PS5 ‘V2 DualSense’ With ‘Exceptional 12-Hour Battery Life’ Spotted Online

An unannounced PS5 DualSense controller has appeared on Best Buy Canada’s website.

The listing, spotted by ResetEra user ezidro3, is for an $89.99CAD “PlayStation 5 V2 DualSense Wireless Controller – White”. While the controller appears to have the same dimensions as the existing model, it has what’s described as an “exceptional 12-hour battery life on a full charge,” which “supports long gaming sessions.”

If true, this would make for a significant upgrade on the existing DualSense, which offers a roughly six-hour battery life, depending on the game played. Elsewhere, a DualSense charging station is said to be included, offering “easy click-in charging.”

Best Buy’s full description reads: “Take the gaming action into your own hands when you play with the PlayStation 5 V2 DualSense wireless controller. With dynamic triggers, a built-in microphone and so much more, this gaming controller offers a truly immersive experience. The iconic comfortable design lets you play for hours and hours.”

Best Buy’s website published a number of images of this new DualSense too, which are below:

PS5 V2 DualSense Product Features

  • Compatible with the PlayStation 5
  • Wireless connectivity ensures you will never get tangled up in wires while gaming
  • Iconic comfortable design fits naturally in your hands
  • Haptic feedback replaces the traditional rumble motors for more realistic gameplay
  • Dynamic adaptive triggers let you experience different levels of force and tension as you interact with your game
  • Built-in microphone lets you engage with fellow gamers in online play
  • Headset jack lets you plug in your favourite headset, so you can tune in to your game audio easily
  • Dual Sense charging station (included) offers easy click-in charging
  • Exceptional 12-hour battery life, on a full charge, supports long gaming sessions

PS5 V2 DualSense Product Specifications

  • Product Condition: Brand New
  • Controller Type: Wireless
  • Specialty Controller: Yes
  • Rumble Vibration: Yes
  • Headset Jack: Yes
  • Colour: White
  • Width: 6.6 cm
  • Height: 16 cm
  • Depth: 10.6 cm
  • Width (Inches): 2.6 in
  • Height (Inches): 6.3 in
  • Depth (Inches): 4.17 in
  • Weight: 280 g

Sony has yet to announce such a controller, but IGN has asked the company for comment.

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.

Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom Nominated For D.I.C.E. Awards ‘Game Of The Year’

Multiple other Nintendo games also nominated.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom had an incredibly successful launch when it arrived on the Switch last year and since then it’s been receiving a bunch of Game of the Year nominations and awards.

Its latest ‘GOTY’ nomination comes from the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences, with the winners of each award to be revealed on 15th February 2024 at the 27th annual D.I.C.E. Awards. In the Game of the Year category, Tears of the Kingdom is going up against the usual line up including games like Baldur’s Gate 3, Alan Wake 2 and Spider-Man 2. Cocoon also features.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Fans Think They’ve Discovered the Full Name of MachineGames’ Indiana Jones Game

It’s an exciting start to the year for Indiana Jones fans, as according to Xbox itself, we’re finally getting an actual look at MachineGames’ upcoming Indiana Jones game next week at the Xbox Developer Direct. But a week in advance, one clever fan might have already sleuthed out the game’s title before Xbox was ready to reveal it. It might just be called Indiana Jones and the Great Circle.

Twitter/X user @Kurakasis shared their findings on social media today, pointing out that Lucasfilm appears to have been registering a number of domain names that are variations on that title since yesterday. These include https://indianajonesandthegreatcirclegame.com, https://indianajonesandthegreatcircle.com, and a number of others.

These domains dovetail nicely with a trademark Lucasfilm filed in Europe two years ago for “The Great Circle” that seems to be related to video games specifically. It is worth noting that Lucasfilm seems to have had circles on the mind on that date in 2022, as the company also registered trademarks that day for The Galactic Circle and Circle of Resistance. At the time, a number of fansites speculated that these trademarks were for something Star Wars-related, given the words “Galactic” and “Resistance.” However, IGN wasn’t able to find any registrations for domain names that mirrored those naming schemes, which indicates Lucasfilm thinks it may need to sit on The Great Circle naming specifically very soon. Unless there’s more Star Wars coming down the pipeline in the next week or two, Indiana Jones would be the logical place for that need to arise.

Not for nothing, too, Bethesda posted a teasing gif earlier today that does feature a circle. Whether or not this is The Great Circle remains to be seen – it wouldn’t be the first time one of the most common basic shapes featured prominently in Indiana Jones stories, though the timing is certainly interesting.

Still, even with all this evidence, it’s entirely possible this trademark is entirely unrelated to the game being shown off at the Developer Direct next week. Trademarks and domain names can often be good indicators of what’s to come, but not everything that companies squat on ends up becoming a full-fledged game. We’ll just have to wait for the showcase next week to see, though IGN did reach out to Xbox for confirmation or denial on this, just in case.

Indiana Jones and the…well, whatever it is, was first revealed way back in January of 2021 via a tweet from Bethesda. The game has an original story, and is being produced by Todd Howard in collaboration with Lucasfilm. At the time, we noted that Vatican City seems to feature in it, as the tease included a plane ticket to Rome dated for October 1937, and a map with the Sistine Chapel on it. We’ve since seen nothing else about the game, but we did learn that it will feature a “unique” mash-up of different genres and that, while it was originally conceived for a PS5 release, it will ultimately be an Xbox console exclusive thanks to Xbox’s acquisition of Zenimax.

Expect more at the Developer Direct next week on January 18, 2023, at 12:00pm PT.

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.

New Star Trek Movie Helmed by Star Wars Andor Director in Development – Report

Paramount still hasn’t released Star Trek 4, but that isn’t stopping it from reportedly commissioning another new Star Trek movie, this one helmed by main Star Wars: Andor director Toby Haynes.

IGN has reached out to Haynes’ representatives for comment.

According to a new report from Deadline, J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot is set to produce the new film, with Seth Grahame-Smith as the writer. The plot is said to take place “decades” before the original 2009 reboot, possibly placing it in the era occupied by shows like Star Trek: Enterprise.

Developing…

Kat Bailey is IGN’s News Director as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.

Team Fortress: Source 2 and Portal 64 Fan Projects Shut Down by Valve Takedowns

Team Fortress: Source 2, a fan project seeking to port Valve’s classic shooter to the Source 2 engine, is officially dead. The news was announced following a DMCA takedown demand from Valve that blocked the group’s GitHub repositories. It joins Portal 64, which was also canceled less than a week after the release of its “First Slice.”

The takedown was the “nail in the coffin” for the project, the announcement read, which had already have been on shaky ground before Valve stepped in.

“While we were discussing the project’s future internally recently, we already came to the conclusion to stop the development of the project due to the current state of the code being unusable anymore with s&box’s recent major engine changes, and that we overall moved on from it,” the announcement read.

“Sadly, this means this DMCA takedown is the nail in the coffin. We cannot bring it back and we’ve hit Valve’s attention, it seems like they definitely don’t want us to use their IP (which is totally fair and legal from them). From the bottom of our hearts at Amper, it’s been an honour to grow this project with all of you and the incredible team behind, we cannot be thankful enough for all your support and enthusiasms over the last 3 years. We’re so happy we got this far.”

In development since at least 2021, Team Fortress: Source 2 was envisioned as a new version of the classic game on Garry’s Mod spiritual successor s&box. With Team Fortress 2 now 17 years old and largely overrun by bots, Team Fortress: Source 2 was intended to inject fresh life into Valve’s beloved shooter. The team at one point had more than 20 volunteers helping to port assets from the base game and rebuild Team Fortress 2 mechanics.

Portal 64, meanwhile is being shuttered due to the project “depending on Nintendo’s proprietary libraries,” according to an update on the project’s Patreon. Like Team Fortress, Portal 64 sought to revive Valve’s 2007 classic, but on Nintendo 64 hardware. Its developer celebrated the release of its “First Slice” demonstrating its progress on January 5.

IGN has reached out to Valve for comment.

Kat Bailey is IGN’s News Director as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.

Blizzard Reveals Diablo 4 Season 3’s Release Date

Diablo IV’s next season is starting on January 23 according to an update on the game’s login screen.

Even though it doesn’t have a title, Blizzard has seemingly confirmed that Diablo IV Season 3 will be launching later this month. Many players have noticed that a banner on the game’s login screen, which used to read, “Season of Blood Ends January 23, 2024,” now reads, “Next Season Begins January 23, 2024,” indicating that not only will the seasons apparently change over immediately, but that Season 3’s right around the corner.

With less than two weeks (and fewer business days than normal) until the apparent launch date, this will be a significantly quicker turnaround than the transition from Season 1 to Season 2 late last year. For comparison, Season 2: Season of Blood, was announced months before its release on October 17.

Unlike previous season launches, Blizzard hasn’t announced anything like a Campfire Chat or a patch to indicate an imminent update for Diablo. That said, it’s worth noting that Microsoft officially acquired Activision-Blizzard in the months since Season 2’s announcement last August. With that in mind, it’s possible that we might see Diablo IV make a surprise appearance at the Xbox Developer_Direct presentation that’s scheduled for January 18.

At the time of writing, neither Blizzard nor the official Diablo social channels have mentioned any details about Season 3. We’ve seen other studios working on multiplayer and live service games — like NetherRealm Studios with Mortal Kombat and Epic Games with Fortnite — take this approach in the past to ensure dedicated players have enough time to play out the rest of the game’s season before it ends. We should have more details soon.

Stay tuned to our Diablo IV page to keep up with all the latest on Season 3, including news and walkthroughs.

Charlie Wacholz is a freelance writer at IGN.

Critically Acclaimed ‘Motorvania’ Laika: Aged Through Blood Gets Last-Minute Switch Delay

Update: Originally releasing 11th January.

Update : Just a day before its expected release on 11th January 2024, publisher Headup has announced on Twitter that the Switch release of Laika: Aged Through Blood has been delayed.

The upcoming Motorvania, which launched on PC last year to very positive reviews, will be skidding onto the Switch eShop on a now-unspecified date. Headup has given a vague reason, saying that the team wants the game to be “in the best possible shape” for Switch.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Xbox Insider Release Notes – Alpha (2402.240108-2200)

Hey Xbox Insiders! We have a new Xbox Update Preview releasing to the Alpha ring today.

It’s important we note that some updates made in these preview OS builds include background improvements that ensure a quality and stable build for Xbox consoles. We will continue to post these release notes, even when the noticeable changes to the UI are minimal or behind the scenes, so you’re aware when updates are coming to your device.

Details can be found below!

Xbox Insider Release Notes

System Update Details:

  • OS Version: XB_FLT_2402ZN25398.3402.240108-2200
  • Available: 2 p.m. PT – January 10, 2024
  • Mandatory: 3 a.m. PT – January 11, 2024

New Features and Experiences

We have exciting news! Alpha users can expect something new coming to their Xbox Update Preview.

Xbox Wireless Controller – Thumbstick Calibration

For users in the US who have independently replaced the circuit board on their Xbox Wireless Controller and Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 or users in all regions experiencing minor thumbstick issues, we now offer a user-guided self-calibration tool for thumbsticks through the Xbox Accessories App.

  • Note: The support article linked at the end of the experience is currently unavailable. This will be available in the future.

Fixes Included

Thanks to all the great feedback Xbox Insiders provide and the hard work of Xbox engineers, we are happy to announce the following fixes have been implemented with this build:

System

Known Issues

While known issues may have been listed in previous Xbox Insider Release Notes, they are not being ignored! However, it may take Xbox engineers more time to find a solution. If you experience any of these issues, we ask that you please follow any guidance provided and file feedback with Report a Problem.

Audio

  • We have received reports of users experiencing intermittent issues with audio across the dashboard, games, and apps. If you have experienced issues, be sure you have the latest firmware updates for your TV and other equipment. If you’re unsure, you may need to contact the manufacturer for assistance.
    • Note: If you continue to experience issues after applying the latest firmware updates, please submit feedback via Report a Problem immediately with the “Reproduce with advanced diagnostics” option, then select the category “Console experiences” and “Console Audio Output Issues”. Be sure to include as much information as possible:
      • When did the issue start?
      • Did you lose audio just in the game/app or system audio as well?
      • Does changing the audio format resolve the issue? If yes, what was the format before and after?
      • Does rebooting resolve the issue?
      • What does your setup include? Equipment, layout, etc.
      • And any additional information you can provide to reproduce the problem.

Networking

  • We are investigating reports of an issue where the console may not connect to their network as expected on boot. If you experience this, be sure to report the issue via Report a Problem as soon as you’re able.

As always, be sure to use Report a problem to keep us informed of any issues you encounter. We may not be able to respond to everyone, but the data we’ll gather is crucial to finding a resolution.

What Happens to Your Feedback

If you’re an Xbox Insider looking for support, please visit the community subreddit. Official Xbox staff, moderators, and fellow Xbox Insiders are there to help with your concerns.

When posting to the subreddit, please look through the most recent posts to see if your issue has already been posted or addressed. We always recommend adding to existing threads with the same issue before posting a new one. This helps us support you the best we can! Also, don’t forget to use “Report a Problem” before posting – the information shared in both places helps us understand your issue better.

Thank you to every Xbox Insider in the subreddit today and welcome to the community if you’re just joining us! We love that it has become such a friendly and community-driven hub of conversation and support.

For more information regarding the Xbox Insider Program follow us on Twitter. Keep an eye on future Xbox Insider Release Notes for more information regarding your Xbox Update Preview ring!

The post Xbox Insider Release Notes – Alpha (2402.240108-2200) appeared first on Xbox Wire.

Vampire Survivors Developer Teases Big Plans for 2024, Addresses Online Co-Op and Cross-Save

Poncle, the studio behind the award-winning horde-defense game Vampire Survivors, has shared some of its future goals for the surprise hit in a new Steam post.

The UK-based indie studio has big plans for 2024 and beyond. Although most of what’s included in this preview of what’s to come addresses stuff we already knew about (like online co-op, cross-platform saves, the upcoming animated TV series), Poncle’s post also teases loose plans to work on other games.

After thanking players for sticking with and supporting Vampire Survivors and recapping everything Poncle accomplished in 2023, studio head Luca Galante dove into specifics about what’s down the pipeline. Details like a firm roadmap or release dates for any of these updates are pretty sparse here given Poncle’s relatively small size of 20 employees.

Galante addressed online co-op first. Although it’s been announced that developers are working on adding online co-op to the game, the post acknowledges that it’s a “huge challenge” to implement.

“We’ve got help now, and things are looking promising, but it’s still too early for us to be able to make any promises,” Galante wrote. “We’ll keep giving you tiny updates until hopefully we can confirm it’s actually going to happen.”

He then moved on to cross-platform save files, saying they’ve been in testing for a while before confirming that Poncle’s planning to launch cross-save functionality in public beta next month. At the time of writing, the public beta will only work on Steam and Android platforms but will eventually come to other platforms if all goes according to plan.

More Cross-Media Projects?

Meanwhile, following last year’s SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes, it should come as no surprise that the Vampire Survivors animated adaptation is still a work in progress. Announced in April of last year, the collaboration between Poncle and Story Kitchen (a studio formed by people who’ve worked on projects like John Wick and the Sonic The Hedgehog movie), the only update here is that we’ll be getting more info at some point in 2024.

Galante added that they’ve “received a lot of proposals to collaborate on cross-media projects, but rather than jumping the gun we have preferred to wait to find partners that felt right, especially because to make anything that isn’t a videogame out of VS requires good ideas, creativity, and that quirky knowledge of the game, that is a very difficult triplet to get 100% right!”

The post also addressed VS content, with the promise that the next update — Version 1.9 — should release on all platforms in February.

Perhaps the interesting (and the most vaguest) announcement in this long post, however, is The Vampire Survivors Experiment. Poncle is working with indie developers from outside the studio on, “[Vampire Survivors]-adjacent experiments.” Galante’s very clear here that these experiments might not see the light of day, clarifying, “We don’t know when, or even if, we’ll be happy with the final results and be ready to share them.”

You can read Poncle’s full 2024 statement here.