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One of the most popular shoot'em up titles is Studio MDRH is Cuphead, and just like the many other shoot'em up titles that have come to the Nintendo Switch Cuphead will no doubt receive a enthusiastic welcome.

Cuphead developers Studio MDRH have taken to their official Twitter page to announce that Cuphead will be becoming available on April 18th. Studio MDRH will be integrating the Xbox Game Stack toolset which will alllow for Xbox LIVE functionality through the Nintendo Switch version. This will mean that players will be able to enjoy cross-play with Xbox players, unlockable achievements, friends lists and more.

Cuphead is truly a work of art and is very well known for its incredible success. Now that it its finally arriving on the Nintendo Switch that success will no doubt continue, as the platform - especially when the Switch is in handheld mode- will complement the game extremely well. Cuphead will be arriving on the Nintendo Switch on April 18th, for anymore information regarding the title, visit the official eShop listing here.

If you are a Super Smash Bros. Ultimate fan then there is a high chance that you enjoy, or even love collecting Nintendo's amiibo's. Well, three brand new amiibo figures have had their release date announced.

Nintendo has taken to the official Twitter account to announce the three new amiibo figures, the characters this time round are; Pokemon Trainer, Pichu and Isabelle. These new amiibo's are based on the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate renditions of the characters and will be available starting on July 26th.

Amiibo's can be fought in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and level up according to the skill level of the player fighting. Players that want to enjoy fighting their amiibo's will require an amiibo stand connection for their Nintendo Switch. Not only can the amiibo's be used in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, but they can also be used in a variety of some other different Nintendo Switch titles such as; Super Mario Odyssey, Kirby Star Allies and many more. The recently revealed Joker from the Persona series will also be getting his very own amiibo, I expect it will look something like this here.

It was getting pretty hairy there for Apple and the future of the iPhone as Intel couldn't muster up anything but smoke and mirrors with its 5G modems, and now that future is secured thanks to Qualcomm.

Qualcomm and Apple have agreed to settle all of their ongoing lawsuits, which puts a bookend at the end of a lengthy slew of lawsuits that spanned the world across multiple countries. Apple has agreed to pay an undisclosed amount of money to Qualcomm, with a new 6-year global patent licensing agreement, with the option to extend it by another two years.

Apple hasn't been able to offer industry-leading LTE performance from its last few generations of iPhones, and it would've been multiple years behind if it had not secured a deal with the leader in 5G: Qualcomm. Qualcomm would've known this was going to happen and just had to play the long game, waiting patiently and now here we are. Qualcomm 5G technology will be inside of future Apple products, and that's a good thing for everyone involved.

Nintendo has gone and updated the Super Mario Maker 2 website teasing that there will be more information on the title coming soon as well as a full site re-design.

We first heard about the sequel to Super Mario Maker back in February this year where Nintendo released an announcement trailer for the title that showcased some very cool new gameplay features. Fans of the original Super Mario Maker that was released onto the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U will be stoked to know that these new gameplay features in Super Mario Maker 2 will be both for veterans of the game and casual players alike.

It has been quite some time since we heard any news of Super Mario Maker 2, but with the recently updated site for the title I'd expect that Nintendo will be revealing something soon. According to the website, Super Mario Maker 2 is still planned for release sometime throughout the month of June, and that the full website for the title will be released "soon". With the release of the updated website, I would say that new information will come with it, so I will be sure to update you whenever that happens.

Ubisoft have reminded Assassin's Creed Odyssey players that the story is not yet over, as the second story DLC is about to release on April 23rd. Do you have what it takes to save "The Fate of Atlantis"?

Assassin's Creed Odyssey's second big DLC story arc is soon to be released, and will be pushing players to the brink as our main protagonist confronts gods, giant mythical beasts of legend and makes some quite interesting relationships along the way. The second DLC story arc features three separate episodes; the first being Fields of Elysium which will then be followed by Torment of Hades and then finally Judgment of Atlantis.

According to the description of Fields of Elysium, players will be introduced to all-new ability enhancements that will give them the opportunity to change or altar their gameplay experience. These enhancements will be built upon existing abilities and allow for players to more fine-tune their playstyle and approach strategies. Assassin's Creed Odyssey is currently available on PC, Xbox One and PS4. The first episode of the second DLC story arc is planned for launch on April 23. For further information, visit the official Assassin's Creed website here.

Nintendo has come out with a lengthy video that finally details everything Super Smash Bros. Ultimate fans have been waiting for - the contents of the coming version 3.0.0 update and the moveset for the first DLC fighter 'Joker'.

Nintendo has released a lengthy 15 minute video onto their official YouTube Channel that details what players can expect from the coming version 3.0.0 update. According to the video, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate will be updated to version 3.0.0 on April 17th, and included within that update is many things I have reported on previously. Firstly, we have the DLC fighter 'Joker' and his stage Mementos which was data minded back in February.

Next is new game modes such as Stage Builder, which just happened to be leaked last week on an official Nintendo advertisement. There is also the Shared Content option which will allow players to share their created stages and gameplay videos with other players from around the globe. Nintendo will also be adding the Smash World service which is available on the Nintendo Switch Online app, the new service will players to view stages and gameplay videos without starting the game. Nintendo will be rolling out version 3.0.0 on April 17th, for more information watch the entire above video above.

Microsoft today announced its new digital-only Xbox One S console, but the price just isn't right.

The new disc-less Xbox One S isn't a good deal. The system costs $250, which Microsoft asserts is $50 below the $299 MSRP of the original Xbox One S, but retailers typically sell the system for as low as $199. Shaving off a huge portion of the system's multimedia capabilities in favor of a $50 "savings" just isn't adding up, especially when retailers like Rakuten are selling the Xbox One S bundled with Battlefield V for $199. Unlike the PS4 Pro or the PS4, 4K UHD Blu-ray playback is a big bonus for the Xbox One S. Except of course for this particular model that's not really saving you much cash.

The console, dubbed the rather unfortunate Xbox One S All Digital Edition (or Xbox One SAD Edition), isn't an upgrade. It's exactly the same as a stock Xbox One S and sports identical internal hardware, specs, and performance. The big difference is that it's digital-only, which is a tactical move on Microsoft's part to pull gamers into its lucrative billion-dollar ecosystem of services, subscriptions, game sales, and advertisement revenues.

GameStop today revealed its new Guaranteed To Love It program, which gives buyers full credit for new games.

GameStop isn't doing too well right now. It lost over $670 million last year amid flagging sales due to digital adoption, and more and more consumers are avoiding used games altogether. But the retailer's new initiative aims at recapturing some of this lost market, namely with trade-ins.

It's rare when retailers offer decent trade-ins for games. Once you open a new game, it immediately loses a good portion of its value, especially if it's not that popular (or if the retailer isn't actually selling many used games). Surprisingly, GameStop is offering a new program that gives full $59.99 in-store credit for specific games that're traded in within 2 days, starting with Sony's new PS4 exclusive Days Gone. Cash refunds won't be offered.

Sony is making big plays with its next-generation PlayStation 5, which boasts some serious horsepower. But hardware isn't everything and Sony must evolve its core service framework to match a new hardware evolution.

As of late, Sony has made some good and bad plays with PlayStation services. It bumped PS Plus cloud saves to a huge 100GB per account. The company also relented on cross-play in games like Fortnite and Rocket League, ushering in a new cross-platform age of gaming. On the downside, Sony nixed free PS3 and PS Vita games on PlayStation Plus and dropped the value of the service. And it recently locked digital game sales exclusively to its PlayStation Store.

With the PS5 on the horizon, Sony might have to do something different with PS Plus. Free PS4 games might not be enough this time. Sony's admitted that service retention is tough and it could get even tougher with next-gen fragmentation. The PS5 is a true next-gen leap over the PS4, and while it'll natively play PS4 games, Sony will release separate game SKUs for each system. Both hardware and software will be fragmented.

Microsoft isn't missing out on its opportunity to fill the Sony-shaped hole at E3 2019, and plans to dominate the showcase with a multi-pronged strategy.

For the first time in decades, Sony isn't coming to E3. Microsoft is jumping on this chance to one-up is competitor with a huge E3 2019 affair celebrating everything Xbox. The company touts that E3 2019 will be its "biggest presence ever" and plans to unleash a smorgasbord of fan fests, game demos, announcements, and other engagement-building exercises aimed at one thing: reminding gamers that Xbox is still a force to be reckoned with.

Today Microsoft announced its E3 2019 press conference plans, confirming big artillery. The show will be held on June 9 at 1PM PST/4PM EST. Hardware, games, services and more will be at the forefront. We could get our first details on the next-generation Xbox Scarlett family of consoles, which are likely powered by AMD's new Navi GPU architecture alongside an 8-core Zen 2 CPU.

Sony has lots of neat ideas for its PlayStation VR headset, and some of them actually sound pretty fun.

Sony helped pioneer VR gaming so its no surprise they're exploring unique avenues to the immersive platform. VR has yet to become mainstream, though. Sony's own cheaper, more accessible console-powered headset only captured 4.6% of the PS4's huge 90 million install base. But all that could change with the right kind of killer app or experience, and the games-maker could be onto something big here.

In a 2017 patent that was published this month, Sony outlined one of the most interesting use cases for VR: multiplayer gaming en masse. The patent would essentially let gamers not only watch live events like esports tournaments or big venue-based affairs, but participate in them using PSVR headsets. The HMD would essentially act as both as a virtual ticket and a viewscreen that emulates VR Chat levels of interactivity while also maintaining gaming features like a HUD. Sony could combine both spectatorship and gaming into one immersive online experience.

Sony officially confirms its next-gen PlayStation 5 won't completely ignore the PS4's vast library of games.

Sony's big new PlayStation 5 isn't an iterative system like the PS4 Pro. It's a true leap in horsepower, leveraging a new potent CPU and GPU combo designed specially for the system: the PS5 will feature a Zen 2 CPU alongside AMD's new Navi GPU tech, all built on 7nm. Even though it's shifting generations, Sony isn't about to throw away the PS4's empire of games and flip the reset switch.

In a recent interview with Wired, PlayStation 5 designer Mark Cerny confirmed the next-gen system will play existing PlayStation 4 games. The PS5 is built partly on the PS4's architecture to allow native backward compatibility with current games. Following the launch of the PS5, new game releases will apparently be forked and new titles will have two SKUs at launch--a PS4 and PS5 version--to leverage the strengths of both consoles. This indicates the existing PlayStation will live alongside the PS5 for a while before passing the torch.

It was barely 48 hours ago that I exclusively reported that AMD would be unveiling its next-gen Navi GPU architecture at E3 2019 but now we know one thing is for sure: Navi supports ray tracing.

The news is coming directly from PlayStation architect Mark Cerny, who confirmed during an interview with Wired that the PlayStation 5 will have a custom Radeon Navi GPU inside and it will have support for ray tracing. The ray tracing side of the PS5 wouldn't just be limited to graphics either, as Sony will be doing other things with it.

Cerny said that ray tracing goes "beyond graphic implications" say Wired, with Cerny adding: "If you wanted to run tests to see if the player can hear certain audio sources or if the enemies can hear the players' footsteps, ray tracing is useful for that. It's all the same thing as taking a ray through the environment".

We are now finding out some official specs and details on Sony's next-gen PlayStation 5 console with PS5 architect Mark Cerny recently revealing some details in an interview with Wired.

Cerny says that an AMD chip is at the heart of the PS5, with Sony tapping a custom third-gen Ryzen CPU with he new 7nm Zen 2 CPU architecture, as well as a custom variant of AMD's upcoming Radeon Navi family of graphics cards.

But the big surprising thing here is that Sony is confirming that the PS5 with its Navi GPU will support ray tracing, but it goes beyond just better graphics according to Cerny. It's also good to see that my sources were indeed correct: Sony is working with AMD on the next-gen Navi GPU architecture for the PS5.

Mortal Kombat developer, NetherRealm Studios has reconfirmed the way they are going about implementing micro-transactions into Mortal Kombat 11.

Shaun Himmerick, producer of Mortal Kombat 11 has spoken out about microtransactions and has explained that MK11 will have Time Crystals as form of currency. These crystals can be spent on items such as; new intros for fighters, easy fatalities, gear and other things. Ultimately though, Himmerick says that there will be "nothing pay-to-win" available for purchase through microtransactions, everything will be strictly cosmetic.

NetherRealm Studios also developed Injustice 2, which allowed players to buy gear that drastically impacted gameplay. NetherRealm is taking the opposite approach with Mortal Kombat 11 with Himmerick saying "We don't want to have any competitive advantage for money". It should also be noted that NetherRealm's director, Ed Boon has said that they won't be including loot boxes at all within Mortal Kombat 11, stating; "There's no loot boxes. We don't want that. We've heard the community doesn't want that. We've seen the reaction to other games that have it. We don't want that reaction. There are no loot boxes in this game whatsoever".

Nintendo has issued out a hefty sized Nintendo Switch firmware update that adds many new features for users across the board of functionality, convenience and accessibility.

The new firmware update has been rolled out to all Nintendo Switch consoles and brings the version of the console up to version 8.0.0. The new update will be adding several new functionality features such as; Sorting Software option in your home menu, a 'view all news option', 15 new avatars, a transfer save data feature, a zoom feature, sleep mode features and more.

The new update also adds new regions for Hong Kong / Taiwan / South Korea. If you are interested in checking out the previous firmware updates that have come to the Nintendo Switch, a link can be found here. If you want to visit the official patch notes which give a much more detailed breakdown on each of the added features for version 8.0.0, check that out here.

Facebook has now decided to embrace the want to for a 'dark mode' on Facebook Messenger by rolling out a toggle option to both Android and iOS users.

Back in early March, we learned of a hidden feature within Facebook's Messenger that allowed users to change the theme of their Messenger app to a 'dark mode'. Users found out that if they messaged themselves or someone else a moon it unlocked the option of adopting a 'dark mode'. Now while that may have seen a very cool little hidden feature, Facebook has now decided to implement the feature into the settings of the Messenger app across iOS and Android.

Users now have the option of selecting their profile picture on Messenger to access your settings, then you will find a toggle option for dark mode on Messenger. Choosing to toggle on dark mode will change the theme of Messenger to a darker theme that will be much easier on the eyes, especially in low lit lighting. The dark mode should also be much easier on the devices battery considering that not as many pixels will require power due to them being off (only on AMOLED displays).

It has been revealed that there is a new LEGO: Star Wars in development and it is to be believed that this new game will feature content from the upcoming Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and its prequels.

In a recent interview with Matt Wood, who is one of the sound editors and voice actors for a number of Star Wars characters touched on the development of a new LEGO: Star Wars game. Wood discussed the intenseness 2019 has for Star Wars content and begun listing off the different forms of media we will be seeing across the span on the year.

Wood says; "2019 is crazy insane! - There is so many things we are doing right now, we've got Resistance going, Clone Wars going, Mandalorian happening, of course Episode 9 happening, there is a LEGO Star Wars game we are working on." Since the newer movies are yet to join the collection of the LEGO Star Wars games (Star Wars: The Last Jedi & Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker), it can be assumed that this new one in development will fix that issue and add some fresh content to the LEGO series.

We now have a new tid-bid worth of news regarding Microsoft's Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition. The title has received its official rating from the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB).

Visiting the ESRB website, we find a listing for Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition that has a summary, rating and platform that it is going to release on. The last time we heard about any news surrounding Age of Empires was the 'exciting announcement' planned for the Inside Xbox livestream. Fans expected Microsoft to discuss when the Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition would be released or even tease some news regarding Age of Empires IV that is currently in the works. Sadly, the Age of Empires segment was pulled from the livestream, more on that here.

Now this isn't an official announcement from Microsoft, but this does confirm that at least Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition does exist, is in development and on its way. We still don't know when Microsoft plan to release the game, but the first Age of Empires: Definitive Edition released back at the beginning of 2018, so I'd expect that we will see the Definitive Edition for the second game sometime before the end of 2019. Since the Age of Empires announcement was pulled from Inside Xbox, Microsoft could be rescheduling the announcement for this years E3, which is planned for June 11th.

The ramp up to 8K is going to really go to the next level in 2020 with Japan hosting the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, with Japanese broadcaster 8K being on the forefront of the future of resolutions.

NHK engineers began their journey with 8K all the way back in 1995, with the news being revealed by Senior Producer at NHK, Mika Kanaya. Kanaya talked about the journey up to, and then launching what was the world's first 8K channel. In the video she talks about some of the issues the NHK engineers had to overcome to deliver 8K and how they broke through those challenges, and why 8K is here to stay.

NHK has been blasting out 8K broadcasts since December 2018, and with the 2020 Tokyo Olympis right around the corner they will have all eyes on the company across the world with 8K broadcasts of one of the most-watched events in decades. The current 8K broadcasts are limited, with NHK only broadcasting a couple of shows in 8K, and they're shown multiple times at a single period of the day.