Head to Johto.
On 27th February, Pokémon turns 30, and in honour of this momentous anniversary, we’re running a series of polls leading up to the big day, asking you to vote for your favourite Pokémon from each generation. The nine winners will then go head-to-head in a final poll at the end of the month.
We’ll be covering a generation every day until we’ve covered all nine, leading up to the ultimate showdown. Each poll will be open for five days.
Read the full article on nintendolife.com
Rainbow Six Siege is getting Snake from Metal Gear Solid as a new Operator next month — but the game also nearly had a cardboard box item to hide in, too.
Speaking to IGN, Rainbow Six Siege creative director Josh Mills confirmed that the idea had been discussed internally, but ultimately was dismissed pretty quick — and for good reason. Simply put, Siege fans know the game’s maps too well.
While hiding from enemies in a cardboard box might work against NPCs, Siege fans simply remember the game’s levels too intricately to be tricked by a random package lying around.
“Our players already know every inch of every map, and among the team we have a saying, Operator’s eyes don’t lie,” Mills told IGN. “So, if there were suddenly a box in the corner of a room on any given map our players would promptly shoot that box.”
It’s a fair point, though sadly one which does mean we won’t be crouching inside any cardboard in Rainbow Six Siege anytime soon.
Ubisoft first teased its Rainbow Six Siege and Metal Gear Solid crossover last month, when it showed Splinter Cell’s Sam Fisher taking a Codec Call. Full details on Snake — and a look at us playing as him — lie in the video above. And yes, that is indeed David Hayter providing his voice once again.
Snake officially arrives in Siege as part of Season One: Operation Silent Hunt on March 3, which will also see the launch of a Gray Fox skin for Jackal, and a Meryl skin for Ash.
“We’re excited to bring the world of Metal Gear Solid series into Rainbow Six Siege with Season 1’s new Redacted event, a limited-time 4v4 infiltration mode where Snake and Zero lead a team of elite Operators to recover stolen data,” Mills said. “The team also went a step further with ‘Last Assignment’, a new mission for Dual Front designed as a special nod to long-time Metal Gear Solid fans.”
Metal Gear Solid may be one of the wildest crossovers for Rainbow Six Siege so far, but it’s far from the first. Other recent collaborations have brought the Attack on Titan and The Boys universes into the fold with various cosmetics for existing Operators. Splinter Cell didn’t launch with the game when it first launched back in 2015, but Sam Fisher did go on to get his own Operator in the form of Specialist Zero in 2020.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
But how do they fare in a straight-up head-to-head?
Escape from Ever After is the heir apparent to the Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door throne. Sleepy Castle Studio released it on 23rd January to all major platforms with a simple promise – deliver Paper Mario fans the game they’ve been clamouring for ever since Nintendo chose to shift the series away from its RPG roots.
Other games have tried. Born of Bread and Bug Fables come to mind as two examples that accomplish some of their goals, but overall come down as lukewarm clones of the nostalgic blast of joy that TTYD delivers.
Read the full article on nintendolife.com
Give us a hand.
Howdy partners! It’s time for this week’s Box Art Brawl!
Last time, it was a one-on-one match-up for the SNES’ Super Bomberman 2 to celebrate its arrival in the Super Bomberman Collection, and it was a pretty tight contest. The Japanese cover just came out on top, in the end, winning 56% of the vote and leaving the Western variant with the remaining 44%.
Read the full article on nintendolife.com
Bloober Team has revealed the video game it teased last month as Layers of Fear 3.
In a video presentation celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Layers of Fear franchise, CEO Piotr Babieno thanked fans for keeping the series “close to your hearts for all these years,” before setting up the final reveal: Layers of Fear 3.
Layers of Fear is a psychological horror series that has seen three main releases so far: 2016’s Layers of Fear; 2021’s Layers of Fear 2; and a remake released in 2023.
Layers of Fear 3 doesn’t have a launch window or confirmed platforms, but Bloober Team did release a creepy live action teaser, which features a man reading William Blake’s The Sick Rose in a grand room. We see a painting of a woman, presumably the “sick rose,” and another painting of what looks like a humanoid figure, potentially the same woman, amid a sickness with their mouth sewn shut. A ghostly figure moves past this painting before the painting of the woman falls to the ground. The man waves this away as being the responsibility of his “little friend” who “tries to help” but hasn’t quite got the hang of the afterlife. The teaser ends with the man issuing a Valentine’s Day warning to the audience before turning over a sand timer. The Layers of Fear 3 tagline reads: “Some Things Never Leave The Walls. They Only Learn To Wait.”
That’s pretty much all we have for now on Layers of Fear 3, which sits alongside the Silent Hill remake Bloober Team also has in the works. There’s also a number of smaller games from its subsidiary, Broken Mirror Games, which include a mysterious Switch exclusive codenamed Project M. This all follows what has been a high-profile period for the Polish studio, which has enjoyed success with the Silent Hill 2 remake for Konami, as well as self-published releases including Cronos: The New Dawn and The Medium.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
NIS America teams up with Happinet.
The Switch 2 is getting another strategy RPG, with NIS America this week announcing it’s teamed up with Happinet to publish Brigandine: Abyss – a “brand-new entry” in the storied franchise.
It’s due out at some point in 2026 and features a completely unique world that both new and experienced players can dive right into. Here’s a bit more about it from the official PR, and you can check out the announcement trailer above:
Read the full article on nintendolife.com
Earn the number.
Although 007 First Light was delayed recently, his new mission is now back on track with a 27th May 2026 release.
With the target date in his sights, IO Interactive has now treated fans of Bond to a new trailer. This video originally popped up during this week’s PlayStation ‘State of Play’ broadcast and focuses on the story of this “re-imagined origin story” where Bond must “earn the number” in the 00 Programme.
Read the full article on nintendolife.com
Pre-orders are now live.
Alongside the release of Rayman: 30th Anniversary Edition on the Switch eShop and multiple other digital platforms this week, Ubisoft and Atari have also confirmed a physical Switch release is on the way.
Read the full article on nintendolife.com
Presidents Day weekend is here, and tons of great deals are available for a limited time. Check out our picks for Presidents Day deals below.
This Presidents Day weekend, you can pick up a PS5 copy of Lost Soul Aside for just $20, saving you over $40 off this 2025 PlayStation-published game. This debut game from Ultizero Games follows protagonist Kaser on a mission to find his lost sister. Dangerous enemies await, and there are many different systems to unlock and discover throughout your journey.
The Apple AirPods Pro 3 are on sale for $209.99 today. These are the latest in the Pro line, and they’re packed with upgrades over the 2nd generation. There’s an in-earbud heart rate sensor to track your heart rate while exercising, and the entire earbud has been redesigned for better fit, sound isolation, and comfort.
Ninja Gaiden 4 is on sale for $39.99 this weekend, and now is the perfect time to pick up the latest entry in the beloved series. As a collaboration with Team Ninja and PlatinumGames, this entry packs in excellent action combat with two playable characters: Yakumo and Ryu. Ninja Gaiden had a huge resurgnece last year between Ninja Gaiden 4, Ragebound, and Ninja Gaiden 2 Black, and you can even play NG4 first, if you want.
The conclusion of Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War is almost here, with the final cour, The Calamity, set to premiere this July. Today, you can score the limited edition Blu-ray of Part 3, The Conflict, for just $49.99. This set only released last month and features all 14 episodes of Part 3, plus a 72-page production booklet, the NYCC 2024 panel, creditless opening/endings, and more.
Desktop PC components have continued to climb in price thanks to demand for datacenters and AI, but you can score a solid prebuilt Alienware desktop PC this weekend at Best Buy. You can save $400 off this PC, which includes a 5060 Ti 8GB, 1TB of storage, 32GB of RAM, and an Intel Core Ultra 7 265F.
Avatar has taken over the world once again with the release of Avatar: Fire and Ash, the third film in the Avatar saga thus far. If you’re itching to experience more of Pandora, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora from Ubisoft was a sleeper hit that’s on sale this weekend. This edition of the game features both the base game and its expansion, which is perfect for new players.
Octopath Traveler 0 was easily one of the most overlooked RPGs of 2025. This massive game packs in a huge amount of content, with over 100 hours required to 100% the game. In our 9/10 review, we wrote, “Octopath Traveler 0 asks you to stick with a 100-hour journey, and it rewards you with the kinds of moments only lengthy RPGs can pull off with its overarching story, an intricate turn-based combat system, and a soundtrack that’ll leave you absolutely floored.”
Kanto bright.
On 27th February, Pokémon turns 30. That’s three whole decades of exploring many and various regions to find monsters, battle monsters, and pocket monsters – and we’ve all got our personal favourites.
And they’re not always just our starter, either! Sure, you build up a special relationship with your first Pokémon each generation, but there are usually a half-dozen winners who work their way into your good books as well as your team – and maybe even your heart, assuming you’re not a cold Rock-type (and they can be awesome, too!).
Read the full article on nintendolife.com
