What's Yappening?

Nintendo has announced the pricing for Switch 2 release

Nintendo’s direct this month has officially revealed more information about the release of Nintendo Switch 2, such as pricing, release date and features. For Australians, the console has been set at $699 AUD, while the bundle with the new release of Mario Kart World and the console is set at $769.

You can expect the release of Nintendo Switch 2 on 5 June, 2025, promising better performance, a larger display, and brand new magnetic joycons for more effortless connecting and disconnecting. For those curious, Nintendo Switch 2 will be backwards compatible, with most games.

To check if your game in mind is compatible with the new console, Nintendo has provided a comprehensive list of games and the results of compatibility tests.

Microsoft has revealed its demo of AI-generative gameplay, inspired by Quake 2

AI has been buzzing in recent years and isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Microsoft has joined those exploring generative AI in gaming this year, now revealing its dabbling into inspirations from old favourites such as Quake 2 to demonstrate the capabilities of Copilot. The demo is available to play through Copilot Gaming Experiences and has received critical reactions from the gaming community.

There are concerns about AI taking over jobs in the gaming industry, especially those in development, and reveals like these further provoke these conversations. Luckily for the gaming industry, the technology isn’t there yet, with reviews of this demo claiming that the demo gave them intense motion sickness and that enemies just “fell apart” when walking past, giving an overall unpleasant experience. This reveal is just a demonstration, and Microsoft has not revealed its plans for the tech. For now, they are simply just testing.

Compulsion Games Announces “South of Midnight” Out Now!

At the Xbox Showcase, “We Happy Few” Devs, Compulsion Games, revealed their new game, South of Midnight – and it’s already out! This Adventure game title was released on PC and Xbox on April 8th, throwing players into the haunting swamps of the American South.

You play as Hazel, a young woman fighting creepy monsters to save her Hometown. With its stunning stop-motion style and southern vibe, South of Midnight is a moody adventure worth checking out.

Remaster Month

April has seen three major remaster releases in the form of Days Gone Remastered for the PS5, The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered finally porting to PC, and a shadow drop of The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered across all major platforms.

Days Gone Remastered has significant graphical improvements to showcase its landscape and environments in a way the PlayStation 4 couldn’t do justice to. Its most significant key gameplay improvement is a “Horde Assault” mode, which appears to be a hybrid approach of New Game+. It immediately gives you all the available story gear and endless survival mode.

Permadeath is another exciting feature being added to the game, providing fans of the game a new flavour to the story. The dynamic option lets you perform a permadeath run for the whole campaign or just sections, which is an exceptionally unique and exciting feature.

Speedrun is the cherry on top to bolster the new flavours in the Remaster. As its name suggests, this presents yet another challenge to complete the game as quickly as possible, with an in-game timer to ensure neutrality. Whether you can combine the Speedrun and Permadeath modes is yet to be confirmed. But if so, expect to see a new Permadeath Speedrunning category on speedrun.com.

The Last Of Us Part 2 Remastered also came out swinging this month to PC on 3 April. The release has been met with 15,000 positive reviews on Steam. Aside from the regular technical, visual and performance improvements, the remaster has significant gameplay updates.

No Return Mode creates a new experience for players in a roguelike survival experience rather than the traditional, linear The Last of Us (TLOU) story that players are used to. No Return adds a bunch of characters from TLOU Part 1, throws players into a randomised scenario and needs to use their gameplay skills to survive as long as possible. Think of it like a wave survival mode.

Lost Levels (adding 3, previously cut levels), Guitar Free Play and Speedrun Mode are welcome additions to expand the storyline and give players more reasons to replay.

In a surprise announcement (although rumoured), TES IV: Oblivion Remastered has been revealed and released immediately! The beloved cult-classic RPG is now available to play, bringing the iconic Cyrodiil back to life like never before, ready to plunge back into Nostalgia?

This remaster gives the game a fresh look with better graphics and smoother gameplay. You can explore Cyrodill, fight demons from Oblivion, and relive the adventure with sharper visuals and improved controls.

It’s available now on Steam, Xbox (incl. Xbox Game Pass), and PS5.

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