Video game news this week keeps pouring in with a lot of variable stories this week, some new gameplay trailers, and new releases! This week's news includes some new video game releases, more rumors about what games will be on the Nintendo Switch 2, and some industry updates!
New releases this week: Hello Kitty Island Adventure and The Sims 25th Birthday Bundle
I'm sure you've heard the meme or if you're a millennial like me, know the World of Warcraft episode of South Park, but Butters Stotch's dream came true this week as Hello Kitty Island Adventure launched on Nintendo Switch and PC on Thursday. This technically came out on the Apple Arcade in 2023, but it's the first time it's coming to PC and consoles.
Likewise, we millennials will also be stoked for EA's announcement of the relaunch of The Sims 1 and 2 on PC. You can read their blog post here, but I'm sure you're already off playing these two excellent, nostalgia-filled games.
Are Xbox games coming to the Switch 2
Yes, rumors still run rampant about the Nintendo Switch 2. That will keep happening until the Nintendo Switch Direct in April that's all about the upcoming console.
But in an interview with GamerTag Radio, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer hinted at the possibility that Xbox games might be coming to Nintendo. You can watch the whole video here, but the quote is below:
""I want everybody to be able to play on Xbox, and it does mean more of our games shipping on more platforms, not just on PlayStation. We love the work that we do with Nintendo, we love what we do with Valve on Steam, and that's what we're going to continue to do, we'll just continue to do more of it because what we learn is, 'Put the games first, make sure the games can be as great as they can.'""Phil Spencer, Microsoft Gaming CEO
New Split Fiction co-op gameplay trailer
We're incredibly excited for Hazelight's next game, Split Fiction, which releases March 6. This week, we got our first gameplay trailer and it looks like everything we'd hoped for!
New update for Alan Wake 2 on PC
If there's ever Remedy Entertainment news, you know we're going to cover it. Remedy announced the next update for Alan Wake 2 on PC in a blog post on their website. This update makes it the first game to feature NVIDIA RTX Mega Geometry, which is available on all GeForce RTX GPUs and laptops.
Alan Wake 2 has some of the most gorgeous graphics out there, so being able to run this game with NVIDIA hardware is going to make it go through the roof.
Donkey Kong is getting a face list
No, kind of literally. Fans noticed the character looked a little different in the Mario Kart 9 glimpse in the Nintendo Switch 2 announcement video. And Nintendo has announced some merch that has the new look and it's very much akin to how he appeared in the Super Mario Bros Movie.
Is this a bad thing? We can't say for sure. It's not that uncommon for characters to change over the years, but it's been quite a long time and Donkey Kong's never really needed a change. But we'll see if it ends up being true!
EA moves BioWare staff to other teams
In a blog post from general manager Gary McKay, they announced they are "taking this opportunity between full development cycles to reimagine how we work at BioWare."
BioWare has changed its structure a lot over the last couple of years (as have most developers in the industry. It's been really bad) with a round of layoffs in 2023 and some high-profile departures during the development and release of Dragon Age: The Veilguard. So this isn't surprising, but it'll be interesting to see where people are moved or if they're asked to re-apply to other positions within the company.