Gaming

Everything announced at Feb. 9’s Nintendo Direct

Splatoon 3, Kirby, Switch Sports, Mario Strikers, and more

Published

February 10, 2022

Luigi Leonardo

After Pokémon Legends: Arceus’s red-hot launch last month, Nintendo wants to keep the hype going. To outline its future this year, the company hosted a Nintendo Direct recently, announcing new titles and updating previously announced ones. Here’s a rundown of what’s coming for the Switch.

Splatoon 3

Continuing one of Nintendo’s more recent tentpole franchises, Splatoon 3 comes to the Switch sometime during the summer this year. Though the Nintendo Direct did not include a definite launch date, Nintendo shared more teasers including a new Salmon Run Next Wave mode.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3

The upcoming title continues the story laid out by its predecessors. The open-world RPG takes players across a vast world filled with titanic monsters. Xenoblade Chronicles 3 launches in fall.

Nintendo Switch Sports

Sports is back! When the Switch launched, the console was conspicuously missing its own version of the Wii’s most popular titles, Wii Sports. Now, the title will make its return to the Switch, bringing badminton, bowling, football, tennis, and volleyball to the console. Nintendo Switch Sports launches on April 29.

Mario Strikers: Battle League

Speaking of sports, Mario continues his career as an athletic superstar. On June 10, Mario Strikers: Battle League brings Mario and friends to the world of football. Once again, expect quirky superpowers and powerful pickups for this sports game.

Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes

Much like the previous titles announced, Nintendo taps into its thriving well of franchises. However, this title switches it up a bit. Rather than the usual formula, Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes is a hack-and-slash game coming on June 24.

Disney Speedstorm

One of the rare original announced this Direct, Disney Speedstorm is a Mario Kart-like racer but with Disney characters including Mickey Mouse, Mulan, and Sully. The racing games arrives sometime during the summer.

Kirby and the Forgotten Land

Despite being one of the more anticipated titles coming this year, Kirby and the Forgotten Land doesn’t get a lot of the limelight this time around. However, the Nintendo Direct did showcase the game’s Mouthful Mode, a power similar to Super Mario Odyssey’s Cappy. Kirby is coming on March 25.

Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition

Going past the new titles, let’s get into remasters and ports. A classic in the PlayStation pantheon, Chrono Cross is getting a visual remaster and some improvements over its first outing more than two decades ago. Besides the remaster, the game also comes with Radical Dreamers, a more obscure text-adventure game set in the Chrono universe originally released in 1996. Chrono Cross: The Radical Dreamers Edition comes to the Switch on April 7.

Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp

Here comes another reboot. This time, it’s from the Game Boy Advance. Resurrecting a well-known series for the console, Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp brings the first two games of the franchise, along with graphical and gameplay updates.

No Man’s Sky

Ports incoming! Nintendo is bringing one of the most controversial titles in the last ten years. Though the game, originally launched for the PlayStation 4 and PC, started off with a torrent of negative press, No Man’s Sky eventually became a darling of indie games with massive updates that brought it from zero to hero. No Man’s Sky is coming to the Switch this summer.

Portal: Companion Collection

The Switch is getting another giant from another console. Portal: Companion Collection is bringing both Portal games to the console. Coming later this year, the collection will support both the enthralling single-player mode and the wacky multi-player mode (local, online, and split-screen).

Earthbound

Here’s a blast from the past. Both EarthBound and EarthBound Beginnings have arrived in the Nintendo Switch Online library. The two games were originally released to the SNES and the Famicom, respectively.

Gaming

Street Fighter 6’s first Filipina fighter arrives August 3

Yasmine arrives in August.

Published

July 17, 2026

GadgetMatch

Capcom is celebrating the arrival of Yasmine, the first-ever Filipina character in the Street Fighter series, with an official community event in the Philippines this August.

The Official Street Fighter 6 ‘Yasmine’ Community Event takes place on August 9, 2026 at Salud! by Primera Bar & Restaurant in Palanan, Makati. Doors open at 2:00 PM, with tournament matches, community activities, giveaways, and free play sessions scheduled throughout the day.

Meet Yasmine, Street Fighter 6’s first Filipina fighter

Yasmine joins Street Fighter 6 as the first playable character in the game’s Year 4 roster.

According to Capcom, she learned to fight alongside her older brother under the guidance of her grandfather. After her brother’s disappearance, she returns to combat using high-speed Eskrima techniques while wielding a Karambit knife.

She is joined in the Year 4 lineup by Arjun, Tifa from the Final Fantasy VII Remake series, and Bosch. Her release also coincides with balance updates for the entire Street Fighter 6 roster.

Yasmine becomes available on August 3, 2026 for players who own the Year 4 Character Pass or Year 4 Ultimate Pass.

Community tournament and exclusive merchandise

The Makati event will feature a double-elimination tournament, beginning with Best-of-3 matches before switching to Best-of-5 during the Top 8 Finals.

The schedule includes:

2:00 PM: Doors Open, Player Check-in, Controller Button Checks, and Free Play Warmups
3:00 PM – 3:15 PM: Welcome Speech & Official Street Fighter 6 Yasmine Gameplay Showcase
3:15 PM – 5:00 PM: Tournament Pools
5:00 PM – 6:30 PM: Top 8 Finals (Main Stage Broadcast) & Prize Presentation Ceremony for Champion, 2nd and 3rd Placements.
6:30 PM – 7:00 PM: Premium Community Giveaways, Group Photo Ops, and Closing Remarks
7:00 PM – 9:00 PM: Free Play and Community Networking

Attendees can also receive exclusive event merchandise while supplies last, including a Yasmine-themed T-shirt, lanyard, keychains, and themed food and refreshments.

Capcom says admission is subject to venue capacity and will be handled on a first-come, first-served basis.

Watch the event online

Fans who cannot attend in person can watch the tournament live through the Capcom Asia Official YouTube Channeland the Enduins Games Official YouTube Channel.

Capcom also teased additional announcements, including appearances from cosplay personalities, fighting game veterans, and content creators, which will be revealed closer to the event.

Street Fighter 6 Yasmine community event details

Date: August 9, 2026
Time: 2:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Venue: Salud! by Primera Bar & Restaurant, Palanan, Makati City
Tournament: Double-elimination (FT2, Top 8 FT3)
Livestream: Capcom Asia Official YouTube Channel and Enduins Games Official YouTube Channel

Gaming

Most of the world’s PlayStations will be officially useless by 2028

PlayStation’s disastrous no-disc policy is now a lot worse than you thought.

Published

July 16, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

Last week, we lamented the loss of the PlayStation disc. As we described, the loss isn’t just a major blow to nostalgia for aging gamers, but it also puts a huge question mark on game ownership. Well, there’s another wrinkle that the world is slowly realizing. By deleting physical discs, PlayStation has effectively blockaded their entire service from countries without an official online store.

If you haven’t heard, PlayStation is ceasing the production of physical discs for new games starting 2028. The console will become an all-digital platform. Now, we can blather on and on about how this sucks for ownership, but all gamers will still have access to games online at the very least. Right?

Wrong.

Not every country has an official PlayStation Store or the ability to create a PSN account. In fact, a staggering amount don’t; 121 countries (or 62 percent of the entire world) don’t have official access to the online storefront.

If you live in any of these countries, you’re likely familiar with some unofficial solutions: that is, setting your country elsewhere where the store exists. But, because it’s an unofficial solution, doing this is technically against PlayStation’s policies and can result in bans.

That being said, as noted by users on Reddit, this means that, on a very technical and legal level, these 121 countries will no longer be able to buy physical or digital games starting 2028. Because of a clarified policy, you can still play older games, but if you want to play the latest Call of Duty or NBA 2K, you are out of luck.

There’s no official list of affected countries, other than those collated by others manually. But if you’ve never been able to set your own country on the PlayStation Network, you’re a part of it.

Gaming

Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced comes to life at Skypark Macau

Themed event lets fans experience the game in real life from July 17 to 26

Published

July 13, 2026

GadgetMatch

Assassin’s Creed fans are invited to celebrate the launch of Black Flag Resynced through a limited-time themed experience at the Skypark Macau Tower.

The experience will run from July 17 to 26, and will feature elements from the title brought into a real-world setting. There’s themed installations, photo opportunities, and exclusive event rewards.

Aside from that, there is a concept art gallery and replica props inspired by the action-adventure.

The experience opens to the public from 11:00 A.M. on Friday, and will remain available until the last Sunday of the month.

It will be more fulfilling to come on the first day, as there will be exclusive merchandise sold only on July 17.

Guests who purchase the game on-site, or present proof of purchase of the game at the event will be eligible to redeem an exclusive item, available only until supplies last.

Moreover, those who complete an eligible activity during the Assassin’s Creed event period at Skypark Macau will receive a paper scroll replica of the “Letter for Duncan Walpole”, while supplies last.

Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced is a faithful remake of 2013’s Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag. Rebuilt from the ground up and powered by the latest Anvil engine, the game features updated visuals, enriched gameplay, and new narrative content.

Set during the Golden Age of Piracy, the game invites players to sail the Caribbean as Edward Kenway. The rebellious pirate captain is drawn into the centuries-old conflict between Assassins and Templars.

As the protagonist pursues glory and fortune, he crosses paths with legendary figures such as Blackbeard, Anne Bonny, and Calico Jack. All this while the fate of everything the pirates have built hangs in the balance.

The game is available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.