Hear ye, hear ye, another extraction shooter is almost upon us, this time the smaller but still quite bold in scope Sand: Raiders of Sophie. Last time I personally heard of this game it was just called Sand, which doesn’t sound great for that whole search engine thing, though I’m not entirely convinced by the subtitle. Anyway, this extraction shooter is set in an alternate 1910 where you get to roam the desert in a steampunky fortress with legs, and it’s got a release month!
The crimson comeback.
As someone who witnessed its initial release, I’m delightfully baffled that Nintendo is resurrecting the Virtual Boy. We aren’t just getting a passing mention or a trophy in a Smash Bros. game; we’re getting a full-blown revival, including a dedicated NSO app, a $100 authentic replica peripheral, and a $25 cardboard cutout for the Labo diehards.
All this for the console that married Game Boy visuals with Vectrex-style wireframes, stuffed them into a View-Master shell, and doused the whole package in a colour palette straight out of a 19th-century darkroom.
Read the full article on nintendolife.com
Last year, after a bit of a wait, Silent Hill was released, and with it came some changes to the series. The combat was a lot more actiony, the format for multiple endings was drastically different, but the most obvious change was its setting. We’re not in Silent Hill anymore, Toto! We’re in Ebisugaoka, Japan, also a fictional town, though clearly not a fictional country. And that’s because Silent Hill, the place, is now also Silent Hill, the “phenomenon.”
The path to a radiant dawn awaits.
Did you know that the Japanese version of Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance has a ‘Maniac’ difficulty mode? You did? And did you know that this mode sort of fixes my biggest problem with the game? You did? Can I do the review anyway? Thanks.
Jumping back into Path of Radiance, the first home console FE, for the first time since all the way back at Christmas 2005 (I got Goblet of Fire underwear, thanks for asking), my one complaint from 20 years ago remains an issue: it’s all a little bit too easy, most especially if you’re a big fan who’s been hoovering up the newer stuff and becoming a strategy master in the meantime. Veterans may find even the toughest of the three available difficulty options — appropriately titled ‘Difficult’ — too sedate for their tastes.
Read the full article on nintendolife.com
Geralt might be returning sooner than you think.
There are currently multiple Witcher projects in development and it seems one of them might be new content for Geralt’s third outing.
Over the past week, a rumour about The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt getting a “surprise” DLC expansion popped up online after Polish Noble Securities analyst Mateusz Chrzanowski mentioned how he was expecting a “paid add-on” for the game to be released as early as March 2026.
Read the full article on nintendolife.com
“Look forward to it!”.
As the new year gets underway, Level-5’s CEO Akihiro Hino has teased some of the company’s plans for the earlier months of 2026.
Fans of both Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road and Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time can apparently look forward to “free major updates” this month and next. There are no specific release dates just yet, but here’s a rough translation (via RPG Site):
Read the full article on nintendolife.com
Get ’em while you can.
Last July, Nintendo announced it would be ending the sale of Switch Game Vouchers. It’s now apparently sent out another reminder (and potentially the last major one) before the big date.
Read the full article on nintendolife.com
Xbox’s upcoming showcase will visit the “legendary” team.
The Pokémon developer Game Freak recently released the DLC Mega Dimension, so what’s it up to beyond this? In case you missed it when it was revealed last year, the studio has a new action RPG Beast of Reincarnation in the pipeline.
In an update this week, it’s now been revealed we’ll be hearing more about it at Xbox’s upcoming Developer Direct showcase, taking place later this month on 22nd January 2026. This latest broadcast from Xbox promises to give fans an “inside look at not just the games” but also “the studios working to bring them to life”.
Read the full article on nintendolife.com
Update: Nintendo responds after fans accuse company.
Yesterday, Nintendo announced that it would be bringing its ‘My Mario’ collection to the West next month. It launched a cute new marketing campaign showing happy parents and young children putting the products to the test, but the images quickly set AI alarm bells ringing for many on social media (thanks for the heads up, The Gamer).
You see, in a lot of the promotional images, commenters online thought that the fingers just don’t add up. One model’s thumb appears bent back to an impossible angle, while another hand holding up a toddler has been criticised for its finger length and placement.
Read the full article on nintendolife.com
Games Workshop has announced plans to build a new Warhammer World in the United States with a late 2027 target for opening its doors.
Warhammer World, in Nottingham, England, is the focal point for Games Workshop’s various tabletop games and a social hub for the hobby. It includes an exhibition centre with dramatic, large-scale dioramas featuring everything from famous battles in the grimdark sci-fi setting Warhammer 40,000 to the fantasy world of Age of Sigmar.
For competitors, a sizeable castle-themed gaming hall lets fans play matches, often in scheduled tournaments. There’s a themed bar and restaurant, areas to paint miniatures, and an in-house store with exclusive products.
In a post on Warhammer Community, Games Workshop confirmed its plans to start work on the new Warhammer World, to be built just outside Washington DC.
“This new Warhammer World will be a flagship venue that celebrates Warhammer in all its forms: gaming, painting, modelling, storytelling, events, and community,” Games Workshop said.
“The original Warhammer World in Nottingham, UK sets a very high bar. We’re not going to replicate it brick-for-brick, but instead build something equally uncompromising on quality and experience, something worthy of Warhammer’s rich settings and of course the title ‘Warhammer World.’ And of course, at the heart of all this is creating something extraordinary for all of you — the Warhammer fans!
“Now, there’s a lot to do – but with a fair wind, and the might of the Emperor and his inexhaustible armies, we hope to open the doors late in 2027.”
With this new Warhammer World, Games Workshop is clearly hoping to reinforce its explosive success and the ever-increasing popularity of Warhammer 40,000 in particular, which in recent years has grown far beyond the confines of a tabletop game. Its loyal fandom fusses over lore, analyzes new novels for fresh insight into the setting, and speculates about future development. The smash hit video game Space Marine 2 boosted interest in all things Warhammer 40,000 — so much so that playable character Titus is now the poster boy of the tabletop game and is even at the heart of its next narrative expansion. And former Superman actor Henry Cavill’s upcoming Warhammer 40,000 Cinematic Universe for Amazon will undoubtedly take it to new heights. It makes a lot of sense to have a Warhammer World in place to capitalize on the army of newcomers Cavill’s Prime Video work will surely rally together. (Cavill once visited Warhammer World in the UK and posted a video of his tour on Instagram.)
In the shorter term, Warhammer 40,000 fans are bracing themselves for an announcement and release of the 11th Edition of the game, accompanying lore developments, and new model releases. And we’re arguably in the golden age of Warhammer 40,000 video games, with Space Marine 2 still receiving updates, Space Marine 3 in the works, and Dawn of War 4 and Total War: Warhammer 40,000 waiting in the wings.
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.
