Just days after South Africa’s PlayStation distributor confirmed the launch of the PS5 Slim in April, we’re hearing news of Sony’s next big thing: the PS5 ‘Pro’. This isn’t coming from Sony directly, of course. It’s coming, as everything that counts as ‘news’ these days does, from an unofficial source (it was leaked) — by YouTuber Moore’s Law is Dead. And later confirmed by Insider Gaming’s Tom Henderson.

Oh, and it’ll be arriving sometime in the holiday shuffle — to better target those Christmas wishlists — as long as it pumps out enough first-party titles, that is. Good thing Nintendo stood aside this year, huh?

Anyone familiar with the scene knows who Tom Henderson is, and that he doesn’t mess around. He verified that the documents seen in Moore’s Law is Dead’s video are the real thing, coming from a PlayStation developer portal — with the documents hitting relevant developers a few weeks back.

We won’t bore you with all the nitty-gritty details. This is a PS5 Pro, after all. It’s a PlayStation with hardware befitting the four-year gap between itself and the original console — one that’s reportedly being kitted out to best suit any customers picking up GTA VI when it drops next year thanks to its improved GPU that’ll apparently render up to three times faster.

A more consistent frame rate is expected at 4K resolutions, and there’s talk that its ray tracing capabilities could be three (or even four) times faster than the previous iteration. PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution Upscaling (PSSR) has been rumoured to use Sony’s machine learning — similar to AMD’s FSR or Nvidia’s DLSS image upscaling features to possibly boost graphics up to 8K.

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Let’s settle this on LinkedIn…

Anyone against the idea of starving themselves to death probably has a LinkedIn account, perhaps against their will. Microsoft’s social platform has long been a place to go in search of jobs, or employees to fill those jobs — with everyone patting themselves on the back in the process. Now, the platform is looking to branch into gaming.

That might sound like we’re pulling your leg, but it’s true. The billion-strong userbase will soon be treated to at least three of the company’s in-house games; akin to the surge of simple internet games like Wordle or something from neal.fun. They’re called Queens, Inference, and Crossclimb. It isn’t Linkle or something equally Wordle-y, so the NYT should leave them be.

The obvious implementation would be to allow employees to compete against one another, or against other companies. And, according to app researcher Nima Owji, that’s exactly what’s happening.

LinkedIn later confirmed in a message to TechCrunch that it was indeed working on a selection of games, though failed to provide any sort of release window. “We’re playing with adding puzzle-based games within the LinkedIn experience to unlock a bit of fun, deepen relationships, and hopefully spark the opportunity for conversations,” the spokesperson said in a message to TechCrunch.

It’s… a strange move. A website aimed at professionals, would-be or otherwise, succumbing to the pull of time-killing games — designed to kill company time? We hope it all works out.

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Sony hits the pause button on VR

Virtual reality (VR) isn’t for everyone, apparently. You’d think Sony, a company where the bucks flow out of every orifice, would find a way to make it work. But if the rumours are true, the Japanese conglomerate has hit the pause button on PSVR 2 production and begun stockpiling the headsets thanks to declining sales quarter after quarter. Yikes.

We’re just spitballing here, but we reckon the R15,000 price tag — or the fact that it requires a PS5 to work — might have something to do with the declining sales. Don’t even get us started on the lacklustre support for games since its debut, riding on the Horizon Call of the Mountain high ever since. The closing of the PlayStation London division, reportedly working on VR titles, hasn’t helped.

The company’s saving grace could be its decision to allow PC support for the PSVR 2 headset. Or it might continue to sink deeper into this mess, as more people flock towards the similarly priced Meta Quest 3.

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Google’s Gemini on Apple iPhones

AI might be coming to Apple’s iPhones sooner, rather than later. That isn’t thanks to a massive push to get Apple’s in-house AI out sooner, but because of a possible deal that’ll put Google’s Gemini engine on Apple’s devices, according to Bloomberg’s sources familiar with the matter. If the reports are true, Apple’s also explored the possibility of plugging OpenAI’s engine into the development of its next phone.

Whatever the case, we won’t be hearing about it until June at the earliest at Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference. It seems that nothing has yet been agreed upon between Apple and Google — with no ideas of how a partnership would work, or how the AI would be introduced to the devices.

Whether this will affect Apple’s long-rumoured plans to develop its own artificial intelligence in-house has yet to be seen. Just last month, Apple CEO Tim Cook was going on about the massive potential of AI, and that the company was investing heavily in the area in general.

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As for the new console’s accessories — the standalone BluRay disc drive and Slim Vertical stand will be released alongside their console counterparts on 5 April 2024. The disc drive will cost R3,000, while the vertical stand (also sold separately) will cost R700.

ORIGINAL 15/03/2024:

Seriously, it’s time to say goodbye to that first-gen PS4 you’re still holding onto. We get it. A failing economy, nostalgia, and the fact that it doubles as a mini heater in Winter makes it an enticing bit of kit. But it’s 2024. It’s time to move on and what better way to do so than with the PS5 “Slim”, which is expected to land in South Africa sometime in early April.

It might not be a “Slim” in Sony’s eyes — who insists on calling it a plain old PlayStation 5 — but the massive weight and volume reduction coupled with a facelift that doesn’t make us want to hurl beg to differ. It’s a Slim, Sony. Get over it. And it’s turning up in South Africa, and soon. That’s what South Africa’s PlayStation distributor, Gamefinity had to say on the subject.

Will the real PS5 Slim please stand up?

When Sony first launched the refreshed PS5 in November last year, it didn’t come with any technical upgrades. It’s rocking the same hardware as a regular COVID-era PlayStation 5, wrapped in a smaller, lighter and prettier package. The most notable change was the loss of the disc drive, making the “Slim” an entirely digital affair.

Don’t worry, physical isn’t dead (yet). Sony’s dreamed up a solution that’ll see customers picking up their own disc drives and installing them separately, bringing in a new revenue stream for the Japanese company.

Read More: PS5 vs. PS5 Slim – What’s the difference?

If you were hoping for a price cut once the new consoles arrived, we envy your naivety. Sony’s sticking with the current console’s RRP of R12,000 for a PS5 with a single controller and no BluRay disc drive. If you’re after a bundle that contains a disc drive out of the box, you’ll be paying R14,000 — the price of the base PS5 in store now.

The PS5 Slim without a disc drive should arrive in the first week of April, as long as South Africa’s port services remain on track. The console’s Disc Drive Edition will only arrive three weeks later, nearer the end of April, again, contingent on South Africa’s port services.

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Don’t set your heart on Rise of the Ronin being a carbon copy of The Witcher 3 or Assassin’s Creed, though. It’s an amalgamation of plenty of games — Ghost of Tsushima, Sekiro, and Nioh prominent among them — all smushed together to create something special and most importantly: unique. Oh, and lest we forget the intricate Dark Souls-like difficulty this game features.

Our preview is limited to the game’s first couple of hours (though we took around three and a bit to get to where Team Ninjas wanted us to be). That’s plenty, honestly. Rise of the Ronin doesn’t mess around. We got a great sense of the scale Team Ninja is going for, an introduction to the somewhat intriguing story and an urge to keep playing and exploring the world conjured up by the makers of Nioh (history helped, we guess).

Blurred around the Veiled Edges

Rise of the Ronin kicks off in 1853 Japan. Players don the kegetsu of two young samurai regularly referred to as Blade Twins. These ‘Twins’ are believed to have suffered a traumatic past — your childhood village burning to the ground will do that to you — before being inducted into the ‘Veiled Edge’ and trained as hardcore, katana-wielding killing machines.

Blade Twins are exactly that — proficient with a blade. At least, until we got our hands on them. They’re described as two peas in a pod, two halves of one whole, yin and yang, unable to go on without each other. You’ll be tested in this regard a little sooner than you might expect.

It’s here, after the game’s first “mission”, that the story starts to carve a path for itself. It’s a path we’re eager to see the tail-end of down the road. It’s an experience somewhat dampened by our expressionless main character — an issue with most loosey-goosey open-world RPGs. It’s not all for naught — the subtle worldbuilding Team Ninja’se infinitely more energetic NPCs and semi-rich open world provide make for an experience we wanted more of.

Rise of the Ronin is an RPG at heart. You’re not just role-playing a samurai as they cut down countless soldiers in their way (at least not all the time). Occasionally, you’ll make a decision or two. Major ones. We, for instance, chose to fell one of the game’s earlier bosses rather than spare their life, only to discover that the character could have returned as an ally down the road, massively simplifying future encounters.

We respected the gravity of our decisions a little more after that one.

Patience is a virtue

It doesn’t take Rise of the Ronin long before it starts handing you deadly weapons. You’ll whip up a character in the thorough character creator, choosing your character’s ‘Blade Sharpening Origin’ which essentially determines the style you’ll be playing, weapons, and stats, before jumping into the thick of things before you can blink.

If you’re at all concerned about committing to a set of stats and their recommended weapons, don’t be. Rise of the Ronin gives you plenty of testing time before it’ll be locked in. Our ‘Killer’ origin recommends a loadout consisting of katanas and ōdachis. We’re here to be samurai, dammit.

Anyone who’s bosom friends with Nioh will be instantly familiar with Rise of the Ronin’s impeccably smooth combat. The dense array of weapons each features specific stances and movesets, requiring effective use of Ki (basically a stamina gauge) to unlock their full potential. Altercations regularly consist of players whittling down their enemy’s Ki to throw them off balance and deliver an often final crushing blow.

Like any Souls-like worth its salt, rolling, parrying, and stamina management are key to making Rise of the Ronin work. Pull it off though, and you’ll be front-row to some of the flashiest and at times, vexatious, combat encounters we’ve seen. After you’ve had your ass handed to you ten, twenty, or fifty times, pulling off a perfect counter-spark (parry) and proceeding to return the favour delivers a high we rode for several hours.

Rise of the Ronin: Tears for the Open World

Like a Mormon who isn’t married yet, Rise of the Ronin does a lot of hand-holding once you enter the open world. It won’t be particularly long before that happens — but you’ll soon miss the tighter sequences found in the game’s intro. Don’t get us wrong — Rise of the Ronin’s open world is fine. But in a universe where Red Dead 2 and The Legend of Zelda exist, fine counts for less and less these days.

It’s not that there isn’t anything to do. Rise of the Ronin’s open world is flooded with content, but nothing is left to the imagination. You’ll come across small towns, villages, and even larger cities — eventually tiring of the seemingly infinite fetch quests and the like littered around the place. There is the occasional sidequest to break the monotony, but they’re few and far between. Cherish them.

If it wasn’t obvious, Rise of the Ronin is a blast. Apart from a slightly too unvaried open world and graphics that could have looked better (we prioritize FPS above anything else), everything the samurai RPG does perfectly shines through. Weighty, meaningful combat, solid RPG mechanics, and a story that has us invested to keep going. Not too shabby.

Rise of the Ronin releases 22 March 2024 on the PlayStation 5. Stay tuned for Stuff’s full review about that time.

Unfortunately, you’ll only reap the benefit of the 19 March release of the title if you’re an Apple customer. The game will be available on iPhone and iPad and only to Netflix subscribers. Even though it’ll be free, Netflix has opened pre-orders (more or less) for players keen to explore the tale of Zagreus.

Go to Hades

If you haven’t already hammered the pre-order link above so hard that you’ve left a dent in your iPhone screen, you should. Hades is a roguelike title that sees you playing as the son of the titular Greek god. Zagreus has many of the issues a young man faces and he’d really like to depart his father’s kingdom. Getting out of the Underworld will take some doing, however.

The resulting randomly-generated trips towards the Earth’s surface are a nigh-perfect blend of engaging gameplay loop, smoothly-developing and excellently-written narrative, and gradual unlocking of new weapons and abilities. It’s enough to keep you focused on the rapid combat for hours at a time. Even when players achieve their ultimate aim, there’s still more to see, experience, and unlock.

For Android fans, there’s unfortunately no timeline for a Hades release on mobile and there probably never will be. Supergiant Games has “no plans for additional versions of Hades at this time.” It’s that “at this time” remark we’re holding onto dearly in the hopes that plans might change down the road. We’ll have to make do with the game’s sequel that’s in the works, for now. Pity, that. It’s really an incredible game.

A teen from Oklahoma holds the Tetris title after he crashed the game on Level 157 and beat the game. Beating it means the player moved the tiles too fast for the game to keep up with the score, causing the game to crash. Artificial intelligence can suggest strategies that allow players to more effectively control the game tiles and slot them into place faster – these strategies helped crown the game’s first winner.

But there’s far more to Tetris than the elusive promise of winning. As a mathematician and mathematics educator, I recognize that the game is based on a fundamental element of geometry, called dynamic spatial reasoning. The player uses these geometric skills to manipulate the game pieces, and playing can both test and improve a player’s dynamic spatial reasoning.

Playing the game

A Russian computer scientist named Alexey Pajitnov invented Tetris in 1984. The game itself is very simple: The Tetris screen is composed of a rectangular game board with dropping geometric figures. These figures are called tetrominoes, made up of four squares connected on their sides in seven different configurations.

The game pieces drop from the top, one at a time, stacking up from the bottom. The player can manipulate each one as it falls by turning or sliding it and then dropping it to the bottom. When a row completely fills up, it disappears and the player earns points.

As the game progresses, the pieces appear at the top more quickly, and the game ends when the stack reaches the top of the board.

Dynamic spatial reasoning

Manipulating the game pieces gives the player an exercise in dynamic spatial reasoning. Spatial reasoning is the ability to visualize geometric figures and how they will move in space. So, dynamic spatial reasoning is the ability to visualize actively moving figures.

The Tetris player must quickly decide where the currently dropping game piece will best fit and then move it there. This movement involves both translation, or moving a shape right and left, and rotation, or twirling the shape in increments of 90 degrees on its axis.

Spatial visualization is partly inherent ability, but partly learned expertise. Some researchers identify spatial skill as necessary for successful problem solving, and it’s often used alongside mathematics skills and verbal skills.

Spatial visualization is a key component of a mathematics discipline called transformational geometry, which is usually first taught in middle school. In a typical transformational geometry exercise, students might be asked to represent a figure by its x and y coordinates on a coordinate graph and then identify the transformations, like translation and rotation, necessary to move it from one position to another while keeping the piece the same shape and size.

Reflection and dilation are the two other basic mathematical transformations, though they’re not used in Tetris. Reflection flips the image across any line while maintaining the same size and shape, and dilation changes the size of the shape, producing a similar figure.

For many students, these exercises are tedious, as they involve plotting many points on graphs to move a figure’s position. But games like Tetris can help students grasp these concepts in a dynamic and engaging way.

Transformational geometry beyond Tetris

While it may seem simple, transformational geometry is the foundation for several advanced topics in mathematics. Architects and engineers both use transformations to draw up blueprints, which represent the real world in scale drawings.

Animators and computer graphic designers use concepts of transformations as well. Animation involves representing a figure’s coordinates in a matrix array and then creating a sequence to change its position, which moves it across the screen. While animators today use computer programs that automatically move figures around, they are all based on translation.

Calculus and differential geometry also use transformation. The concept of optimization involves representing a situation as a function and then finding the maximum or minimum value of that function. Optimization problems often involve graphic representations where the student uses transformations to manipulate one or more of the variables.

Read More: Random Access Memories (1984) – Tetris

Lots of real-world applications use optimization – for example, businesses might want to find out the minimum cost of distributing a product. Another example is figuring out the size of a theoretical box with the largest possible volume.

All of these advanced topics use the same concepts as the simple moves of Tetris.

Tetris is an engaging and entertaining video game, and players with transformational geometry skills might find success playing it. Research has found that manipulating rotations and translations within the game can provide a solid conceptual foundation for advanced mathematics in numerous science fields.

Playing Tetris may lead students to a future aptitude in business analytics, engineering or computer science – and it’s fun. As a mathematics educator, I encourage students and friends to play on.

• Leah McCoy is a Professor of Education, Wake Forest University
• This article first appeared in The Conversation

This is one of the more wacky pieces of new technology on show at MWC Barcelona this week. The world’s largest telecoms conference is also a good place to demonstrate new cutting-edge technology – and in this case, the technology actually does cut edges.

Your grass is Doomed

Ever wanted to play the original Doom on your robot lawnmower? @shapshak @Husqvarna_ZA#MWC2024 pic.twitter.com/98jWVZh3BU

— Stuff South Africa (@StuffSA) February 26, 2024

Husqvarna, the Swedish company that makes robotic lawnmowers and chainsaws, has revived the iconic game of Doom and is running it on its latest self-driving Automower Nera range. Some 30,000 owners of these lawnmowers can play each other from April to September this year, after which it will presumably be disabled.

Launched in 1993, Doom is one of the early first-person-shooter (FPS) games and still has a faithful following, seemingly including Björn Mannefred, Husqvarna’s head of software engineering.

He was originally hired 10 years ago and told to make the firms’ chainsaws safer, he told me, and has worked on a range of upgrades to robotic lawnmowers.

The latest models use GPS positioning, provided by Swedish mobile operator Telenor, to define where the mower should cut the lawn – instead of burying a copper wire around the perimeter of your garden.

Mannefred joked that the computing power of the lawnmower matches that of the PCs from 20 years ago.

It does seem appropriate, for a tangential reason, given that Husqvarna was originally a firearms manufacturer when it first started in 1689.

Flying taxis

This gaming-enabled lawnmower is one of the quirkier products on show at MWC Barcelona. SK Telecoms is showing off a future flying taxi which is part of its Urban Air Traffic Management (UATM) initiative.

A full-scale, pilot-less and electric aircraft from Joby Aviation was mounted on its stand at the conference, with a giant curved screen to give a virtual simulation of what flying through Seoul will ultimately look like. The electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft is similar to those shown off by Uber in 2019 at its own urban air mobility (UAM) conference in Washington.

Hopefully, UAM will evolve from an acronym into a real service. These electric aircraft will only fly in specific air routes – and won’t be as busy as air traffic in films like The Fifth Element and drive better than Bruce Willis as a futuristic, rule-breaking taxi driver.

Feeling a virtual puppy

Japanese telecoms giant Docomo showed off its own virtual reality technology, called Feel Tech. Wearing a VR headset and sensors on your fingers and wrists, you could stroke a puppy in VR. It was meant to demonstrate the potential of much-faster 6G mobile networks and aims to “revolutionise the sharing of sensory information between people”.

Like every dog-loving dog owner, I wanted to experience this. But the queue was so long I had to settle for taking a picture of someone else stroking a Japanese dog that wasn’t there. The smiles on the faces of the Docomo staff say it all.

Then we sat down and watched the thing and were forced to eat our words. Don’t get us wrong, we’re still salty that there still isn’t a Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker available for the seven-year-old console, but we’ll get over it. Those 25 minutes of footage we did get ended up showing more promise than we’d initially expected.

Staying Grounded

Kicking things off is Grounded — one of those not-so-exclusive Xbox exclusives we’ve been hearing about for quite some time now, finally free from Microsoft’s clutches. Grounded is a mish-mash of glorious-looking graphics and sandbox survival gameplay that puts players in the shoes of some tiny humans as they explore a massive garden. Coming from Obsidian, we’re more than keen to give this one a go when it lands on the Switch on 16 April.

Even more Monster Hunter Stories

Skipping over Unicorn Overlord, we come to Monster Hunter Stories. A remake of the original DS game that brings with it full-on voice acting, revamped graphics and a… Museum? Cool. There’s no solid release date pencilled in, other than a vague ‘this Summer’ window (Winter for us).

Wii no more: Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed

What was once a beloved, yet underrated Wii Original, Disney Epic Mickey returns as a Rebrushed version for the Switch with all the usual remake hallmarks, and a rebrushing of Mickey’s abilities  It’s about as adorable as you’d expect and will turn up on the Switch eShop (and PC, PlayStation and Xbox) sometime in 2024.

Finally, a worthy Star Wars game

We’ve just heard the disturbing news that some of the Stuff team never played the original Star Wars: Battlefront games. That’ll be rectified after the Star Wars: Battlefront Classic Collection releases on 14 March. It’s not the same-old game ported over, either. It’ll feature online play, 64-person multiplayer battles, and even a couple of new maps and characters. We’ll be checking it out on the Switch, but it’s heading to PlayStation and Xbox as well. No PC port, unfortunately.

The weird, co-op world of South Park: Snow Day

We’ve known about South Park: Snow Day since it was announced by THQ Nordic back in November. That hasn’t stemmed our excitement over the co-op multiplayer title set in the world of Matt Stone and Trey Parker’s minds one bit. Snow Day lands on the Switch, PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S on 26 March.

Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble

Possibly the oddest out of all the announcements and trailers was Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble. Not just because it’s a Super Monkey Ball game, but because it’s a Super Monkey Ball game releasing in 2025 — the first new title in the series in a decade. There are more than 200 new levels to take on, with or without friends in a four-player local co-op setting. It’s just as cute as previous titles, making the 25 June release easier to swallow.

World of Goo 2 — now with more Goo

Finally, it was time to get gooey with World of Goo 2, the physics-based puzzler that’ll have you raging at goo-ridden bridges. It is set to goo up your Switch on 23 May and will even let you bring four friends with you if you’ve got a couch large enough. Unfortunately, it’s locked to the Switch — at least until it isn’t. You’ll still be able to play the original game through Netflix’s game catalogue on the same date.

There’s now a Suika Game Multiplayer mode

When we say that the announcement of paid DLC for Suika Game was our highlight of the Direct, we aren’t kidding. The Switch-only game that’s a mix of 2048 and Tetris took (some of) the world by storm in 2023, and now Nintendo is cashing in. The DLC adds three local multiplayer modes (Original, Timed, and Attack) with online multiplayer coming later. It’s already available as standalone DLC or as part of a bundle.

Broad strokes and murder – say hello to Pentiment on the Switch

Rounding out the Direct was Pentiment, another of Xbox’s used-to-be-exclusive titles heading to new worlds. Players fill the role of Andreas Maler, an artist at the top of his craft as he gets tied up in a series of murder mysteries — all with an art style that we can’t wait to dive into. It’s out today — though we couldn’t yet find a listing for it on the eShop.

The PS5 is going Pro, bro

Quoting Sekran Toto, a games analyst and CEO of Tokyo-based Kantan Games, CNBC’s report mentions that “there seems to be a broad consensus in the game industry that Sony is indeed preparing a launch of a PS5 Pro in the second half of 2024.”

So, why now? Well, there are a couple of reasons. For one thing, Sony’s in a bit of a rut. Just last week, the Japanese conglomerate noted a massive drop-off in sales, resulting in the slashing of its 25 million-strong forecast for 2024 down to 21 million, according to Bloomberg (boo-hoo, Sony) Sony even went as far as saying the PS5 was on its last legs — barely three years after its release.

“Looking ahead, PS5 will enter the latter stage of its life cycle,” said Naomi Matsuoka, senior vice president. “As such, we will put more emphasis on the balance between profitability and sales. For this reason, we expect the annual sales pace of PS5 hardware to start falling from the next fiscal year.”

And two; Grand Theft Auto VI. Yup, CNBC’s report reckons that Sony is looking to pump out a new piece of hardware to better accommodate gamers looking to pick up Rockstar Games’ when it eventually arrives in 2025. We’re not sure an entirely new console was necessary, but we’ll take it.

“And Sony will want to make sure to have a great piece of hardware ready when GTA VI hits in 2025, a launch that will be a shot in the arm for the entire gaming industry,” Toto finished.

Read More: The PlayStation Portal is coming to South Africa in February 2024 and it won’t be cheap

Despite Sony’s financial ‘troubles’ (if you can call them that), a new piece of hardware and what appears to be a very bare slate for 2024, George Jijiashvili, senior principal analyst at Omdia, believes Sony won’t be slashing the original PS5’s price tag anytime soon, even after the PS5 Pro’s release. This was in response to Sony’s comments, where it said its aim for gaming is to “optimize sales with a greater emphasis on the balance with profits.”

As for what a PS5 Pro might look like, nobody but Sony knows. We’re less concerned about its physical appearance — as long as it’s prettier than that atrocity we got in 2020 — and more worried about the sort of performance it’ll be repping. Rumours have been bandied about for months now, though nothing appears to be based on solid fact. We guess we’ll just have to wait — until the second half of 2024, apparently — and see.

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At least we’ll get to see Hollow Knight: Silksong

A #NintendoDirect: Partner Showcase is coming! Watch on-demand via YouTube on 2/21 at 6am PT for around 25 mins of info focused on #NintendoSwitch games coming in the first half of 2024 from our publishing and development partners.

Stay tuned here: https://t.co/ZIAs64iWbK pic.twitter.com/CTrAC02G4d

— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) February 19, 2024

Fortunately, it’s gone and done exactly that. Nintendo announced that we’d be treated to a Partner Direct on Wednesday, 21 February, where we’ll get to see roughly 25 minutes of footage concerning new games from Nintendo’s third-party publishers (so no Wind Waker remaster, then) that’ll be releasing in the first half of 2024.

You’ll be able to watch the pre-recorded (seriously, we couldn’t even get this thing live?) Direct at 6AM PT or 9AM ET on the company’s YouTube channel. If you don’t speak American, you can “tune in” to the event at 4PM SAST (South Africa Standard Time), right as you’re getting off work. Glorious.

Read More: Nintendo opens doors to its first ‘official’ store in Africa (and it’s awesome)

As for the games that’ll be on show, we can’t be sure. We’ve got a hunch that at least one of those titles will be Hi-Fi Rush thanks to Microsoft’s recent podcast (and the countless rumours) that confirmed four of its exclusive titles would jump ship. Pentiment is another likely candidate that’d be perfect for the switch to…  the Switch, though we’re less certain it’ll be joining the ranks so soon. We’ll just have to wait and see.

Despite having what we assume were good intentions to confirm the company’s solid plans, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer still left some players in doubt after a cryptic discussion with The Verge that could see players walking around planets on the PS5 soon enough.

Xbox… everywhere

From what Phil said, PlayStation and Switch users should get four of Xbox’s exclusives. Only four (for now), and none of them are Starfield or Indiana Jones. Fine. Keep ’em. We’re not exactly itching to spend our time fast travelling between lifeless planets. But thanks.

Unfortunately, despite setting out to quell the fears of both investors and fans, Spencer continued to leave us in the dark about the specific games that would make the leap from exclusive to… not. It did say that two of the games are on the smaller side, while the other two are community-driven. According to The Verge and its sources “familiar with Microsoft’s plans,” those include the already-mentioned Hi-Fi Rush and Pentiment with Sea of Thieves and Grounded set to follow in their wake.

“I do have a fundamental belief that over the next five or ten years exclusive games, games that are exclusive to one piece of hardware, are going to be a smaller and smaller part of the game industry,” Spencer said on the podcast.

Should the slight excursion from the Xbox brand go well, it’s unlikely that Microsoft will stop at four. Hell, even Spencer wasn’t able to “rule out” Starfield or Indiana Jones eventually arriving on rival consoles. That’s thanks to another interview Spencer did with The Verge.

“I don’t think we should as an industry ever rule out a game going to any other platform,” says Spencer. “We’re focused on these four games and learning from the experience. We don’t have work going on, on other franchises. But for anybody to stand up and say something’s never going to happen, I think it feels like creating more certainty in a world of gaming where you really want to respond to what customers want and what our players and creators are looking for.”

That’s about as non-committal as it gets, but it does give us some valuable insight as to how Microsoft sees the possible future of gaming. It’s adopting what it calls the “Xbox Everywhere” strategy which will see Xbox games, well, everywhere. It’s right there in the name. Spencer clarified that potential fans should temper their expectations, as not every Xbox title will bridge the exclusive gap.

“We’re making these decisions for some specific reasons,” says Spencer. “We make every decision with the long-term health of Xbox in mind, which means a growing platform, our games performing, building the best platform for creators, reaching as many players as we can. We’re always looking to learn as a leadership team and to grow, and we think this is an interesting point in time for us to use what some of the other platforms have right now to help grow our franchises.”

The Xbox Podcast delved into a few other areas, too. It touched on the future of Xbox Game Pass, with some confirmation that it won’t be heading to other consoles, and will remain under Microsoft’s hardware for the time being. That wasn’t all, however, with the news that Diablo IV will hit Game Pass on 28 March. Rad.

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