Tag:

players

Mario Kart World players have a compelling theory about future DLC

by admin June 15, 2025

Mario Kart World boasted many new exciting features when it was released alongside the Switch 2 on June 5, including a massive main roster totaling 50 playable characters. Of these, 24 are main characters and 26 are detailed as NPC racers, with main characters having access to a slew of quirky, cute, and badass outfits, while NPCs do not. However, not all of the main characters have an equal number of outfits available to them, which has caused a stir in the Mario Kart World community.

Two Nintendo mainstays have the lowest number of outfits in the game, with Donkey Kong and Pauline only having one (1) unlockable outfit each. Naturally, this led to the Mario Kart World community wondering why DK wouldn’t get the royal treatment like other main characters, with some players even throwing the Mushroom Kingdom babies under the kart for having more outfits than him.

“Am I wrong, or does Donkey Kong have only 1 costume to Baby Rosalina at least 4?” someone questioned on X.

“DK only has two costumes???????? This shit is unplayable I want my money back,” another person joked.

“I don’t intend to play as Donkey Kong in the new Mario Kart, but it’s kinda weird that they only gave him one unlockable costume,” another post reads. “Other characters like Pauline or Shy Guy only get one or two outfits as well, but they deserve more. I hope there will be free DLC to amend this.”

Some Mario Kart World players have even gone as far as hypothesizing that Donkey Kong and Pauline were given one outfit each because a huge expansion is planned to coincide with Nintendo’s Donkey Kong Bananza in July.

A version of this theory was located on Reddit, where users gathered clues that pointed to an inevitable DLC expansion. The information mentioned Diddy Kong’s absence from the roster (which Mario Kart World producer Kosuke Yabuki had previously addressed, stating that he “can’t say anything at this time”), the lack of focus on Donkey Kong’s main franchise games outside of the arcade game including music, and DK only having one outfit. (Other Kongs, like Funky and Dixie, who have appeared in previous Mario Kart games, are also nowhere to be seen in World.)

And while it may be easy to write off the theory as nothing more than fans already begging for more Mario Kart World content, previously leaked Donkey Kong Bananza information could support the existence of DLC.

In April, Nintendo Korea accidentally leaked an image for Donkey Kong Bananza’s box art on its website, showing the new character Odd Rock replaced by a presumably younger Pauline holding on to Kong’s necktie. A visibly younger Pauline is seen wearing a purple bracelet that matches Odd Rock’s material, which could imply that she can either summon the creature or transform into it. Speculation aside, it’s clear that Pauline will be a main character in Bananza in some capacity. We just don’t know how.

Image: Nintendo

And so far, Nintendo hasn’t shared much information on the upcoming DK adventure. The company hasn’t explicitly detailed why Donkey Kong and Pauline have only one outfit in Mario Kart World either. So, maybe fans are on to something and we’ll get Mario Kart World DLC that shows more love to these two Nintendo icons while simultaneously connecting it directly to Bananza.

If you think about it, doesn’t it make sense to have every MKW fan using and showing off DK and Pauline’s numerous new outfits in a raucous 24-player Knockout Tour race online the week Nintendo releases Bananza? I’m no business major, but it sounds like marketing 101 to me! Regardless, only time will tell.

Besides, Nintendo’s already doing something like this. Nintendo often uses Tetris 99’s Maximus Cup events to promote new releases, the most recent of which was an in-game promotional event for the launch of Xenoblades Chronicles X: Definitive Edition. Could Mario Kart World be utilized in a similar way?

Nintendo will release Donkey Kong Bananza on July 17 for the Nintendo Switch 2. Mario Kart World is available now on Switch 2.

Source link

June 15, 2025 0 comments

Game Reviews

Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater Xbox players can indeed chase down Bomberman

by admin June 13, 2025

As we suspected, but couldn’t say 100 percent for sure until now, Bomberman has been confirmed for the Xbox version of Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater.

Earlier today, Konami released an Xbox-specific trailer for its upcoming remake of the 2004 game. And, while those on PS5 and Steam versions of Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater will be able to partake in a spot of ‘Snake vs Monkey’, where they have to capture the Pipo Monkeys, we now know Xbox users will instead square off with Bomberman.

“Snake vs Bomberman for Xbox Series X/S,” reads the trailer’s blurb. “Take control of Snake and face off with Bomberman in this special side mode. Blast ’em away in each stage!” You can have a watch below.

METAL GEAR SOLID Δ: SNAKE EATER – Xbox Gameplay Trailer.Watch on YouTube

As well as this Bomberman confirmation, earlier today Konami also announced a “completely original” online multiplayer mode coming to Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater, known as Fox Hunt.

Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater was initially revealed back in 2023. It retains the 2004 original’s story – which follows Naked Snake on an operation deep within the Soviet jungle, some 31 years before the events of Metal Gear.

This remake has been done with future generations in mind, series producer Noriaki Okamura said in an interview last year. “It was basically our mission, our duty, to kind of continue making sure that the series lives on for future generations,” Okamura said. “After all, we leave behind much more than just DNA, as Solid Snake would say – but again, who is Solid Snake?”

Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater is scheduled for release on 28th August.

Source link

June 13, 2025 0 comments

Gaming Gear

Dune: Awakening players have found a devious way to grief each other outside of PvP zones

by admin June 13, 2025

Dune: Awakening has a comprehensive base-building policy that goes something like this:

Build a base wherever you want.

That’s pretty much the entire policy.

There are restrictions, of course: build too far out on the sand and a sandworm will show up and eat a hunk of your base—with you in it, if you’re not careful. And you can’t build within a certain radius of an established location like a tradepost or faction stronghold. But that’s about it. Otherwise, you can build wherever you like.

And boy, players have embraced that and built everywhere. Arrakis is covered with bases, some small, some sprawling, as players spread out across the map. And even though most of Dune: Awakening takes place in PvE territory, players have started using this free-for-all base-building system to royally grief each other.

Some bases are just insensitively placed: players build across a gap between rocks that other players use to drive sandbikes and buggies through, for instance. It acts like a roadblock, making everyone go the long way around or even get out and jog for a bit, which sucks if you’re out doing some resource gathering or trying to bang out a few missions.

(Image credit: Funcom)

Other base placements are downright sinister. Players have begun building bases over pockets of resources, like the plants you can harvest water from. Nothing wrong with building near a resource node: it just makes good sense. But building on top of one, essentially meaning other players can’t use it at all? Pretty shifty. On the other hand, this is Arrakis where cutthroat behavior is the norm. All’s fair in the War of Assassins.

Base-building gets downright ruthless with one particular strategy I’ve seen reported a few times now. A player will craft an ornithopter—a tremendous undertaking considering all the resource collecting and refining that goes into it—and take it out for a spin. If they see a spice blow or some other opportunity to harvest resources, they land, hop out, and get to work.

That’s when another player quickly runs up, claims the land the ‘thopter is parked on, and quickly builds a tiny base around it. The pilot returns to discover their ship is now locked within someone else’s walls.

(Image credit: Funcom)

I should mention I’ve not actually seen video evidence of this happening, but I’ve heard it reported by a couple of different players already, including writer Harry Alston over at TheGamer. And to be clear: building a base around someone’s ornithopter doesn’t mean you now own their ornithopter, it just means the ‘thopter owner can no longer reach it. That’s about as griefy as grief can get: you’re not benefiting at all, you’re just making someone else miserable.

It’s devious because there’s no real recourse. You can’t destroy another player’s base to free your vehicle, you can’t dismantle it because it’s behind someone’s walls, and in a PvE zone you can’t even shoot other players just to make yourself feel better.

That means the onus falls upon all you pilots out there. Be careful where you land, because that land might belong to somebody else by the time you get back.

Source link

June 13, 2025 0 comments

Esports

Stellar Blade is now Sony’s biggest ever game on Steam by concurrent players

by admin June 12, 2025

Stellar Blade is now the biggest PlayStation published single-player game on Steam in terms of concurrent players.

Whilst multiplayer title Helldivers 2 sports a concurrent peak of over 450,000 players, making it Sony’s biggest game overall, single-player game Stellar Blade has blazed past the concurrent peak records of similar single-player adventures like Ghost of Tsushima, God of War, and Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered, which boast peaks of 77,154, 73,529, and 66,436, respectively.

Right now Stellar Blade sits with a concurrent player count of over 183,000, but this record has been broken several times today already, and is likely to go up again over the weekend.

Stellar Blade released on PC on June 11. It’s currently sitting on an “overwhelming positive” user rating on Valve’s PC client.

Yesterday, June 11, Sony’s first-party Bend Studio announced a round of layoffs following the cancellation of “a live service concept.”

Source link

June 12, 2025 0 comments

Game Reviews

MindsEye crashes caused by a memory leak, developer says, as it remains committed to ensuring all players have a great experience

by admin June 12, 2025

The team at MindsEye studio Build A Rocket Boy is “heartbroken that not every player was able to experience the game as we intended,” it has said, promising more fixes throughout June.

MindsEye released earlier this week, however it wasn’t the smoothest of launches. Many found themselves presented with distorting character bugs and stuttering issues when they booted up the game. Build A Rocket Boy released a statement yesterday, when it said it would be prioritising gameplay performance with an update.

“Our teams have worked tirelessly throughout the night to solve many of these issues, and we have now identified that the vast majority of crashes were caused by a memory leak,” the developer has since shared on the MindsEye Discord, adding roughly one in 10 players were impacted.

The Death of Console Exclusives Is Inevitable and I Don’t Know How I Feel About It. Watch on YouTube

“We have developed a hotfix that addresses this issue (alongside other issues that our players have highlighted), which we are working hard to deploy as soon as tomorrow on PC and on consoles once it passes certification with PlayStation and Xbox,” it continued, stating the team is “fully committed to ensuring all players have a great experience”.

Build A Rocket Boy additionally shared its hotfix plans for up until the end of June. These are:

Friday, June 13-15 – Hotfix #1 – PC & Console

What players can expect:

Initial CPU and GPU performance improvements, along with memory optimisations
Reduced difficulty for the CPR mini-game
A new setting to disable or adjust Depth of Field
Fix for missing controls in the MineHunter and Run Dungeon mini-games
Pop-up warnings for PCs with Hardware Accelerated GPU Scheduling disabled and for PCs with CPUs prone to crashes

Hotfix #2 – Week of June 16 – PC & Console

What players can expect:

Continuous incremental performance and stability improvements
Fix for the buggy wheels not visually spinning while driving
Fix for areas in Car Manufacturing where players could fall through the world

By End of June – Update 3 – PC & Console

What players can expect:

Ongoing performance & stability improvements
Rebalanced “Hard” difficulty setting
Animation fixes
AI improvements

Image credit: Build a Rocket Boy / IOI

MindsEye has had an unusual lead up to launch, it has to be said. At the end of May, the studio’s co-CEO suggested the game’s negative reaction up until that point had been paid for in a “concerted effort” against the developer. This is something IO Interactive, which serves as the game’s publisher, doesn’t believe to be the case.

Meanwhile, the studio’s Chief Legal Officer and Chief Financial Officer left the company, just one week before MindsEye released.

Source link

June 12, 2025 0 comments

Game Reviews

Elden Ring Nightreign players have created the ultimate cheat sheet for the weaknesses and resistances of every Nightlord

by admin June 12, 2025

Elden Ring Nightreign has been out for just under two weeks now. Usually, that’s enough time for some prevailing strategies – and clever discoveries – to emerge. Because of the way the game is structured, however, it’s not always easy to replicate your experience, which makes it a lot more difficult to pin down those things.

Case in point, the Nightlords – the game’s ultimate bosses, which the entire experience builds towards. Most players can’t fight them as often as they want to; it’s not like you can just re-enter the boss room after dying, so it’s taken everyone a while to learn a few basic things about them.

Manage cookie settings

The FromSoftware community always delivers, though, and their latest accomplishment is one most players will benefit from. About a week after the game came out, one Japanese player posted a full chart of the weaknesses and resistances of each of Nightreign’s bosses.

The same chart was later translated to English by a different Reddit user, and it’s really something to behold. The chart lists all Nightlords, the type of physical damage each boss is weak against/resistant to (Standard, Slash, Strike, Pierce), as well as the same for elemental damage (Magic, Fire, Lightning, Holy, Poison, Rot, Bleed, Frostbite, Sleep, Madness).

It’s also colour-coded, which makes it much easier to see everything at a glance. Nightreign actually lists the weaknesses of each Nightlord in game, but it only shows one element they’re weak against, and is nowhere near as detailed as that chart.

No more guessing (or arguing). | Image credit: FromSoftware, Bandai Namco Entertainment, CestLaDonut.

Looking at the chart, you can see how Rot is effective against all Nightlords. The only other broadly effective element is Sleep, though not against Augur or Equilibrious Beast. You can also see that each boss has two to four weaknesses, except for Darkrift Knight Fulghor, who only has one.

On the subject of exposing data Nightreign just doesn’t show by default, a dataminer and modder recently dug deeper into the letter grades the game assigns attributes on each character’s stats page and found that they’re mostly misleading. In the background, character stats work pretty much the same way they do in Elden Ring proper.

If you’re looking for similarly useful advice to help you tackle every challenge in FromSoftware’s latest, our Elden Ring Nightreign guide is definitely one you should keep bookmarked. We continue to update it with new discoveries each week, so check back from time to time.

Source link

June 12, 2025 0 comments

Game Updates

How To Block And Unblock Other Players

by admin June 12, 2025

Image: Nintendo / Kotaku

Look, I’m just going to say it: People can be assholes. Whether it’s someone cutting in front of you in line, an employee who just refuses to be helpful, or just a plain ol’ narcissistic person who refuses to concede when they’re wrong—people suck sometimes, so it’s you who has to make the choice to prioritize your peace when they won’t. And you can do exactly that on your Nintendo Switch 2.

Nintendo Switch 2 Could Launch With Almost No Reviews

If you encounter a jackass online while playing on your Nintendo Switch 2—or you simply don’t want to ever interact with a specific friend again for any reason whatsoever—you can easily block them by following a few simple steps.

How to block players on Nintendo Switch 2

If you need to block someone on your friend list, that’s a pretty simple process. Follow these steps:

Click your profile icon at the top right of the home screen
Scroll down and select “Friend List”
Click the friend you want to block
Select “Options”
Click “Block”

If the person you want to block isn’t a friend, you’ll need to go about things another way by finding players you’ve recently played with. You can make that happen by following these steps:

Click your profile icon at the top right of the home screen
Scroll down and select “User Settings”
Scroll down and select “Add Friend” (lol)
Select “Search for Users You’ve Played With”
Select the player you want to block
Click “Block”

How to unblock players on Nintendo Switch 2

If you’ve made up with that one mouthy friend who pissed you off in Mario Kart World and have decided you want to be pals again, you’re in luck! You can unblock folks at any time as well. Look at you being nice and shit.

Here’s how to unblock someone on Nintendo Switch 2:

Click your profile icon at the top right of the home screen
Scroll down and select “User Settings”
Scroll down and select “Manage Blocked-User List”
Click the user you want to unblock
Click “Unblock”

And with that, you’re ready to play together again. When they start going on and on about beating you again, refer back to the options above to re-block their gloating ass. Or, you know, be an adult about it, I guess. How boring.

Source link

June 12, 2025 0 comments

Game Reviews

MindsEye hotfix planned for PC this week, but console players may have to wait

by admin June 11, 2025

Developer Build A Rocket Boy has shared details on an upcoming hotfix for MindsEye.

Admitting the game’s launch “hasn’t been without its challenges” for many players, the studio now says “game performance” is its top priority. As such, a patch is planned for the end of this week for those playing on PC, while the team hopes to roll it out for those on consoles “as soon as possible”.

This upcoming hotfix for MindsEye will include:

Initial CPU and GPU performance improvements, along with memory optimisations
Reduced difficulty for the CPR mini-game
A new setting to disable or modify Depth of Field
A fix for an issue with missing controls for the MineHunter and Run Dungeon mini-games
Pop-up warnings for PCs that have Hardware Accelerated GPU Scheduling disabled, and PCs with CPUs that have potential crash issues

MindsEye – Official Launch Trailer. Watch on YouTube

Build A Rocket Boy said this fix will be the first of a series of updates for MindsEye. Future updates will be aimed at “enhancing your experience,” the developer said, promising to keep us up to date with information on a regular basis.

Patches will need to have the internet to load, the team reminded players, asking them to “please ensure [the] game is updated regularly to enjoy the benefits of the latest improvements”.

The studio additionally added that Build.MindsEye – that is to say, the game’s creation platform designed to help creators share interactive experiences – is now “fully accessible” for those on Steam.

“Thank you again for your incredible support. This is just the start of a long-term vision to make MindsEye the best possible game for you,” the team closed.

MindsEye Hotfix Incoming
byu/Chameleon962 inMindsEyeGame

Manage cookie settings

MindsEye has had an unusual lead up to launch, it has to be said.

At the end of May, the studio’s co-CEO suggested the game’s negative reaction up until that point had been paid for in a “concerted effort” against the developer. This is something IO Interactive, which serves as the game’s publisher, doesn’t believe to be the case.

Meanwhile, the studio’s Chief Legal Officer and Chief Financial Officer left the company, just one week before MindsEye released.

Source link

June 11, 2025 0 comments

Game Updates

Marvel Snap Players Can Grab A Free Premium Card Right Now

by admin June 11, 2025

Marvel Snap developer Second Dinner is now the official publisher of the free-to-play card game, and to celebrate, the studio will be giving out a few freebies through its newly launched Web Shop.

The game was previously published by Nuverse, and Second Dinner says that the new digital storefront will give players more control over their purchases and offer bonus rewards not available in the iOS, Android, and PC in-game shops. To kick things off, players can log into the Web Shop and claim the following free items with the promo code WEBLAUNCH.

1 x Premium Mystery Variant
1 x Premium Mystery Border
3 x high-value one-time purchase bundles
Daily Free Claim Boost: 200 Credits per day

The freebies available here are pretty good, as these items normally cost quite a bit when using the in-game “Gold” currency. A Premium Mystery variant on its own costs 800 Gold, and that’s a sum that typically takes around a month to earn in the game if you don’t buy the monthly season pass. Also on the horizon is a weekly promotional event called Web Shop Wednesdays, and players will be able to claim a free Common Mystery Border for one of their cards. A $5 bundle will also be offered, and this includes a Common Mystery Border and 600 Gold.

Second Dinner has made several big changes to Marvel Snap since it first launched in 2022, with one of the biggest being a complete overhaul of how cards are acquired. Players can now earn Collector’s Tokens that can be used to purchase cards, and regular play makes it easy enough to unlock at least one of the older cards every week. The newer cards require more grinding, but earning them is still much easier compared to the older system that was in place.

Marvel Snap’s current season, Masters of the Arcane, also began earlier this month, and it focuses on several of Marvel’s mystical characters like Merlin, Morgan Le Fay, and Nicholas Scratch.

Source link

June 11, 2025 0 comments

Game Reviews

Dune Awakening hits 142,000 concurrent players during full launch, smashing past record

by admin June 11, 2025

Dune Awakening has soared past 142,000 concurrent players on Steam following its full public release.

According to SteamDB, the game quickly surpassed the peak established during the five day head start for those who bought the Deluxe or Ultimate edition. Within an hour of the full launch, it blew past 113,000 players.

There’s a new trailer out for Dune Awakening out today. Check it out!Watch on YouTube

So what can we infer from seeing Dune Awakening pull this off? Well, a growth of roughly 40 percent in peak players (on a Tuesday no less) indicates a sizable number of players were waiting in the wings for the cheaper version of the game. It’s still possible that the game could hit another peak too this weekend, following the trend established by the early launch.

It’ll be interesting to see to what degree the end game Landsraad and deep desert map can retain players, especially those who may have grabbed it for a romp with friends or a more single player, solitary experience. When you get to the end game, Dune Awakening does a baton pass from a survival game core to more of an MMO server-wide PvP and politics experience. How many of these initial players stick around for this bit, remains a big question.

To celebrate the full launch yesterday, it looks as though the Funcom team were enjoying mini cupcakes at the office, as shown off on social media by one Tascha Röösli on Twitter. Launching a video game, especially a big online one like Dune Awakening, is a big task. Why not celebrate a little?

Dune Awakening had previously proved so popular as to dethrone Elden RIng Nightreign from its perch atop of the Steam top sellers page just before its initial release on the 5th June.

If you’re looking to jump into the game, why not read Eurogamer’s Dune Awakening preview – it’s “the perfect blend of survival, MMORPG, and house envy”.

Source link

June 11, 2025 0 comments