Author: Trafficblast

The Nintendo Switch is apparently “barely in the middle” of its life cycle, according to reports from Nintendo’s latest investor Q&A.

That fact was reported by investment advisor David Gibson, who attended the Q&A following Nintendo’s latest earnings report and explained that Nintendo representatives had said it was, “Barely in the middle of the switch cycle, no change to that view.”

The Nintendo Switch is just over three years old, which would put the expected end of its life cycle at around 2023 at least. That thinking matches up with Nintendo’s other recent successes – Nintendo Wii was released in 2006 and followed by Wii U in 2012, while Nintendo DS was released in 2004, with 3DS coming 7 years later in 2011.

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This doesn’t necessarily discount an upgraded model of Switch arriving during that time – several Nintendo consoles have seen updates during their life cycle, and we’ve already seen Switch Lite – but we know that there are no plans for a rumoured Switch Pro model in 2020.

This news isn’t a huge surprise – Switch and its software continues to sell well, with April seeing new records broken for hardware sales, and Animal Crossing: New Horizons selling over 11 million copies in 11 days. It’s been enough for EA – which once said its players don’t want games on Switch – to announce that it will release multiple games for the console this year.

In January, Nintendo explained: “we believe it is important to continue to communicate the appeal of both Nintendo Switch systems and expand the installed base.”

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Joe Skrebels is IGN’s Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter.

Andy Serkis is set to embark on an unexpected journey on Friday morning, as he has announced that he is hosting a continuous live reading of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit to raise money for charity during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Taking to Twitter, the actor, who played Gollum in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit movie trilogies, invited fans to tune in for the “armchair marathon” across Middle Earth, which is expected to take approx. 12 hours from start to finish.

I want to take you on one of the greatest fantasy adventures ever written. Join me for a 12-hour armchair marathon reading of “The Hobbit”, in aid of two amazing charities which are doing extraordinary work right now to help those most in need@NHSuk @bestbeginnings #hobbitathon pic.twitter.com/q8qIO3diPT

— Andy Serkis (@andyserkis) May 7, 2020

The Hobbitathon will start at 10:00 AM GMT (5:00 AM EST, 2:00 AM PST) on Friday, May 8th. The link to the live stream will be posted on the official GoFundMe page for the event, which is in aid of NHS Charities Together and Best Beginnings.

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“So many of us are struggling in isolation during the lockdown,” Serkis said in a video accompanying the announcement. “While times are tough, I want to take you on one of the greatest fantasy adventures ever written, a 12-hour armchair marathon across Middle Earth whilst raising money for two amazing charities which are doing extraordinary work right now to help those most in need.”

This campaign comes shortly after celebrities signed up to collaboratively read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, the first of J.K. Rowling’s beloved fantasy book series. Daniel Radcliffe launched the project by reading the first chapter of the book as part of the next phase of the Harry Potter At Home initiative, run by J.K. Rowling and the Wizarding World team of magic makers.

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For more lockdown entertainment offerings, check out John Krasinski’s YouTube series “dedicated entirely to good news”, listen to Seth MacFarlane’s podcast hosted by Family Guy’s Stewie and Brian, watch Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor Who give an “emergency transmission”, and tune in for Sir Patrick Stewart’s daily sonnet readings.

More importantly, for a list of recommendations on how best to help, and stay safe, during the coronavirus pandemic, please read our resource guide.

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Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla will be shorter and smaller than some other Assassin’s Creed games, to address criticism that Assassin’s Creed Odyssey was somewhat bloated.

The move was revealed by Ubisoft Middle East head of communications, Malek Teffaha on Twitter (as translated by VG247 and confirmed by IGN): “FYI, it won’t be the longest or biggest game in the series. They addressed criticism on this one.”

While Odyssey’s epic scale and 60 hour+ length were appreciated by many, there was mention of the amount of less meaningful content and long travel times between major moments. In our mostly glowing review, we did single that out for criticism: “Oftentimes the payoff of a major character reveal was dulled because I had to spend six hours chasing my tail through half the Greek world to reach it.”

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This by no means indicates that Valhalla will be a straightforwardly small game, though – creative director Ashraf Ismail previously told us that the game would feature a Norway region as well as four English kingdoms, making up “quite a large chunk of England” in total.

Hopefully, this move will mean a more densely packed game – it certainly sounds like there’s a fair bit to do, from building a Viking settlement to fishing, hunting and, er, historically accurate Viking rap battles.

We’re due to see the first gameplay trailer for Valhalla in today’s Inside Xbox broadcast for third-party games – here’s how you can watch it live.

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Joe Skrebels is IGN’s Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter.

Microsoft has revealed a new badge that will be used to indicate games that have been optimised for Xbox Series X.

Every game you’ll see on #InsideXbox tomorrow will be Xbox Series X Optimized. Spoilers, you’re going to see this badge a lot.

You ready? We’re ready. pic.twitter.com/pzSJmUvNUp

— Xbox (@Xbox) May 7, 2020

The official Xbox Twitter account posted an image of the bright green badge, stating that “Every game you’ll see on Inside Xbox tomorrow will be Xbox Seires X Optimized. Spoilers, you’re going to see this badge a lot.”

The tweet suggests that many developers have specifically optimised their games to make the most of the Xbox Series X’s 12 teraflops of computing power. We’ll likely see the logo on-screen with each of the new gameplay trailers in the next Inside Xbox presentation and further Xbox 20/20 shows this summer, although I’m also hoping for the ‘World Premiere’ voice to have an ‘Optimised for Series X’ line, too.

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For more on Xbox, check out why Phil Spencer believes next-gen will “dramatically” change the feel of games, and our breakdown of the tech inside the Xbox Series X. And for more games, Xbox has joined IGN’s Summer of Gaming event, and will be bringing new game information in June.

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Matt Purslow is IGN’s UK News and Entertainment Writer. You can follow him on Twitter. 

Ubisoft debuted Assassin’s Creed Valhalla with a cinematic trailer, but said at the time we wouldn’t have to wait long to see gameplay. As promised we got our first look at the game running on an Xbox Series X during today’s Inside Xbox presentation, and it’s a beaut.

The trailer doesn’t show much in the way of combat or exploration–instead it focuses on the locations you’ll see and visit when Valhalla launches in Holiday 2020. We get additional scenes of Eivor wielding their hidden blade, sailing in longboats, leading a group of raiders into battle, and throwing dual axes into enemy Englishmen.

The gameplay first-look was just part of the Inside Xbox stream, which showed off several third-party games running on Microsoft’s next-gen hardware. Microsoft is planning monthly 20/20 streams for the rest of the year, and July’s will focus on first-party Xbox Game Studios titles.

Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is one of the games that will support Smart Deliver on Xbox platforms. This means that, regardless of which Xbox console you buy the game for, it will be available on all other Xbox devices and optimized for it.

You can play as a man or woman in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, but either way their name will be Eivor (pronounced Ay-vor). Like many Assassin’s Creed games, this one is based on real history, but the staff historians had to do a little more digging to construct a narrative from the dark ages. At the same time, Ubisoft says it isn’t concerned with comparisons to God of War, despite the similarly Norse setting. For more on Valhalla, witness our pre-order guide.

The lineup of games coming to Xbox Series X is beginning to come into focus, and among them is the latest game in the Yakuza series. As part of Microsoft’s new Xbox 20/20 and Inside Xbox stream, the company revealed that Yakuza: Like a Dragon (commonly referred to as Yakuza 7) will release on Xbox Series X–and it’ll be a launch title, no less.

Yakuza: Like a Dragon launched in Japan earlier this year and has already been confirmed for PlayStation 4, but you can now expect to be available on Xbox platforms. Sega will offer Smart Delivery support, so buying the Xbox One version will entitle you to a free copy of the Series X version. Cross-save support will be offered, so you’ll be able to carry over any progress you make on Xbox One to Series X, should you be eager to get started.

Yakuza: Like A Dragon may be the next in Sega and Ryu ga Gotoku’s storied franchise but it’s a fresh start for all players. With the Kazuma Kiryu’s story wrapped up, you’ll now step into the shoes of Kasuga Ichiban, a former Yakuza member who comes back from jail to find that his gang abandoned him.

While the series has traditionally been a high-octane action game, Like A Dragon takes a turn for turn-based RPG gameplay. You can expect a higher level of absurdist humor and gripping melodrama that that Yakuza is known for. We have a detailed breakdown of Yakuza: Like A Dragon based on preview content from the Japanese version; check it out if you want more on the game.

Yakuza has been primarily a PlayStation franchise but it has been making its way to PC, and also to Xbox One with Yakuza 0 now available on the platform and Xbox Game Pass.

We don’t yet have an exact release date for Yakuza: Like a Dragon on Xbox Series X, as the system itself is still without a precise launch day beyond “Holiday 2020.” But with the confirmation of the game’s appearance on the console, you can start making plans for what you’ll spend your time playing on day one.