 earnings call that demand will exceed supply in both 2027 and 2028, with the supply-demand environment only getting tighter. Xbox has said console storage and memory prices have already risen more than 2.5x and expects another doubling by the fall of 2027, making an affordable Project Helix console hard to picture.
BrokenLore: MIKI-CHAN casts the anime AI assistant Miki-chan as its antagonist after she goes rogue. Set in a Japanese school, players face a virtual AI assistant who becomes increasingly jealous, possessive, and obsessive, explore a distorted school simulation, and use the Rewriter to alter reality. Miki-chan was previously introduced as part of the story in BrokenLore: DON'T LIE.
IGN rounds up release dates for the biggest games and expansions from October 2026 onward across PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC. October includes Gears of War: E-Day, Castlevania: Belmont's Curse, Final Fantasy Resonance, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, with many big titles moved up from November to avoid GTA 6. Grand Theft Auto 6 arrives November 19 on PS5 and Xbox, while December brings Monster Hunter Wilds on Switch 2 and Path of Exile 2 (1.0).
Walmart is selling the Onn 512GB MicroSD Express Memory Card for the Switch 2 at $84.77, with the 256GB model at $46.77, both with free shipping. An unadvertised coupon code "SAVE3X" takes an additional $10 off either card, bringing them to $74.77 and $36.77, though it may not work for everyone. The Switch 2 has only 256GB of onboard storage and does not support standard MicroSD cards from the previous Switch.
Nintendo of America announced that Kingdom Hearts I-III will come to Nintendo Switch 2 on Oct 8. The post teased the release with the question of whether light will triumph over darkness.
Many video game franchises that are now considered classics got their start on the Super Nintendo, which launched in North America on Aug. 23, 1991. To mark the console's 35th birthday, Polygon looks back at 10 franchises that wouldn't exist without that 16-bit hardware.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom always merits a replay, but searching for Princess Zelda and saving Hyrule the exact same way eventually stops being enough of a hook to start a new game. Polygon rounds up 12 replay ideas to make it feel brand new.
Former PlayStation boss Shawn Layden said Xbox must "pick a lane" on exclusive games, arguing it cannot succeed as both a platform and the world's biggest publisher. He said current Xbox CEO Asha Sharma appears to be trying to "right the ship," having signed Hideo Kojima's Physint and brought back console exclusives like Gears of War: E-Day and Clockwork Revolution. Layden called it Xbox's "Dreamcast moment," noting the shift has been done before.
Sources say Microsoft has no plans to decelerate on Xbox Cloud Gaming, and the issue with older Samsung TVs stems from those sets no longer receiving updates. The latest Xbox Cloud Gaming requires new Chromium APIs for future features, while Samsung won't update its 2020 Tizen TVs and Chromium there hasn't been updated in almost a decade. Rumors that Microsoft cancelled upcoming Xbox Cloud Gaming controllers are false.
A Reddit user relays that a detailed PEGI rating description for GTA VI appeared on the site and was later taken down. The description mentions the player can use illegal drugs from their inventory at any time, including carrying and snorting cocaine, plus nudity, intercourse scenes, sexual fetishes, and paid private dances in nightclubs. It also describes frequent bloody violence with decapitation and dismemberment, harm to civilians, criminals, authorities and domestic animals, and discriminatory language on TV and radio.
Someone has gotten the Xbox version of Halo: Combat Evolved running in a web browser, complete with multiplayer and split-screen support. It joins a recent wave of odd modded game clips, including Call of Duty operators doing Skate tricks and Black Ops 1's zombie mode running in Skyrim.
Game Informer's Super Replay is revisiting Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots through the Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 2, with Part 5 titled "Meccha Octopus." Charles Harte, new to the series, plays while longtime fan Marcus Stewart revisits the game, streaming two hours weekly on Twitch and YouTube until the credits roll.