Stage News, Tips, Tricks & Ideas

New York developer Velan Studios is cutting jobs as part of a reorganisation.

Princess Peach: Showtime! is here, giving the Mushroom Kingdom monarch a chance to break out of the damsel role and do a little world-saving of her own. While the game is largely pitched to younger audiences, there are still a few things about the game that might inspire questions, and we’re here to help!

Chef and restaurateur Jose Andrés inviting actors Jamie Lee Curtis, Bryan Cranston and O'Shea Jackson Jr. over for dinner in a new TV special and Jake Gyllenhaal starring in an update of the pulpy cult classic “Road House” are some of the new television, movies, music and games headed to a device near you.

Princess Peach: Showtime! is here, giving the Mushroom Kingdom monarch a chance to break out of the damsel role and do a little world-saving of her own. While the game is largely pitched to younger audiences, there are still a few things about the game that might inspire questions, and we’re here to help!

Baldur's Gate 3 has been such a massive success for developer Larian Studio that you'd naturally assume that the team behind it would jump at the chance to make more. Unfortunately, no amount of success or praise is going to convince Larian to go back to Baldur's Gate, as CEO Swen Vincke recently revealed in a panel at GDC that the studio doesn't intend to make a sequel or any expansions for Baldur's Gate 3.

If there was one thing I could count on growing up in the ’90s, it was the weekly family trip to Blockbuster. While my mom or dad browsed the new movies, I took my baby sister’s hand and headed straight to the video game section. More often than not, I knew what I was renting: The Great Circus Mystery Starring Mickey & Minnie, a Super Nintendo Entertainment System game released by Capcom in 1994. I was charmed by the fact that I could play as Minnie — and that Minnie could transform into different characters, like a makeshift Ghostbuster with a vacuum that sucks up enemies, a jungle explorer that gave her acrobatic moves, or a cowgirl with a pop gun and hobby horse. The game was a staple in my childhood playtime until it suddenly wasn’t anymore.

There’s nothing quite like a night at the theatre. The escapism, the fantastical narratives, the impressive stage design; all of this awaited Princess Peach as she was invited to the Sparkle Theater for what promised to be a wonderful evening in Princess Peach: Showtime!. However, rather than having to put up with someone talking throughout, or a screaming child in the front row, Peach has to deal with Madame Grape and the Sour Bunch invading the building and corrupting everything.

Princess Peach: Showtime! MSRP $60.00 Score Details Pros

Guilty Gear Strive's newest DLC character for Season 3 has been revealed as A.B.A., a long-missed fan favorite that first appeared in 2012's Guilty Gear XX Accent Core R and will arrive once more on March 26, 2024.

Disney Plus' Loki streaming series has offered up variant takes on numerous Marvel Comics characters who differ significantly from their original incarnations, but Ke Huy Quan's Ouroboros/OB is one of a few who had never appeared in a comic book - until now.

Palia’s March update is on the way, and will coincide with the game’s Steam launch on March 25th. The team previewed the new temple, new decor items, and more on the way in the patch, and gave a glimpse at future features in development.

Today, Remedy released its latest quarterly report for the period between October and December 2023. Despite the successful launch of Alan Wake 2, which was the fastest-selling game ever made by the studio even launching in a highly competitive release window, Q4 2023 marked a decrease in both revenue and profitability compared to 2022 due to significantly increased investments in the other game projects and to the impairment charge cost (€ -7.2 million) related to the reboot of the free-to-play Project Vanguard, from now on known as Kestrel.

Hi-Fi Rush was easily one of the surprise hits of 2023, which just so happened to be one of the best years for game releases collectively. Despite not having the immediate chance to experience the latest creation by Tango Gameworks due to Xbox exclusivity, Microsoft’s recent announcement of PS5 support has finally enabled us to dive into this excellent rhythm-focused action game. And by no surprise, it’s just as enthralling as it ever was, and an essential title for those looking for a hyper-stylish experience.

Calling to you from the whimsical world of Yolk Heroes: A Long Tamago is the Fairy Queen, who’s facing trouble. It seems the Dark Lord is causing chaos, and she needs a champion to step up. From the delicate infancy of your Elf Egg to its triumphant emergence as a full-fledged hero, every stage of development is in your hands.

This is not investment advice. The author has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Wccftech.com has a disclosure and ethics policy.

Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang on Monday kicked off his company's annual developer conference with a slew of announcements designed to keep the chip maker in a dominant position in the artificial-intelligence industry.

The first stage of Cities: Skylines 2‘s long-awaited in-game modding support launches on March 25 alongside its first post-launch asset pack, called Beach Properties.

James Gunn and Peter Safran’s DC Universe hasn’t even had its first release, but that hasn’t stopped the studio from announcing new additions. The Teen Titans are the latest heroes getting their own live-action movie in the DCU, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Web of Spider-Man is a classic ongoing Spider-Man title, which will lend its name to a new one-shot that lays out previews of what to expect for the next year of Spidey stories. And to set the stage, Marvel is bringing back Madame Web following her infamous stint as a movie star.

This is not investment advice. The author has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Wccftech.com has a disclosure and ethics policy.

Game development is no longer just a one-man show – or even a one-studio spectacle. The seismic size of games these days means that the crafting of fantastical, virtual realms is easily a multi-team endeavour.

Supercell has dropped that their board game-inspired title is calling it quits on development. Yes, Clash Mini is shutting down by late April 2024. Sadly, the game is meeting its untimely end, all before even hitting the global stage. Follow along to learn more about the shutdown!

Harley Quinn and The Joker take center stage in the new trailer for Suicide Squad Isekai.

Great news for fans of sci-fi violence; third-person co-op shooter Helldivers 2 has introduced a brand new Major Order, representing the next stage in the massive online co-operative campaign. 

This is not investment advice. The author has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Wccftech.com has a disclosure and ethics policy.

Sony today unveiled the March 2024 lineup of new games for the PlayStation Plus Premium and Extra catalog. Jak and Daxter fans, whom PlayStation and Naughty Dog rarely acknowledge, got a win today as the PSP version of Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier is getting rereleased for the first time via PlayStation Plus Premium on March 19.

Princess Peach Showtime is coming out this month. And so last night, Nintendo released a demo of it. We checked it out and here are our impressions of the game.

This is not investment advice. The author has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Wccftech.com has a disclosure and ethics policy.

The title of "hardest Mario level ever made" will be a topic of debate for far better platformer players than me, but one very strong contender looks like the final roadblock for the Super Mario Maker fans who are rushing to beat every single level before the servers go down.

The rumored Final Fantasy IX remake will be very different from the Final Fantasy VII remake project in terms of scope and budget, according to rumors.

The Dimensity 9300 has set the stage for MediaTek, howling that it is back in the premium Android smartphone segment, and it intends to make its rivals nervous with the Dimensity 9400 launch. With the exception of Google and Apple, the Taiwanese firm has signed on every other phone maker as its customer, but Vivo is rumored to want a first crack at the company’s flagship silicon, and it may have already secured the first batch for itself. A new report also compares the performance differences of the Dimensity 9400 with the Dimensity 9300, claiming a 20 percent improvement.

The PC port of Final Fantasy 16 is in the “final stages of optimisation”, producer Naoki Yoshida has revealed, with a PC demo also in the works. The game is currently a PlayStation 5 exclusive.

The free-to-play Warner Bros. crossover fighting game MultiVersus is making an official return this May alongside some brand-new stages and characters.

Final Fantasy 16's PC port is now in the «final stages of optimization», but doesn't have a release date just yet.

The Last of Us Part II Remastered PC version might be announced soon, according to new insider Silknigth, who previously leaked the Ghost of Tsushima PC announcement in advance.

Capcom has properly unveiled Akuma for Street Fighter 6 in a new trailer that also confirms a spring release window.

The PC port of Final Fantasy 16 is at the end of its development cycle, producer Naoki 'Yoshi-P' Yoshida has revealed.

Stardew Valley creator Eric 'ConcernedApe' Barone has revealed a single patch note from the upcoming 1.6 update, and it's already being  hailed as a "game changer."

The PC port of Final Fantasy 16 is in the “final stages of optimisation”, producer Naoki Yoshida has revealed, with a PC demo also in the works. The game is currently a PlayStation 5 exclusive.

If you are a PC player impatiently waiting for Final Fantasy 16 to come to your platform of choice, you won't have to wait much longer, it seems. Producer Naoki Yoshida says that it is in the "final stages of optimization," meaning that it might not be too far away.

We’ve known since before Final Fantasy XVI was released that it would eventually be coming to PC, but Square Enix has remained rather cagey about when PS5 exclusivity might end. Well, in a new interview with Game Informer, FF16 producer Naoki Yoshida gave his most direct answer yet about the PC port of the game, indicating it may not be far off.

After an amazing year of film, it is no surprise the Oscars 2024 was a wild ride, giving us some stellar fashion moments, tearful speeches, and, most importantly, some seriously hilarious moments.

Update: As promised, MultiVersus has been re-revealed following its unprecedented year offline. The title will launch on 28th May, and will ship with a raft of improvements, including an upgrade to Unreal Engine 5, all-new rollback netcode, and fresh stages and characters. We spotted Townsville from the Powerpuff Girls.

Like returning to a beloved amusement park as an adult, Contra: Operation Galuga instantly reconnected me with the 2D run-and-gunners from the quarter-slinging arcade days of my youth. And just like revisiting a childhood fancy, I quickly remembered why I had so much fun with this series, while also feeling a bit underwhelmed by how little things have evolved in all that time. This reimagining of the original Contra offers a perfectly adequate modernization of a bonafide classic that makes for an enjoyable jaunt alongside your friends, but it’s also perhaps overly faithful to its predecessors, allowing for only the slightest tweaks. I don’t regret the handful of hours it took me and my buds to get through all of Operation Galuga, but it’s one of those games that’s likely to fade from my memory just as quickly.

I only had a handful of games growing up, but they were all I needed. I played games like Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and Pitfall over and over again, without ever actually beating them. Instead, I was content to bang my head against them, learning a little more with each failure so I could get just a bit further on my next go-round. What I wouldn’t realize until I was much older was how short those games actually were. If I played my cards right, I could beat Sonic in under three hours. Pitfall, a game I played for years, was barely 40 minutes long. Difficulty meant value.

The Oscars is one of the biggest — if not the biggest night in the American entertainment industry every year, and the 2024 Oscars were no different. All the stars were out tonight, from best actor nominees like Jeffrey Wright, Paul Giamatti, and Cillian Murphy to best director nominees like Christopher Nolan, Martin Scorsese, and Jonathan Glazer.

This is not investment advice. The author has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Wccftech.com has a disclosure and ethics policy.

During the 2024 Oscars ceremony, Ryan Gosling took to the stage with everyone from Simu Liu to Slash to perform “I’m Just Ken” — one of the breakout (and award-nominated) songs from Barbie.

Jimmy Kimmel’s opening monologue for the 2024 Oscars started out pretty run-of-the mill. There were jokes about how Killers of the Flower Moon was long enough to “drive to Oklahoma and solve the murders yourself,” a Madame Web shoutout, and a pretty good topical gag about the viral Republican rebuttal to the State of the Union address last week. But then Kimmel ended his monologue on something remarkable: a quippy, yet sincere and full-throated speech in support of Hollywood’s labor unions.

Love crossword puzzles but don’t have all day to sit and solve a full-sized puzzle in your daily newspaper? That’s what The Mini is for!

Film company Altitude Media Group has picked up a documentary that takes place entirely inside the world of Grand Theft Auto 5, and it’s called Grand Theft Hamlet, per Deadline.

The books in DC Comics’ Black Label imprint are defined by top-of-their-game writers and artists telling standalone stories too big for continuity at a high production value. And Zatanna: Bring Down the House, coming this summer from Mariko Tamaki and Javier Rodríguez, checks all of those boxes with a big marker.

Poco has set the stage for a game-changer in the Indian smartphone market with the launch of its most budget-friendly 5G smartphone to date. The Poco M6 5G has now made its mark as an Airtel-exclusive offering, bundling in a one-time data package for Airtel prepaid users. Initially introduced to the Indian market in December 2023, this device boasts a MediaTek Dimensity 6100 plus SoC and a robust 5,000mAh battery with 18W wired charging support. This marks Poco's second foray into Airtel exclusivity, following the earlier introduction of the Poco C51 variant at Rs. 5999, which included a generous 50GB one-time mobile data offering.

One of the most acclaimed world film directors is now turning to one of the most popular global forms of entertainment. At the Anime Awards hosted by Crunchyroll this past weekend, South Korean film auteur Bong Joon-ho took the stage as a featured guest to announce the Anime of the Year award, an accolade given to Jujutsu Kaisen as part of its incredibly impressive 11-award haul at the event. While there was already more than enough anticipation in the room, the director of Parasite made an announcement of his own—active development on a Japanese anime feature film project.

Intel CEO, Pat Gelsinger, is going to showcase next-gen client and data center CPUs during the Computex 2024's opening keynote in June.

Bethesda head and executive producer of the new Fallout TV show Todd Howard has some glowing praise for the adaptation. Speaking at the launch of the new Fallout trailer, attended by GamesRadar+ and other press, he said it’s been a "blessing to see" how the series has come together.

Nintendo has released a demo for Princess Peach Showtime! on the Nintendo Switch eShop.

Apple's exploration into the realm of foldable devices appears to be starting, with recent reports indicating that the tech giant is actively developing a foldable MacBook. Ming-Chi Kuo, a prominent analyst known for his accurate predictions about Apple's future products, has revealed that the company is working on a 20.3-inch foldable MacBook, with plans for a potential launch in 2027.

Today, Nintendo has announced the release of a free demo for the upcoming Nintendo Switch game Princess Peach: Showtime!, slated to launch on Friday, March 22.

A free Princess Peach: Showtime! demo is available now on the Nintendo Switch eShop, Nintendo announced Wednesday. Nintendo surprise launched the demo ahead of the game’s March 22 release date.

Web3-enabled fantasy sports platform Sorare laid off 22 employees based in its New York office in February. The move comes as the startup wants certain teams to be concentrated at the company’s Paris headquarters to improve communication and efficiency, a source familiar with the matter told TechCrunch.

This is not investment advice. The author has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Wccftech.com has a disclosure and ethics policy.

There are so many different resources to farm in Warframe that it becomes a bit hard to remember where everything is. Once you get to a point in the game where you find a weapon or frame you want, you’ll also have to know where to get the components. One of the more elusive resources in the game is Tellurium, so we’ll help you find the best place to farm this rare crafting material in Warframe.

Sony has confirmed that «some» unannounced games in development within PlayStation Studios have been cancelled as a result of the decision to lay off around 900 employees. In a separate article from Hermen Hulst, it's explained: «We looked at our studios and our portfolio, evaluating projects in various stages of development, and have decided that some of those projects will not move forward.»

The original Super Mario Maker will effectively shut down in April, and a group of players is racing against the clock to beat every single level before the servers go offline.

Weeks after its release, the general consensus about Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender seems to be: Well, at least it’s better than the infamous M. Night Shyamalan version! A low bar, but at least it was cleared.

AI roundup: Scientists have developed a new AI model that recognises diseases with the help of images and provides an in-depth visual map for diagnosis. This will empower doctors to identify the treatment in the early stages. In other news, China has been preparing its AI strategy to meet its strategic and industrial development goals. Its aim is to improve its technology self-sufficiency. Know more about what happened in the AI-verse today.

It’s not unheard of for games to feature nods to other games and eagle eyed players of The Sims 4 have noticed a less-than-subtle reference to Final Fantasy XIV’s Shadowbringers expansion in the latest Sims 4 Stuff Pack, Crystal Creations. 

The Amazon Games team is headed once again to Game Developers Conference in San Francisco from March 18-22! We’re counting down the days until we can discuss the latest trends shaping the future of our industry, to catch up with old friends and to make new ones.

Somber Echoes is a sci-fi Metroidvania that developer Rock Pocket Games, Lav Games, and publisher Bonus Stage call a "love letter" to the genre. It's set 3000 years in the future aboard the Greco-Roman spaceship called Atromitos, where "infested horrors from another dimension" now run rampant. It features seven visually distinct districts and is powered by Unreal Engine 5. It's due out on PC this Fall.

French game studio Spiders took the main stage of the NACON Connect 2024 to unveil that GreedFall 2: The Dying World will launch in early access this Summer via Steam.

Although women played an important role in 2021's sci-fi epic Dune, in this year's sequel Dune: Part Two they take center stage, with the second half of director Denis Villeneuve's adaptation of Frank Herbert's groundbreaking sci-fi novel placing a greater focus on the female characters. Whilst the first movie arguably has only one three-dimensional female figure in Rebecca Ferguson's Lady Jessica, this time things are different. Take Zendaya's returning character Chani, who has gone from barely any screen time to arguably being the beating heart of the whole story. In fact, director Villeneuve described her as his "secret weapon" when it came to making this chapter, seeing Chani as the key to unlocking this tale and honoring Herbert's original intentions.

Saber Interactive is reportedly splitting from the Embracer Group and going private in a $500 million deal, but Gearbox Entertainment allegedly isn’t too far behind. After Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier hinted at the same, Kotaku reported that the developer is also set to be sold, with the deal in the “late stages” of finalization.

At the time of writing, the GTA 6 trailer is sitting pretty at 178 million views on YouTube. But that’s not what most people are interested in. What we want to know is exactly when it’s coming out. Well, the end may be in sight for the long-awaited Grand Theft Auto game.

Gearbox may be the next to escape Embracer Group as the massive company continues to hemorrhage staff and studios as part of a restructuring effort sparked by a $2 billion deal that fell through last year. 

Spiritfall is a new Steam game that's been described as a combination of Dead Cells, Hades, and Super Smash Bros., and it's soared straight to the top of Steam's charts.

CounterSide Global has kicked off an awesome crossover event with IRyS from Hololive English -Promise-. The event runs up until the maintenance on March 20, 2024. The CounterSide x Hololive English -Promise- IRyS crossover has a lot of events going down. So, keep reading to know more!

IDW's groundbreaking limited series, TMNT: The Last Ronin, was published between 2020 and 2022 and told the story of the last of the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Michelangelo, as he embarked on a quest to avenge his three fallen brothers, Leonardo, Donatello, and Raphael. Hailed for taking the Turtles back to their grittier roots, The Last Ronin also set the stage for a new generation of turtles, whose adventures will take place in the time after the end of The Last Ronin.

A new report on Rockstar Games' work culture has suggested that GTA 6 is entering the "final stages" of development ahead of its planned 2025 release.

Pokemon fans are speculating which time period Pokemon Legends Z-A will be based on, and there are some pretty compelling theories out there.