Gaming

The new nine-piece collection created as part of a collaboration with Microsoft debuted at Ikea’s physical stores at the beginning of the month. But if you don’t have easy local access to meatballs and flatpack furniture, the Yxstaby collection, which includes accessories and furniture that draw inspiration from Xbox controllers, is now available through Ikea’s online store, too.

While two colors have already sold out, Woot has the 8BitDo Pro 3 in grey for $46.99, 33 percent lower than the list price. This wireless controller is compatible with the Nintendo Switch and Switch 2, as well as Windows, Apple, SteamOS, and Android devices. Despite its budget-friendly price tag, the Pro 3 is surprisingly well-equipped, with TMR joysticks, an included charging dock, and swappable buttons. Read our review.

Digital Sun thanked Steam players for signing up for a first playtest of an upcoming game called ReVamp, but said that:

Faraway, a game where you play as a shooting star and slingshot around other stars, is launching on November 5th on Nintendo Switch and Switch 2, PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X / S. The game blew me away in just a 10-minute demo last year, and I can’t wait to check out the full release.

The branding of the Hidisc HD-TCHD2MPDBK Type-C HDMI Mirroring Cable isn’t exactly simple, but if you’re looking for a Switch 2 dock that’s easy to stash they’re not going to get more streamlined than this. The cable’s launching in Japan for 1,980 yen (around $12.50) but you’ll need to connect and provide a USB-C power source in order for the Switch 2 to output video.

The update for Housmarque’s intense PS5 shooter is out today.

If you missed the original versions, starting at 9AM PT/11AM ET today you’ll be able to preorder Analogue’s new Super Nt Plus and Mega Sg Plus retro consoles compatible with the cartridges from each respective platform. The new Plus versions come with several quality of life improvements including built-in wireless controller connectivity, USB-C power ports, and cartridge hot swapping.

Amazon started letting US and UK users stream games from Luna inside Prime Video in July, and today the feature will be available in Canada, France, Italy, and Spain to Amazon Prime subscribers on Fire TVs, Amazon says.

I’ve spent the past week testing Asus laptop instead of Asus handheld, so my X20 review got pre-empted. But since you can buy it for $1,300 today, here’s my insta-review: it’s not necessarily the new champ. It’s so refined, but I want to play Star Wars Zero Company right now. That game looks terrible here, but runs fine with the extra power of my Claw EX review unit.

After being announced last June, you can now reserve Honeycomb Aeronautical’s $179.99 Echo Aviation Controller XPC without a deposit ahead of sales staring on November 20th. The gamepad swaps a standard layout for a collection of flight sim-specific controls like throttle levers, a trim wheel, rudder paddles, and even dedicated switches for deploying landing gear and applying an aircraft’s parking brake.

Following wearables with playable versions of Tetris, Mega Man 2, and Pong, My Play Watch’s latest timepiece comes saturated in Street Fighter II theming including various faces inspired by the game’s characters, a matching strap, and a version of the fighting game optimized for tiny touchscreen controls. You can preorder it now for $79.99 with shipping expected later this year.

EasySMX’s upcoming $54.99 S05 Pro wireless controller doesn’t seem to leave out any features. It has a similar design to the X05 Pro, but with TMR sticks and more Switch features, like amiibo support, six-axis gyro, and one-button wake-up. More surprising are its two-stage Hall effect triggers that have dedicated rumble actuators (plus rumble in each grip). I’ll be testing it soon.

The first expansion DLC for post-post-apocalyptic roguelike Caves of Qud — one of my all-time favorite games — will let you play as a mutated plant or animal, among other new features.

The website decomp.dev published a big statement following the recent influx of AI-assisted decompilations of games:

The $199.99 Barracuda V2 Pro is $50 cheaper than its predecessor, yet contains quite a few improvements. Notably, the ANC-ready headset ships with a USB-C wireless dongle hidden within the left ear cup. It supports simultaneous 2.4GHz and Bluetooth 6 audio, as opposed to making you swap between them, and includes a detachable mic for better voice capture than its beamforming mics. It’s available now at Razer’s site.

The new paid Expansion Pass adds content in waves: first, some Three Houses-themed weapons that are available today, then new playable characters and outfits coming this holiday season, and finally new stories featuring four characters that will launch in 2027.

The collection celebrating Xbox’s 25th anniversary includes games like The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition, Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, Minecraft Dungeons, and Gears of War: Reloaded. Microsoft says you can also play some of the free games on Xbox Series X/S with Xbox Play Anywhere.

New listings on Anbernic’s AliExpress storefront reveal pricing for its new dual-screen Android handheld that will be available for preorder starting on October 16th and expected to ship on December 10th. The entry-level RG DDS with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage will be $299.99, while bumping the specs to 12GB/256GB pushes the price to $364.99.

As spotted by Kotaku, some people are posting videos showing strange visual issues with the updated launcher that agents wrote code for. Right now, the launcher is in preview.

NBA 2K27 is debuting on the Xbox store on PC this week, and as part of the launch it’s becoming an Xbox Anywhere title. That means if you purchased the game on an Xbox console already, you’ll get the PC copy free from the Microsoft Store and vice versa. Microsoft has been pushing Xbox Play Anywhere for years, and hit a milestone of 1,000 titles last year — ahead of the next-gen Project Helix console.

The classic mode just launched in July, but Riot Games says that most players have “gone back to other parts of League.” The mode is being shut down in January 2027, but Riot says it has a “goal” of bringing it back “likely as an event mode with adjustments and additions.”

007 First Light is coming to Nintendo Switch 2 on March 18th, 2027. The very good James Bond game launched on other platforms in May, though shortly before that, developer IO Interactive said it would come to Switch 2 “later this summer,” so it’s a bit late.

The team at Puzzmo are celebrating their third anniversary, and as part of that they’re releasing a bunch of experimental games, including a version of solitaire where you can see other players around you. It’s sort of like reading in a library: you’re doing a solo activity, but in the comforting presence of like-minded folks.

I’ve really warmed up to the game’s art style, especially in this new trailer. And after reading my colleague Cameron Faulkner’s hands-on preview, I’m looking forward to returning to Hyrule even more. The game launches on Switch 2 on November 5th.

RedLynx, which made the Trials games, is being closed down, while 70 jobs have been “impacted” at Ubisoft Singapore, which made Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag Resynced, Eurogamer reports.