31 Hours with the Spit-Shined Mina the Hollower (and 34 with the Four Games that Came Before It)
Yacht Club Games released Mina the Hollower, a platformer that took six years to develop for PC and consoles. The game centers on a unique “hollowing” mechanic that lets the heroine burrow into terrain to uncover treasure and bypass obstacles, echoing classic Mario‑style gameplay. The reviewer spent weeks playing the studio’s earlier titles—Shovel Knight, Specter of Torment, and King of Cards—to gauge the studio’s growth before evaluating Mina. The review praises Mina’s polished design and fresh take on retro platforming.
Nintendo Announces a Slew of Price Hikes, Beyond Just the Switch 2
Nintendo disclosed 20 price adjustments, including a $50 hike for the Switch 2 in the U.S., Canada and Europe effective Sept. 1, raising the console to $499.99. The company cited ¥100 billion ($638 million) of added component costs, especially memory chips, as “market conditions”...
BioShock, Game Prices, GTA, the Disappearing NFL Deal and More: An Interview with Take Two CEO Strauss Zelnick
In a rare interview, Take‑Two Interactive chairman Strauss Zelnick addressed a wide‑ranging set of topics, from the current status of the BioShock franchise to the escalating costs of game development. He confirmed that the company’s multi‑game licensing agreement with the...
EA CEO: AI Is ‘Augmenting’ People's Jobs at EA, Not Really Displacing Them
Electronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson told Fox Business at the iicon conference that roughly 85% of EA’s quality‑assurance (QA) tasks now run on machine‑learning or AI algorithms, yet the company is hiring more QA staff than ever. He emphasized that...
22 Uneven Hours with Saros
Housemarque’s newest PS5 exclusive, Saros, drops players into a relentless loop where a lone hero repeatedly awakens on the alien world of Carcosa, battles wave after wave of bullet‑laden foes, dies, and respawns. The game mirrors the core loop mechanic...
Did You Hear About Awaysis?
Indie studio 17‑Bit is preparing Awaysis, a top‑down sword‑fighting dungeon crawler that emphasizes physics‑driven momentum. The game draws inspiration from classics like Chrono Trigger and Super Mario 64 and debuted with a demo on Xbox after a Day of the Devs...
Netflix’s Virtual Game Controller App Just Topped the iOS U.S. App Chart
Netflix’s virtual Game Controller app, which turns iPhones and iPads into controllers for its streamed multiplayer games, surged to the top of the U.S. free iOS chart, hitting #1 on April 5 after entering the top 25 a few days earlier. The...
A Plan to Stop Video Game Industry Leaks, with the Help of AI
At the Game Developers Conference, EchoMark unveiled an AI‑powered steganography system designed to embed invisible watermarks in game assets, aiming to stop insider leaks. The technology can survive compression, screenshots, and video captures, allowing studios to trace leaked material back...
PlayStation's Logo-Makers Explain How They Make Logo Number Two, Three and Beyond
At the GDC Festival of Gaming, Sony PlayStation’s Creative Arts team revealed how they built a custom typeface, Machine Nova, to support the evolving Horizon franchise logos. The font was crafted by modifying the original Horizon Zero Dawn lettering, allowing...
Savvy Owns Big Stakes in Gaming's Giants, but Says It Isn't Pushing to Change Them
Savvy Games, a Saudi‑backed conglomerate, has consolidated about $12 billion in equity across Nintendo, Take Two, Square Enix and other top publishers, each representing roughly 5‑10 % of the companies. CEO Brian Ward told GDC that the stakes are an investment vehicle, not a...
Google’s Genie 3 Draws a Crowd at GDC
Google DeepMind unveiled its latest generative AI model, Genie 3, at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. The presentation, “The Future of Playable Worlds With Google DeepMind,” filled the Moscone West room to standing‑room‑only capacity, with more than 100 developers turned...
What’s Gone Wrong at Ubisoft
Ubisoft, once famed for delivering multiple blockbuster franchises annually, now faces a barren release calendar, with its last major PC/console launch over a year ago. Recent titles such as Skull & Bones and Star Wars Outlaws received lukewarm reviews and...
Tencent Closes TiMi Montreal Game Studio
The episode reports that Tencent has shut down its TiMi Montreal studio, which never released a game during its five-year existence. The closure was hinted at for weeks, confirmed by a programmer’s LinkedIn post, and reflects a broader retreat by...
Nintendo Considers the $65 Video Game
The episode examines Nintendo's unconventional $65 price point for Switch 2 upgrades, focusing on the Xenoblade Chronicles X Definitive Edition and the Animal Crossing Switch 2 Edition. It outlines how this $5 premium sits between Nintendo's previous $0 upgrades and $10 upgrades,...
Sources: Tencent Secretly Funded Struggling Shooter Highguard
The episode investigates how Chinese tech giant Tencent covertly acted as the primary financial backer for Wildlight Entertainment, the studio behind the controversial 2026 free‑to‑play shooter Highguard. It outlines the secrecy surrounding the funding, the turmoil of Highguard’s launch, and...