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Harmonix is no stranger to finding the groove of a catchy music game. And after seeing more of what’s to come in Fuser, the next game from the pioneering studio behind Guitar Hero and Rock Band, I’m even more excited by the potential for a varied, more engrossing take on what music games can be. It is, quite simply, the party I didn’t know I needed, and it’s one that could potentially be just as fun at home with friends, online in competition or collaboration, and as a music listening experience all its own.

We’ve covered the basics of Fuser before — a cross between the music-mixing tech of Harmonix’s impressive board game DropMix and the score-based challenge of Rock Band. But Harmonix more recently guided me through a look at the multiplayer, freestyle, and social aspects of Fuser, and I also got to go hands-on with those modes and a few of the campaign’s levels. The sheer variety of options, both while mixing music and in Fuser’s overall offerings, is brimming with potential, offering plenty to those wanting to chase scores and leaderboards or to those looking for a place to creatively express themselves.

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Sharing Is Caring

There’s something downright joyful to every aspect of Fuser. It’s not just a celebration of DJ or festival culture but of music and its boundless creativity at large. And that’s evident in every mode Harmonix demoed for me.

Solo acts abound, but music is often a collaborative effort, and Fuser’s cooperative multiplayer aims to let that shine through. With up to four friends selecting music and eight friends acting as the audience, players can gather together for mini concerts, riffing off of each other’s musical choices when in the virtual DJ hot seat. Or, as an audience member, you can make requests, show friends support( or confusion) in their eclectic choices, and eventually swap places with those choosing the tracks.

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It’s all very lowkey, creating a space that’s designed specifically to let friends virtually jam together using Fuser’s licensed tracks, and it’s one I could easily see losing hours in, especially when the idea of having friends over to my house to do the same isn’t particularly feasible at the moment.

But when people can come over, I could see Fuser’s Freestyle mode being a permanent fixture for a gathering in need of a soundtrack. WIth no scores, no penalization for missing a beat or using a track from the ‘80s when the crowd specifically requests the drums from a 2010’s rock song, Freestyle is all about just that — freestyling.

And I am not overexaggerating to say I lost most of a day to Fuser’s freestyle mode even with the demo’s limited library. My girlfriend and I traded off every few music selections, creating some great, and some odd, mixes as we blended tracks by Childish Gambino, Donna Summer, Rage Against the Machine, Sean Paul, and many more. But it made for a consistently engrossing music-making afternoon that combined the familiarity of a licensed track list that past rhythm games have brought with a layered and complex but approachable set of mixing mechanics.

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Of course, all of those mixes don’t have to be lost to time — Fuser lets you take snapshots of mixes you particularly love to use and bring with you to later performances in the game’s various modes, as well as share your mixes to either Fuser’s in-game social network or to your own social media feeds. Music is something to be shared, and it’s wonderful that Fuser has built-in tools to allow for making that process so easy. While in Freestyle mode, you can choose to record a decently lengthy snippet of your mix. And if you’re unhappy with the results as you record, it even lets you go back and tweak the mix, so you can pretend like that out of nowhere drop of the vocals from “Never Gonna Give You Up” never happened.

Moving to the Groove

If you’re looking for something with a bit more structure, Fuser does have a full campaign, which not only offers a series of challenges with different objectives to both please the crowd and achieve a high star ranking, but also to teach you the ropes of Fuser’s many musical options.

You could simply just lay down different parts of songs, sure, but Fuser allows players to sample a variety of instruments and create loops, add sound effects like a delay sync, pitch stepper, and more, as well as mute or solo specific tracks. That not only further multiplies the number of options players have, but it can end up feeling like a lot to keep track of all at once.

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Thankfully, Fuser’s campaign doles out each new mechanic over time, allowing you to get comfortable with every aspect, while also offering Freestyle on the side so you can take those new skills into an unscored, freeform environment. The campaign itself is largely a string of performances at various festivals, but each one brings with it its own charm and music sensibilities. Different festival promoters show you the ropes at each festival stage, representing different musical upbringings and tastes, which can speak to some of the challenges you’ll encounter.

But it also speaks to that musical universality that feels so intrinsic to Fuser, and the appreciation it can deliver when discovering new favorite songs or finding an unexpected layer to what makes a hit you love so great. Fuser seems to be equal parts music-making toy box, rhythm game, a creative music sharing experience, and a party packed into a single package.

I lost many a weekend to working my way up to expert in Guitar Hero and gold starring songs in Rock Band. And after losing a good chunk of my weekend to a demo build of Fuser, I’m pretty sure I’m going to spend many, many more weekends this fall music-mixing to my heart’s content.

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Jonathon Dornbush is IGN’s Senior News Editor, host of Podcast Beyond!, and held onto his Guitar Hero II guitar far longer than he would like to admit. Talk to him about your favorite music games on Twitter @jmdornbush.

Rodea the Sky Soldier, a 2015 Wii U/3DS/Wii title, is being delisted from the Eshop on both Wii U and 3DS. It will no longer be available for digital purchase from September 30 in North America or Europe.

The game, which was produced by Sonic the Hedgehog programmer Yuji Naka, was a critical failure, and under normal circumstances this would not merit reporting on–but Rodea is a game with a strange history. This is already a game that feels somewhat destined to become a collector’s item.

The first print run of the game on Wii U came with a copy of the game on Wii, too–the game was originally developed with the Wii in mind, before moving to the Wii U. While the game did not do well on Wii U, reports suggested that the Wii version was much better, with better art and improved gameplay.

Now, with the Eshop version of the game being delisted, the Wii U and 3DS versions of Rodea are about to become a lot more limited, too. A complete version of the game with both discs will currently set you back about $60 on Ebay, and the removal of the game from digital services could ultimately drive those prices up.

This isn’t the only game that will be delisted this month–Xbox One owners should pick up Forza Motorsport 3 while it’s still available.

The launch lineup for the Xbox Series S and Xbox Series X is coming into focus. As part of Microsoft’s wider next-gen announcements on Wednesday, the company confirmed some of the launch titles for both consoles, and this includes Gears Tactics.

The XCOM-style strategy game from developer Splash Damage originally released in April on PC. Microsoft previously confirmed it was coming to console, but now we know exactly when: November 10. The game will also be available on the standard Xbox One.

In addition to Gears Tactics, Microsoft’s Gears 5 will be available for the Series S/X, and it will support up to 120FPS. Since the game is already available for the standard Xbox One, it will presumably be playable on Series S/X on launch day, too.

The Xbox Series S/X consoles are scheduled to launch on November 10, and preorders will open from September 22. The consoles are priced at $300 and $500 respectively, and you can also buy them through a payment plan starting at $25/month for 24 months.

GameSpot’s Gears Tactics review scored the game an 8/10.

“The rush of pulling together a victory from the jaws of defeat carries an exciting, chaotic energy,” reviewer Mike Epstein said. “Unlike most strategy games, playing well doesn’t necessarily make you feel like a mastermind, so much as though you’ve cheated death. Every successful plan, even a last-ditch effort, feels like a small stroke of genius. That’s no small feat.”

The second installment of Hyrule Warriors for the Nintendo Switch was recently announced and Best Buy is the first vendor to have it up for preorder. You won’t have to wait too long either, since the game is out in about 2 months. Super Mario 3D All Stars and Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury are also up for preorder (the former is out in just 9 days). The Nintendo Switch Labor Day Sale is ongoing as well, with several AAA Nintendo Switch video games marked down from $59.99 to $39.99.

Deals for September 9

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More Video Game Deals

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PS5 Preorder Guide

The PS5 is out within the year (at least, that’s what we assume) and yet preorder info has been scant. Fortunately for you, we have a preorder guide up with everything we know so far. As soon as we know exactly when preorders go up, we’ll make sure that you’ll have a chance to get your order in.

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Eric Song is IGN’s deal curator and spends roughly 1/4 of his income on stuff he posts. Check out his latest Daily Deals Article and subscribe to his IGN Deals Newsletter.

We’re retiring the introductory price on the 17th, but if you’re already a member, you’ll pay the same rate through the next billing cycle. look out for a notification on the 17th to get more details

— Xbox Game Pass For PC (@XboxGamePassPC) September 9, 2020

Ubisoft has a big show coming up with a second Ubisoft Forward this week, but one game that won’t be part of the event is the long-in-development swashbuckling pirate game Skull & Bones.

In a blog post, creative director Elisabeth Pellen confirmed that Skull & Bones has begun production again “in full swing with a new vision.” Pellen said developer Ubisoft Singapore is “fully committed” to launching the game and supporting it for many years after launch.

Although Skull & Bones won’t be at Ubisoft Forward this week, the developer confirmed it is “working on plans to present Skull & Bones sometime in the future. It will be worth the wait.”

Pellen went on to say that Ubisoft’s vision for Skull & Bones has expanded over time, and this has caused delays.

“Many of you have been wondering why we’ve had to postpone our launch. The answer is that we simply needed more time,” Pellen said. “We dreamt something bigger for Skull & Bones, and these ambitions naturally came with bigger challenges.”

These challenges led to “necessary delays,” Pellen said.

“Critical questions needed to be addressed over the past several months such as: how do we modernize the classic pirate fantasy? How do we ensure a more immersive and visceral experience? How do we create cool and memorable moments in-game? For most of these questions to be answered, it was clear that we needed more development time,” she said.

Pellen also confirmed that Ubisoft needed to hire “fresh eyes” to work on Skull & Bones, including herself. “I was one of those people when I joined as Skull & Bones’ creative director a little over two years ago. I have been part of the game’s core team that leads many of the talented developers at Ubisoft Singapore. Since then, many new talents have joined our global crew,” Pellen said.

Like other Ubisoft games, multiple teams are working on Skull & Bones alongside Ubisoft Singapore; the support studios include Ubisoft’s teams in Berlin, Chengdu, Kiev, Paris, and the Philippines.

“We’re proud of the work we’ve done and we hope you will be too when you see more of Skull & Bones at our comeback next year,” Pellen said. “Until then, on behalf of everyone in the Skull & Bones team around the world, keep safe and we will see you again soon!”

In July, it was reported that Ubisoft was rebooting Skull & Bones, and the wording of today’s blog post–in particular the “new vision” comment–seems to suggest that it might be happening.