Yesterday was Fallout Day, the date in the series’ universe when the bombs dropped and permanently turned a lot of people into those skeletons you grind into dust while tramping about in your power armour. Bethesda awakened Todd Howard from cryo-sleep, and announced some stuff in a broadcast. Fallout 4 and New Vegas are being sold to people again. Also, in admittedly more exciting news, Fallout 76‘s Burning Springs update got a proper release date.
The upcoming second series of Prime Video’s Fallout TV Show was also there, with that and the 76 update set to make December very Walton Gogginsy.
Electronic Arts (EA) has already caused some controversy in recent weeks when it announced it had been acquired by the PIF (Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund), Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners for a cool $55 billion.
Now, the company is back at it again. In a new announcement, Stability AI (of which acclaimed movie creator James Cameron is part of its board of directors) has confirmed that it has entered into a new partnership with EA to “co-develop transformative generative AI models, tools, and workflows that empower EA’s artists, designers, and developers to reimagine how games are made”.
Instruments of Destruction Explodes onto Xbox Series X|S Today
Luke Schneider, Founder of Radiangames
Summary
Development history and what to expect from the highly-destructible sandbox.
Developed by Red Faction: Guerrilla’s lead technical designer Luke Schneider.
How fan feedback helped shaped gameplay design.
It’s been a pretty long journey to get here, but today, Instruments of Destruction is launching on Xbox Series X|S.
I’ve been working as a solo developer for over 15 years now, and this has been by far my most ambitious game to date. Most of my games have been smaller, more arcade-style titles like Fireball 2 (which launched on Xbox Series X|S earlier this year) that are designed for short bursts, but Instruments of Destruction has a whole lot more that I’ve added across five years of development.
In the game’s story, you’re a new hire at Sharpe Industries as a vehicle test pilot, tasked with taking the titular instruments of destruction out to see how much havoc they can wreak across various scenarios. There are over 50 Campaign missions with various objectives – destroy everything within a time limit, avoid damaging specific structures, and so on – each with additional challenges once you’ve finished the level. As well as that, there’s a 25 mission Build & Destroy campaign which introduces you to the mechanics of building your own vehicles. To top it all off, there’s a Sandbox mode where you can build whatever you want and take it out on any unlock level to see what wonderful creations you can come up with. There’s a lot to do!
I started work on Instruments of Destruction in 2020 with a simple goal in mind – I wanted to make a game about destruction. I had previously worked as the lead technical designer on Red Faction: Guerrilla, and while I’d worked closely with a team of programmers to make sure the destruction in that game looked and felt incredible, I hadn’t actually coded any of it myself. With this as my twentieth game, I wanted to push my own skills and see what I could come up with.
I spent a long time fine-tuning the physics and destruction model into something that looked impressive and played nicely with everything else on the screen. Building your own vehicles was also key to the game, and this was a ton of hard work, making sure all the joints worked correctly and vehicles didn’t collapse as soon as you tried to drive them.
But as I got further into development, it became clear that it wasn’t very beginner-friendly. I’d added all these granular tools for building vehicles and making them blow stuff up, and somehow, it felt like the game wasn’t reaching its true potential. So, I regrouped and considered what Instruments of Destruction is actually about – vehicles, physics, and destruction. How could I remove the barrier to entry so players could experience all of those elements within moments of booting up?
Looking around at other games, I saw people talking fondly about Blast Corps, a game I’d missed when it first came out. After taking a weekend to play through and understand what made it so beloved, I had the answer to my problem – a fully-featured campaign with pre-built vehicles, where you can jump in and get straight to the destruction. It took years of designing and fine-tuning to get the campaign levels just right, but in the end, it was worth it.
Instruments of Destruction wouldn’t have made it this far without the dedicated community of builders and destruction lovers who gave me their feedback throughout its development, from the early beta days through Early Access and all the way to launching in 1.0. And now with the support of publisher Secret Mode, I can bring it to an entirely new audience on consoles, complete with all the game modes and mechanics you’d get from the PC version.
I learned a lot making Instruments of Destruction, and I’ll be taking all those lessons into my next games, which will continue to be focused around pushing my skills in creating even better destruction mechanics. Thank you to everyone who helped me get the game this far and thank you to everyone who checks it out on Xbox Series X|S. I can’t wait to see what new vehicles people make!
Join Sharpe Industries as a vehicle test pilot and journey across the world to remote outposts where everything needs to be destroyed, using purpose-built wrecking machines such as flying bulldozers, tanks wielding quad rocket launchers, and ornithopters with grappling hooks.
Master these contraptions and demolish every structure in sight across two campaigns and a Sandbox mode. Deconstruct buildings piece-by-piece or take advantage of explosive chain-reactions with Instruments of Destruction’s advanced physics system.
Tackle a carnage-filled campaign filled with demolition-based objectives, then test your skills even further in dedicated high-score challenges that apply new parameters and objectives to each level. Or take a break from missions and unwind in the Sandbox mode to raze the world at your own pace.
And don’t just destroy: build. Learn how to design your own machines in a dedicated epilogue campaign for the ultimate demolition experience. Use the in-built editor to construct devastating vehicles armed with chainsaws, lasers, claws, wrecking balls, magnets, vortex generators, and much more.
Speaking as a veteran insomniac who routinely has to operate across time zones, let me share a few of my top tips for staying awake when you really want to sleep. Firstly, fill your eyes with as much light as possible – moonlight, fridgelight, phonelight, flamingoilbarrelight – and your lungs with as much bracing external air as they can take. Secondly, enlist a similarly restless friend for some mutual tickling. Thirdly, remember your failures. All of them. Fourthly, consume a carefully calibrated mixture of fresh fruit and coffee, then look up dad jokes on Reddit.
It doesn’t feel like any of these proven strategies will work in Sleep Awake, the new first-person “psychedelic” horror game from former Spec Ops: The Line director and designer Cory Davis and his team at Eyes Out. Nobody wants to tickle you here, going by the trailer. Nobody has any dad jokes to share. They just want to beat you to a bloody sludge with pipes.
Hades 2‘s true ending didn’t feel totally slam dunk satisfying to me in its 1.0 release form, and developers Supergiant Games seem to have agreed with those sorts of assessments. Hence, in the roguelike‘s first proper post-launch patch they’ve just put out as a Steam preview, some “true ending enhancements” being rolled out like a boon from a sassy god.
Shameless plug alert, if you want to read my full thoughts on that 1.0 version, you can read this here review. The short version is that it’s good.
Bluey, the popular Australian animation for children, is getting a new video game on the Switch and Switch 2 in 2026.
It’s officially titled Bluey’s Quest for the Gold Pen and is an “original story-led adventure game” by the show’s creator Joe Brumm. Halfbrick – the Fruit Ninja studio based in Bluey’s hometown of Brisbane – will be bringing this title to Nintendo platforms and other systems in partnership with PM Studios.
Approximately half of the sales were for Switch 2.
The Pokémon Company has announced Pokémon Legends: Z-A has sold a total of 5.8 million copies worldwide in its first week.
This includes the combined sales of the Switch and Switch 2 physical releases as well as digital downloads. According to the official press release, approximately half of these sales are for the Switch 2. In comparison, Pokémon Legends: Arceussold 6.5 million copies worldwide in its first week.
Also, he’s not planning to make it an “ongoing series”.
So many games nowadays come loaded with DLC, or at least plans for some other paid content drop in the future, but when it comes to the upcoming Switch 2 release Kirby Air Riders, you’ll be getting the full package on release.
How AVGN 8-bit’s Monsters Ring in the Spooky Season
Ryan Rasing, Game Designer & Writer, Retroware
Summary
Top tips for vanquishing the things that go bump in the night.
Plenty of ghoulish monsters with a modern retro, pixel-art flair.
Plenty of ghoulish monsters with a modern retro, pixel-art flair.
With the Halloween season well underway, it feels only appropriate to showcase just some of the ghoulish enemies you’ll be able to face in Angry Video Game Nerd (AVGN) 8-bit! You’ll blast through tons of enemies populating seven unique environments that take inspiration from the AVGN universe. But today, we’re taking a look only at those enemies and levels that truly evoke the spooky spirit!
AVGN 8-bit brings everyone’s favorite rage-induced Nerd back to take down a new threat to the gaming world! When an old ally of his somehow becomes corrupted, the Nerd must spring into action to fight this fallen force of good with an unimaginable force of evil: a “bad game” ritualistically made using the “worst” bad games of all time. With live action cutscenes featuring the Nerd himself commenting on your progress and encouraging you forward, it’s never a dull moment as you fight your way to the corrupted entity within. But first, you’ll have to deal with its minions. Let’s look at some techniques to keep you from suffering a dark fate!
Trigger-Finger Zombies and Walking Hands
Some of the first enemies you may encounter as you begin your digital “purge” are zombies and disembodied hands. Now, to the average horror enthusiast, these enemies shouldn’t sound too threatening, but what if the zombies can shoot lightning and the hands can rush at you on detection? For zombies, you’ll want to time your jumps right whenever they fire a bolt of lightning at you. Finish them off when you land back down. But be careful as they charge up their lightning shots, as zombies are able to temporarily reflect your own projectiles away. For those creepy, crawling hands, they’ll often charge at you along a linear path, so blasting them as fast as you can before they hit you is ideal.
A Soda Factory Full of Robo-Skeletons
There’s something definitely wrong when you have to take down a boss inside a factory that makes soda–not to mention having to go through a company of robo-skeletons first. For these enemies, they’ll come in three distinct forms: full-body walking types carrying rifles, crawling types that lob projectiles, and hanging types that fire bullet bursts at a downward angle. If you shoot at full-body walking types, they’ll collapse and turn into crawlers–you can finish them like you would the hands. For hanging types, try to stay clear from their bullet spreads, and manage your jumps to line up your shots well on them.
Spiders, Spiders, Spiders
It should come as no surprise that we’d have to include spiders as another spooky enemy. These skull-motifed guys will descend from the ceiling and try to shoot webs at you, while also being able to drop onto platforms and attack. You’ll want to be careful as they try to shoot webs at you in a downward arc. Getting caught in a web will drastically lower your movement speed, so, if one sticks to you, you’ll have to wiggle your way out of it. Spiders will eventually fall from their threads the longer you fire on them, so force them to be on the same plane as you, and you should be able to blast them away, no problem.
The Dark Realm Cometh
One of the hallmarks of giving off a haunting Halloween vibe is the temporary transition to the night world, which takes place in an otherwise seemingly normal-looking level. In this dark world, you’ll encounter enemies exclusive to this dark environment–including hopping zombie heads, scorpion-like monsters, floating sprites, and a persistent mask that fires an energy ball at you each time it appears. For hopping heads, try unloading on them as they land on the same plane as you. For those scorpion-like monsters, these function similarly to crawling hands and can be blasted easily if on the same plane. For floating sprites, you can destroy them as they get into your line of fire, but make sure you jump over any projectiles they launch at you on their death. Finally, for that recurring mask that appears and disappears quickly, be sure to dodge its single projectiles it fires at you. You won’t be able to destroy this mask enemy immediately, since this is actually the boss of that level you’ll face later on.
The Angry Video Game Nerd returns in 2025 just in time for the spooky season, with plenty of monsters for fans and newcomers to the AVGN universe to blast, so grab your controller and unleash the ultimate nerd rage in Angry Video Game Nerd 8-bit, digitally available now!
The ULTIMATE NERD RAGE is back in Angry Video Game Nerd 8-bit – an all-new action platformer set in the AVGN universe! Play as The Nerd and blast your way across a host of pixel art levels crawling with zombies, mechanical skeletons, ghoulish reapers, and more!
THE 8-BIT EXPERIENCE
We partnered with Mega Cat Studios and Programancer to make a brand new back-to-back 8-bit installment featuring the Angry Video Game Nerd!
THE AVGN UNIVERSE IN 8-BIT FORM
Journey through multiple levels inspired by the AVGN universe, and blast away at enemies themed around each level! Slide below platforms, pick up power-ups, and take alternate routes to get to the boss room!
FAMILIAR FACES, NEW FIGHTS
As The Nerd heads into the pixel-ridden fight, he must face off against familiar faces from his past! Waiting at the end of every level, bosses from the AVGN universe hope to destroy The Nerd!
Halloween may be right around the corner, but the winter holiday season will come at us just as fast. If you’re a big Zelda fan or have special someone in your life that is obsessed, Hallmark has a handful of awesome ornaments spanning the franchise’s storied history you can buy right now. Ranging in price from $12 to $32, purchasing one of these won’t break the bank and will last for holidays to come. If you’re looking for an affordable Legend of Zelda gift to buy ahead of the 2025 Christmas season, this is a delightful option worth considering.
Legend of Zelda Hallmark Ornaments
Pretty much every era from Zelda’s history is represented with these ornaments, from the NES original 8-bit Link to 2023’s Tears of the Kingdom Decayed Master Sword. The Link with his sword and shield ornament is another notable inclusion, since it plays classic Zelda tunes at the push of a button. I personally would have appreciated some Twilight Princess love with this collection, but I can’t complain with what’s on offer here.
Each ornament is only a few inches in every dimension, so storing them efficiently in the off-season or utilizing them as year-round decor is definitely on the table. I have a game shelf that the Toon Link ornament would be right at home on. The 8-bit Link ornament is low on stock, so if you’ve had your eye on it, now’s the perfect time to pick one up.
More Hallmark Nintendo Ornaments
Naturally, The Legend of Zelda franchise isn’t the only Nintendo property receiving the Hallmark treatment. There’s an Elephant Mario from Super Mario Bros. Wonder would look great on any Christmas tree, and the winter hat Rowlet is one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen.
Is Hallmark a Good Ornament Brand?
Hallmark isn’t the only ornament brand out there, but it is certainly one of the most well-known. The main appeal of Hallmark Keepsake ornaments is that the brand offers yearly releases from popular IPs like Nintendo, Star Wars, Disney, and more. If you’re looking for a little piece of your favorite movie or video game to hang on your tree, it’s most likely going to be a Hallmark-branded ornament. Seeing as the ornaments are officially-licensed, they are also likely to be of higher quality than any knock-off brands you find elsewhere.
