Pearl Abyss has confirmed that Crimson Desert will not feature any microtransactions when it launches on March 19 outside of its preorder bonuses.

The company's PR and marketing director Will Powers said as much during a podcast interview with Dropped Frames (via GamesRadar). "This is made to be a premium experience that you buy and enjoy the world, and not something for microtransactions," Powers said, before explaining why certain games embrace the microtransaction model. "It's a monetization model: If you do free-to-play, then you need to make up the revenue in a different way. This is a premium experience. That is the transaction. Like, full stop."

If you pre-order Crimson Desert or buy its Deluxe Edition, you can get some special items like the Khaled Shield, Kairos Plate Set, Balgran Shield, and Exclaire Horse Tack Set. Outside of that, though, players shouldn't be expecting an in-game store with any sort of microtransactions.

As Nintendo president and representative director, Shuntaro Furukawa looks ahead to milestone anniversaries for Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, and Pokemon Red and Green, he is also thinking about how Nintendo can expand beyond traditional gaming and find success with more multimedia projects.

During an investor Q&A following Nintendo's most recent earnings report, Furukawa addressed whether the company has special promotional plans tied to these major IP celebrations. His response made clear that while Nintendo is cautious, it sees growing opportunities in film and video content--not just in theaters but across different formats and platforms.

"The upcoming film, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, is the second motion picture that Nintendo has been actively involved in producing, so we are paying close attention to the kind of reaction it gets. We hope the reaction to this film will have a positive ripple effect in various areas, including our dedicated video game platform business."

Could the Switch 2 follow the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S platforms and get its own price hike in 2026? That's the belief of multiple experts, and Nintendo isn't ruling anything out.

During the company's latest earnings briefing, Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa said the "recent rise in memory prices" did not have much of an impact on the Switch 2's profitability for the latest quarter, and it's not expected to for the current one, but if the costs keep going up, Nintendo might pass that along to consumers in the form of a price hike. Or it might not. Nothing has been decided as of yet.

"If this rise in component prices lasts longer than expected and runs through the next fiscal year and beyond, it may put pressure on profitability," he said. "If the situation deteriorates significantly, we will carefully assess market trends and respond. As for any future change in the price of Nintendo Switch 2 hardware, no decision has been made at this time. Any decision to change the price will be determined comprehensively, taking into consideration not only profitability, but also other factors like the platform's installed base, sales trends, and the market environment."

It's official: Pikachu is dead. Or at least that's how it looks, as Pokemon Pokopia will introduce a new variant of Pikachu that has a ghostly shimmer to it. The first Pikachu variant in 25 years and designed by Game Freak--Pokemon Pokopia is co-developed by Koei Tecmo--this version of the electric rat is officially known as Peakychu.

Speaking to Famitsu (via GamesRadar), Koei Tecmo chief director Takuto Edagawa said that Peakychu was given the nickname "unfortunate Pikachu" internally, reflecting its ethereal appearance. In the game, Peakychu is unusually pale, has a smaller tail when compared to fellow Pikachu, droopy ears, and emits a strange glow from her body. "In particular, Pikachu (Peakychu)'s temporal and melancholy feel is impressive. Internally, we called it Unfortunate Pikachu," Edagawa said. Draw your own conclusions from that.

While Peakychu probably isn't dead, it certainly looks like you'll need to borrow a trap from the Ghostbusters to catch one. It's one of several new Pokemon variants being introduced in Pokemon Pokopia, with the list so far including a moss-covered Snorlax called Mosslax, a messy Smeargle called Smearguru, and Professor Tangrowth, a guide to the game's Ditto who has disguised itself as a human.

High on Life 2 is now out, and if you're looking to play the sequel to the 2022 original, you've got a few options. Available on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S, the Squanch Games-developed title is also a day-one release through Xbox Game Pass, making it relatively easy to download and play if you're a subscriber. High on Life 2's developers haven't missed an opportunity to poke fun at this partnership between Squanch Games and Microsoft, as in-game personal assistant Suit-O has a few choice words for anyone who opted to grab the sequel through a "game service."

"You paid for the game, you might as well play all of it. Or did you get it for free with some deal? One of those game services, huh? I bet you're playing it on one of those game services," Suit-O says at one point. "That's money out of pockets, I'll have you know. I mean, yeah, they pay us a lot to put it on those things, like millions, sometimes. But still! Think about how much more money we'd make if everyone bought it too! We could make a third game or something else entirely! What if we made Half-Life 3?"

Of course, there are several factors to consider here. How much Squanch Games was paid to make High on Life 2 a day-one launch title for Game Pass isn't public knowledge, and in terms of consoles, there's a far larger market on PS5 when compared to Xbox Series X|S console owners and Game Pass subscribers. PS5 is also the primary platform for High on Life 2, according to Squanch Games CEO Mike Fridley. The original High on Life was released as a timed Xbox Series X|S console exclusive in December 2022, and it eventually landed on PS5 and PS4 consoles seven months later.

Former Sega president and console designer Hideki Sato has died. News of his passing was reported over the weekend by Japanese outlet Beep21, and Sega later posted a statement online honoring Sato for his contributions to the company.

"We are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Hideki Sato, who served as President of Sega from 2001 to 2003," Sega wrote in a social media post. "Sega would like to offer its condolences to his family and friends. His leadership helped lay the foundation of Sega, and his contributions had a significant and lasting impact on the entire gaming industry. We will always remember his contributions to our company, and all of us at Sega extend our deepest condolences as we honor his memory."

Sato joined Sega in 1971, and alongside the Sega R&D team, he was instrumental in the design of several of the company's iconic arcade machines and its home consoles, such as the SG-1000, SC-3000, Genesis, Saturn, and Dreamcast. Later in his career, he became Sega's president between 2001 and 2003, and he would eventually retire from the company in 2008.

All models of the Steam Deck are currently out of stock, and it's for the reasons you'd expect. According to Valve, the handheld device may be unavailable for purchase at times amidst the ongoing scarcity of memory chips.

"Steam Deck OLED may be out-of-stock intermittently in some regions due to memory and storage shortages," Valve's Steam Deck store page reads. The site also leaves a reminder that the Steam Deck LCD is no longer in production, as confirmed in December, so don't expect that model to come back at all.

Valve previously sold the Steam Deck 256GB LCD model for $399. In comparison, the Steam Deck OLED 512GB model retails for $549, with the 1TB model going for $649.