Nintendo surprised fans today by releasing a Nintendo Direct Mini packed full of announcements.
The 29-minute video kicked off by revealing that Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition will release May 29. The enhanced port of the Wii action role-playing game will also feature a new epilogue titled Future Connected. With a new interface, better graphics ,and remastered music, it looks to live up to its definitive billing. While Nintendo didn’t announce a price, it did say the Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Works Set, which comes with a 250-page artbook, will release alongside the port. There is a Best Buy listing for the game at $80, but there’s still no official word from Nintendo.
Nintendo didn’t specify who the next DLC fighter for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate was, but it did narrow down the list of possibilities. The company announced that the next character comes from its fighting game Arms and that the DLC will be announced and released in June.
Not stopping there, Nintendo revealed its beloved Nintendo DS title Clubhouse Games will come to Switch with 51 card and board games, up from the original 42 offered. Clubhouse Games will release June 5, and games like Four-In-A-Row, Texas Hold’em, and Toy Boxing are available to play locally or online.
Several Nintendo-published titles are getting updates as well. The third pack of DLC for Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 is now available and stars the Fantastic Four taking on Doctor Doom. Those who got their hands on a copy of Ring Fit Adventure before it sold out can enjoy new music from Mario, Splatoon, and The Legend of Zelda thanks to a free update. Animal Crossing: New Horizons just added a seasonal event that will let players participate in Bunny Day from April 1 through 12. Players will be able to find eggs left by Zipper T. Bunny, which can be used to craft special items. Another update will occur in late April when Nintendo adds an Earth Day event.
The Nintendo Direct Mini also unveiled several stealth releases, including a demo for Square Enix’s Bravely Default II. Sega’s remake of Panzer Dragoon is now available as a timed console exclusive starting today for $25. A first-party title called Good Job! was also revealed and released during the video. This $20 cooperative action game has players teaming up to solve puzzles inside an office. Other newly launched titles on Switch include a deep-sea exploration game called Shinsekai: Into the Depths and a port of Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy.
Finally, a number of ports will be coming to Switch later this year. 2K will release three collections on May 29: XCOM 2 Collection (which features all four DLC packs and the War of the Chosen expansion), Borderlands Legendary Collection (which includes the first two titles and The Pre-Sequel), and BioShock: The Collection. A port of the free-to-play mobile hit The Elder Scrolls: Blades will also release this spring. Other titles arriving on the system include Criterion Games’ racing classic Burnout Paradise Remastered, Star Wars Episode I: Racer, Saints Row IV: Re-Elected, and Atlus’ romantic puzzle game Catherine: Full Body.
The Call of Duty franchise has held a special place in my heart ever since I played my first Black Ops game back in 2010. That game's campaign was something else, with twists and turns that culminated in a mind-blowing finale. We can all admit that compared to those older campaigns, the recent CODs have been lackluster at best, and a complete and utter disappointment at worst. The reboot of Modern Warfare did give me some hope, as the first two installments were actually quite good, but the third game left such a bad taste in my mouth that I wasn’t exactly expecting much from Modern Warfare 4.
After recently finishing the campaign, I can say that this installment is nothing like the recent releases and instead feels closer to the franchise’s roots. For the first time in a long while, the campaign comes across as well-crafted rather than rushed to hit a release date. It arrives three years after MW3, and you can see exactly where all that time went. It seems the studio finally made listening to player feedback a priority.
Epic Games has just announced the 2026 Epic AI MegaJam, which is looking to see how much game development can be squeezed into a very short window. This is running from November 12 through November 15.
Participants can work alone or in teams of up to five people, build in Unreal Engine or Unreal Editor for Fortnite, and bring along “as many AI agents as you want.” Epic explicitly encourages coding agents, AI-generated assets, audio tools, writing tools, and other AI systems. The official event page literally says "Vibe your way to $50k.”
It’s turning into a pretty good time to be a Monster Hunter fan who plays on a phone. Capcom has confirmed that Monster Hunter Outlanders will launch on Android and iOS on October 29, giving the series a new mobile-first game just as Monster Hunter Rise is also preparing to make the jump to smartphones through Netflix.
Outlanders is being developed by Tencent subsidiary TiMi Studio Group under license and supervision from Capcom. Unlike Rise, which appears to be the full console and PC game adapted for mobile, Outlanders is a free-to-play survival hunting game made specifically for phones.