For some time now, Tekken fans have been asking for a trip to Waffle House. Not in real life, mind you, but in-game. And while it sounds like Tekken 8‘s director is fishing for it, there hasn’t been a bit on the line from Waffle House.
Harada said he “fully understands” fans’ requests. So much so, in fact, that he’s already been thinking about it, and apparently taken action to try and make something happen.
“Over the past year or more, I’ve actually tried to make contact through several different channels,” said Harada on X/Twitter. “However, and this is purely my own speculation, I suspect that the lack of response may be due to the fact that the project I’m known for revolves around ‘fighting-themed video games.'”
To be honest, within the bounds of what I can say, I fully understand your (you guys) request—that’s precisely why I had considered taking on this challenge. In fact, I had already been thinking about it quite a while ago.
Harada noted that “no response” equals a very rare case. He also said if using a different name or format is acceptable, as long as “the core message is maintained,” then he would be willing to seriously reconsider and explore this again.
So it seems like Kazuya and Jin won’t be settling their familial differences beneath the yellow light of a Waffle House sign anytime soon. A parody version could happen though, or an in-universe facsimile. Harada suggested “Hustle House” in another post, which isn’t a bad option.
Tekken 8 is currently swinging into a new update with Patch 2.01, after confirming the impending addition of Fahkumram to the Tekken 8 roster. Back in April, Harada responded to fan frustration over Tekken 8’s Season 2, and said the tuning team is working “around the clock” to read feedback and work on future changes for the better.
Now, with The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered, that tradition lives on, with one player spending seven hours lining up books to get the Dominoes chain reaction just right.
Redditor Muaxh03 uploaded the video below showing their work. We see the books slowly fall and knock the following book in a satisfying fashion.
Muaxh03 said they did not use mods to place the books, rather placed them one by one, which sounds particularly grueling. They admit to spawning the books, however. The entire process took seven hours.
“… almost every time I loaded the save something broke, it was not reliable so yes I had to deal with books falling or glitching most of the time, that’s why you can see some desynchronizing on the books, some fall slower or faster,” Muaxh03 explained.
NPCs were disabled, of course: “I would lose my mind if there was NPCs walking around,” Muaxh03 said.
While this effort is a good start for Oblivion Remastered Dominoes, previous efforts in past Bethesda games were more elaborate and involved varied objects. But playing around with books in Oblivion, even Oblivion Remastered, is a lot harder than you might think because you can’t rotate and place objects in Oblivion in the same way you can in Starfield or Skyrim.
“I spent the first 1-2 hours trying to learn how to place them good, after that the stairs took 2-3 hours because every time I tested it, it gave me different results, every time I loaded the save something broke,” Muaxh03 said.
Reaction from Oblivion players has been universally positive, with a mix of disbelief at the time, effort, and patience that went into placing the books so precisely in a game as fiddly as Oblivion.
What next? “Cool now fill a bookcase!” joked one player. “I would sooner fight a god in hand-to-hand combat unarmed. Last time I tried to put a book back the whole room ended up in shambles — SHAMBLES!”
Oblivion Remastered, developed by remake specialist Virtuos using Unreal Engine 5, has a long list of visual and feature improvements. It runs at 4K resolution and 60 frames per second, as you’d expect, but other changes are more meaningful. Everything from the leveling systems to character creation, and combat animations to in-game menus have been improved. Meanwhile, there’s lots of new dialogue, a proper third-person view, and new lip sync technology. The changes are going down well with fans, some of whom believe Oblivion Remastered would be more accurately described as a remake. Bethesda, however, has explained why it went down the remaster route.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
Earlier this year the Black Panther(‘s voice actor) suggested that Skydance New Media’s Marvel 1943: Rise Of Hydra would release in Christmas 2025. We all slept a little easier that night, knowing that King T’Chanda himself had all but rubber-stamped the WW2 action game’s launch window. Well, it turns out the Black Panther was lying to us. Skydance have just announced that it’ll now release in early 2026.
Nintendo has published a new Creator’s Voice video looking at the upcoming release of Borderlands 4 on the Switch 2.
It’s pretty much what we’ve come to expect from these videos at this point, with Gearbox developers Randy Pitchford and Randy Varnell hyping up the new console and explaining how it’s helped with game development.
A statement published by Skydance Games confirmed the delay, with the development team working to add polish. There’s a hint that Skydance may soon release new information or show a fresh look at the game, however.
Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra is a narrative-driven adventure featuring Captain America, Azzuri, the Black Panther of the 1940s, Gabriel Jones of the Howling Commandos, and Nanali, a Wakandan spy embedded in Occupied Paris.
It hit the headlines early 2024 after an eye-catching trailer revealed as part of Epic Games’ State of Unreal event at GDC. It’s in development at the Skydance Games team, which is led by Hennig (Uncharted) and co-president Julian Beak.
Hennig’s Skydance team is also working on an untitled Star Wars game, which has yet to be fully revealed.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
GeoGuessr Steam Edition, a Steam reimagining of one of the world’s best-loved browser games, only released on May 8, but it’s already the second-worst rated game of all time on Steam.
The browser version of GeoGuessr is tremendously successful, boasting 85 million players and a whole host of customization options that let players tailor not only who they play against, but also what maps will spawn, if they’ll be dropped into an urban or rural setting, restrict spawns to certain geographical regions, toggle the ability to move, pan, or zoom — or not move, pan or zoom (NMPZ) — and more, including a smorgasbord of fantastic community-made custom maps.
Of the over 3,000 user reviews left thus far about the Steam version since last Wednesday, however, 84% are negative, with the majority of players complaining about the free-to-play game’s monetization system and stark lack of gameplay options compared to the browser edition.
In its defense, GeoGuessr does make this clear — in its FAQs, the developer states “having a GeoGuessr browser subscription does not grant you full access to the GeoGuessr Steam Edition, unless you have an Elite Yearly subscription” — and unlike the browser edition, which requires an annual payment, the Steam Edition Steam Pass is a “one-time purchase giving you access to the full game for the year.” It is also clearly marked as an early access title, so it can refine the gameplay, introduce new features, “and ensure the best possible experience with direct feedback from players.”
However, it’s clear from both the Steam discussion forums and GeoGuessr’s subreddit that the monetization model and lack of features has really taken players by surprise.
Though sold as free-to-play, GeoGuessr Steam arguably offers less than an hour’s free content (that’s how long it took us to complete it), hosts just one mode, Duels (wherein you ostensibly face-off against another human player), and lets you play in just one league: Amateur Division. That’s it. Without paying for the $2.50 monthly subscription — which does not bill monthly but instead requires a $30 upfront one-off payment — you cannot access higher ranks. There are no other modes at all at this time.
To be clear, GeoGuessr’s browser game is not free, either. While you can play three rounds a day for free, to unlock all modes, you need to subscribe to one of three premium tiers: Pro Basic at $2.49 a month, Pro Unlimited’s $2.99pm, or Pro Elite’s $4.99pm. Only the latter two include free access to the Steam game.
In an exclusive statement to IGN, GeoGuessr said it was “excited to have a first version of our game available on Steam, something that has been highly requested by our community for a long time.” It said that the Steam rollout “align[ed] with its vision of letting everyone explore the world, regardless of their preferred platform,” adding: “Bringing the game to Steam offers some great new possibilities, like connecting with Steam friends, enabling additional anti-cheat functionality, and so on.”
That anti-cheat functionality is hugely important to the GeoGuessr community, too. The browser game has long been plagued by cheaters using exploits, bots, or good ‘ole Google, despite it clearly being against the community rules, so it’s possible the developers hopes to lean on Steam’s architecture to help combat pervasive cheating.
“This is a major milestone for us, and also just the beginning,” explained head of marketing, Tomas Jonson. “The game is currently in Early Access, and we’re committed to expanding and improving both the free and paid experiences over time. Much of the feedback so far has been around the monetization of the game, with many wishing for a one-time purchase model.”
The developer said that as GeoGuessr relies on data from Google Street View, “where the costs for street view are ongoing and tied to the number of games played,” it based the Steam edition “on a model similar to what we use in the browser game.”
“The main exception that the Steam Pass is a non-recurring yearly purchase,” Jonson pointed out.
GeoGuessr suggests the Steam version will be in early access for “at least six months”, and it will “introduce new features and ensure the best possible experience with direct feedback from players.” It also states on its Steam page that it aims to “expand” the Steam game with “new modes, maps, and competitive features.”
“We really appreciate the high engagement and all the player feedback we have received so far. We’ll continue listening closely and working with the community as we further develop the Steam Edition,” Jonson concluded.
Vikki Blake is a reporter, critic, columnist, and consultant. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
If Letters Had Pants appears to be the product of three different elevator pitches that took place in the same elevator, and somehow resolved amicably rather than eating each other alive.
The first pitch was for a verbal puzzler in which you combine letters into words on a randomised grid against the clock, with the twist that words vanish when scored to create blank spaces that can be bridged by other letter combinations for higher scores. The second pitch was for a bizarrely prudish roguelite that is all about ensuring that letters are properly dressed. And the third pitch was for an archaeological excavation sim in which you exhibit things like lost floppy discs, or sell them to expand your museum. The result, against the odds, is a single and cohesive video game rather than a claustrophobic clownfight. Witness the below trailer.
A former Rockstar veteran has responded to recent rumors that a GTA 4 re-release on the latest generation of consoles could be in the works to say the game should be remastered.
The GTA 4 rumor began life with a post from Tez2, who is known within the GTA community for leaking Rockstar information. Tez2 suggested a GTA 4 port for modern systems may be released this year, and its existence was part of the reason Rockstar recently had a GTA 5 Liberty City Mod shut down.
However, it’s worth stressing that Rockstar has made no indication it plans to re-release GTA 4, and in truth such a game would come as a huge surprise, given the studio’s ongoing focus on GTA 6.
Obbe Vermeij, former Rockstar Games technical director who worked at the company from 1995 to 2009, was asked about the GTA 4 rumors on social media. While he hadn’t heard about them, he did say GTA 4, which he worked on, “should be remastered.”
“It’s a great game and there have been a number of successful remasters recently,” he added, perhaps referring to the hugely popular The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered.
“I would like to see it updated,” Vermeij continued in another social media post. “Niko is still the best protagonist in any GTA game I think.”
As for how this potential remaster might work, Vermeij suggested Rockstar would perhaps port GTA 4 to the latest version of the Rage engine, which it uses to build its games.
Again, it’s worth pointing out that Rockstar has provided fans with no indication it plans to remaster GTA 4. We should remember the enormous undertaking that is GTA 6, and to take on a GTA 4 remaster or remake amid all that would perhaps be beyond the scope of Rockstar, even with its seemingly endless resources.
Rockstar could have an external studio handle the port, as it did with the port of Red Dead Redemption, but the timing of a GTA 4 re-release in 2025 makes little sense when you think about GTA 6’s initial fall 2025 release window. If GTA 6 were not delayed, it’s doubtful Rockstar would sell a GTA 4 remaster and GTA 6 in the same window, diverting the audience’s attention away from the main event.
Liberty City is the GTA series’ take on New York City, and was the setting for 2008’s GTA 4 as well as 2009 spin-off GTA: Chinatown Wars. GTA 6 is set in the fictional state of Leonida (Florida), which includes Vice City, GTA’s take on Miami.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
Doom: The Dark Ages has encouraged us to redirect our booting utensils away from Rematch’s leather balls and into the vital organs of Hell’s revolting soldiers. Along with various punches, flail strikes, and shield thrusts, most of which aren’t even allowed in football. But could the manner of their delivery also be cause for a critical kicking? The Dark Ages notably replaces the lavishly animated glory kills of recent Dooms with faster, simpler melee strikes, so reviewer Nic and I sat down for a gentle argument over whether this was a change for a better.
“Highest consolidated sales and operating income in Capcom history”.
Capcom has posted its financial results for FY2025, and it’s been another remarkable success for the iconic Japanese publisher.
In short, it’s earned record profits across all relevant categories for the eighth consecutive year. It’s also achieved over 10% operating income growth for the tenth consecutive year, and general operating income growth for the twelvth consecutive year.
