23 months ago, if you're being technical. I pointed out that there were a few things that probably needed patched up for the Nintendo Switch Version of Bluey: The Videogame. Over those 2 years, a few patches and updates came through and definitely made the game more playable. Some of those patches gave a better frame rate as well. The biggest update came with an entire reworking of the mini games, back in May of this year. 

In June, Outright Games added two more characters, Uncle Stripe and Muffin, to the selectable characters, and 7 more dress up items. They also added more items to find, in order to unlock Uncle Stripe, and this was all for the free. I told my kid about this update, but we were knee deep in Animal Crossing, and Luigi's Mansion 3, both on her backlog. 

I guess in September, another update was pushed into the game, adding fetch quests for Grand Dad, Nana, and Aunt Trixie, allowing you to unlock even more costumes and accessories. The update also further expands the sticker book. Noticeable changes for me included a bigger house, and expanded levels. And on the Nintendo Switch 2, even in handheld, these characters look like butter. 

They did it. They finally did it. The couch co-op for the family is indeed Bluey: The Videogame. I suggest you wipe your save and start from scratch to get the full experience, or be like me, and let your kid ask you to play with them. It's up to four players, after all. I should've reviewed it. The added bonus is my kid bouncing the game back and forth between her inherited Switch 1, and our Switch 2, via the Virtual Game Card service. It takes seconds, and is super easy to do. 

Bluey: The Videogame is probably on sale right now. It's on Xbox Gamepas for now, and I'm looking at a brand new Nintendo Switch physical copy at Walmart for $18. The full price is $40, so I suggest you pick it up for your kiddos soon. I liked it then. I love it now. Good work, Outright Games.

The Dungeons & Dragons 2024 Dungeon Master's Guide talks about "flavors of fantasy" in the Creating Campaigns chapter. There's Heroic Fantasy, Sword and Sorcery, Mythic Fantasy, Supernatural Horror, Mystery, Swashbuckling, and War. The most important flavor of fantasy, at least according to the new Forgotten Realms: Heroes of Faerun and Adventures in Faerun duology is Epic Fantasy:

An epic fantasy campaign emphasizes the conflict between good and evil, with the adventurers on the side of good. These heroic characters are driven by a higher purpose than selfish gain or ambition. Characters might struggle with moral quandaries, fighting the evil tendencies within themselves as well as the evil that threatens the world. And the stories of these campaigns often include an element of romance: tragic affairs between star-crossed lovers, passion that transcends even death, and chaste adoration between knights and nobles.

Romance? Hey, there's a reason why some of the highest-rated RPG and adventure video games are so highly rated: They weren't afraid to make you pick between Ashley and Kaiden in Mass Effect, Yennefer and Triss in The Witcher 3, or, for a more recent example, Blonde Blazer and Invisigal in Dispatch. (But woe betide the fool that ever goes for both.)

Ahem. "Epic Fantasy." Back to epic fantasy. 

In the short year between the Dungeon Master's Guide (2024) and these new Forgotten Realms player and Dungeon Master expansions, Epic Fantasy may have dropped the romance options, but it won't stop informing you of just how epic its epic fantasy is.

Which is to say, in case you never thought of the Forgotten Realms as epic, don't worry: It'll tell you.

"Heroes in Faerun come from...all walks of life. But they have one thing in common: their epic nature." - Pretty much the first thing the Heroes of Faerun book tells you.

But it doesn't stop there.

• "Characters stand out among these adventurers as epic figures"
• "Inspiration for your own character's epic nature"
• "An epic character is distinguished by their destiny"
• "Develop an epic destiny"
• "Crafting epic characters"

In Adventures in Faerun (the Dungeon Master's Expansion), they push their epic agenda even further.

• "Adventures in the Realms have one thing in common: their epic nature"
• "Dozens of epic adventures"
• "A world of epic characters and epic adventures"
• "Making your Forgotten Realms games—and players!—feel epic"

I could go on. That's on page 4 alone. Turn the page to the chapter on Running the Realms, and it becomes endearingly comical.

• "Epic campaigns require epic adversaries"
• "Epic stories are distinguished by epic stakes"
• "Epic threats and stakes can result in epic deaths"

At least you know publisher Wizards of the Coast is doing it on purpose. They literally say "epic" 47 times in the span of 7 pages. You kind of have to admire their dedication.

The tone of such wildly various adventures can be described by one word: epic.

And by golly they do. To be fair, they ease up off the "epic" gas after that. It's just kinda how they do things at D&D HQ nowadays. Like when the DM's Guide (2024) says the word "fun" so many times it stops making sense.

The Forgotten Realms: Heroes of Faerun player expansion and Forgotten Realms: Adventures in Faerun Dungeon Master expansion came out November 11. While hammering on their epic nature, they do manage to expand 5e's known world to include the Moonshae Isles, The Dalelands, and Calimshan.

Another module has been added to the Atari 50: Anniversary Collection.  The Namco Legendary Pack became available on the 13th. Namco and Atari are back together again. But they're just friends. 

Pac-Man, Galaxian, Galaga, Dig Dug, and Xevious, are all now available as part of the DLC, with an entire interactive module talking about the beginnings of the Atari-Namco. Full of flyers, artwork, and interviews, the module contains more information than you thought you would ever need. It is, however, centered around one of the best selling titles of the the Atari 2600's history, and that is Pac-Man. 

I learned that Namco is the short version of Nakamura Manufacturing Company. They used to make ride on horses for supermarkets, and Masaya Nakamura used to polish and repair those himself. Namco helped Atari get noticed in Japan. They then bought, and ran the Japanese division of Atari after a few hits after they manufactured Breakout and Pong Arcade machines. All this was before Puck-Man was available in Japan. Galaxian was actually before the Pac-Man arcade game, and it wasn't until two years later we would see Pac-Man at home for the states. 

Tod Frye, the developer of Pac-Man VCS talks a lot about his process in porting this game over to the Atari 2600. He talks about how he had limitations, obviously. He speaks on not using the black screen background, how he killed the argument about the flicker with the ghosts, and what royalties he saw from the sale of 8 million copies. 

The ear wax that is Pac-Man for the 2600 is readily available, whether you go through the module or not. Pac-Man is also available for the 5200, and the Atari 800 for this compilation. Sadly, there is no arcade version. Also left out of the arcade version are both Galaxian and its sequel, Galaga. There are versions of these games for the 2600, 5200, and 7800, but that's where it stops. There are arcade versions of Xevious, and Dig Dug, and yes, Dig Dug is just as addictive. 

You can download the add on for $7.99USD. If you haven't added any of the modules to Atari 50, there's a DLC bundle for them all for a little over $20 USD, or buy the game with DLC for $50 USD. It's not a bad compilation at all, and the games that come with span all the way to the Atari Jaguar. I absolutely loved it in my review, even though it left me wanting more. I'm puzzled on why Galaga, Galaxian and Pac-Man arcade versions aren't here, but I guess I can't have it all. I'll just fire up the Arcade 1up, and try to beat my own high scores, but that also means all my plans are cancelled for the evening. 

Nintendo dropped a new trailer for Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, available December 4th for the Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2. The trailer gives an overview of the story, locations, and the powers and abilities that Samus can obtain throughout her mission. Some abilities will be familiar to series veterans, while others are brand new powers from the planet Viewros such as the Control Beam and Psychic Glove. Three new Amiibo figures will also be available with two available now for Samus along with Samus riding Vi-O-LA, and a new Sylux Amiibo will be available at launch.

Seeker Games, a new indie studio helmed by veteran developers from Blizzard Entertainment, Maxis, Riot Games, and Sony Online Entertainment, has announced its debut project, titled KinForge. These folks have only worked on some of the biggest and most popular game franchises on the planet, such as Diablo, Dragon Age, EverQuest, League of Legends, Overwatch, Valorant, and World of Warcraft.

KinForge is a cooperative, creature-collecting action-RPG where nature has been corrupted by greedy corporations that have found Pokemon-like creatures known as Elementals powering the world. The player characters can bond with these Elementals as companions and use their powers to fight back against the corpos.

Prior to each mission, you will choose which Elemantals to bond with at your home base – the Preserve – which determines which abilities you must fight with. The Preserve is also where you will reincarnate downed Elementals, forge new abilities, and team up with other players between procedurally generated missions.

It looks like a unique blend of several genres, and I’m really digging the art style. KinForge is coming to PC first, and potentially consoles after that, though no release date has been announced. Check out the reveal trailer below:

Racing specialist Milestone has announced RIDE 6, the next entry in its long-running motorcycle racing series, coming to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC on February 12^th, 2026. Early Access for purchases of premium editions will begin on February 9^th.

RIDE 6 brings with it an all-new career mode called RIDE Fest, which is a touring festival that lets players select a real-life rider to compete across seven racing categories, from off-road to Bagger bikes. Some of the real racers include Casey Stoner, Troy Bayliss, and Guy Martin. RIDE 6 will also feature the largest selection of bikes in the series’ history, with more than 340 motorcycles from 21 manufacturers, as well as 45 tracks to take them out on.

Made with Unreal Engine 5, a new dual-physics system is being introduced for 6 to provide a racing experience for everyone. The Pro physics system will feature the highest level of simulation for those wanting maximum realism. Meanwhile, the Arcade phsyics system is more welcoming to newcomers just trying to get their bearings in motorcycle racing.

RIDE 6 also includes Riding School for skills development, full cross-platform multiplayer, local split-screen multiplayer, a full customization suite, and a race creator.

Check out the new announcement trailer:

The long-rumored MMORPG set in PlayStation's Horizon universe is real, it's called Horizon Steel Frontiers, and NCSOFT is developing it for PC and mobile devices. That’s right – no PlayStation 5 version is planned for one of PlayStation’s biggest franchises, which was sired by Guerilla Games, who is collaborating on the development of Horizon Steel Frontiers, of course.

In Horizon Steel Frontiers, players venture into the Deadlands to hunt the robot machines the series is known for. NCSOFT is leaning more into Monster Hunter-style gameplay systems for Steel Frontiers while adding MMORPG elements, which I think makes a lot of sense for Horizon.

I’m not going to lie, I am salty that this is not coming to PS5 – likely to leave runway for the other rumored Horizon online title from Guerrilla Games – but it does look incredible. No release date has been announced for Horizon Steel Frontiers, but you can check out the extensive reveal trailer below.

Nine months after it was released, the final DLC pack for WWE 2K25, the "Saturday Nights Main Event" pack has been released and includes a number of legends from the Golden Era of the 80's. 

The wrestlers included in the Saturday Night's Main Event pack include...

• Junkyard Dog
• Jesse "The Body" Ventura
• "Mr. Wonderful" Paul Orndorff 
• Sid Justice
• Tito Santana

The DLC pack also includes 60 new moves and taunts that you can assign to your created wrestlers or assign to wrestlers already in the game. The DLC pack also contains cards that you can use for My Faction. 

With that, another WWE game is in the books as we most likely won't get any other updates after this. If 2K keeps with their schedule for the last four years, we will most likely get the reveal of WWE 2K26 in a few months at the Royal Rumble. WWE 2K25 was a step in the right direction but there are unfortunately a number of small issues that are still plaguing the game year after year. I am hoping that next year we finally see that big update that Universe mode desperately needs. 

Not only is Valve bringing a new Steam Controller, they are also bringing back Steam Machines. Their first foray into a console like PC didn't go as planned, but they are looking to fix that with the quaint little cube that will be released early next year.

The Steam Machine is a PC made for your living room and it's said to be six times more powerful than the very capable Steam Deck. This small form factor PC houses an AMD Zen 4 with 6 cores and 12 threads with a boost of up to 4.8GHz. Its graphics are powered by a semi-custom AMD RDNA3 GPU with 28 compute units and 8GB of GDDR6 VRAM. For the computer, the Steam Machine will come with 16GB of GDDR5 memory.

As with the Steam Frame, there will be two storage options available. You'll be able to grab one with 512GB of storage or 2TB. No word yet if you can upgrade it yourself, but I'm going to go out on a limb and say yes considering you can do so on the Steam Deck. It will also have a microSD card slot so you can expand the storage capabilities that way as well.

Two I/O ports will be available with one being DisplayPort 1.4 which can do up to 4K at 240Hz. The other will be an HDMI 2.0 port that can do 4K at 120Hz. Both will be capable of HDR and Freesync with the HDMI port supporting CEC.

The tiny little box stands at 152mm tall, 162.4mm deep, and 156mm wide and weighs 2.6 kg. In the front will be a light bar which you can set to do different types of notifications.

All this will run SteamOS 3, which will be very familiar for those who have a Steam Deck. Hopefully, this is one step closer for Valve releasing an official SteamOS installer for those of us who want to build one. I'm currently building a SFF living room PC and would love to put SteamOS on it instead of Windows.

This looks like an interesting little living room console/PC and I've already had a few of my console playing writers interested in picking one up. Like all the hardware announcements today, look for this one early next year with a price set to be announced later on.

The Valve Index has been one of my favorite VR headsets I've used, but it's gotten a little long in the tooth. Today, Valve announced the follow up to their highly rated Index and it's called Steam Frame.

Sporting two 2160x2160 LCD panels, the Steam Frame is a stand alone VR headset with inside out tracking (Rest in peace, Lighthouses). Like the Index, it can run at 72Hz all the way up to 144Hz in experimental mode. Why didn't Valve go with OLED panels? Well, they are using pancake lenses, which will provide great clarity, but can lower the brightness of the displays. Thus, LCD panels were selected over OLED.

Eye tracking is built in and you'd think it would be used for foveated rendering. Well, there's also going to be foveated streaming, meaning it will stream at the highest bitrate the area you are looking at. Which is really cool and should help reduce the amount of bandwidth needed for streaming to the Steam Frame.

The battery is built into the back of the Steam Frame where it cups the back of your head, helping distribute the weight. While the Steam Frame comes with a strap that goes around your head, they will sell one with a top strap as well for a more secured fit.

While the knuckles are gone, we have controllers that are Meta Quest 3 like, but retains the ability to sense your fingers via capacitive touch. Valve will sell some straps so if you want the ability to let go of your controller without dropping it, that will still be possible. 

It is a stand alone headset meaning you can install games on it. Running on a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 CPU with 16GB of LPDDR5X RAM. Storage options include a 256GB or 1TB drive and the Steam Frame can expand on that with a built in micro-SD card slot. You can install Android apps via sideloading as well as Steam games. Yes, the headset runs an ARM version of SteamOS, which is pretty exciting.

There are pass through cameras, but they are only monochome meaning no full color pass through like the Quest 3. That's a little disappointing, but maybe someone will come out with a full color camera attachment for it. 

For wireless streaming, Valve is including a Wi-Fi 6E wireless adapter. With it operating at 6GHz and its bandwidth dedicated to streaming to the Steam Frame, it sounds like it'll have some very high quality wireless VR capabilities. The headset itself does have a Wi-Fi 7 chip so in the future if it needs it, it can utilize the higher bandwidth and speed of that standard.

It all looks pretty damn exciting and sounds like, on paper, a great follow up to the Valve Index. Look for the Steam Frame early next year with pricing coming near the time of release.