Battle-hungry Pokemon fans will be thrilled to hear that Pokemon Champions is now on Nintendo Switch and Switch 2. The free-to-start title marks a step away from titles like Pokemon Scarlet & Violet or Pokemon Legends Z-A, and instead offers up quick online battles with other Pokemon fans all over the world. But what do you actually need to get started?

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• Do You Need Nintendo Switch Online for Pokemon Champions?

Do You Need Nintendo Switch Online for Pokemon Champions?

No, you do not need an active Nintendo Switch Online account to play Pokemon Champions. Much like some other online titles, such as Pokemon Unite, Fortnite, and Rocket League, you can play Pokemon Champions online with just an active internet connection.

Thankfully, no content is gated either, with every online multiplayer mode open to all players, whether they have an active Nintendo Switch Online membership or not.

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There's no shortage of boomer shooters out there for those looking for some retro-style first-person action: Cultic, Ion Fury, Prodeus, and Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun, just to name a few. Yet only one of these nostalgic shooters meshes the genre's arcade sensibilities with the black-and-white rubber-hose visuals of cartoons from the 1920s and '30s and the unmistakable trappings of film noir.

Originally released as a tech demo that quickly went viral in 2023, Mouse: P.I. For Hire is now a fully-fledged game--one that oozes style and doesn't lack substance either. It's both familiar and incredibly niche at the same time; an endlessly charming game that I found a joy to simply behold, even before the cartoon bullets started flying.

Unsurprisingly for a game about furry rodents, Mouse: P.I. is all too fond of cheese-based puns and wordplay, so it makes sense that you should slip into the stylish trenchcoat of one Jack Pepper. The titular P.I. is a former war hero-turned-private dick working on a missing-persons case. As is par for the course, the investigation quickly spirals out of control, escalating into a complex web of intrigue and corruption that spreads to every sleazy corner of the city of Mouseburg.

It's an enjoyable and authentically noir tale, full of twists, turns, and all the familiar hallmarks of the genre, with femme fatales, morally ambiguous characters, and a tangled plot among its defining elements. While it's not a straight-up parody like It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia's "The Janitor Always Mops Twice," Mouse: P.I. doesn't take itself too seriously either.

The writing is witty and lighthearted throughout, playing up the genre's clichés with a comedic tone befitting its cartoon art style. A few fun concepts are also implemented to fit its unique world and add some breadth, such as its dairy-based narcotics and black ink as a substitute for blood. You can also find old newspapers hidden within each level that give Mouseburg a sense of history, with news of ongoing worker strikes and emerging political parties, as well as exposés on mob bosses.

The voice cast is excellent, too, particularly Troy Baker, who embodies Jack Pepper's sarcastic stoicism with a performance that's both hardboiled and humorous--adhering to the film noir genre with a knowing wink.

As the investigation takes you across Mouseburg's seedy underbelly, including unscrupulous movie backlots, city docks, subways, wetlands, a highfalutin river boat, and more, you're met with opposition from a range of armed criminals looking to stop you in your tracks. Fortunately, Jack Pepper is just as handy with a firearm as he is with a corkboard.

With each fleet-footed step forward, double jump, and wall run, it's evident that 2016's Doom was a source of inspiration for Mouse: P.I.'s arcadey mobility and combat. Movement speed is high, and perpetual motion is key to surviving any scuffle while laying waste to the mobsters, crooked cops, and cultists trying to snuff you out.

Whether you're strafing to avoid enemy gunfire, dashing away from thugs wielding steel pipes and baseball bats, or sprinting around the environment to grab health and ammo pickups, there's an energetic sense of momentum punctuating each shootout. The game doesn't shy away from violence either. With your weapon firmly ensconced on your right hip, each press of the trigger has the potential to create the kind of slapstick chaos that would make Itchy and Scratchy proud.

While heads pop off from shotgun blasts and the rapid fire of Mouse: P.I.'s referential Tommy Gun, the James Gun, there are far more experimental weapons in Jack Pepper's arsenal that could've come straight from ACME. A few pulls of the Devarnisher's trigger, for instance, will coat your foes in turpentine, melting the ink off their bones until they're nothing more than terrified skeletons--their bones rattling together with the same distinctive sound heard in Walt Disney's 1929 short film, The Skeleton Dance.

You can pick up and throw explosive barrels that ignite on impact, burning anyone unlucky enough to be in range until they're reduced to a pile of soot. Grand pianos and comically oversized anvils are a frequent sight, hanging precariously from the ceiling to tempt you into quite literally flattening an enemy or three. Mouse: P.I.'s combat may not be genre-defining, but it's absurd, fast-paced, and extremely satisfying.

However, I am a tad disappointed that the investigative side of the game is merely window dressing. You gather clues to advance the case, then pin each one to a corkboard to link the evidence and build a better understanding of how everything fits together, but the entire process is automated. It feels superfluous, and I would've liked to at least link the evidence myself, to feel like I was impacting the investigation beyond mowing down enemies.

Either way, the levels are well-designed, alternating between wide-open spaces and cramped corridors that force you to approach combat differently. There's a ton of verticality in most areas for you to take advantage of, too, and a decent variety of enemy types, from big guys who rush at you headfirst to others who wield wooden shields.

Anyone with a keen eye for exploration will also find plenty of secret areas in each level, tucked away behind hidden vents and optional platforming challenges. This is where you'll find the aforementioned newspapers, along with comic-book pages and collectible baseball cards you can use in Mouse: P.I.'s own tabletop minigame. This spin on America's favorite pastime isn't exactly on par with the likes of Gwent or Queen's Blood, but I still had fun playing a game or two in between missions. With Daniel "The Ra-ta-Train" Cruz hitting dingers and Joel Blunt painting the corners, I'm not afraid to say that my team dominated the tabletop diamond.

There's a special reward for winning 35 games, although a more traditional progression system is also in play to dole out a steady stream of upgrades for Jack himself. You can improve each weapon's damage output, ammo capacity, and also unlock alternate fire modes, such as the James Gun's spray and pray--complete with an animation synonymous with gangsters of the era. There are a number of traversal abilities to gradually unlock, too, including the aforementioned double jump and wall run. This sense of progression keeps things feeling fresh throughout the game's 11 hours, though some abilities feel underutilized, featuring heavily during the level they're unlocked in only to fall by the wayside later on.

Even with some minor shortcomings, there's nothing here that takes away from Mouse: P.I.'s crown jewel: its incredible art style. Each and every frame has been lovingly hand-drawn, recreating the rubber-hose animation of classic cartoons like Steamboat Willie and Betty Boop's May Party with striking aplomb. Characters and items of importance bounce on the spot with a joyous elasticity, their heavy ink outlines standing out against the softer matte style of the environments. There are reverential nods to some of the game's inspirations, such as a power-up that sees you down a can of spinach to immediately bulk up like Popeye the Sailor Man.

Even smaller details you might not always notice are a treat for the eyes. The ammo counter in the bottom-right corner features a different sentient bullet depending on which gun you're using, with the little guys typically buzzing with excitement or laughing maniacally each time you pull the trigger. The reloading animations are hypnotic, too, whether you're haphazardly stuffing a handful of slugs into a shotgun or draining another bottle of liquid on the side of the portable freezer. At both the macro and micro levels, Mouse: P.I. is a visual marvel that's always delightful to look at. Not to mention, it's all complemented by an original big band jazz soundtrack that nails the era's vibe and noir aesthetic.

There aren't many other games that pull off the same distinct art style as Mouse: P.I. For Hire. Cuphead is the only one that comes to mind, which makes it easy to fall for the game's presentational charms. There's rarely a frame that isn't bursting with style and creativity, and it's none too shabby as a retro-style shooter either. Mouse: P.I. might not reinvent the wheel, but its arsenal of weapons is punchy and delightfully varied, while the fluidity of movement makes for some thrilling, high-speed shootouts. In this instance, you should have no qualms about handing over money to the mouse.

There's no shortage of boomer shooters out there for those looking for some retro-style first-person action: Cultic, Ion Fury, Prodeus, and Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun, just to name a few. Yet only one of these nostalgic shooters meshes the genre's arcade sensibilities with the black-and-white rubber-hose visuals of cartoons from the 1920s and '30s and the unmistakable trappings of film noir.

Originally released as a tech demo that quickly went viral in 2023, Mouse: P.I. For Hire is now a fully-fledged game--one that oozes style and doesn't lack substance either. It's both familiar and incredibly niche at the same time; an endlessly charming game that I found a joy to simply behold, even before the cartoon bullets started flying.

Unsurprisingly for a game about furry rodents, Mouse: P.I. is all too fond of cheese-based puns and wordplay, so it makes sense that you should slip into the stylish trenchcoat of one Jack Pepper. The titular P.I. is a former war hero-turned-private dick working on a missing-persons case. As is par for the course, the investigation quickly spirals out of control, escalating into a complex web of intrigue and corruption that spreads to every sleazy corner of the city of Mouseburg.

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Ahead of Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream's release on Switch this week, it has come to light that Nintendo's designers were "obsessed" with getting farts to sound right in the game.

Developer Ryutaro Takahashi said in a new Ask the Developer blog post that, "There was a big debate among the team about whether Mii should be able to ... break wind. (Laughs)."

He went on to say that some developers at Nintendo found it to be hilarious, while others thought it was "a bit vulgar" to include fart sounds. Audible flatulence made it into the game in the end, and players can "bestow the trait," as Takahashi put it, on their Mii character. People who don't want to hear fart noises won't have to, though, as this is completely optional.

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There's no shortage of memorable moments from the long history of The Simpsons, but without a doubt, "Steamed Hams" sums up everything great about the show. The segment--and the episode it aired in--is officially 30 years old today, marking three decades of viral comedy. It has been reinterpreted across many forms of media, finding new life through remixes that have turned it into something unforgettable--just like Principal Skinner's luncheon with Super Nintendo Chalmers.

Originally airing alongside several other shorts in the season seven episode "22 Short Films About Springfield," Steamed Hams revolved around Skinner telling increasingly outlandish lies to cover up the fact that he had burned the lunch he'd prepared for Chalmers. The joke lived on as a reference point for Simpsons fans, and it steadily grew in popularity as the years passed by. It reached peak popularity around 2017, as creators took to YouTube to upload "Steamed Ham but" videos, deconstructing the meme and transforming it into an evergreen joke.

Naturally, video game parodies weren't far behind. Several developers and video editors have turned Steamed Hams into something resembling an actual game:

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It has been spotted that Krafton is no longer listed as the publisher of Subnautica 2 on Steam. This change in publisher comes in the midst of a legal dispute between developer Unknown Worlds and the PUBG publisher that acquired the studio in 2021.

On April 13, this change in Subnautica 2's publisher was spotted by analyst Mike Futter on Bluesky, although the change itself was made on April 7. Now, both the developer and publisher duties are attributed to Unknown Worlds Entertainment. Krafton remains listed as the publisher of Moonbreaker, another game released by Unknown Worlds post-Krafton acquisition.

Krafton has not yet publicly commented on Subnautica 2's apparent change in publisher. We've reached out to a Krafton representative for comment and will update this article if we get a response.

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There are "nine years’ worth of ideas crammed into" Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream, according to Ryutaro Takahashi. The game director revealed that development started on the Switch exclusive back in 2017 in a new Ask the Developer feature on Nintendo's website.

With Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream days away from launching on April 16, the developers opened up about creating the new game in the social simulation series. "I believe development started around 2017, after things had settled down on Miitomo," said Takahashi. "The producer, [Yoshio Sakamoto], and I both have a special attachment to Tomodachi Life and have been playing the previous game on Nintendo 3DS for many years."

Takahashi stated that development on Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream began with a focus on user-generated content, with a goal of being the "ultimate inside-joke game." A demo released last month for the game has already seen players run wild with the character creator, making Garfield, for instance. Meanwhile, Takahashi noted that his team made Pikmin as pets inside the game.

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Sol Cesto is a fun new roguelite that reinterprets dungeon crawlers into a streamlined, odds-based affair. Consumable items are key to success, but being a roguelite, your precious coins can occasionally be preserved to unlock assorted bonuses in between runs. Fortunately, there's a way to get a free item during each run: You just have to be a jerk. And discovering that detail thanks to a character's nose is what I've enjoyed most about my first six hours with Sol Cesto.

In Sol Cesto, you'll make your way through a series of 4x4 grids, each square of which is populated by strawberries that heal you, enemies, treasure chests, and traps. Each turn, you pick one row and randomly land in one of its four squares. Initially, the odds of arriving at each one are evenly distributed, but you'll soon make choices that influence how likely you are to end up on any of these tile types. Enemies can deal either strength or magic damage, with the difference between their power and your strength or magic determining whether you suffer any damage or slay them without harm. Complete enough turns on each grid, and you can move onto the next.

A typical stage in Sol Cesto

It's a simple formula that soon gives away to a surprising amount of depth, as you weigh decisions around whether to empower your strength or magic damage, as well as how you can best mix that power with the numbers governing your likelihood of landing on a particular tile. Is it worth it to be more likely to land on treasure chests at the expense of extending the cooldown on your character's special ability? Is it okay to increase your odds of landing on a strength enemy if you've leaned into buffing your strength enough? RNG will ultimately rule the day, but with these choices only lasting a single run, you're free to experiment with different strategies to see what works.

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Starfield has arrived on PS5, but it hasn't been smooth sailing as players have reported numerous issues with the Bethesda game--which shouldn't be too surprising, given the studio's history. With players reporting numerous bugs and hard crashes, Bethesda has responded to those complaints and has confirmed that a hotfix will roll out later this week.

"We're aware of some reported PS5 crashing issues and have narrowed them down to a small number of causes," Bethesda said in an online statement. "We're addressing these in a hotfix we're aiming to release this week. Thanks for flagging, and we'll keep you posted."

Buggy launch-week Bethesda games aren't a rarity, but the PS5 launch of Starfield appears to be particularly bad so far. Players have gone online to complain about hard crashes and progression-breaking bugs, while others have reported instances where the game is essentially unplayable in its present form. This has led to requests for refunds, and the problems appear to be hitting both base PS5 and PS5 Pro consoles.

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