Loading up the Wii U eShop doesn’t tend to result in many new games or exciting updates these days, but thanks to a release arriving on the system’s digital shelves today, owners of Nintendo’s discontinued system can finally get stuck into something new.

Well, we say new, but the game in question is Commander Keen in Keen Dreams: Definitive Edition, a title that launched on Switch earlier this year and one that was already a remake of a DOS game from the ’90s. Still, the Wii U will take what it can get.

And in all seriousness, it’s great to see a publisher taking the time to launch a game on the Wii U at all. This Definitive Edition release reworks the original and adds new features, levels and more:

Commander Keen is back. In the modernised Definitive Edition of the lost episode “Keen Dream”, Keen has to fend off a nasty nightmare about evil vegetables. The Definitive Edition features full widescreen support, twelve all-new levels – doubling the length over the 1990 original – and a full music score. The game structure has been reworked to make the game a more modern experience without sacrificing any of the original charm!

It’ll be available today on the Wii U eShop for just £4.49, and the Switch version – usually £8.99 – has also been reduced to this lower price up until 31st December.

As it happens, this week we decided to boot up a load of Wii U games to see if people were still playing the system online. It proved to be more popular than we thought after all these years, so we’re glad to see it get a new release. Do you still play your Wii U? Let us know in the comments.

We wish you a peaceful Christmas, filled with much debate in our forums over the articles, reviews, and news that we’ll be keeping you company with.

Ah, December 26th. The one day of the year when it is fully acceptable to lie on the sofa all day, playing video games. (What do you mean, that’s every day?) When we’re all pickled from booze, rounder than a Christmas pudding, and totally gifted out, there’s nothing we love more than… more shopping?

Well, get used to it, because Cube Life: Island Survival – a graphically-updated remake of the 2015 Wii U title – is available to buy on the 26th December, with its Minecraft-style chunky blocks and its rather pretty water. Like Minecraft, it has both a Survival and Creative Mode, a bunch of tools, and lots of things that want to kill you. Unlike Minecraft, it has motorboats, HD textures, and sharks.

Check out the screenshots below for a better look at the updated graphics:

Cube Life was popular on the Wii U, largely because it was part of a market that aimed to cater to Minecraft players back before Mojang’s bestseller was available on Nintendo platforms. Of course, now we have the Bedrock Edition on Switch, there’s much less demand for games that attempt to ape the block-building original. Will you be grabbing Cube Life anyway? Let us know in the comments!

“I try to insure that nothing I make wastes the players’ time by having them do things that aren’t productive or creative.”

– For Nintendo legend Shigeru Miyamoto, designing engaging games starts with respecting the player experience. 

As noted in the opening paragraphs of The New Yorker’s recently published interview with Shigeru Miyamoto, its not often that the elusive designer sits down for a candid conversation like the one captured in the story.

In it, Miyamoto shares a rare look at how moments with his family reflect what’s important to him as a designer, offering fellow game makers a peek at how kindness, respect, and warmth inform the design of some of Nintendo’s most iconic games.

Following his own experiences as a parent, Miyamoto muses on the designer’s responsibility to create an engaging game without demanding too much of a person’s life. For him, creating that experience boils down to designing to provoke a player’s innate curiosity without taking advantage of it.

“It’s kind of hard to build a game where the player can quit anytime. Human beings are driven by curiosity and interest. When we encounter something that inspires those emotions, it’s natural to become captivated,” Miyamoto tells The New Yorker.

“That said, I try to insure that nothing I make wastes the players’ time by having them do things that aren’t productive or creative. I might eliminate the kinds of scenes they’ve seen in every other game, or throw out clichés, or work to reduce loading times. I don’t want to rob time from the player by introducing unnecessary rules and whatnot.

“The interesting thing about interactive media is that it allows the players to engage with a problem, conjure a solution, try out that solution, and then experience the results. Then they can go back to the thinking stage and start to plan out their next move. This process of trial and error builds the interactive world in their minds. This is the true canvas on which we design—not the screen. That’s something I always keep in mind when designing games.”

Find the full interview on The New Yorker for more from Miyamoto on his leadership style, design considerations, and desire to foster kindness in the world.

Following a rough launch fraught with bugs, digital storefront drama, and reports of borderline mutiny within a crunch-laden studio, CD Projekt Red announced a staggering 13 million units sold of Cyberpunk 2077, the company said Tuesday.

The latest figures represent numbers as of December 20, or 10 days after launch and put the game in the upper echelon of successful game releases when it comes to sales.

The 13 million figure is up from the 8 million preorders the company announced earlier this year, and includes physical and digital refunds of the game, which were prompted by issues players encountered soon after launch.

CDPR’s statement said it disclosed the latest milestone “due to its potential impact on investment-related decisions,” showing the company is keen to point out the game’s financial success to investors thus far.

Since the game’s launch, the CDPR has had to address the game’s bugs, performance issues (particularly on ubiquitous last-gen consoles), and navigate its relationship with Sony, which pulled the game from the digital PlayStation Store post-launch, in an unprecedented move.