Julius

No Mother 3, but here are your Earthbound Beginnings icons To make matters worse/funnier/waaaaaaaaaay more cruel, icons for Earthbound are due out for a week from the 29th, and for Mother 3 for a week from the 7th (March)...at least in Japan, don't think we've had full confirmation of what's going on over here just yet (at least at the time of writing), but I would assume it's the same deal. Which makes it potential even worse/funnier/way, way more cruel; are we really about to see Mother 3 icons drop in the West in 2 weeks' time, despite the game having never released over here?

Felix the Cat drops March 28th! And Rocket Knight Adventures: Re-Sparked is coming...sometime in 2024?

Limited Run have confirmed plans for a physical release of the game for both Series X|S and PS5: Yeah, for me Pentiment is more of a curiosity, but this is the one which has grabbed me and that I really want to play. Grounded I couldn't care less, and Sea of Thieves, just by it's very nature, really depends on how willing my friends are to check it out. Certainly a level of irony here that after all of Xbox's acquisitions, the game produced by their only studio in Japan (I'm pretty sure?) is the only one of real interest to a lot of people not already on their platform

It's officially official now that this game is coming to PS5, after weeks of rumours, speculation, and Bethesda LATAM totally not jumping the gun earlier today. Feels like it deserves it's own thread seeing as all the other Xbox titles announced as coming to other consoles today already do. Developed by Tango Gameworks, it was originally shadow dropped on Xbox and PC last year on 25th January following a Developer_Direct by Xbox, and was received really well – arguably one of the highlights of Xbox's output last year, and certainly the one to grab the most attention during end of year award discussions. Really looking forward to finally checking this out!

@Hero-of-Time trophies confirmed on PlayStation per the PS Blog: The Death Star map seems like the obvious choice for that one I kind of want to see if I can get all the trophies in this just based on their descriptions much as I love the game I hope they don't get too silly with, say, separate trophies for winning Galactic Conquest with each faction. Anyways, my pre-order is in (there's a 10% pre-order discount incentive), so roll on the 14th! ...after the 29th and Rebirth, of course

That suit on the right looks beautiful. The one on the left and these atrocities (even if for a good cause?) are something else, though...

See, I totally get that, and also I imagine it's likely a case of already having handed off materials, the Direct cut likely being mostly if not 100% complete, etc. With how much Xbox leaks these days, though, they seriously need leak clauses in those contracts if that is the case – "if this news gets out ahead of time, we get to pivot it". The hype for and their control over these announcements has been torn from their hands and, as with all leaks, I feel like the announcement/s have been majorly blunted as a result. But even if we say that it's the case that there were arrangements already in place, which there likely were...you let Nintendo hype up your ancient legacy titles going to their Online platform but basically give no lip service or great fanfare to your modern, piecemeal offerings? That's just bad marketing. They need a new team, seriously, because it was thrown out there so carelessly that Pentiment and Grounded were coming to Switch that it felt like an afterthought. You could argue we already knew about it, but that doesn't change the fact that you're trying to sell the game to an entirely new and separate audience to your own! Completely blew their chance to make a splash with those announcements from my POV.

Looks like it's been made private now but seriously, the more we see of their plans for other consoles, the more I'm questioning my own sanity. Why exactly couldn't they reveal the names of any of Grounded, Pentiment, Hi-Fi Rush or Sea of Thieves last Thursday, but then they've had two officially announced today - in the weirdest and most nonchalant way possible, mind you - and had one leak out and confirm it 100%, when it was already 99% confirmed anyways from previous datamines and the like? I guess you'd maybe have deals in place but plans change all the time and they were suffering some major PR blowback, why didn't you wrest your own announcements back? You fools! And you don't even make any big deal out of it in the Direct? No Phil cameo? This is insane. There's no connection there to tell me these games are also on Xbox other than a small logo in the corner. Come on, guys. Do better than that. The fact that we're getting Pentiment tomorrow, Hi-Fi next month, and Grounded in April makes me think Sea of Thieves drops in May...at which point, does anyone believe they aren't planning more with potentially four consecutive months of drops on other platforms? Also, respect to Bethesda LATAM for jumping the gun. It was the smart move. Muchas gracias mi amigos I'm not too surprised by this, I remember questioning if this thing could even run on Switch back when we were talking about GOTYs/TGAs and that Xbox should've got this on everything else and taken a real crack at the big awards with a For Your Consideration-like campaign for the game. Really seems like it depends on a super solid and high frame rate because of the style of game and it's mechanics. Switch 2 for sure.

Some more details on this release, which looks to be astronomically priced - I've seen £31.49 flying around? I mean I'm in at whatever price, but come on, that seems far steeper than it needs to be Adding (copying?) maps to Battlefront II is great, as is the inclusion of Kit Fisto and Ventress. Hero Assault on any ground map is awesome. So pumped for this

May 24th, and now confirmed for Switch, too, as revealed in today's Direct! @Ashley any chance you could move this across to Nintendo Gaming now that a Switch version has been confirmed please?

Some more details and a separate trailer (without the countdown): The expansion will be priced at $39.99 USD. There will be a Collector's Edition. Really digging just how distinct the environmental design is compared to the base game! And that Gatling crossbow (and that guy's armour)!

Shadow of the Erdtree arrives 21st June! What a trailer. Oh my goodness.

Honestly? I wonder if their logic is just that they've shadow dropped five different Rare games across NSO's various consoles, and that got priority over Pentiment purely because, well, those were originally games on Nintendo consoles and will surely have a more positive reception (in terms of the Direct). Not sure I agree with that logic, though. Totally could've dropped it today, anyone interested in Pentiment is going to pick it up as and when, and same for the NSO games I feel

That was a surprisingly solid Partner Showcase. I'd need to go back and check the others they've done but with those all being Minis, this definitely felt like a step up in terms of lineup and just general pacing. Anyways, as for what tickled my fancy: • Shin Megami Tensei V: Vengeance. I'll get to it...eventually, but sure, it's the Year of the JRPG, why not add another to the list and make it multiplatform while we're at it? Some day. • Battlefront Classic Collection. The only thing I paused the Direct for. My jaw dropped. This is one of my favourite games of all-time. This is going to be very bad for my backlog. Day 1. • Pepper Grinder. Not sure if I'll pick this up on Switch or Steam Deck, but I've been keeping an eye on this game for a little while now. I expect a lot of noise around it at release, I mean, assuming that it's any good. I won't be playing the demo (like we have the time for demos in the year of gaming that is 2024?!), but appreciate that there is one. If I'm not busy, Day 1. • Pentiment. Heard way too many good things about this to just let it slide. Another one where I'm not sure if I want it on Switch or Steam Deck, but I've seen little else besides the art style and a few seconds of gameplay out of context, so it is purely curiosity and the hype around it which has me interested. I am busy, so not Day 1, but, some day soonish I hope. • Pocket Card Jockey: Ride On! Man, I've been meaning to get to this forever. I have it on 3DS. But I just haven't got around to it. Some day. I do agree with @EEVILMURRAY that calling out H1 2024 as the focus then having games with dates in the latter part of the year and just general "some time this year" is a bit weird, but hey, at least they didn't start talking about 2025! With all of that in mind, I'm going to give it a Totally Official Event Score (or TOES, because...these money-guzzling, coin-licking, cheque-hungry companies are all little piggies?) of 7.5/10. Got that little Battlefront bump, baby

Snake Rattle 'n' Roll and R.C. PRO-AM both join the service today:

Battletoads in Battlemaniacs and Killer Instinct both join the service today:

...and the second of Xbox's offerings on other platforms, as announced in today's Direct.

Blast Corps is available on N64 NSO today: Elsewhere, Mother 3 got added to GBA NSO...in Japan

Well, there's the first of Xbox's upcoming offerings on other platforms.

Switch exclusive!

FREAKING FINALLY! I've waited so long for this

Well there you have it: coming to Switch, PS4 and PC this summer!

Here we have it: coming to everything else (and Switch, again) on June 21st.

AOH MY GOD BATTLEFRONT COLLECTION WHATTTTTTTTT

Direct goes live Xbox: "our chance to steal the spotlight" This is available...today! Shadow drop!