CONSOLE News, Tips, Tricks & Ideas

Next year we're getting an Xbox Series X without a disc drive, but in 2028 we're getting an Xbox console that requires the cloud to run games.

Significant new details on Microsoft’s hardware plans for the next several years have leaked courtesy of unredacted FTC documents that were accidentally published. As per these details, Microsoft intends to continue further integration of cloud technology for its next-generation Xbox successor, which is likely targeting a launch sometime in 2028 or beyond.

Microsoft will finally break into the handheld console market, with a portable Xbox in development for this console generation. This comes from leaked court documents revealing some of Microsoft's biggest plans, including both a new home console and a portable device.

A cascade of confidential Microsoft documents leaked overnight, detailing the company's Xbox plans for the coming years.

A 'refresh' for the Xbox Series X, codenamed 'Brooklin', has leaked via legal documents.

Microsoft is planning to release a redesigned Xbox Series X console, codenamed ‘Brooklin’, with a new design and controller.

Sony's selling a lot of PS5 consoles and accessories in the UK at the moment. This largely comes down to a decent discount on the machine, making it a more affordable option. Combined with better supply, which seems to have more or less evened out at this point, and PS5 sales are up 42 per cent month-on-month, with the yearly total up by 60 per cent.

We've only had one or two trailers for Stellar Blade, a PS5 console exclusive still technically scheduled for 2023. The first console game developed by Korean studio Shift Up, this sci-fi action RPG looks pretty promising so far, but details are thin on the ground right now. Recently, however, an official page on the PlayStation website gives us a teensy bit more — like confirmation of a physical version.

Xbox has partnered with BWT Alpine F1 Team for a multi-year sponsor deal as "official console partner" alongside Microsoft's existing sponsorship.

Microsoft has been targeting a 2028 launch window for its next Xbox console.

During Sony's State of Play show yesterday, three new PS5 metallic color variants for the DualSense controller and console cover were announced.

Sony has revealed that it will be releasing three new DualSense and console cover colours, this time with a “smooth metallic finish”.

Between surprisingly accurate recreations of pop culture spaceships, funky corner ships that trick enemy AI, and this one that is somehow just an entire F1 car, I am endlessly impressed by what the Starfield ship builder is capable of. Even I, a kid who didn't know what to do with Legos, managed to put together a cruiser with my ideal blend of boxy utility and sleek angles. By comparison the inside of ships are very dull—other than placing objects from your inventory on tables, you're stuck with whatever stock furniture comes with the ship modules you attach.

Indie smash hit Dave the Diver is coming to Nintendo Switch, announced via the September 2023 Direct today. Previously out on PC on June 28 of this year, Nintendo noted that this will be a timed exclusive for Switch, launching on October 26, 2023.

Well, it's a particularly notable day for Resi Evil fans. In 2002, the remake train started with a GameCube reimagining of 1996's Resident Evil. On the same day one year previous, PS2 folks got a taste of Code Veronica—a brilliant entry that was the first to include a real-time 3D environment. I humbly invite Capcom to remake it at their earliest possible convenience. You know what? Let's just keep the theme going with a bunch of Resi bargains..

Apple spent some time focusing on games during Tuesday’s iPhone 15 launch event, and while we got the usual mobile devs talking about the improved hardware and software capabilities, we also found out that some very recent top-tier console games are coming to the iPhone, including the Resident Evil 4 remake, Resident Evil Village, and Death Stranding. The iPhone’s distinction from dedicated handheld gaming devices like the Steam Deck introduced more recently has been largely academic – and with the 15 Pro, it’s eroding further still.

Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader, the upcoming cRPG set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe developed by Owlcat Games, now has a release date, as revealed in the new trailer that you can watch above. That date is December 7, 2023. The trailer also reveals that the game is being released on more than just PC and Mac: it'll also hit the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S that same day.

Ubisoft confirmed its upcoming multiplayer shooter xDefiant has been pushed back after it failed to pass console certification from PlayStation and Xbox. 

XDefiant, Ubisoft's upcoming multiplayer shooter that some have hailed as the return of a more old-school, more 2010s-style, perhaps more try-hard Call of Duty-esque experience, has been delayed for an indeterminate amount of time. Why? Because it somehow offended the console gods: failing to pass the certification process for at least one of either PlayStation or Xbox, which means we all have to wait to get our hands on it until Ubisoft can rectify the problems that cropped up and try to get XDefiant certified again.

Ubisoft has announced it has delayed its first-person shooter XDefiant after failing to pass console certification tests. 

Ubisoft's XDefiant has been delayed after being denied certification by PlayStation and Xbox.

XDefiant, Ubisoft's upcoming cross-over arena shooter, still does not have a solid release date and now we know why. In a blog post, producer Mark Rubin confirmed that the game failed its console certification with PlayStation and Xbox, and therefore has been delayed from its original American summer window. It is now eyeing a release sometime between mid-September to the middle of October, depending on any required day-one patches. It's worth mentioning that not passing a certification test is incredibly common for games, but we hardly ever hear about them since it's taken into consideration by publishers when setting a release date far in advance.

XDefiant, the Tom-Clancy-adjacent free-to-play shooter from Ubisoft, has been delayed out of its previously planned summer window, with the publisher blaming certification issues on Xbox and PlayStation for the game's slip into what's now «likely» to be an October release.

Ubisoft has delayed XDefiant’s release after the free-to-play FPS failed Microsoft’s and Sony’s console certification tests.

A recent patent from Nintendo suggests its upcoming Nintendo Switch successor will avoid analog stick drift with its controllers. Though the patent was filed in May, it was just revealed on September 7, and comes not long after it was reported Nintendo showed off said Switch successor to external developers at Gamescom.

Nintendo is in an unusual territory. Their Nintendo Switch is in its seventh year of being supported, with no official signs of what’s to come. That has a lot of consumers wondering just when the Nintendo company will be making their grand reveal of the successor console platform. However, a slew of reports surfaced shortly after Gamescom stated that select individuals were given a behind-closed-doors look at the new hardware with examples of the gameplay experience players could expect.

Starfield is shaping up to be one of the biggest video game launches in years, with over six million people already digging into it. But as one of the few exclusive games on the calendar in the cooling war between console platforms (long ended, if you ask us), it's not surprising that Starfield has sparked plenty of Xbox vs PlayStation discourse.

With Marvel's Spider-Man 2 set to hit PS5 in just over a month, it's time for Sony to start drumming up some hype — an act which evidently includes sending us the game's limited edition console bundle. It includes a shiny new PS5 complete with Spider-Man 2 covers, and that rather striking black and red DualSense controller. Oh, and a code for the game, of course!

Dbrand will never stop Dbrand-ing. The device outfitter is taking another opportunistic jab at huge corporations, this time against Sony, a frequent sparring partner. It debuted the Arachnoplates, its creative interpretation of Sony’s console covers made to celebrate Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 for the PS5, which are sold out at retail and are going for outrageous prices on eBay and Amazon.

While they are readily available on PC, console commands cannot be used directly in Starfield to activate a variety of different benefits, some of them extremely useful, such as removing the carry capacity limitations and others.

I have been playing Starfield for a few weeks now, and there is plenty of opportunity for customization, from the character creator tool to changing your clothing appearance and even customizing the outside of your ship. But today I learned that you can also design the interior of your ship's console by adding items on there as decor.

One of the best things about playing Starfield on PC is the access to console commands.

Two EA Sports FC 24 PlayStation 5 console bundles have leaked ahead of an official announcement.

Larian Studios has said that it plans to support Baldur’s Gate 3 PC and console cross-play in the future.

Baldur's Gate 3 finally dropped on the PS5 last night, and with that developer Larian Studios has confirmed that cross-play will be coming to the game eventually. Speaking to Eurogamer, director of publishing Michael Douse claimed that cross-platform co-op has always been on the roadmap, but the team never planned it as a launch feature. Just like the tabletop roleplaying game it's based on (Dungeons & Dragons), Baldur's Gate 3's immersive story can be enjoyed with friends in online co-op, albeit for now it is limited to those on the same platform/ system.

Baldur's Gate 3 will be getting crossplay at some point, allowing players on different platforms to adventure together.

Unleash the true power of Console Commands in Starfield with our huge list of codes and Item IDs. This list covers all the weapons, armor, aid items and more. We’re skipping some of the more useless items like random food but including every type of material so you can easily research whatever you need. You’ll also find codes for common needed gear like digipicks and how to give yourself infinite credits.

Bethesda’s "Skyrim in space" rings true when you take a look at the codes, because anyone familiar with the Creation Engine and Gamebryo will recognise them from a mile away — as they have been essentially the same since The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

Update 39 for the base game has arrived on all platforms for The Elder Scrolls Online. T he new patch offers a number of quality of life improvements, new PvP options, and overhauls to quests and content.

Shell yeah.

Cross-play is apparently already on the development roadmap for Baldur's Gate 3. This means players on PlayStation 5 and PC — and at some point, Xbox — will all theoretically be able to play together online in the future.

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Patch 7 launched today for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S, bringing a handful of impactful changes to the title that will make playing the game an overall smoother experience. While console fixes are linked mostly to game performance, PC players can now benefit from the inclusion of DLSS support.

On PC, Black Desert Online starts a brand new update this week, featuring the sea-based enemy, the Margoria Pirate Fleet. For PlayStation Plus subscribers wanting to give Black Desert Console a try, you can claim the Traveler Edition for free starting today.

Respawn and EA have released another patch for Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, this time with a focus on providing a «solid 60fps» for console Performance modes.

Microsoft has confirmed the next batch of titles coming to Xbox Game Pass for console, PC and Xbox Cloud Gaming.

NetEase Games will announce a new title for console and PC on the first day of Tokyo Game Show 2023, which will run from September 21 to 24 at Makuhari Messe in Chiba, Japan, the company said.

Yakuza fans will probably already know that series creator Toshihiro Nagoshi left Sega and Ryu Ga Gotoku Studios back in 2021, leaving behind the franchise to set up Nagoshi Studio and work on a brand new title backed by NetEase. There's very little we know about Nagoshi's upcoming title, but some were worried that it may not be a fully fledged console release due tsince the majority of NetEase's portfolio is made up of mobile titles and MMOs.

Many players find that their enjoyment in ARPGs comes from buying and selling items and making gold — and Diablo 4 is no different. Recently, however, players have noted that those who play Diablo 4 on console have a rather inconvenient disadvantage when it comes to trading — you can't select an exact gold amount for trade, and instead have to hold the select button as the amount slowly counts up. Console Trading Thread on RedditImage courtesy of ProximusCenturi on Reddit. User ProximusCenturi on Reddit recently created a thread highlighting the issue, using screenshots from a Discord trading channel.

Ah, Bethesda games. Playing through them the way the devs intended is only half the fun. The other half is bending them to your will with mods and console commands, cheating your way through the open world. So, lo and behold, that's exactly what Starfield players are getting up to already.

Lenovo Legion Go was launched during the IFA (Internationale FunkAusstellung Berlin) 2023 in Berlin on Friday (September 1) as the company's first Windows gaming handheld device. It features an 8.8-inch QHD+ display with up to 144Hz refresh rate and is powered by the new AMD Ryzen Z1 series of processors. The handheld gaming console runs on Windows 11 Home with Legion Space software on top. It comes with Hall Effect joysticks for improved responsiveness and accuracy during gaming sessions. The Lenovo Legion Go will compete with the likes of Steam Deck, Nintendo Switch, and Asus ROG Ally (Review).

The NES released in Japan 40 years ago, but a new Rugrats game is on the way to Nintendo's old console next year.

Over 250 console commands and cheat codes are available for you to use in Starfield, but not all of them are as helpful as you might think. Thankfully, we've done the hard work and compiled over 20 of the best and most helpful cheat codes in Starfield. In addition, we have also listed some of the best item IDs for all major categories.

Publisher Freedom Games and developer Maple Powered Games have announced G.I. JOE: Wrath of Cobra for console and PC (Steam). Specific consoles were not announced. It will launch in 2024.

Starfield's reviews are here, and the internet is full of takes, impressions, and everything in between. If you are curious how Bethesda's latest single-player RPG fares on the Xbox Series S, you should be happy to know the console can run the game just fine.

Console commands are back in Starfield. Yes, you can cheat as much as you want in the latest Bethesda open-world RPG with the Console — a feature found in Skyrim, Fallout 4, and every other blockbuster game in the developer’s library. The console window allows players to input codes that unlock God Mode, Noclip, reward players with money, levels, and more. You can unlock doors instantly or kill NPCs on command. There are thousands of commands but we’re here to teach you the basics. Learn how to activate the console and find a handful of common useful console commands below.

Nintendo has announced a Switch OLED Mario Red Edition console.

WitchSpring R will launch for PC via Steam on September 26 for $34.99 / 4,300 yen with a 15 percent-off discount price for the first week of release, developer Kiwi Walks announced. A port to console is planned for release at a later date. It will support Japanese and Korean audio, and English, Japanese, Korean, Traditional Chinese, and Simplified Chinese subtitle options.

Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is still a little ways away, much to the agony of everyone chomping at the bit to get stuck into Peter and Miles' next big outing. There's still a little under two month to go before launch, but there is something that we can do now to prepare for the big day. It's time to start deleting all those big games you're never going to play, as the file size for Marvel's Spider-Man 2 seems to have been revealed thanks to the recent release of the game's limited edition consoles.

Nightdive Studios, New Blood Interactive, and Apogee Entertainment have announced that the delayed console versions of Rise of the Triad: Ludicrous Edition will be arriving on September 29 to PS4, Xbox One, and Switch.

It’s no secret that Nintendo is working on a new console. The Nintendo Switch is certainly at the end of its lifecycle after being available for the past several years. Of course, Nintendo was likely hopeful the stock left for the Nintendo Switch would quickly be bought out and give an incentive to continue pushing out software for the platform. But it’s about time that we saw what the successor of the Nintendo Switch will bring out. With no official reveal for the platform yet, all we have to go off of right now are rumors.

There are plenty of limited edition consoles released that have a unique look to them. But for some, paying the extra amount of money for a brand new console that you already own just to get that new aesthetic is out of the question. Of course, there have been companies in the past that provided wraps and decals you can stick to your console. These vary significantly in quality, but now it looks like Microsoft is providing some new wraps to provide on your Xbox Series X. This gives you a unique look while keeping with your same console unit. 

Nightdive Studios has plans to remaster The Darkness, meaning that, if all goes well, PC players will finally get to murder people with demonic tentacles. Based on the Top Cow comic book of the same name, the game blends FPS gunplay with demon-assisted slaughter and, according to Nightdive’s CEO, it’s very much on its to-do list.

Baldur’s Gate 3 will launch as a PS5 console exclusive early next month – but in a rare occurrence, there’s been no behind-the-scenes shenanigans from Sony to make that the case. The reason the game is coming to Sony’s system before the Xbox Series X|S has always been due to development issues with Microsoft’s machine, specifically it’s cheaper, lower-powered new-gen option.

Genre-defining horror game Phasmophobia's console release has been delayed following a fire at the team's offices. 

Want one of the finest HDMI 2.1 monitors on the market for PC and console gaming? This 28-inch 4K 144Hz model from Gigabyte, the M28U, is down from $599.99 to $429.99 at Newegg following a price drop and a $20 rebate. Here's the link for ya:

Phasmophobia's long-awaited console launch has been delayed due to a fire at developer Kinetic Games' office building.

The new Warhammer: Age of Sigmar offers what might be the best control scheme for an RTS on console.

PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S owners eagerly awaiting the previously announced August release of ghost hunting hit Phasmophobia will now have a bit longer to wait; developer Kinetic Games has opted to push launch back to October after a «recent fire incident».

Kinetic Games has announced that it is delaying the console launch of its ghost-hunting horror title Phasmophobia following the outbreak of a fire in the studio’s office building.

The paranormal horror game Phasmophobia originally launched on September 18, 2020, on PC where it enjoyed popularity among streamers. Kinetic Games has PS5 and Xbox Series X/S ports in the works, but you’ll have to wait a little longer than expected before you can get your hands on them. The studio has announced that the game has been delayed, pushing its Early Access console launch from August to October, in the week leading up to Halloween.

Microsoft's head of gaming Phil Spencer has said there are no plans for an Xbox Series X|S mid-gen refresh, confirming the company is still focused on current hardware. 

Kinetic Games’ multiplayer horror title Phasmophobia has been something of a revelation ever since its PC early access release back in 2020, and earlier this year, the developer confirmed that it would be opening the gates for an even larger community with a console launch. That launch, however, has been delayed by a couple of months.

Luna, Amazon's cloud-streaming service, is coming to certain LG televisions. This will enable users to stream games directly on their TV, without a console.

Micorosft’s head of gaming has said the price of current-gen consoles won’t come down over time in the same way as during past generations.

Publisher Headup Games and developer Sunny Peak have announced side-scrolling platformer Symphonia for console and PC (Steam). Specific console platforms were not announced. It will launch in early 2024.

Pearl Abyss has a few big updates for Black Desert Online , including a brand new territory out today on PC. Black Desert Console is also having a fourth anniversary celebration.

Revolution Software has announced Broken Sword: Parzival’s Stone, the sixth chapter in the point-and-click adventure game series Broken Sword, for console, PC, and mobile. Specific console platforms and a release date was not announced.

Revolution Software has announced Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars – Reforged, a remastered version of the 1996-released point-and-click adventure game Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars for console, PC, and mobile. Specific console platforms were not announced. It will launch in early 2024.

PlayStation's handheld remote-play console, codenamed Project Q, finally has a name - Portal. It's $199.99 (also £199.99) and launches later this year.

Old-school gamers have a reason to be excited, as Atari unveils the upcoming Atari 2600+.