Nintendo’s Mario has transcended the realm of character and sits firmly in the realm of icon. Despite his appearance as a simple working man, nevertheless, just as Mario takes different forms throughout his adventure series, he is also a pliable figure of transformation throughout culture in general. Mario is a transformative and easily adaptable figure in the lineage of silent film stars, but Mario echoes them even further as a specifically...

You'll need to connect your Nintendo Switch to the internet every seven days to keep playing your NES games. The Virtual Console-style catalogue of retro classics comes as part of Nintendo Switch's upcoming online subscription. But you'll need to remember to connect at least every week in order to guarantee access - even if your subscription is a long way from expiring.

The Wolfenstein series numbering scheme is a little messy. Castle Wolfenstein was the first, but the FPS series as we know it started 25 years ago with Wolfenstein 3D. Sequels and reboots led to Wolfenstein—just Wolfenstein—in 2009, after which Bethesda took over and gave us Wolfenstein: The New Order and then Wolfenstein: The Old Blood, neither of which were Wolfenstein 2, which didn't come along until last year. This year, Bethesda revealed Wolfenstein: Youngblood at E3, which in keeping with that complicated tradition is not Wolfenstein 3 but rather a standalone spin-off.

A cyberpunk samurai abandons her wrecked motorcycle and makes a last stand against a tide of futuristic Yakuza goons, sword in hand and revolver at her hip. I’ve played a few rounds of Akane, Ludic Studios’s debut arcade slash ’em up and had a good time with it, so wanted to share some quick thoughts. Akane feels a bit like a cooler, more considered Tormentor X Punisher – a short, stylish arcade game where death seems inevitable and the music makes it all feel like a spin around a particularly blood-slick dance floor. It’s out now, only costs a couple quid, and is trailered below.

Last year at PAX West, THQ Nordic let us go hands-on with the opening portion of Biomutant, the upcoming open-world title set in the overgrown post-apocalypse with one heck of a unique protagonist. The demo showed us the basic gameplay mechanics, controls, crafting, and general exploration. This year THQ Nordic returned with an all-new demo to showcase the progress they had made and give players a closer look at some of the new features we hadn’t yet seen, and it only looks to be improving in leaps and bounds.

Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath HD is coming to Switch, publisher Oddworld Inhabitants announced. The Switch version will be playable for the first time at EGX 2018, which runs from September 20 to 23 in Birmingham, England.

With CD Projekt Red only showing gameplay of Cyberpunk 2077 to the media behind-closed-doors at E3 and Gamescom this year, gamers have been dying to get a first look at what’s next from the developer of The Witcher and Gwent. Thankfully, CDPR hosted a mysterious stream on Twitch earlier today entitled “DATA TRANSMISSION IN PROGRESS_” and after 9 hours of cryptic code running on the screen, the devs finally revealed what everyone has been wanting years to see: 48-minutes of Cyberpunk 2077 gameplay.

Computer and video games can include swastikas and other Nazi symbols, a German industry body said Thursday, after a heated debate over the "Wolfenstein" franchise in which gamers battle Third Reich forces.

Spanish developers Nomada Studio and publisher Devolver Digital will be launching Gris, to the Nintendo Switch and PC this December. The 2D platformer is set in a dream-like world filled with crumbling statues, towering temples and inky, shape-shifting birds. The titular heroine, a hopeful young girl, dashes and floats through the world with mesmerizing grace, her dress and blue hair blowing softly in the wind. Everything feels surreal and otherworldly, painted in watercolor shades of pink, blue, red and green. It's totally unique.

For everyone who is hoping that the Nintendo Switch will get more third-party support, you’ll be happy to know that PORNHUB has announced in an official press release that it promises support for the Switch. The only caveat is that Nintendo has to release an official internet browser for the system. This announcement came from Pornhub’s 2017 year in review series in which the extremely popular porn-sharing website is revealing different statistics for last year.

The box is an avatar of inspiration, no charging required.

A story about Voodoo and donuts -- but not the kind you're thinking.

Tokyo-based translation firm 8-4’s mission is to reduce cultural gaps between countries, and infuse games with local personality

Ever wanted to explore Treasure Island or pretend to be Robinson Crusoe? Minecraft is now being used to create an ‘immersive experience’ to engage reluctant readers – we see how it plays out

Games developers are removing data collecting software created by Red Shell after sleuthing players discovered it was recording their information

60 fps support is great, but unlocked framerates that can take advantage of high refresh displays are even better. When we first got a look at the PC version of Monster Hunter World, there was a lot of talk about 4K, 60 fps performance, but we're happy to confirm that World offers an uncapped framerate option on PC. Specifically, there are three framerate options: a 30 fps cap, a 60 fps cap, and "no limit."

Insomniac Games will be releasing Spider-Man on September 7th for PlayStation 4. As someone who buys comic books on a weekly basis, Spider-Man is an integral part of my life. I’m ecstatic to get my hands on the final version of the game next month...

Many gamers sell their their used, physical games, often to supplement spending funds to buy more games. It’s such a big part of the gaming business that almost half of retailer GameStop’s profits come from selling used games.

As well as the expected PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions, Doom Eternal is coming to Nintendo Switch. Bethesda casually let slip the news of the Nintendo version of next year's upcoming shooter in a tweet on the official Doom account. The company's 2016 Doom reboot did land on the Switch eventually, but the port only came to Nintendo players the year after those other formats.

The day that was prophesied by a light switch is finally upon us: Diablo III is coming to Nintendo Switch this year. The news was meant to be announced tomorrow, but appeared today on Forbes in a post that’s since been deleted. Diablo III Eternal Collection on Switch will include the original game, the Reaper of Souls expansion, the Rise of the Necromancer pack, and all updates the game has received thus far. You’ll also be able to get an armor set that makes you look like Ganondorf from The Legend of Zelda, because I guess Ganondorf would be mad about the devil muscling in on his “crown prince of evil” turf.

Nintendo knows exactly what it does well. Innovative technology combined with charming gameplay has always been at the heart of the company's philosophy. It's been an extraordinarily successful combination - and one which was once again on display at this year's Gamescom, as I discovered when playing Super Mario Party's new two-tablet mode, Toad's Rec Room.

Valve talks to us about its reputation, and why they're finally in a place to make games again. It’s hard to go long on the internet without running into a ‘Half-Life 3 confirmed’ joke, the eternal meme as we collectively wait for the third installment of Valve’s legendary FPS series to materialize. And speaking to the development team of Valve’s next game, Artifact, at their office in Seattle last week, Valve clearly hasn’t missed those jokes either. “I think we're very aware of all the jokes because all of us lurk all the forums and share them around with each other,” says Jeep Barnett...

Back in October, GameStop announced that it would debut a used game rental service called PowerPass. Interested gamers could pay $60 for six months to have one title out at a time. At the end of those six months, subscribers would be able to choose a title to keep. But now, according to Kotaku, it looks like GameStop is suspending the program indefinitely.

Build your own fishing rod, piano, or... robot suit.

It’s been exactly a year since Capcom scored a No1 on the All Formats Entertainment Software Chart (Resident Evil 7: Biohazard) and the publisher does it again, with the first simultaneous worldwide release for a Monster Hunter title – ‘Monster Hunter: World’ for PS4/Xbox One debuts at No1 with far higher week 1 sales in the UK than any other Monster Hunter release.

As someone who spends much of their time with games thinking about and photographing their spaces, architecture and worlds, I often forget that these are spaces we never truly enter. While our minds might seem to wander past the screen, it's a hard border for us, one we can never pass. In truth it seems that game spaces aren't true spaces at all, but images of spaces, presented at the steady clip of 30 or 60 frames per second. Why does this matter?

Scrolls was a digital trading card and board game; players would collect cards that were creatures or structures or abilities, assemble these cards into decks and then do battle with other players on a board that was three tiles wide and five tiles long on either side. The game was built upon a simple premise, but was designed for complex and engrossing play. At its best, it was welcoming and accessible to beginners while remaining challenging for advanced players. ...Scrolls was my favorite game, and in memory of it, I’ve chronicled its last days.

There are two major reasons I can think of to hack a game console. The first one is obvious: so you can play cracked copies of games. That’s why modern consoles are so difficult to hack, because millions of dollars are on the line. But some people just want to run any software they choose on the hardware they own. And for those people, Linux on the Switch is a huge achievement.

The gaming company's Commit Assistant AI tool has been trained to spot when programmers are about to make a mistake

When they first appeared on the scene in the 19th century, the Impressionists hardly received a warm welcome from the artistic institutions of their day. Their work was, supposedly, unfinished- you could see individual brush strokes, and the art wasn't focused on great historical moments and figures, but on everyday life and landscapes, with a focus on color and light. Indeed, the Impressionists were so named because their work seemed to offer a mere impression of the things depicted-the footprint but not the foot. The Impressionists and the public embraced their name, pejorative as it was meant to be- today, to describe a work as...

For years now, gaming companies like Riot, Blizzard, and Twitch have been fighting online abuse and harassment in their own ways, to mixed results. Now they’re trying something different: Working together.

Warframe is a free to play loot shooter that has managed to garner a hugely dedicated fan base, and earn itself a lot of respect, thanks to excellent and fair free to play game mechanics, and hugely compelling game design. The title is available to play on Xbox One, PS4, and PC—but so far, it has not appeared on a Nintendo system. That could change eventually—speaking to The Express UK, Sheldon Carter, COO of Digital Extremes, noted that the studio loves the Switch, and is examining possibilities—but for now, they have nothing to announce.

Mario floats about like a confused jellyfish.

We’ve identified a few mistakes that Tinseltown keeps making. Play through our game and try to avoid these pitfalls.

Following Skies of Fury DX release, it looks like we have another flight game from Toronto - this time in the form of Sky Rogue from indie developer Kenny Backus. "Sky Rogue is a fwooshy rogue-lite action flight simulator! Blow things up over land, sea, and air, on an infinite number of procedurally-generated islands. Choose one of a diverse set of aeros and kit it out with a dizzying array of weaponry. Go toe-to-toe with enemy aces or assault giant flying aircraft carriers, but watch out for volleys of missiles; when you die, you're dead."