Julius

A new event by The Triple-i Initiative is on the way following the success of last year's event, though date and time is still TBC: For reference, their showcase last year was held on April 10th after being announced on 28th March – assuming a similar window between announcement to release here, I imagine they're going to try to get out ahead of the Switch 2 event on 2nd April? Looking forward to it either way!

Sorry, but I have zero idea where this should be put, especially with as little info as they've given, but it's something I want to recognise somewhere and so here's a thread for it To commemorate Chrono Trigger's 30th anniversary today in Japan, the official Square Enix JP Twitter account posted this: This could be a lot of things, or a lot of nothing. It's Square Enix, so get ready for that monkey's paw to curl! Yeah, yeah, okay, let's be realistic first up: I imagine there'll be [Japan-only] concerts. Probably some merch. Maybe an anime or something. A stage play. A mobile game. I don't know, that's what Suikoden did sooooooo I think we should finally see a port of Chrono Trigger come to consoles at long last this year. It's long, long, long overdue at this point. I seriously have no idea why it's taken so long. The Steam version released in like 2018 is functional enough to just bring over virtually as-is, I feel like. On the outskirts of my mind, I do think there's a very, very, small, tiny chance at a HD-2D Remake announcement following the completion of the Erdrick Trilogy HD-2D Remakes after DQ I & II HD-2D release later this year. It really depends on how much Square Enix want to charge for it, but I just can't see them lazily porting it over for, say, £15 and being done with it when they could make so much more with a HD-2D Remake. Anyways, yeah, guess we'll need to wait and see! More importantly: happy 30th, Chrono Trigger! Truly one of the greats

Yep, that's correct. It's been around for a while but I think it really blew up with PUBG? And often finds itself in co-op games nowadays, things like Sea of Thieves, Phasmaphobia, Lethal Company, etc. Seems much more common on PC, so if it is coming to Switch 2, I think it's a smart move. Exhibit A: Exhibit B: Hope that helps clear it up a bit

Cerny touting the 2026 update for PS5 Pro's capabilities bringing it in line with FSR 4. Yeah I don't know exactly what it means either, but reading through the reactions it seems like a big deal

1 million copies sold in the game's first two days: Super impressive stuff!

Started my Andor rewatch on Sunday, figured I'd take it slow and just watched the first episode. So anyways, I got up to the end of Episode 6 last night. Yeah, I stand by everything I've said before in terms of glowing praise for the show. It's tough to determine how I'd rank it personally amongst all of Star Wars purely because of nostalgia for other shows and films, but I'm definitely rewatching this time asking myself "this is the best made Star Wars since Empire, right?" It's just that brilliant. I'll be honest, it's also probably the only time outside of Rebels that I've cared about the Rebel cause – and there's so much more nuance and depth added to that cause in Andor. Now, I do agree with the sentiment that the first arc (Episodes 1-3) is a slow build, but I think it's super important that it is because of how clearly it defines the characters and state of the galaxy. By the end of Episode 3 it feels like the stakes have been raised and there is a sense that there's something special to the show. The second arc (Episodes 4-6), though, for me, is when the show seriously finds its footing and is incredibly blatant in both how Star Wars and un-Star Wars this show is going to be. A New Hope? What hope? You seriously feel the struggle and the stakes starting from this arc, in a way which I think is similar to how they were felt in the final act of Rogue One. There's a desperation and chaos and seriousness to what is happening which adds much-needed depth to the GFFA at this point in the timeline. Some wonderful visuals in these episodes, too. To anyone who hasn't watched the show, or has tried to and bounced off the first few episodes, I urge you to stick with it or return to it as and when you have the time and curiosity to sit through it all – yeah, I'm saying commit to the whole thing, not just the start, because I'm saying the show is simply that good. Just trust me on this. Can't wait to get back to it. S2 is going to be awesome

A new Silent Hill Transmission has been announced for 22:00 GMT on Thursday 13th March, with a focus on uncovering Silent Hill f. https://x.com/SilentHill/status/1899218771375481118 Last we saw it could best be described as "that mushroom game" Curious to see how it's shaken out

Another day, another Switch 2 patent – this one apparently touting OS-integrated voice chat and proximity chat support for first-party titles. Per Wccftech: Proximity chat in Mario Kart while you pass someone by/Blue Shell the leader/Bullet Bill by everyone on the track could be hilarious

New details from Neil in his Creator:Creator interview with Alex Garland: All sounds great to me!

Oh, for crying out loud... April 15th/17th for Indy on PS5. April 25th/29th for Forza on PS5. May 13th/15th for Doom on all platforms. That sounds to me like a classic case of poor Xbox Game Studios release schedule curation. Never change, Xbox, never change. Happy it's getting a physical release, at least. Got to imagine it's a case of MachineGames pushing for it, especially seeing as it's releasing relatively soon after the (poorly timed – shocking, I know) Xbox/PC release back in December.

Did a bit of Googling on the matter back when I played the games and what I found was pretty interesting; just dived down that same rabbit hole to dig it all back up and respond to this. So, Kobolds are part of traditional German folklore (Wikipedia) and are typically portrayed as humanoid. Boyish, little bearded dudes, seems to already be a lack of consensus on what they are exactly, but they certainly weren't dog-like or reptilian. They could also be goblins. Or spirits. Go figure. Anyways, there's then obviously this whole thing with Gygax using the name to create a fictional race in D&D – he just knew them as little forest people, and added fictional elements as he saw fit. The first response on this StackExchange post goes over the whole ordeal of how they went from dog-like to draconic/reptilian, but to summarise, it was basically down to artist interpretation: for the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1e Monster Manual (1977), an artist by the name of Dave Sutherland gave the creatures their dog-like appearance; not exactly how Gygax saw it (he saw them as "impish"), but he went with it. However, when D&D 3e rolled around, artist Todd Lockwood drew them as being more reptilian in appearance. Dates are important here: the AD&D Monster Manual first released in 1977, whereas D&D 3e's Monster Manual equivalent released in 2000. Suikoden first released in 1995, and I imagine reference to the fictional Kobold race was based on early editions of D&D; it certainly couldn't have been based on 3e's depiction of the race considering, well, it wasn't out yet. Golden Sun first released in 2001, but going by its reported 12-18 month development by Camelot, it's fair to assume they likely didn't get the memo about the change in appearance, or simply didn't care if they stuck with the same name for the race they had already planned for the game. So, yeah – D&D Kobolds are depicted as being reptilian in appearance now (see also: BG3) but were previously depicted as being dog-like prior to D&D 3e, and that's likely why those games mentioned went along with the dog-like appearance of the race then. Because that's what a Kobold had been

Previously rumoured, the Astro Bot PS5 bundles have been confirmed to start releasing in stores globally this week: Astro's Playroom and Astro Bot! Some kids are going to have great birthdays/an awesome Christmas this year with this bundle, that's for sure

Haha yeah, the spacing between the asterisks makes it all look really odd, and then they go and decide that's one word

Isn't it...

Game has been rated for the PS5 by ESRB: Don't do anything silly with this release date, Xbox, leave it until June...

Oof, just noticed when I paused on the Collector's Edition screen (was curious about what was included for the previously leaked €229.99 price) – Early Access from June 24th? It calls out the Digital Deluxe Edition included in the CE (no physical edition at that price? That's wild!) so seemingly all Digital Deluxe Editions will be Early Access? Seems strange for such a story heavy game, and it means getting it on a Tuesday instead of on the Thursday (rather than, say, a Friday instead of a Tuesday)...interesting

Seems like the best is yet to come (sorry, couldn't help myself ) – Death Stranding Orchestral Concerts World Tour has been announced for late 2025/early 2026!

Damn, what a trailer Have no idea what any of it means (especially, uh, should I say Not Snake? Thought he looked eerily similar and then he went and did *that*. And was that Not Conan with him at the start?), but the imagery is just all kinds of insane. Genuinely jawdropping at times, the Decima engine was always gorgeous but this feels like it's taking it to another level in terms of ambition. Yeah, this is honestly probably the game releasing this year I'm most gutted about not playing in 2025 (simply because I plan to continue my Kojima run with some of his earlier games beforehand), but I'm very much looking forward to hearing impressions about it, and I'm especially curious about what the gameplay loop is like vs the first game! Which I did very briefly dabble with a few years ago

That it's making it out in June is kind of nuts Guess I'll watch the trailer on the big screen...holy damn it's 10 minutes?! Best settle in brb Nah, I reckon it's doable. Just like I'm going to play both MGSV and Death Stranding to catch up before DS2 releases! (I'm joke please don't hold me to this)

Historical accuracy, obviously! Don't believe there is – think it's only PS5, Series X|S and Switch which have seen physical releases. If I'm remembering right some stores put up PS4 pre-orders up way back when it was announced, but it seems safe to assume that they were just hedging their bets. Just unwrapped and thrown my copy in the chunky WiFi router that is the PS5 to check on the second question and yep, you're right, seems like it's only the PS5 version available via the disc (doesn't seem to have unlocked a PS4 download anywhere that I can see). Don't think I've read or heard anything about a PS4 release in Asian territories, either. All makes for a very bizarre release. The MGS Master Collection Vol. 1 had both PS4 and PS5 physical releases, right? So it's not even like they're being weirdly consistent according to their own releases, I suppose Konami just had to find a way to Konami

That's insane to hear, and in a good way I suppose! Seems like strong word of mouth/reviews + spiritual-ish successor to It Takes Two (which sold a ridiculous number, still can't believe the figure we got of 23m+, a shocking amount of those apparently over in China from the article I read too?) + the continuation of the Friend's Pass to share the game + releasing only a week after the only other big 90+ average rated AAA release of the year so far which is on the entire opposite end of the gaming spectrum (Monster Hunter Wilds) + so many other things which seem to be going the game's way. From what I've seen going around, it seems by the few ways available to measure besides official figures shared by EA or Hazelight themselves, the game is doing very well. I think it was at something like 200k concurrent players (or something ridiculous like that) on Steam at launch? I'm really happy that they've seen continued success with two female leads, I think I've seen some disparaging comments out there about the game having two female leads but it doesn't seem to be getting in the way of its success, which is great to see! Think I'll need to keep my eye out for a physical copy at some point too, now that you mention it I played both A Way Out and It Takes Two with my younger brother so hoping we can carve out the time to do the same with Split Fiction at some point!

An excellent trailer for Season 2: Just over a month to go! Anyone else planning to tune in? Particularly curious to hear from those who haven't played the games/Part II

Fair I suppose I was thinking more from the perspective of having an account tied to the console, but maybe that's just because it comes part and parcel with the experience of modern consoles these days

You'll need a Microsoft account in addition to your PlayStation Network account to play Forza Horizon 5 on PS5, per this FAQ: I think it feels gross whenever you need multiple accounts like this to play a game, but maybe that's just me

Per billbil-kun, standard editions of the game will be €69.99 and there will be a collector's edition retailing at €229.99, with pre-orders expected to start this month. Does that €229.99 have you making child maintenance payments for BB or something? Really curious to see what's included with that CE. Reminder that the game's release date is expected to drop during the game's dedicated SXSW panel this Sunday evening.