Category: Nintendo News

The live-action Legend of Zelda movie will be streamed exclusively on Netflix following its “theatrical and home entertainment release periods”, Famitsu is reporting.

Under an agreement with Sony Pictures Entertainment, the adaptation will join the likes of Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse, The Nightingale and the Beatles’ four-part film series by shifting to the streaming platform. The “landmark global Pay-1 licensing deal” is expected to be completed globally by 2029, with a gradual rollout starting “later this year as individual territory rights become available”.

Lauren Smith, Vice President of Licensing and Programming Strategy at Netflix, had this to say:

“Our members all over the world love movies and giving them exclusive access to Sony’s much loved films adds incredible value to their subscriptions. Sony’s impressive slate of iconic film franchises like Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and originals like Anyone But You have been popular with our U.S. audience and now we’re excited to expand that offering to our members all around the world.”

Paul Littmann, EVP of Global Distribution, Sony Pictures Television, adds:

“Our partnership with Netflix has always been incredibly valuable. This new Pay-1 deal takes that partnership to the next level and reinforces the enduring appeal of our theatrical releases to Netflix’s global audience. It also further underscores the strength of our independence and unique ability to create meaningful opportunities that benefit our creative stakeholders, consumers, and world-class partners.”

The wording of this agreement suggests the movie will be available for physical and digital purchase following its cinema run, before moving exclusively to Netflix’s subscription-based streaming platform.

The movie is a co-production with Nintendo and is scheduled for global release on May 7th, 2027.

Yes, the time is finally upon us. Animal Crossing: New Horizons is now available in its swanky new Nintendo Switch 2 Edition package!

While the free ver. 3.0 update arrived a little earlier than expected for all users (Switch 1 and 2), yesterday marked the big release of Nintendo’s latest paid Switch 2 upgrade. This one includes a resolution bump, the new Megaphone item, Mouse Mode integration, and beefed-up online capabilities to make the most of GameChat.

It’s something of a slight package, considering there’s no free path between the two (it’ll only set you back £4.19 / $4.99 to upgrade, but still), and that was our Alex’s biggest gripe in his 6/10 review. “It makes things a bit prettier, has a few more options to take advantage of the console’s new features,” he wrote, “but all in all, it’s not an especially exciting upgrade”.

But of course, this is Animal Crossing: New Horizons that we’re talking about, perhaps the defining game of the Switch generation, so we want to hear what you think too.

Whether you’ve spent the whole day getting to grips with the latest addition to the NS2E lineup, or you’re just diving in for the first time, you can tell us what you make of the upgrade in the following poll. And don’t worry if you want to change your mind later on, you can come back whenever and do exactly that!

Thanks for voting! If you want to share more of your thoughts on ACNHNS2E (as we’re sure nobody is calling it), head down to the comments

Hi-Fi Rush, the most GameCube-esque title to launch in the last five years, has once again been rated for the Switch by PEGI.

Sound familiar? It should, because this has happened before. Back in April 2024 when developer Tango Gameworks was still sitting under Microsoft, a PEGI rating for the game on Switch appeared, but sadly nothing happened and Microsoft unceremoniously ditched Tango Gameworks entirely later that year.

The company has since been acquired by publisher Krafton, and so this latest rating could actually result in a port coming to fruition. Indeed, the source over on PEGI lists two separate entries: one underneath ‘ZeniMax Europe Limited/Bethesda Softworks Europe’ and the other under ‘Krafton, Inc’.

So, is this it? Are we finally going to see Hi-Fi Rush on a Nintendo platform where it (in our opinion) rightly belongs? Who knows. We’re also a little disappointed that the rating doesn’t specify Switch 2, as we think it would really flourish with the added power, but we’ll just have to see what happens.

Hi-Fi Rush was originally released in 2023 and sees you partake in vibrant, colourful fights to the beat of the background music. It’s an awesome game, honestly, and we’d be thrilled if it got another boost on the Switch.

Would you like to see Hi-Fi Rush on the Switch or Switch 2? Let us know with a comment.

Wading into Dynasty Warriors: Origins on Switch 2, I’m keenly aware that there’s been a lot of conversation about the game’s frame rate on Nintendo’s console in the run-up to release.

Yes, it’s not a super-sweet 60fps as on some other platforms, and yes, that is a shame. However! Anyone who fancies a little Musou madness but isn’t jumping in as a result of this fact is genuinely shooting (or slicing) themselves in the foot, as this is a genuinely brilliant series refresh that looks and plays great on Switch 2, in both docked and handheld modes.

I’ve already played this one through on a PS5 Pro when it released in January 2025, and taking everything into consideration, I’ve got zero hesitation in fully recommending this Switch 2 port as heartily as that 60fps version. How so when they’ve halved the frame digits? Well, playing portably is a big selling point with a game that suits dipping in and out of for a quick blast this well, so I’m way more likely to stick at it on Switch, and that frame rate drop honestly makes little real-world difference. This is one of those 30fps situations where once you’ve spent 10 minutes readjusting, it’s all good. It feels smooth and responsive at all times.

Indeed, even though Koei Tecmo has gone and thrown in a “variable” unlocked frame rate toggle for you to mess with, honestly, I recommend just leaving this off to enjoy a consistently smooth and fully exhilarating ride without any little niggling stutters that this toggle introduces at points. You don’t need niggles distracting you from the story or the ‘1 VS 1000’ battles here either, as what Dynasty Warriors: Origins brings to the table is a grand refocusing of the usual Warriors caper that makes for a very exciting and stylish reboot.

Now that we’ve got the most pressing issue out of the way — now that we know there’s no awful image blurring or crippling stutters — I can get down to praising it freely for all the very many things that it does so well.

Anyone who knows me knows I love Musou, and thankfully we’ve had a few absolute belters of late, most recently in the form of the stellar Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment. This game, though, sees the Romance of the Three Kingdoms core of the franchise finally get some much-needed TLC.

I’ll never agree that a Musou game, even the older ones, are actually all that repetitive or simplistic, as they’re often attacked as being. I’ll defend them for what they are at all times, and the repetition and trance-like whipping through enemies that they bring to the table has always been a source of great personal gaming comfort. But it did need a kick up the arse. That much I can accept. Dynasty Warriors: Origins is that kick up the arse. And it’s a good one. A real ‘toe-poker’.

Here, for the first time in the series, you play as a nameless travelling wanderer, who I’ll admit is a bit of a bland and boring avatar overall. But it’s for good reason. You see, the narrative approach taken is to slow the whole thing down, and to give you a little breathing space amidst all the events, character introductions and storylines of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms saga. To do this, we have no more switching around a huge catalogue of protagonists, instead sticking with this one, very upgradeable, main avatar.

Yes, you do get to muck around with some other characters in side missions and at specific moments — and there’s more of this on the way in the game’s DLC, which launches alongside this Switch 2 port — but what sticking with one character for the main duration does is ground us in a fixed perspective, making the constant introductions of important historical figures and political events easier to keep a foothold in. I didn’t get lost along the way. I remembered people when they returned to the fray, and this helps enormously with the game’s overall narrative, which settles on a part of the overall Romance saga, rather than trying to blow through way too much history all at once, as has been the case in the past.

I won’t spoil any of the plot or surprises, but this refocusing works really well. This is absolutely my favourite game in the main franchise in terms of both its narrative and its slightly darker and more brutal vibe. It also introduces some nice RPG aspects, now that we’ve only got one main character to worry about, and these add more depth than ever. There’s a range of 10 weapons to level up and master, unlocking new battle moves and skills for each one as you go. It all feels much more personal and the sense of progression, given the narrower scope and roster, is more keenly felt as a result.

The combat’s main draw, pre-release at least, was the sheer number of enemies that are now present on the screen. On the PS5 it properly wowed me, even though I’m used to battering my way through these enormous Musou crowds.

On Switch 2, and especially when you’re playing in handheld, the wow factor has not been diminished one iota. Indeed, it honestly feels like a new benchmark for portable play with the sheer scope of what’s going on, unfettered by technical issues, on your screen. The enemies are absolutely everywhere, and so it’s lucky you’ve got a ton of cool new tricks and skills to beat the snot out of them with, innit.

Starting with a trusty sword, you’ll soon find yourself picking up gauntlets, lances, and a whole bunch of other weapons that all excel in different scenarios. The lance, as an example, is a cracker for clearing huge crowds, whilst the gauntlets are my go-to for juggling boss fools in the air like the clueless children they really are.

Each weapon feels unique, and given that the enemy AI here is the best I’ve seen from the series — you’ll actually need to use your perfect dodges and parries! — you really do get a chance to dig in and try them all out to find which ones work best and where.

And that’s all before you add the series’ signature screen-shaking musou attacks to the equation. Yes, they’re just as satisfying as ever to pull off, and watching hundreds of wee guys fly into the air in unison just never fails to make me feel much better about my life. It is what it is.

Over the course of the main campaign’s five chapters, and through a whole bunch of side skirmishes and missions that are spread out across the game’s dinky mini-world map (it’s one of those nice ones you get to walk around), the story is also woven at a nice pace, providing enough of a backdrop to keep you going, whilst the combat continues to drop just the right amount of new gear, new moves, and new tactics along the way to keep you invested.

You now also have a bunch of larger-scale tactical options on a drop-down menu that work on a cooldown timer. These allow you to dramatically change the tide of battle (a big boost to overall morale) by allowing you to call catapult barrages, volleys of fiery arrows, and chariot charges. There’s also a few points along the way where your main character will need to choose sides and run with a particular crew. This not only makes things more absorbing in the moment, but adds plenty of replayability with multiple endings and a ‘true’ ending to unlock.

Honestly, with the story switching between the main Romance saga thrust and our new hero’s amnesia issues (I know, cheesy, but it works), you’ll feel way more involved than you might expect for the genre, and the combat is addictive in the extreme, meaning replays for those alternative endings are all but guaranteed.

In terms of negatives, well, the loading times are a little longer in starting a mission, and the cutscenes that bookend battles and other moments as you wander the map can introduce a little bit of 30fps stutter. It’s very minimal, and it’s only during cutscenes, but it’s there. Related to this, try as I might, I just couldn’t get on with the variable graphics mode at all; you can really feel it as the camera moves around, so let’s hope that gets improved down the line.

Other than that, though, and other than some horrendous English voice acting which you should switch out for Chinese with English subs immediately, Dynasty Warriors: Origins on Switch 2 is every bit as good as on other platforms, which is very good indeed! It also feels like a bit of a watershed moment, I have to say, as someone who has reviewed a whole lot of action games on both Switch consoles. This game, and especially in portable, feels a little magical in just how good it looks and feels whilst delivering enormous and incredibly good-looking battles to the palm of your hand.

Right folks, get ready to file this one under either “huh?!” or “hmmm….”, because an unusual discovery on Nintendo’s official website has got folks chatting about a potential new Switch 2 model.

The discovery comes via Bluesky user dootsky, who notes that a new product code labelled ‘OSM’ can be uncovered on the Nintendo Account Portal page. They state that requesting the OSM product code returns an image of the Switch 2, while folks over on ResetEra claim that any other code results in an error message.

So what does this mean? Are we due a new Switch 2 model already? Well no, hold your horses.

In a follow-up post, dootsky quite rightly states that the original Switch models – i.e. the Lite, OLED, etc – all had similar product codes: HAE, HAD, HDH, and HEG. The BEE product code for the Switch 2 shares no similarities with OSM.

That’s not to rule out a new model entirely, but dootsky makes it clear that we shouldn’t jump to any conclusions just yet. For one, today (16th January) marks one year since the Switch 2 was officially revealed to the world, so can we really expect a new model anytime soon..? Our gut says no.

Still, it’s interesting nevertheless. It’s obviously something – Nintendo doesn’t just come up with new product codes for no reason – but just what it could be is anybody’s guess right now.

What do you make of all this? Could this product code relate to a new Switch 2 model, or is it something else entirely? Let us know with a comment.

Denis Dyack, the former president of Silicon Knights and director of games such as Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain and Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem, has revealed the latest look at Deadhaus Sonata, a new ‘spiritual successor’ to Blood Omen.

Originally announced back in 2018, there are no target platforms at the moment, but a Steam page is now live with more information on its Early Access release. Dyack has previously stated that Deadhaus Sonata will be coming to consoles, but given the sheer amount of time it’s been in the works, we can’t say for certain if this includes the Switch or Switch 2.

Looking at the gameplay footage, it looks… okay? It’s hard to really parse exactly what’s going on. There’s a lot of hack and slash action being showcased, but there’s quite a busy UI to go along with it, and we’re not quite sure how everything functions. Early descriptions state that tarot cards can be used to customise your build, while loot is tied to your actions and performance, rather than being completely random.

Still, it’s nice to be shown gameplay at all in this day and age, and we’re certain Dyack will reveal more in the coming months.

Here’s the official Steam description:

Step into Malorum, a dark and crumbling world where the lines between life and death no longer hold. Deadhaus Sonata invites you to embrace the undead, master supernatural powers, and carve your place within a realm shaped by ancient forces, political intrigue, and the choices of its players. Play alone or join up to six players in cooperative play as you face the living and uncover the secrets that shape this fallen realm.

What are your thoughts on Deadhaus Sonata so far? Reckon it’s worth keeping an eye on? Let us know with a comment.

Those who have played The Hundred Line – Last Defense Academy know just how big of a game it really is. According to the publisher, however, the release was actually two games in one, and that’s supposedly how it’s going to be marketed from now on.

Confused? Yeah don’t worry, it’s understandable. Effectively, once you complete 100 in-game days, you roll the credits and then commence ‘New Game +’ (although the title menu does, in fact, display ‘The Hundred Line 2’), during which you make key decisions to splinter the narrative into dozens of potential branches.

So, the first 100 days is ‘The Hundred Line’, while the following narrative is ‘The Hundred Line 2’. So there you go: it’s now officially two games in one! So the title that launched last year is now being described as a ‘value 1 & 2 pack’.

To mark the occasion, a new trailer has been released (above) to highlight the events that take place in the ‘sequel’, while a brand new piece of key art has been shared to demonstrate the two distinct narratives. Pardon the poor quality, it’s the best we could find from an official source.

In addition, it’s been confirmed that an official soundtrack is launching on all major streaming services on 17th January 2026. A physical soundtrack will also be made available in April to mark the game’s first anniversary. In Japan, meanwhile, a new special edition release of the game will be made available from April, featuring brand new artwork to acknowledge the ‘sequel’.

Well, that’s a weird update, huh? What do you make of all of this? Let us know with a comment in the usual place.

Late last year, after some rumours, Nintendo teased a new Legend of Zelda-themed Lego set coming in 2026.

Now that we’re in the new year, it seems this set might have actually leaked ahead of the official reveal. As the rumours suggested, it appears to be a diorama based on the “final battle” between Link, Zelda and Ganondorf in the N64 hit, Ocarina of Time.

According to this latest scoop (via r/Legoleak), it’s officially titled ‘77093 The Final Battle: Ocarina of Time’ and will contain 1003 pieces and the three Minifigs. Additionally, Zelda fans will also apparently get Navi the fairy, a “brick-built” version of Ganon, the Megaton Hammer and some recovery hearts.

This set is supposedly priced at $129.99 and is said to be launching on 1st March 2026. Here’s the first proper look:

This build would follow the Great Deku Tree 2-in-1 set which arrived in 2024 for $299.99 and contained 2500 pieces. This year also happens to mark the 40th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda series, so plenty of announcements are expected.

This follows the official reveal of three Pokémon Lego sets earlier this week. These are scheduled to launch on Pokémon Day.

Would you be interested in a Zelda set like this? Let us know in the comments.

Nintendo launched Animal Crossing: New Horizons on the Switch 2 this week, and some video comparisons have now popped up online.

One of these has been shared by the YouTube channel ‘ElAnalistaDeBits’, which not only presents a side-by-side visual comparison of the Switch 2 Edition next to the existing Switch release, but also shows other improvements such as the game’s loading times.

As Nintendo has previously noted, the Switch 2 Edition is “4K” in docked mode. As for handheld, it’s 1080p (so everything looks nice and “sharp”), and both versions of the game run at a consistent 30fps. There’s also a demonstration of the improved load times. Similar to the resolution bump, you may or may not notice the difference when you’re playing the game.

In this particular video demo, you can see in one example, on Switch 2, how it takes eight seconds to get from the title screen to the game, while the Switch version takes around 17 seconds. In another test, loading from the system home menu to actual gameplay takes 16 seconds on the Switch 2 and about 30 seconds on the original system.

We’ve also shared our thoughts about the Switch 2 version’s resolution, frame rate and load times, so if you haven’t already read our review, be sure to check it out. Nintendo previously highlighted the Switch 2 Edition’s “enhanced resolution” in the original announcement trailer. You can see this side-by-side comparison in our full guide.

How are you finding the Switch 2 version of New Horizons so far? Let us know in the comments.

My gaming life can now be cleanly split into two sections: the period before I had heard the phrase “Daddy Rank”, and the period after it.

It’s one of the key features of Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties that Sega was kind enough to show me at a fancy gyoza-joint-turned-preview space in London this week, and in the days since, I haven’t stopped muttering it to myself whenever I do a small piece of housework.

Kiryu’s Daddy Rank is the bread and butter of Kiwami 3’s new ‘Life at Morning Glory’ side content — an expansion on the 2009 original’s opening locale, where the ex-Tojo Clan tough guy swaps his knuckledusters for a pair of marigolds and cracks on with some chores around his self-made orphanage.

Yakuza is a series renowned for its constant flip-flopping between serious and silly, dark and delightful, and it always plays best to me when it leans into the latter of the two camps and embraces the brooding protagonist’s softer side. Life at Morning Glory is about exactly that.

What’s the story, Morning Glory?

The children need help with a series of tasks, and it’s up to the Daddy of Dojima (as I will now insist on calling him) to come to the rescue.

In my preview, I sped through a multiple-choice questionnaire to assist young Ayako with her science homework, followed the lines of a sewing minigame to knock up a new dustcloth for Taichi, farmed and planted crops in the garden, then chopped, mixed, and scum-skimmed them into a curry for Koji’s dinner.

At the end of each task, Kiryu holds up his handiwork (a test paper/piece of fabric/steaming plate) and smiles directly into the camera in much the same way that your avatar might in Animal Crossing: New Horizons after catching a fish. In the game world, this is all a process of improving Kiryu’s bond with each child and working out where he stands as a father figure; in the real world, it’s a chance to play some super sweet minigames, then smile as a big green Daddy Rank bar ticks up the screen with each success.

The preview was hosted entirely on PS5, but I can’t wait to take this silly little side mission on the go with me on Switch 2. It’s just a taxi ride away from the open streets of Ryukyu and Kamurocho, too, so you just know that I’m going to be putting off all the brutal murders, clan wars, and shady deals to beat my stitching record back on the beaches of Okinawa.

From Daddy to Baddy

While I’m on the open streets, let’s touch on some Baddie Battles. No, much like Daddy Rank, I’m not making this up. In another of Kiwami 3’s fresh storylines, Kiryu becomes the surprise chairman of the Haisai Girls, an all-female biker gang that’s engaged in a turf war with the larger-than-life Tokyo Night Terrors.

A lot of this ‘Bad Boy Dragon’ gameplay circulates around massive squad battles between the two teams, where you can put either Kiryu’s classic Dragon of Dojima fighting style or the snappy new weapon-focused Ryukyu style to the test. It’s also about team management. You can save people in peril on the streets of Okinawa and recruit them to your biker squad, each bringing their own skills to the baddie lineup — be that powerful attacks, rallying cries or healing abilities. Then, before diving into a head-to-head against another clan, you choose which characters will make up your squad, balancing their quirks to suit the situation.

In short, it’s the crew recruitment system from Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii transposed onto a biker gang, but that’s no bad thing! I was informed that you can also customise Kiryu and his crew with snazzy uniforms, bike designs and banners, but I never got to see these tools in the preview — which is probably for the best, because I can guarantee that it would have gobbled up all my time.

When I wasn’t recruiting baddies, the streets of Downtown Ryukyu were expectedly packed with distractions — karaoke, arcades, golf, bowling, you know the drill. There’s also side missions galore, bounties to be hunted, and the chance to head back over to Morning Glory and stay on top of that aforementioned Daddy Rank. I’m not obsessed, I promise.

It all looks and plays wonderfully on PS5, and given how impressed I’ve been by the three Yakuza titles available on Switch 2 already (gosh, Sega really has been churning them out, huh?), I’d be surprised if this entry is any different. Yakuza 3 is often viewed as one of the lesser titles in the series, so seeing the whole affair brought to RGG’s slick Dragon Engine with some nips, tucks, and new fighting styles, pushes this one excitingly close to the territory of being an entirely new game rather than a standard remake.

Tying things up

Oh yes, speaking of an “entirely new game”, I should probably touch on Dark Ties, too. This came right at the end of my preview, and I’ve left it to the end here, too, because it felt like the addition I already knew the most about. Sega has been showcasing this prologue story starring the base game’s antagonist, Yoshitaka Mine, for a good few months now (our sister site, Push Square, went hands-on with it back in September), and, shockingly, it feels like more Yakuza.

Mine’s athletic moveset is a lot of fun — a special attack that lets you jump kick off one opponent’s chest, flinging yourself into an aerial attack on another, is a particular highlight — and the underground Hell’s Arena fight club gave me a good chance to see it in action.

Other than that, it was business as usual on the streets of Kamurocho. The Kanda Damage Control side content peppered the open world with tasks for me to complete and up my ‘Kanda Rank’ in the process (it’s all ‘Ranks’ in this game) by improving Tsuyoshi Kanda’s street cred, but it all felt very Yakuza-y otherwise. This is no criticism, mind you; it’s always great to have more hot content to dive into.

I left the preview with a belly full of gyoza and the words ‘Daddy Rank’ still playing on my mind. From what I’ve seen, this feels like the biggest step up for a ‘Kiwami’ remake so far, packed with new content, combat styles, and with an entirely new story bolted onto the side.

Does it all still feel a little overwhelming? Of course it does! But come on, we wouldn’t have Yakuza any other way.

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Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties launches on Switch 2 on 12th February 2026.

Will you be catching up with Kiryu and co. next month? Let us know in the comments.