If you’ve read our impressions of the game, which launched in extremely limited form this week as a free download, you’ll know of the many issues currently affecting Konami’s Pro Evolution Soccer follow-up. The launch has gone so badly, and the backlash has been so vociferous, that eFootball is now the worst-reviewed game ever on Steam. In a new statement published this afternoon, Konami vowed to improve the game - and even went as far as to identify many of the gameplay and graphics issues that have seen eFootball become a meme....

It’s not exactly a problem unique to us - fitting in time to play the big ticket games is tough for anyone - and the big rush of releases we’re being treated to at the moment only exacerbates the issue. At the risk of coming across like Adrian Chiles and bluntly pointing out the obvious before asking for a paycheque, these big ticket video games are vast, time hungry things and there’s so bloody many of them....

Tarsier Studios’ sequel launched on 11th February and hit the million sales mark before its one-month anniversary, publisher Bandai Namco said this afternoon. By comparison, the original Little Nightmares was announced as having hit a million sales over a year after its initial launch in 2017. Combined sales of the two games are now over five million copies. “Tarsier returns with another slice of horror that’s just about glorious enough to make up for the frustrations,” Vikki wrote in Eurogamer’s Little Nightmares 2 review, recommending the game....

A comedy adventure game with puzzles, Loco Motive has you playing as three passengers who must prove their innocence after a murder occurs. The pixel art is reminiscent of LucasArts games, with familiar point-and-click gameplay (though you can also opt for direct control). In a neat touch, the game allows you to ask for hints via an in-game tips phoneline. Loco Motive is due for launch on Nintendo Switch sometime next summer, and already has positive reviews from its PC launch on itch....

Never underestimate the power of a game about words. It’s 2022 and the game of the moment is a game about words. Every morning, first thing, we pick up our phones and try to play Wordle. Five letters. What’s the word? Get the word wrong at first, but maybe find out you’ve got the right letters - maybe some of them in the right place too. Then it’s deduction, but it’s also vocabulary!...

The beta, which is set to go live tomorrow evening, is available to preload now for those who have pre-ordered the game. The most notable finding has been the option to adjust the “3rd Person Field of View,” which implies that the game will feature a third-person game mode, as well as an FOV slider on console. The addition of a third-person mode would be a huge change for the first-person shooter....

Ahead of a formal announcement, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor’s release date appears to have popped up online. According to Steam, players will be able to head to a galaxy far, far away with Cal Kestis on 16th March, 2023. This date was visible briefly this afternoon - though has now been changed to “coming soon”. Many were expecting Star Wars Jedi: Survivor’s release date to be revealed at The Game Awards this Thursday, so we will let you know when this date is made official....

There are many other reasons to look forward to the event. You’ll be given the opportunity to catch as many Magikarp as you can, with the possibility of catching a 100% perfect IV stats Magikarp. You can find a preview of shiny Magikarp below. Magikarp’s Spotlight Hour falls on a quiet day in Pokémon Go, but you can still partake in the Go Battle League and fight Tapu Bulu in five-star raids....

The update, available on PlayStation and PC, adds an extra layer of authenticity to the experience - a Kung Fu game set in a fictional Chinese city. Sloclap has released a new video with the Chinese voice cast in the recording studio in Shanghai. It includes interviews with Sifu voice over director Li Zhengxiang, as well as Lui Beichen and Mi Xiao as the main character, and more. The remaining Chinese cast are Huang Jinze (Yang), Liu Yingjie (Sean), Cheng Yuzhu (Fajar), Xu Chen (Kuroki), Lu Xiaotong, (Jinfeng)....

Announced at the latest Nintendo Direct, an extra 48 tracks are on their way to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe on Switch; a mix of classics from past games and newer tracks from mobile iteration Mario Kart Tour. Yet despite being updated for the Switch, some fans are disappointed that the graphical style appears to differ. Despite being a re-release of a WiiU game, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has stood the test of time as one of the console’s best looking games....

A long reddit thread of experiences from players writing on r/Games lists numerous experiences of frame-rate issues and long load times even on high-end PC setups - only to see them improved without the 2K Launcher active. Bypassing the launcher is not as simple as hitting uninstall - 2K clearly wants you to run its software as part of the game’s startup. Still, the thread has a point-by-point list of instructions for those who do want to give it a go....

Brode quit Blizzard back in 2018, after more than 15 years at the company, and before its more recent troubles became public. Alongside others who had worked with him to launch Hearthstone, Brode went on to found his own studio, Second Dinner, which has been working on Marvel Snap ever since with Chinese outfit Nuverse, the gaming arm of TikTok owner Bytedance. Snap’s focus is on short, unique matches which “cut out the fluff” and last around three minutes total....

Nintendo has just announced Metroid Dread will launch for Switch on 8th October. A subsequent Nintendo Treehouse presentation confirmed it was being developed by Nintendo and Metroid: Samus Returns studio MercurySteam. Footage revealed during today’s E3 Direct showed Samus being chased by a robot through various side-scrolling 2D environments. (Of course, both Samus and the robot, EMMI, are also being turned into new amiibo, alongside a Metroid Dread Special Edition) Intriguingly, Metroid Dread was first referenced on screen as “Metroid 5”, suggesting its placing on the series’ timeline later than other instalments....

The concept, dubbed Metroid Tactics, was the brainchild of Metroid Prime developer Paul Tozer. The idea was one of several pitched following the conclusion of Retro’s Metroid Prime trilogy - and another which was ultimately turned down. Tozer discussed the pitch publicly for the first time this week in a new Did You Know Gaming video which details the game’s planned setting and storyline as a prequel to the entire Metroid series....

The list includes popular high school murder adventure Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc Anniversary Edition, and Dotemu’s Windjammers 2, which Martin enjoyed very much. Here’s the list: The Anacrusis (Game Preview) Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc Anniversary Edition Nobody Saves the World Pupperazzi Windjammers 2 As always with games that leave Game Pass, to keep playing you need to buy the title. Game Pass subs get 20 percent off. Microsoft has yet to detail Game Pass additions for January....

In collaboration with /twitchgaming, the event will take place on 16th March at 6pm UK time and focus on indie games coming to Xbox consoles. An Xbox Wire post about the event notes we’ll see updates from Finji and Whitethorn, the first game from iam8bit’s brand new publishing label, and the latest on games like Shredders and Roblox. We can also expect to see Zelda-like Tunic and Trek to Yomi, recently shown at PlayStation’s State of Play....

While the direct Twitter sharing feature never got the chop in the live build of the Xbox dashboard - meaning the impact of its removal was limited - there were certainly grumbles from Insider testers after they were forced to grapple with more cumbersome methods of image and video sharing, requiring them to first upload clips to their phones, following the changes made in Microsoft’s previous Insider build. Now, however, in response Insider feedback, direct Twitter sharing has returned in Microsoft’s last Beta Ring build....

It’s handy to know how many missions and how long it takes to complete Modern Warfare 2 so you can plan your time accordingly. Below, we’ve detailed this information, along with all the MW2 campaign rewards, including what you get for beating the game. On this page: MW2 mission list and rewards The Modern Warfare 2 campaign has 17 missions, and as with previous Call of Duty campaigns, the action is split across various continents and gameplay types as it jumps between the perspectives of multiple characters....

It’s an extensive list of new features, as detailed in a lengthy new blog post, with 2K saying this year’s gameplay changes should “should translate to more wins, and more seamless actions”. On the offensive side of things, there are new gesture combos to the Pro Stick, which 2K says has allowed it to “expand the dunking controls to let you dunk exactly how you want”. That includes the addition of a new rim hang control which, on new gen consoles, incorporates physics-based simulated rim hangs....