The Star Wars: Prequel Pack features four action-packed Star Wars games. The pack includes Star Wars Episode I: Jedi Power Battles, Star Wars: Bounty Hunter, Star Wars Republic Commando, and Star Wars Episode I: Racer. The bundle will be available to purchase tomorrow, February 23, on PC via Steam, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5.

Perhaps the most notable of these four games is Star Wars Episode I: Racer, which was released on Nintendo 64, Dreamcast, and Game Boy Color back in 1999. The sci-fi racing game allows players to play as Anakin or any one of the game's 22 Podracers, and travel at speeds of up to 600 mph as they traverse tracks set across eight iconic Star Wars worlds.

In Star Wars: Jedi Power Battles, Lucas Arts combines platforming with beat-'em-up combat in an adventure game that allows players to take on the role of either Obi-Wan Kenobi, Qui-Gon Jinn, Mace Windu, Adi Gallia, and Plo Koon. The title loosely follows the events of The Phantom Menace, complete with "short negotiations."

Star Wars: Bounty Hunter and Star Wars Republic Commando both lean harder into the shooter genre, with Bounty Hunter featuring a third-person perspective while Republic Commando is a traditional first-person shooter. In Bounty Hunter, you play as the notorious Jango Fett, Prime Clone of the Grand Army of the Republic, as you set off on a mission to capture a Dark Jedi. Republic Commando follows RC-1138, also referred to as "Boss", as he commands his squadmates takes on various missions set during the Clone Wars.

Each of these titles is available to purchase separately, though the Aspyr Media bundle offers a lower price--$55 (Steam) and $65 on PlayStation and Nintendo Switch--for all four games. If you're looking for even more Star Wars games, you can also head over to Fantatical for steep discounts on the following:

• Star Wars Collection (14 Games) -- $17 ($100)
• Star Wars Classics Collection (8 Games) -- $8.39 ($40)

Disclosure: GameSpot and Fanatical are both owned by Fandom

Gifting basics

You can gift up to three gifts to each character per day. Afterward, you'll need to wait for the next day to begin handing gifts out again, unless...

There are two items that can reset how many gifts you can give in a day:

• Friendship Blossom is a My Melody Daily Reward earned by logging in on Tuesdays. This item can be used to reset how many gifts you can give a single character.
• Friendship Bouquet is a My Melody Daily Reward earn by logging in on Saturdays. This item can be used to reset every character's total gift amount for the day.

Every item you can gift in the game has tags that must match tags liked by a specific character for you to be able to gift it to them. For instance, Hello Kitty loves Bakery, Fruit, and Fancy tags, so items you gift her should aim to match a minimum of one of these tags. Generally speaking, each tag that matches between a character and an item adds to the amount of friendship XP you'll earn when gifting it to them. Your goal is (usually) to aim for 3-heart gifts any time you can to ensure you're maximizing your earned friendship XP.

All 3-heart gifts

Here are all of the 3-heart gifts for each character that can guarantee you faster friendship leveling.

And there you have all of the 3-star gifts in Hello Kitty Island Adventure. We're wishing you luck in becoming best friends with everyone!

As detailed by Wowhead via WoW's public test realm, earning the apartment requires completing a side quest chain that sees players overthrowing a corrupt landlord who has partnered with a local biker gang to terrorize tenants and keep them desperate. After battling through bikers and stealing the deed to the apartment complex for one of the disgruntled tenants, players are then granted their own penthouse apartment to use as a reward, no rent required.

As for the apartment itself, it's a goblin-esque themed room with a balcony players can use to quickly return to the city of Undermine. There aren't any customizations to be had, but one feature it does include that seems likely to return when Blizzard introduces player housing proper is a way for players to set their Hearthstone to their new home.

It's not the first time WoW players have received more personal living space. During the Warlords of Draenor expansion players had an entire Garrison to call their own, while Class Order Halls offered class-specific spaces for players of the same class to hang out in. This is, however, the first instance of players being able to acquire an apartment to call home.

There are a couple potential clues to how WoW might implement player housing to be gleaned here. For starters, the apartment simply exists in the game world, and players when visiting are treated to their own private "instance" of it. That seems to imply player housing won't be an entirely separate zone or a specific neighborhood where players can build custom houses, but rather the homes up for grabs will be added to existing locations in the world.

Given how players are granted this apartment as a quest, it also seems likely that players will be given some form of player housing for free come Midnight, though there is certainly still room to have players be able to purchase other, more desirable properties. Players will ultimately have to wait for more information directly from Blizzard about what player housing will look like.

WoW game director Ion Hazzikostas in an interview with GameSpot last year said Blizzard was announcing player housing far in advance of Midnight's release in order to "begin a conversation" and "double-check" that Blizzard's plans for player housing matched the expectations of players. Announcing the feature so far ahead of the expansion itself also gives the team time to pivot if changes need to be made, he said. More information about player housing and Midnight it slated to come this summer, according to WoW's 2025 roadmap.

As for when players can unlock their apartment, the goblin-filled Undermine(d) update doesn't have a release date just yet, but is expected to release in the next month or two.

"Mass Effect isn't ready to suddenly have a team of 250, 300 people working on it," Darrah said in a newly released video documenting the production of Veilguard. "In the past when BioWare was toying with being on just one project, like on Anthem or The Veilguard, that project was up and running at full speed so it was able to suck in every available resource. It had enough existing infrastructure that it was able to absorb everything."

"That's not exactly what's happening [with Mass Effect 5]," Darrah continued. "You see this when you go on to people's social media profiles. People who worked on The Veilguard, some of them are going onto [work on] Mass Effect, but some of them are moving into other parts of the EA organisation because Mass Effect isn't ready for them."

Darrah worked for BioWare for 23 years, so although he may not be a current employee, he does likely have a pretty good idea of the studio's inner workings. At any rate, the lack of advertising for Mass Effect 5 also suggests that the game's development is still in its infancy. It was first announced in 2020, but it's been crickets from BioWare since then.

"This [decision to focus on one game at a time] might be great," Darrah said of BioWare's steady, focused approach to the game's development, "Because what it means is BioWare--for really the first time ever--is able to singularly focus on a single project, is able to put all [its] attention on a single project, is able to put everything it has towards a single goal, which is making the best Mass Effect it possibly can."

The Pokemon Trading Card Game just launched its latest expansion, Prismatic Evolutions, on January 17, offering up a whole slew of cards for collectors to enjoy. Getting your hands on the new set has proven to be difficult, however, as it’s undoubtedly one of the biggest Pokemon TCG releases in years. And if you’re one of the many folks struggling to find the Eevee-themed set in stock, consider turning your gaze to the upcoming PowerA Eeveelution Wireless Switch Controller. Like Prismatic Evolutions, this controller is all about Eevee--and it's available to preorder now for $55 ahead of its January 31 release.

The PowerA Eeveelution Wireless Switch Controller is still available for preorder, but if the launch of Prismatic Evolutions has taught us anything, it’s that the popularity of Eevee can’t be overstated. So if you want to ensure you have the controller in your game room in the coming weeks, placing a preorder is a wise decision.

Not sold on the above PowerA Eeveelution Wireless Switch Controller? There are plenty of other Pokemon designs to choose from. Here’s a look at a few of our favorites. And if you’re still hunting for The Pokemon TCG Prismatic Evolutions, be sure to check out our Prismatic Evolutions roundup to see a full list of retailers who may have it in stock.

More Pokemon Controllers at Amazon

• PowerA Enhanced Wireless Controller (Pikachu + Colorful Design) -- $50 ($60)
• PowerA Enhanced Wireless Controller (Pikachu + Purple Design) -- $50
• PowerA Enhanced Wired Controller (Charizard) -- $37
• PowerA Joy-Con Comfort Grip (Pikachu) -- $15
• PowerA Pokemon Enhanced Wired Controller (Pixel Pikachu) -- $20 ($28)
• PowerA Enhanced Wired Controller (Pikachu + Grey Design) -- $40
• PowerA Wired Controller (Bulbasaur) -- $35
• Hori Split Pad Compact Attachment Set (Eevee) -- $82 ($90)
• Hori Split Pad Pro (Pikachu & Charizard) -- $59
• Hori Split Pad Compact (Gengar) -- $59

Diablo 4 Season 7, Season of Witchcraft, has arrived, bringing Diablo 3 Witch Doctor powers to the dungeon crawler. The new seasonal content features Headrotten enemies, which you will need to work with The Coven to defeat, increasing your standing with the faction. This means you'll need to partake in the revamped Tree of Whispers activities tied to the seasonal content. Completing these objectives will grant you battle pass XP and loot for each chapter completed. The final chapter includes Dorian, a pet raven.

Your progress on objectives in chapters you haven't reached does track, but your progress in each chapter won't be reflected until that chapter has been reached.

Chapter 1

You must complete 9 out of 11 objectives to complete this chapter.

Chapter 1 objectives:

• A Witch's Debt: Increase standing with The Coven to Rank 1 by completing Whispers.
• Trinket's from the Nest: Obtain 1 Cache from the Raven during a Headhunt by completing Whispers
• Veteran of Ashes: Acquire 666 Aberrant Cinders during Helltide
• Spoils of Hell: Open 1 Tortured Gifts during Helltide
• Trouble in the Wilds: Complete 5 World Events
• Forager: Collect 100 Bundled Herbs from Harvest Nodes, Cellars, or various other sources throughout Sanctuary
• Tanner's Apprentice: Collect 50 Rawhide from salvaging Armor, defeating Monsters, or various other sources throughout Sanctuary
• Prospector: Collect 100 Iron Chunks from various sources
• Deafening Whispers: Complete 10 Whispers
• Just a Sip: Upgrade your Potion to Tiny at the Alchemist
• In the Back Pocket: Discover the Armory to save and access builds

These challenges are all fairly simple and should be completed without much effort, especially if you are skipping the campaigns with your new season character. The Armory might be one you need to go out of your way since it's a new feature, but shouldn't take much effort to complete. The Coven ranks appear throughout the Season Journey chapters and can be leveled by completing Tree of Whisper tasks, do not ignore these if you want to complete the Season Journey.

Chapter 1 rewards:

• Greater Favor (battle pass XP)
• First Journey Cache: Contains Consumables, such as Elixirs and Whispering Keys
• First Journey Crafting Cache: Contains Crafting Materials, such as Herbs and Gem Fragments
• Archetype Cache: Contains legendary items, materials and a temper manual

Chapter 2

You must complete 9 of 11 objectives to complete this chapter.

Chapter 2 objectives:

• In Service to the Tree: Increase your standing with The Coven to Rank 3
• Taste of Power: Collect 5 Witch Powers from any Altar of Witchcraft found near the Tree of Whispers
• Twilight Dream: Acquire 1 Nightmare Dungeon Sigil
• Pilgrimage of Nightmares: Complete 5 Nightmare Dungeons
• Test of Mettle: Defeat 5 elite monsters
• Prelude of Doom: Defeat 5 Harbingers during Helltide
• Notarized Nuisance: Increase your Threat Level to Max by defeating monsters during the Helltide
• Risk and Reward: Buy 3 pieces of equipment from the Purveyor of Curiosities
• A Master at Work: Complete 1 World Event with Mastery
• Ruins Reclaimed: Clear 1 Stronghold
• Capable Craftsmen: Learn 1 recipe of Rare or higher rarity

Another set of relatively easy goals here. The most likely ones to ignore are the Strongholds, just because you don't have to do those unless you really care about potential world activities there. The rest of these are fairly simple, if luck based, like the recipe of rare rarity, or are tied together, like multiple Helltide activities and Nightmare Dungeons.

Chapter 2 rewards:

• Greater Favor
• Second Journey Cache: Contains consumables, such as Elixirs and Whispering Keys
• Second Journey Crafting Cache: Contains crafting materials, wish as Herbs and Veiled Crystals
• Archetype Cache: Contains legendary items, materials and a temper manual

Chapter 3

You must complete 9 out of 11 objectives to complete this chapter.

Chapter 3 objectives:

• Sacrificial Blade: INcrease your standing with The Coven to Rank 5
• Rot Cleanser: Complete 5 Rootholds
• Cave out the Necrosis: Defeat 5 Thrall of Rot, which can be found during Headhunts or in Rootholds
• Gifts of the Ancients: Unlock 10 aspects in the Code or Power, such as through completing Dungeons
• Miracles of Alchemy: Craft 5 Elixirs at the Alchemist
• Confront the Creature: Defeat the Blood Maiden summoned during Helltide with Baneful Hearts
• Champion of the Lost: Clear 3 Strongholds
• Basic Needs: Temper 5 Affixes onto gear at the Blacksmith
• Forsaken Offerings: Obtain 5 Caches from the Tree of Whispers by completing Whispers
• Hard Fought Victory: Complete 1 Legion Event
• Band of Killers: Defeat a World Boss while in a party

Chapter 3 is where the tasks start to get a bit more involved, but the majority here are all tied to the seasonal content of The Coven and the related activities. The Blood Maiden is easier to defeat during a Helltide than you might expect, just because there are almost always other players grinding out kills as it's a good source of loot. An easy one to skip here is Band of Killers, as it requires you to have friends online at the same time as a World Boss is active, although you can try inviting nearby players while waiting for it to spawn.

Chapter 3 rewards:

• Greater Favor
• Third Journey Cache: Contains consumables, such as Elixirs and Whispering Keys
• Third Journey Crafting Cache: Contains crafting materials, such as Veiled Crystals and Forgotten Souls
• Third Journey Summoning Cache: Contains summoning materials to challenge the Blood Maiden during Helltides
• Archetype Cache: Contains legendary items, materials, and a temper manual

Chapter 4

• In the Eyes of The Coven: Increase your standing with The Coven to Rank 8
• Power Primordial: Upgrade 5 Witchcraft powers to Rank 10 through the Seasonal Powers Panel
• Damnation's Downfall: Defeat 1 Helltide Commander during Helltides, summoned after completing Helltide Events
• Third Eye Open: Consume 5 Draught of Whispers to increase the likelihood of encountering Forgotten Altars and Fugitive Heads
• Penitential Path: Defeat 666 Monsters in Penitent or Higher
• Endless Nightmares: Complete 10 Nightmare Dungeon
• Gifts of the Tree: Obtain 10 Caches from the Tree of Whispers by completing Whispers
• Form and Function: Upgrade 5 gear by adding Sockets at the Jewler
• Forged in Blood: Craft 5 Blacksmith Cache at the Blacksmith after reaching Level 60
• Ceremonial Smoke: Craft 1 Incense at the Alchemist
• Strength in Numbers: Complete 1 Legion Event while in a party
• Born in Torment: Defeat 10 Hellborne spawned by reaching Max Threat Level during Helltide in Torment 1 or higher

This set of objectives should take you up through level 60. If you haven't swapped over to Penitent difficulty at this point, you should, as the added bonus loot and XP is a big bonus and your equipment is likely powerful enough. You need to prepare for Torment 1, which is required for one task here. You could ignore it, but you will need to move to Torment 1 for the next chapter anyway. The Legion Event in a party is also skippable, but these occur more often than World Bosses, so it isn't entirely difficult.

Chapter 4 rewards:

• Greater Favor
• Wound and Woe Emblem
• Fourth Journey Cache: Contains an Infernal Hordes Compass and consumables
• Fourth Journey Crafting Cache: Contains crafting materials, such as Veiled Crystals and Forgotten Souls
• Fourth Journey Summoning Cache: Contains summoning materials to challenge bosses in Torment
• Archetype Cache: Contains legendary items, materials, and a temper manual
• Otherworldly Player Title
• Raven Player Title

Slayer (Chapter 5)

You must complete 12 of 14 objectives to complete this chapter

Slayer objectives:

• Rite Keeper: Increase your standing with The Coven to Rank 15
• A Tortured Gamble: Open 1 Tortured Gift of Mystery during Helltide in Torment 1 or higher
• Shards of the Fiends: Collect 5 Scattered Prisms
• The Hordes Falter: Defeat the Fell Council 1 time in the Infernal Hordes on Torment 1 or higher
• Finder of Secrets: Find 1 Forgotten Altar
• Headhunter: Collect 8 Fugitive Heads during Headhunts
• Cultivate Fear: Collect 100 Obducite from such sources as Nightmare Dungeons or Infernal Hordes
• Lucid Nightmare: Complete 5 Nightmare Dungeons in Torment 1 or higher
• No Mere Mortal: Unlock a Legendary Paragon node after reaching level 60 using Paragon points
• Precious Shards: Salvage 100 Ancestral Legendary items
• Transfer of Power: Imprint 8 Aspects onto Gear at the Occultist
• Preamble: Complete Artificer's Tier 20 or higher in the Pit of the Artificer located in Cerrigar
• Guilt: Defeat Tormented Echo of Varshan 1 time
• Shock and Awe: Defeat Tormented Echo of Grigoire

This chapter basically requires you to be on Torment 1 and max level. There is a large variety of activities here, but most only require you to run them a few times. The Obducite can be obtained from only a couple of Nightmare Dungeon runs and you need to do five anyway. The only ones you may want to hold off on are the two bosses Varshan and Grigoire, just because you may need to do the other activities to get your gear good enough to win those fights, but you will eventually want to do them for the loot regardless.

Slayer rewards:

• Epic Favor
• Slayer's Cache: Contains an Infernal Hordes Compass and consumables
• Slayer's Crafting Cache: Contains crafting materials, such as Obducite and Scattered Prisms
• Slayer's Summoning Cache: Contains summoning materials to challenge bosses in Torment
• Mystery Greater Archetype Cache: Contains ancestral unique and legendary items, materials, and a temper manual

Champion (Chapter 6)

You must complete 11 of 13 objectives to complete this chapter.

Champion objectives:

• Unholy Coffers: Open 1 Greater Spoils of Hell chest after defeating the Fell Council in the Infernal Hordes
• Warden of the Swamp: Increase your standing with The Coven to Rank 20
• Warbringer's Wealth: Craft 10 Occult Gems learned from Grimoires
• Drink Deep from the Chalice: Upgrade 10 Witchcraft powers to Rank 20 through the Seasonal Powers Panel
• Glyph Expert: Improve 5 Paragon Glyphs to Rank 15 by completing The Pit
• Echoes of the Ancients: Unlock 50 Aspects in the Codex of Power
• Champion's Challenge: Defeat 666 Monsters on Torment 2 or higher
• Forgiveness: Defeat Tormented Echo of Lord Zir
• Harbinger of Ice: Defeat Tormented Echo of The Beast in the Ice
• Horadric Smith: Masterwork 5 pieces of gear to Rank 5 at the Blacksmith
• Preeminence: Reach Paragon Level 100
• Thorn in Hell: Defeat 666 monsters while at Max Threat Level during Helltide on Torment 1 or higher
• Coordinated Kill: While in a Party, defeat 25 Lair Bosses

Depending on if you play Diablo 4 with friends or solo, the 25 Lair Bosses in a party is an easy skip. That does mean you will need to take on the two bosses listed here, but you should be in pretty good shape in terms of gear at this point, and you can leave them for last if you haven't. The most time-consuming task here is likely the 5 Paragon Glyphs at Rank 15, just because it will require quite a few runs of The Pit, even at high tiers, but that will help you get enough XP to reach Paragon level 100.

Champion rewards:

• Epic Favor
• Champion's Cache: Contains Infernal Hordes Compass and consumables
• Champion's Crafting Cache: Contains crafting materials, such as Obducite and Scattered Prisms
• Champion's Summoning Cache: Contains summoning materials to challenge bosses in Torment
• Mystery Greater Archetype Cache: Contains ancestral unique and legendary items, materials, and a temper manual

Destroyer (Chapter 7)

You must complete 8 out of 10 objectives to complete this chapter

Destroyer objectives:

• Silencer: Complete 5 Whispers within 15 minutes during Headhunts in Torment 4
• Roots Ablaze: Open 15 Exposed Roots within 15 minutes during Headhunts in Torment 4
• Root Pulverizer: Activate 2 Legendary Ceremony Shrines within a single Roothold in Torment 4
• Waking Horrors: Defeat 50 Elite Monsters while in Nightmare Dungeons in Torment 4 without dying
• Triumph of the Tormented: Defeat 666 Monsters in Torment 4 without dying
• Bloodstained Hoard: Collect 750 Aether in a single run of the Infernal Hordes in Torment 4
• With Sand to Spare: Complete Artificer's tier 75 or higher in The Pit, with more than five minutes remaining
• Assassin's List: Defeat 5 Lair Bosses within 5 minutes in Torment 1 or higher
• Hell's Fury: Defeat 250 monsters before the Hellborne's arrival after increasing your Threat Level to Max in Torment 4

This list is pretty tough across the board, fitting for the final chapter. As for which ones to ignore and which ones to do, there are too many tough ones here to really make that call. Most of these require Torment 4, and you not only need to complete tasks, but do so quickly and without dying. This will require your build to be near complete, Paragon boards finished, and a strong understanding of your ability rotations.

Destroyer rewards:

• Dorian pet Raven
• The Raven Familiar Emblem
• Destroyer's Cache: Contains a Resplendent Spark and consumables
• Destroyer's Crafting Cache: Contains crafting materials, such as Obducite and Scattered Prisms
• Destroyer's Summoning Cache: Contains summoning materials to challenge Bosses in Torment
• Mystery Greater Archetype Cache: Contains ancestral unique and legendary items, materials, and a temper manual.

As announced on the PlayStation blog, Ryan Schneider, Jen Huang, and Chad Dezern are the new co-studio heads of Insomniac. Schneider was Insomniac's first community director whose tenure with the company goes back to the PS2 era. Huang has only been with Insomniac for eight years, but he has also served as the company's CFO and Head of Finance in that time. Of the three, Dezern has been at Insomniac the longest--he joined in 1998--and has been the Head of Creative since 2017.

In a statement shared through Insomniac's parent company, Sony, Price revealed that he made the decision to step down last year.

"For me, after over 30 years of leading Insomniac, I felt it was simply time to step aside and let others pave the way for our team," wrote Price. "During the past year, I had the opportunity to work with the senior leadership team at Insomniac to create a succession plan that I know will provide the continuity, stability and strong leadership necessary to deliver more of what our fans cherish over the next several decades."

Price's retirement will be take place in March. As for the immediate future of Insomniac, Marvel's Wolverine is one of at least two games it has in development currently. Dezern shared his excitement about that title, but refused to say if Wolverine will be released in 2025. Schneider also teased the possibility of more film adaptations after the 2016 movie based on Ratchet & Clank.

A statement from the face of the franchise, Ronnie2K, revealed to GameSpot that Prescott's presence is there to heighten the true-to-life atmosphere of the simulation game, and Prescott is one of several famous faces you might come across while you play NBA 2K25.

"NBA 2K25 features a number of celebrities sitting courtside across multiple arenas to replicate the high-energy atmosphere of a real NBA game," Ronnie2K said. "In addition to Dak Prescott, players can also spot A-list NBA fans such as Jack Harlow, Diplo, Druski, and Mark Cuban cheering on their favorite teams. Details like this elevate the in-arena experience, making it feel as if players are truly part of the action and excitement of a live NBA game."

This isn't the first time Prescott has been featured in the game. In NBA 2K23, Prescott was a playable character during a MyTeam crossover series that brought celebrity 2K fans from other sports and music into NBA 2K. These days, it seems Prescott is content to cheer from the sidelines, but maybe we'll see him back in a jersey eventually.

As for 2K's American football projects, we've already seen one of them debut, though you might've missed it if you were looking on consoles and PC. NFL 2K Playmakers debuted in April 2024 on mobile and is closer to something like MyTeam than an on-field football simulation.

The last we'd heard, 2K isn't permitted to develop a "simulation-style" NFL game due to EA's Madden contract with the league that gives it sole permission to make such a game, but that seemingly wouldn't stop 2K from making an alternate kind of experience that may even include team branding and player names and likenesses. My pet theory is the 2K team will eventually debut something like NBA 2K's The City as a standalone, possibly free-to-play, arcade-like NFL experience. Presuming that launches within the next few years, you can bet Prescott will pop up in that one too--and in a bigger role than superfan.

If you haven't jumped into the latest basketball sim yet, you can check out our NBA 2K25 review, which praises the game for its incredible presentation, enjoyable on-court gameplay, and breadth of interesting modes, but can't easily overlook its pay-to-win problems rearing their head once more.

Speaking to Variety, Insomniac's new co-studio head Ryan Schneider looked back on the studio's first foray into Hollywood--2016's Ratchet and Clank--and how Insomniac got an "early start" on game-to-screen adaptations at the time.

"I think back to the Ratchet and Clank film from several years ago," Schneider said. "And we kind of got an early start on that. So, of course, we're interested in that kind of thing. We love Ratchet and Clank in particular."

Ratchet and Clank wasn't a box office hit when it was first released, as it only earned $13.3 million at the global box office during its short run and a mixed critical reception. "Ratchet & Clank pulls us across the universe at a breakneck pace, but it never seems to take us anywhere. The series may have found success in video games, but in the meantime, it's merely stumbled into film," Mike Mahardy wrote in GameSpot's review of the film.

In comparison, The Super Mario Bros. Movie based on the Nintendo IP was a critical and commercial hit, with a sequel currently in development. Meanwhile, Sony has slowly been branching out into transmedia projects throughout the 2020s, as live-action Uncharted and Gran Turismo movies were released in 2022 and 2023, respectively.

The Last of Us was also turned into a smash-hit TV series, and its second season is scheduled to air in April. More adaptations of Sony games are on the way, starting with live-action versions of Helldivers and Horizon Zero Dawn. In the anime department, Ghost of Tsushima is getting an animated series that'll be produced by Demon Slayer studio Aniplex.

Schneider is one of three co-studio heads who will be taking over from Ted Price, as he'll be joined by Chad Dezern and Jen Huang. The studio also briefly mentioned its upcoming Wolverine game, teasing that an announcement would be made when the time is right to do so.

One of the new Insomniac bosses, Chad Dezern, told Variety that the studio would "love to talk more about Wolverine," but it can't just yet. "We have to be like Logan today, and remain very stoic until it's time to pop the claws down the road," he said. "As much as we're as much as we have pent up excitement, we got to hold on to it. So that's about as much as we could say about our upcoming projects today."

Dezern also refused to confirm or deny if the new Wolverine game will release in 2025.

Bad actors hacked Insomniac's servers in 2023, revealing lots of information, images, and footage of the new Wolverine game, but Insomniac has not released anything official as of yet beyond an initial CG teaser trailer years ago.

Wolverine is Insomniac's only upcoming announced game, but the studio has at least one other game in the works. Price said in a blog post that Insomniac is in a strong position today, "with each game in development looking beautiful and playing fantastic."

Given the immense success of Insomniac's Spider-Man games, it's expected that the studio would make another Spider-Man game, though this is not confirmed yet.

The new Wolverine game was announced back in 2021, but we still don't know much about it. The last time that Wolverine had a solo game was all the way back in 2009 with X-Men Origins: Wolverine, though Wolverine has showed up in a number of other games since, including Marvel Rivals most recently.

As for the tone of the Wolverine game, Insomniac is aiming to deliver a mature experience, which is fitting considering Wolverine's nature as a walking weapon.

Last month, the game appeared for sale on the PlayStation Store, via a product listing that featured a number of head-scratching features, fake accolades and a promised release date of 2025. So how did it end up on Steam after getting removed by Sony?

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According to the game's developers (via IGN), a title change (removing "VI"), an artstyle revamp, and a few other tweaks--including full disclosure of the amount of generative AI used in the game--allowed it to be listed on Steam. (The game now mainly uses AI for voiceovers.)

The goal was "to clearly differentiate Grand Taking Ages from the original inspiration, GTA 6, and to emphasize its unique direction," developer Violarte said in a statement to IGN.

Violarte also says it took a different approach with Valve than it did with Sony.

"We approached Steam differently by engaging with their team about the concept of our game before officially submitting it," a Violarte spokesperson stated to IGN. "This allowed us to get their perspective early on, ensuring alignment with their guidelines."

Other Grand Theft-themed parodies--such as Grand Theft Hamlet were--used as by Violarte to defend its right to distribute Grand Taking Ages.

"These examples showcase how parody can celebrate and entertain within existing genres while remaining creative and engaging," the studio's spokesperson said.

At the time of writing, neither Valve nor Rockstar Games have publicly commented on Grand Taking Ages' Steam listing. Grand Taking Ages is available to wishlist on Steam, and is scheduled to release in July 2025. Grand Theft Auto VI is set to release sometime in 2025.

That’s because the first entry of this five-part series provides an overview of the human, aumauan, orlan, dwarven, and elven species that populate Avowed’s world. Lore of Eora - Species begins by explaining that Kith is the term used to refer to Eora’s people. While humans, dwarves, and elves are species of Kith fantasy fans should be familiar with, the aumaua and orlan species are unique to Eora.

The aumaua are the sea-faring species of Kith with “unparalleled strength and imposing size” and blue or green skin. Meanwhile, orlans are small, furry people with large ears and incredible mental prowess. No matter what species of Kith someone is, there is a chance they can be born as a godlike. Godlikes have “unusual physical characteristics and mystical powers” based on one of Eora’s gods, with the one featured in this video sporting antlers on her head. The player-created character in Avowed is a godlike, considered a rare sight in Living Lands of Eora where Avowed takes place.

This series of Lore of Eora videos is helpful because Avowed takes place in the same universe as the isometric RPG series Pillars of Eternity. While playing Pillars of Eternity and Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire is not required to understand or enjoy Avowed, Lore of Eora helps color in the details of this universe established in previous games. Obsidian Entertainment lays out video series' goal in the description of this first video: It wants to make the franchise’s dense lore “accessible for all.”

Avowed launches for PC and Xbox Series X|S on February 18 and will be part of the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate catalog from day one. You can check out our Avowed preorder guide to learn more about its various editions.

Teases for the rose-tinted ruffian began to appear in the Living Forest stage, with some players like YouTube creator Super reporting seeing the name Floyd in pink font after winning a match there. With Conan now released, players are now encountering Floyd on a brand-new empty-field stage.

Another YouTube creator named Dynasty has since released a video indicating that Floyd will randomly appear before matches to give a clue as to how to trigger his fight, with 37 different clues possible as found by dataminers highlighted in the video. Some of the clues are as follows:

• "No Luna"
• "Keep Kalm & Finish"
• "Hat Trick"
• "Sans Jade"
• "This Is Where You Fall Down"

This is not the first time the Mortal Kombat franchise featured hidden fights; the original game allowed players to encounter the green ninja Reptile, while MKII also used a Living Forest stage to tease its hidden characters. Floyd, meanwhile, is the second musically themed character to appear in the Mortal Kombat series, as the purple ninja named Rain--a reference to Prince's famous song Purple Rain--debuted in Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3.

Mortal Kombat 1 is available now on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch and PC. The Khaos Reigns expansion--which is needed to access Conan The Barbarian, Ghostface, and the rest of Kombat Pass 2--is also available for each platform.

"We are enabling support for external USB drives larger than 16TB, so you can be sure your favorite games are always ready to play," Microsoft explained in a blog post. "Newly formatted drives that are larger than 16TB will be formatted with multiple partitions to utilize all available space for games and apps. These will appear as multiple devices in the storage devices list."

Anyone who already has an external hard drive larger than 16TB that has been formatted will be unaffected by this change, Microsoft added, noting that these storage devices will need to be reformatted to take advantage of the updated support. It's worth noting that games optimized for Xbox Series X|S consoles cannot be played from an external USB drive, but these can be used to store the game data and then moved onto the console's SSD or an NvME SSD expansion card.

A new external drive-limit wasn't mentioned in the blog post, so if you feel like going all out, it does seem like you can make use of something like a Seagate 24TB external hard drive to keep backups of all your games.

With game install sizes steadily increasing over the years, this is welcome news to anyone looking to keep a massive library of games that can be accessed at any time. While 16TB is more than enough for a lot of indie and last-gen games--newer games like Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, and Stalker 2: Shadow of Chornobyl can take up a lot of space.

In other Xbox news, the first Developer Direct livestream of 2025 kicks off on January 23. South of Midnight and Doom: The Dark Ages are some of the games that will be featured, and Xbox is also teasing a mystery game for the show. Game Pass subscribers can also check out all the new games coming to and leaving the service this month.

While most of the post-launch content for Black Ops 6 has forgotten about the game's '90s setting, the Season 2 trailer includes a remixed version of Bush's 1996 hit "Machinehead." Season 2 is themed around ninja-esque operators who are dual-wielding katanas, as seen in the trailer below.

One of the multiplayer maps shows gameplay inside a car dealership, which is simply called Dealership. Another multiplayer map features a super-yacht that looks similar to the Hijacked map from Black Ops 2, but this is apparently a new yacht map called Lifeline. A third map is called Bounty, but we don't get to see much of the setting. These three maps will arrive at launch, while two additional maps will drop during the midseason.

Zombies footage is also featured near the end of the trailer, giving the first look at gameplay on The Tomb map. It also reveals the map's unique Wonder Weapons, which are four staffs similar to the ones used on the fan-favorite Origins map from Black Ops 2.

Additionally, Activision shared the new promotional art for Season 2, which reveals the katanas, PPSh-41 submachine gun, and FAL rifle as the new weapons in the game.

Season 2 will bring several game improvements, including the ability to turn off cross-play in Ranked Play modes. Here is everything rumored and announced for Season 2 so far.