Gaming

Though Nintendo initially made it seem like its upcoming Virtual Boy rereleases could be used with the Labo VR headset, the company now says that’s not “officially” the case. That “officially” kinda makes it seem like the games might work with the Labo, but Nintendo would rather you buy the new Virtual Boy™ (Cardboard Model).

Sony shipped 8 million PS5 consoles over the recent holiday quarter. While that’s down 16 percent year-over-year, it’s still nearly the same amount of PS4 shipments Sony managed during the same period of its lifecycle. In fact, VGC points out that the PS5 has been pretty much aligned with Sony’s PS4 shipments in the months since its launch.

Just a few years after Overwatch 2’s free-to-play 5v5 replaced the original, Blizzard announced it’s dropping the “2.” There’s been a steady flow of other changes lately (like the return of 6v6), but the plan for this next year includes 10 new heroes (Domina, Emre, Mizuki, Anran, and Jetpack Cat arrive when S1 launches February 10th), new maps, menu updates, a Conquest meta event, Reign of Talon narrative arc, and more.

There’s a great Steam PC game bundle available at Humble for the next two weeks and change. The “Sci-Fi Shooters 2.0” bundle includes the System Shock 2 remaster, the Star Wars: Dark Forces remaster, Doom Eternal, and more fun games for just $20 (a $224 value). Proceeds go to non-profit organizations including One Tree Planted and Cool Effect.

If you’ve still got your Labo kits, you may not need to buy Nintendo’s $100 or $25 Virtual Boy Switch accessories. During an event last week, Nintendo Treehouse staffer Corey Olcsvary told GamesBeat that the Labo VR kit can also be used to play NSO Virtual Boy games, even though Nintendo’s not promoting the backwards compatibility.

After holding livestreams for both The Super Mario Galaxy Movie and the weirdo life sim Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream, Nintendo is back with another event. This time it’ll be a “partner showcase” focused on games from third-party developers. You can watch it live on February 5th at 9AM ET.

Two new Game Boy titles are being added to the Nintendo Switch Online service to kick off February. Balloon Kid features Alice trying to save her brother Jim by floating through levels using balloons, and Yoshi which is a Tetris/Dr. Mario-like puzzle game where you stack falling Goombas, Bloopers, and Boo Buddies.

Egyptian regulators are planning a ban on the gaming platform to “protect children’s moral and educational values,” Bloomberg reports. Egypt will join a growing list of countries blocking Roblox, including Turkey and Russia. Some U.S. states are also eyeing restrictions on Roblox.

Karl Slatoff, responding to a question about Google’s Project Genie AI tool on an earnings call today:

Grasshopper Manufacture’s Suda 51 discussing generative AI with Eurogamer:

After making the festival rounds last year, Exit 8 — an adaptation of the cult hit horror game — is finally hitting theaters in the US on April 10th. In the meantime, check out my interview with director Genki Kawamura, who said his goal was “to create a new cinematic experience that blurs the lines between video game and cinema.”

Following teasers released last November and December revealing the sliding design of its first Android phone, Ayaneo has announced that its Pocket Play will be powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 9300 processor, a chip already found in Android phones from Oppo and Vivo.

The contract, which will cover more than 70 workers, includes things like guaranteed wage increases, restrictions on mandatory “crunch time,” and “enhanced regulations around the usage of AI and generative AI in the workplace,” the Communications Workers of America (CWA) says in a press release.

Under the hood is a Snapdragon G3x Gen 2 chip, starting at $319 for 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. The screen is a 4.2-inch 4:3 display perfect for retro titles. Plus, it’s got hall-effect joysticks and triggers, housed in a glass and CNC-machined metal body that looks a lot like the Pocket Vert.

Jason Rubin became Oculus’ game studios boss in 2014, shortly after Facebook bought the company, and led VR content ever since, as well as brokering deals that might’ve led to a killer app — like Rock Band, Assassin’s Creed and more. But over a decade later, Meta’s gutting its studios. Rubin is leaving in March because “this seems like a good time.”

One of the more common complaints when Highguard launched was that its three-player teams felt too small for its maps. Now a limited time 5v5 mode update aims to fix that, albeit temporarily. It’s playable now, but only through this weekend (for now at least).