It's been a long time since there's been a new game in Namco's Ridge Racer series, and it's anyone's guess if the franchise will make a comeback. But in the interim, Ridge Racer 64--which was originally released in February 2000--has made a welcome return on Nintendo Switch. As seen in the announcement trailer below, Ridge Racer 64 still has that classic arcade-style charm a quarter century later.

Unfortunately, this game isn't available as a standalone purchase. It was re-released earlier today exclusively for Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscribers--which costs $50 per year for individuals and $80 for families in exchange for access to N64, Sega Genesis, and Game Boy Advance games as well as select DLC for modern titles.

Ridge Racer 64 includes a Quick Play option for anyone who just wants a fast run through the Revolution Novice course. Veteran drivers can try their hand on the Grand Prix and choose from nine different race tracks.

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Fans of psychological horror are in for a paranoia-inducing treat this year. Karma: The Dark World seems to be a gripping, deeply unsettling first-person cinematic horror game set to release for PC sometime in 2025. I played a demo of the game that lasted about three hours, and found the gameplay to be refreshingly dread-inducing.

Set in an alternate version of East Germany in 1984, Karma: The Dark world combines Orwellian dystopia with some of the best bits of popular psychological thrillers. The game sees players step into the shoes of one Daniel McGovern, a Roam Agent working for the Leviathan Organization--specifically the company's Thought Bureau. The Leviathan Organization appears to have effectively replaced the government of the entire Soviet Union.

It immediately becomes clear that regardless of which branch one works for, Leviathan fosters a paranoid, hostile, extremely strange work environment. For example, when visiting the Thought Bureau offices, players will notice that Daniel's colleagues all have television sets in place of a head, with their face appearing on the screen. Although Daniel's own organic skull seems to be intact, he also has no reaction whatsoever to encountering his TV-headed coworkers. There are lots of odd little details like this, many pointing to this version of East Germany's recent progress in tech development. Leviathan itself is run by Mother: an artificial intelligence built by Soviet scientists for the purpose of enforcing social order. Given the public executions Daniel stumbles across early on in the game, the whole social order thing seems like it might not be going so well.

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Alienware Area-51 Prebuilt PCs with Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 GPU

Starts at $4,450 | Releases March 25

Preorder at Dell

Nvidia's newly released GeForce RTX 5090 and 5080 GPUs are difficult to find in stock at the moment. We would expect stocks to fluctuate over the coming weeks as the first wave of these graphics cards slowly make it to store shelves. However, if you're interested in upgrading all of your components and willing to wait a bit longer, you can preorder a prebuilt Alienware Area-51 gaming PC equipped with an RTX 5080 through Dell's online store. The Alienware Area-51 5080 PCs start at $4,450 and are expected to arrive on March 25. While that's much more expensive than the 5080's $1,000 MSRP, if you were thinking of getting a new gaming desktop, the Area-51 is equipped with top-notch components.

Alienware Area-51 Prebuilt PCs with Nvidia GeForce RTX 5080 GPU Starts at $4,450 | Releases March 25

Dell says Alienware Area-51 models with the RTX 5090 will also be available soon. For now, there are multiple RTX 5080 hardware configurations available to preorder. Here are the options:

• Alienware Area-51 Gaming PC with RTX 5080 GPU, Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, 32GB DDR5 memory, and a 2TB NVMe M.2 PCIe Gen4 SSD -- $4,450
• Alienware Area-51 Gaming PC with RTX 5080 GPU, Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, 64GB DDR5 memory, and a 4TB NVMe M.2 PCIe Gen4 SSD -- $5,050

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Both models feature Alienware's Area-51 ATX motherboard and the Area-51 PC case, which includes a tempered glass panel door, built-in cable management, and a dedicated daughterboard for easily plugging in lights and system fans. It also has three M.2 expansion slots if you want to add more SSD storage.

In addition to those internal hardware specs, both PCs run Windows 11 and come with a mouse and keyboard.

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Sony has filed a DMCA takedown of a fan-made Bloodborne 60 frames per second patch nearly four years after its release.

Bloodborne is a beloved From Software action-RPG that's only officially available on PS4, running at a frame rate of 30fps. In 2020, Lance McDonald revealed a 60fps patch for Bloodborne that he was working on, and it got a wide release on February 21, 2021. While players needed to go through extra steps, like jailbreaking their PS4, to access this patch's enhancements, it quickly gained notoriety in lieu of an official enhanced PC and PS5-enhanced port of Bloodborne by Sony.

Sony let this fan-made patch be for around four years, but it's now no longer available. McDonald took to X (formerly Twitter) today, January 31, and revealed that he complied with a Sony request to remove any links to their 60fps Bloodborne patch. This makes the process of finding and downloading the 60fps Bloodborne patch significantly more difficult than it was before.

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Mario might be Nintendo's main mascot, but as well know, Kirby is the real king of that company. The cute pink blob has starred in some terrific games over the years, and if you'd like to add the adorable eater of worlds to your collection, Nendoroid has several new Kirby figures available to preorder right now, ranging from an adorable Chef Kirby and Waddle Dee waiter, to figures based on iconic Kirby powers like Beam Kirby and Ice Kirby.

While these aren't as articulated as your regular Nendoroid figure--due to the perfect design of Kirby--you'll still be able to strike a pose with each collectible and they feature a neat magnetic trick to help the icon grab various accessories.You can read more about all the upcoming Kirby Nendoroid figures below, or browse them all at Amazon.

Kirby Cafe: Kirby Nendoroid Figure $43 | Releases August 13

Kicking things off is a Kirby who is pursuing the culinary arts. Priced at $43, the Kirby Cafe Kirby Nendoroid features the little fella dressed to grill with his adorable chef hat. You're also getting multiple expressions and a wide range of accessories like the aforementioned chef's hat cafe sign, fork, Japanese cream soda, a kettle, and a piping bag. How does Kirby hold all of these when he has no fingers? Using the power of magnets placed throughout his body, you can easily pose him with his cooking utensils.

Preorder at Amazon Kirby Cafe: Waddle Dee Nendoroid Figure $43 | Releases August 13

Of course, Kirby can't run a cafe on his own, and you can recruit some help for him with this Waddle Dee figure. Like Kirby, there are magnets situated throughout the body of Waddle Dee, and these can be used to equip the orange fella with a chef's hat, apron, frying pan, Waddle Dee's Naptime Omurice dish, a cup, and a splash of cream. You'll also get two interchangeable faceplates, including a standard expression and a surprised look.

Preorder at Amazon Beam Kirby Nendoroid Figure $39 | Releases November 12

Straight out of Kirby's greatest adventures, you can get a Beam Kirby that's sporting the original yellow power-up color. This doesn't come with much in the way of accessories, but you are getting four faceplates and several beam optional parts that attach to the magnets in the body.

Preorder at Amazon Ice Kirby Nendoroid Figure $39 | Releases November 12

For a cool Kirby, check out this variant of the unstoppable blob decked out in ice-blue colors and a crown to match. That headpiece is removable and the figure comes with four swap-out faceplates and various effect parts.

Preorder at Amazon Pikmin Bulborb Nendoroid Figure $48 | Releases July 9

Along with these Kirby figures, Nendoroid is also launching a new Pikmin collectible based on the Bulborb enemy from the series. Despite the critter's soft, round design, it's actually a formidable foe infamous for eating through entire armies of Pikmin, as any fan can attest to.

If you want to add this guy to your collection, you can preorder the Pikmin Buldborb Nendoroid figure for $48 at Amazon ahead of its July 9 release. It comes with interchangeable faceplates, several Pikmin to terrorize, and it has an impressive range of articulation.

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Season 2 is live in Call of Duty: Warzone, and the big update added new DLC weapons and some gun balancing. However, Raven Software has revealed that even more weapon changes are planned for next week, which includes updates to two popular guns.

Despite three new guns arriving with Season 2, Warzone's weapon meta didn't shift a whole lot. The developer has since posted on Twitter/X to announce that weapon adjustments for the XM4 assault rifle and PPSh-41 submachine gun will arrive early next week.

Presumably, the XM4 will receive another nerf. The XM4 assault rifle has been a top choice since Black Ops 6's integration into Warzone, and even Season 2's initial nerf to the gun's damage range wasn't enough to get players to switch.

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Following on the success of Castlevania and Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft, Netflix's next animated video game adaptation will take on Capcom's Devil May Cry. The long-running supernatural action franchise previously had an anime series in 2007, but if the opening credits sequence for the new show is any indication, this version is going to be even wilder.

Amusingly, the opening credits are set to Limp Bizkit's Rollin', a song which was previously used as one of the entrance themes for WWE's Undertaker during his American Badass phase just over two decades ago. The song does seem to suit the manic energy of Devil May Cry's leading man, Dante, especially when he takes a break from all of the demon-killing to scarf down some pizza.

Adi Shankar, who executive produced Netflix's first Castlevania animated series and Captain Laserhawk: A Blood Dragon Remix is filling the same role on Devil May Cry alongside Seung Wook Lee and Hideaki Itsuno. The animation for the series is being handled by Studio Mir, a production house that should be very familiar to American fans for its work on X-Men '97, Harley Quinn, and My Adventures with Superman.

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Dark Souls Graphic Novel Box Set (Volumes 1-3)

Box Set - $28.49 (was $50) | Omnibus - $25 (was $35)

Get Box Set at Amazon Get Box Set at Target Get Complete Collection at Amazon

Titan Comics recently reissued the first three Dark Souls graphic novels in box set format, but you can already save nearly 50% on the three-volume paperback set at Amazon. Normally $50, the Dark Souls 1-3 Slipcase Set is on sale for only $28.49.

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The Art of Dragon Age: The Veilguard Deluxe Edition

$79.31 (was $100)

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The Art of Dragon Age: The Veilguard

$38.30 (was $50)

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Dragon Age fans can pick up the official art book for The Veilguard at a fairly substantial discount for a limited time at Amazon. The Deluxe Edition hardcover is up for grabs for $79.31 (was $100), while the standard hardcover version is $38.30 (was $50). Published by Dark Horse in November, The Art of Dragon Age: The Veilguard was created in collaboration with the BioWare development team, and features 256 pages full of concept art, promotional illustrations, and more.

If you haven't picked up the game yet, Amazon and GameStop are selling Dragon Age: The Veilguard for only $25 (was $70), but this deal likely won't be available for very long.

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In 1989, the original Kickboxer martial arts movie helped establish Jean-Claude Van Damme as an action star. Now, for the first time ever, the Kickboxer franchise is making the leap to video games with Force Multiplier Studios, a team of developers with experience on Call of Duty, Borderlands, Halo, Tomb Raider, and Mortal Kombat.

Screenwriter Dimitri Logothetis and producer Rob Hickman--two of the filmmakers behind the 2016 film Kickboxer: Vengeance and its sequel, Kickboxer: Retaliation--are working with Force Multiplier Studios to bring the Kickboxer video game to life. But for now, the game is at such an early stage of development that there's nothing to show off.

While speaking with IGN, Force Multiplier Studios was very vague about whether Van Damme will lend his likeness to the game or participate in any way. Instead, the studio stated that the game "will combine the rich narrative of Kickboxer with kinetic martial arts action to deliver an intense, high-octane brawler, and feature iconic characters and locations from the franchise originally starring martial arts icon Jean-Claude Van Damme."

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After an impressive showing at the Xbox Developer Direct on January 23, Koei Tecmo surprised fans by dropping Ninja Gaiden 2 Black the same day. Now, just a week later, the game is discounted on PC. Head over to Fanatical and use promo code FANATICAL15 to get a Steam key of the remastered action classic for $42.49 (was $50).

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Ninja Gaiden 2 Black lets you play as Ryu Hayabusa--a ninja who wields the legendary Dragon Sword. The core gameplay has remained the same over the past 15 years, meaning you'll still be treated to a fast-paced and bloody combat system. However, this new version benefits from improved visuals, stages, characters, and lighting effects from Unreal Engine 5 that create a more modern gaming experience.

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New Presidential administrations almost always mean a new agenda for the Federal Communications Commission. As a prime example of this, the new FCC Chair Brendan Carr has struck down a Biden-era proposal that would have limited landlords' ability to make tenants accept mandatory internet service through a single bulk provider. Since the proposal has been shot down, there's nothing keeping building owners from forcing their tenants to pay for internet service they neither want nor need.

As reported by Ars Technica, Carr framed his decision as a win for consumers and claimed that the previous proposal would have increased increased internet costs for tenants. He also condemned the proposal as "regulatory overreach" and promised to undo more of the FCC's prior agenda.

However, the now-defunct proposal was not a ban on landlords' ability to offer bulk internet services; it simply gave tenants the ability to refuse the service. That was opposed by housing industry lobby groups, who in turn praised Carr's decision for allowing renters "to reap the benefits of bulk billing." Cable industry lobbyists--including representatives of Comcast, Charter, and Cox--were also in favor of Carr's action.

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After porting a few of its first-party titles to PlayStation and Switch last year, the first multiplatform move for Xbox in 2025 has been revealed. Playground Games and Turn 10 Studios have announced that Forza Horizon 5 will be racing to PlayStation this spring.

The PS5 version will be developed by Panic Button, whose previous work can be seen in games like Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order, Forza Horizon 4, and Apex Legends. The PS5 version will also support cross-play, so racers on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC can join up and explore the Horizon Festival together.

Forza Horizon 5

Every piece of content currently available in the Xbox and PC versions of Forza Horizon 5--which includes nearly 900 cars, 40 themed updates, and two full expansions--will be available at launch for PlayStation players. All paid expansions, like the Hot Wheels pack from 2022, will be made available in the PlayStation Store.

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The long-running tabletop mech game BattleTech has spawned numerous video games, including MechWarrior, MechAssault, and 2018's BattleTech, but if you've ever wanted to get into the board game that started it all, now is the perfect time. The game recently celebrated its 40th birthday with a new 40th Anniversary Edition of the core box, and various new expansions have launched in the months since, including new mech minis, source books, and more. The latest new releases include the BattleTech: Mercenaries expansion and a bunch of standalone mech and vehicle minis to add to your tabletop sessions.

BattleTech Mercenaries $75

The BattleTech: Mercenaries box includes eight BattleTech miniatures and four vehicle miniatures, plus a gameplay primer, rulebook, punch-out tokens, maps, pilot cards, Battlefield Support cards, and a premade campaign to play through. Note that this expansion requires the BattleTech: Game of Armored Combat 40th Anniversary Edition to play.

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Along with the new Mercenaries box, you can also expand your BattleTech collection with a batch of new miniatures. There are five packs available now, each of which includes multiple mech or vehicle minis and associated pilot cards, such as the Inner Sphere Tecon Lance with Firestarter, Ostscout, Spector, and Javelin mechs, or the Clan Cavalry Star set with the Black Python, Shadow Hawk, Griffin, Jenner, and Locust mechs. Those sets are available now, while the Inner Sphere Security Lance box with Marauder, Archer, Atlas, and Grasshopper mechs is available to preorder for $30 ahead of its February 5 release date. Check out all the new and upcoming BattleTech miniatures in the list below.

New BattleTech mech and vehicle miniatures

• BattleTech: Battlefield Support - Assault & Cavalry Lances vehicle miniatures set -- $40
• BattleTech: Battlefield Support - Recon & Hunter Lances vehicle miniatures set -- $40
• BattleTech: Battlefield Support - Rifle & Command Lances vehicle miniatures set -- $40
• BattleTech: Clan Cavalry Star mech miniatures set -- $35
• BattleTech: Inner Sphere Recon Lance mech minatures set -- $30
• BattleTech: Inner Sphere Security Lance mech miniatures set -- $30 | Preorder, releases February 5

BattleTech 40th Anniversary Edition

$58.19

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Work on Path of Exile's next seasonal update is largely on hold until after a major update for Path of Exile 2 has been delivered, developer Grinding Gear Games has announced.

In a video message, Path of Exile 2 game director and Grinding Gear Games co-founder Jonathan Rogers explained the situation. Last summer, much of the PoE 1 development team was shifted to PoE 2 in order to help the developer hit its planned early access release date. Grinding Gear Games had promised to keep updating the original PoE after the release of PoE 2, and internally slated a new "league" (PoE's version of seasons) for February. Rogers said he believed the team had time to both get PoE 2's endgame ready for early access while preparing the new PoE league for February.

Unfortunately, that's not what happened. Rogers said they "were fooling themselves" thinking that plan would work. After PoE 2's early access release was delayed several weeks, the PoE 1 team continued to work on the sequel. Even after PoE 2 launched, it continued to run into problems, and Rogers said he couldn't justify taking the PoE team off the project until the fires were put out.

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Fans of Control may want to take note that there's a new third-person action-RPG that blends magic and gunplay. Nesting Games has announced The Directorate: Novitiate, a game that puts players in control of Kana Luna. By day, Kana is just a normal young woman living in Los Angeles in 2006. But by night, Kana goes by the codename Mercury while working as a magical assassin for the criminal underworld. In the first-look trailer below, Mercury uses her innate fighting and magic skills to take on human foes and otherworldly threats.

As Mercury, Kana can upgrade her magical abilities to further refine her combat options. Mercury isn't limited to only using guns in battle, and she can incorporate spells into her offense as well. Additionally, the game will be divided between Mercury's activities after dark--including her hunt for a supernatural serial killer--and her normal life as Kana during the day.

Outside of her working hours, Kana can pursue friendships or romance with the people she meets. However, those choices may endanger Kana's loved ones when the two sides of her life collide. According to Nesting Games, players will ultimately have the option of deciding whether Mercury will stay loyal to "the Edicts of the Directorate" or if she will decide to retain her humanity as Kana. Those choices will define Mercury's portrayal in the game.

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After a brief tease last week, the Video Game History Foundation has officially thrown the virtual doors open to its massive digital library. Designed to be a free-to-access resource for researchers, historians, and video game fans, the VGHF Digital Library currently offers more than 30,000 curated files spanning 50 years of video game history. Demand is already pretty high, so at the time of writing, you might struggle to access the library.

The non-profit group says that visitors will find out-of-print video game magazines, never-before-seen game development assets, artwork, promotional materials, and more gaming relics here, with more than 1,500 of them being full-text searchable.

"We've been working on this project since we founded the Video Game History Foundation in 2017, so we're extremely proud to start providing access to our digital library and continue our mission to make video game history accessible to anyone," VGHF founder Frank Cifaldi said in a statement. "We believe that with the right tools, anyone can be a video game historian, and we can't wait to see what new stories our archive inspires. We also hope this inspires those in the video game industry to consider the importance of preserving their work and contributing to initiatives like ours."

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Geoff Keighley has confirmed that the next Summer Game Fest showcase will take place on June 6.

Summer Game Fest is an annual event Keighley started in 2020 in lieu of E3. Since 2021, there has been a kickoff showcase each June, and it serves as a console-agnostic showcase where developers can announce or debut new trailers for their upcoming games. We knew that Summer Game Fest would return sometime in 2025, but we didn't have a specific date until today. Keighley confirmed all of this on X and debuted Summer Game Fest 2025's brightly colored key art.

Mark your calendar for Friday, June 6 — @SummerGameFest returns to @youtubetheater in LA to showcase what’s next from the entire video game industry. Streaming live everywhere.
Followed by SGF Play Days from @iam8bit for media + Influencers in downtown LA. pic.twitter.com/mfViX89hDu

— Geoff Keighley (@geoffkeighley) January 30, 2025

Summer Game Fest will return on June 6, although a specific time for the showcase isn't confirmed yet. Summer Game Fest 2024 took place 2 p.m. PT on June 7, 2024. It will be livestreamed for viewers at home, but people can also attend the event in person at the YouTube Theater in Los Angeles. No specific games or studios have confirmed their involvement in Summer Game Fest 2025 at this time, with Keighley simply saying that it will "showcase what’s next from the entire video game industry."

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Ubisoft has confirmed the title, setting, and release window of the next piece of DLC for Tom Clancy's The Division 2. It's titled Battle for Brooklyn and will be released before the end of 2025.

The Division 2 was released in 2019 and has seen a healthy amount of post-launch support from Ubisoft since then. 2020's Warlords of New York DLC brought the series back to Manhattan, the setting of the first game in the series. Ubisoft had previously teased that a DLC set in Brooklyn was in the works for Year 6 of support, but it faced a series of delays as Ubisoft focused on other aspects of the game.

As recently as January 28, Ubisoft told players that the DLC would not ship during the Year 6 series of seasonal updates "to ensure we deliver the best possible experience." While that caused worry that the DLC could slip out of 2025 as well, Ubisoft took to X today, January 30, to share the first piece of key art and the title of the DLC.

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Apex Legends' six-year anniversary is just a few days away, and Respawn is celebrating with the release of a new cinematic trailer, giving players a glimpse of what's to come.

Though it's not an episode of Stories From The Outlands, the trailer--titled "Takeover Anthem"--is fully animated, and provides an interesting look at the other side of the Apex Games: the folks watching at home.

The trailer mainly focuses on Octane as he battles his way through a match, but we also see what Legends like Alter and Loba get up to between matches: Loba steals stuff, and Alter terrorizes her interdimensional enemies. But a crowd of spectators and fans are also featured in the trailer, with many of them cosplaying as their favorite Legend.

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