Reading List
The most recent articles from a list of feeds I subscribe to.
Tomodachi Life: Living The Dream Gets Dedicated Nintendo Direct This Thursday

Last March, Nintendo fans were ravenous for news about the Switch 2, speculating wildly and hoping for updates from any source. In this state of heightened anticipation, Nintendo did what it does best and did something no one expected; it announced Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream, a sequel to a 2014 3DS game the company hadn't touched in years. Outside of a couple of brief trailers, however, we haven't had any more news on what the game will include, but that changes this week. Nintendo has announced a Nintendo Direct entirely focused on Tomodachi Life's sequel for this coming Thursday.
The stream will be hosted on Nintendo's YouTube channel on Thursday, January 29, at 6 a.m. PT/ 9 a.m. ET. According to the announcement on social media, it will last "roughly 20 minutes," so you can expect a good deal of information about the game and how it differs from its predecessor. Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream is currently scheduled for a Spring 2026 release window, so we're hoping to get a specific launch date from the presentation. Tomodachi Life is also a Switch 1 title, and while there might be upgrades announced for Switch 2, it will be available on both generations of Nintendo's hybrid console.
Tomodachi Life is a simulation game where Miis, Nintendo's customizable avatars, live out lives together and form relationships. As of March 2025, it was one of the best selling 3DS games of all time with 6.72 million units sold. For more Tomodachi Life, you can read our review of the original here.
Resident Evil Requiem Director Sets The Record Straight: 'This Isn't An Open World Game'

Resident Evil Requiem is right around the corner, launching next month on February 27 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2, and PC. Ahead of that, Game Informer went hands-on with the horror game for three hours, and you can read that preview here. However, as part of this preview, I interviewed Requiem director Koshi Nakanishi about what I had played.
I'll be publishing a full Q/A of that interview later today, but curiously, Nakanishi closed out our interview asking to address something I didn't specifically talk about: the game's world and exploration, specifically as it relates to rumors of Requiem being an open world Resident Evil. Nakanishi definitely shut those rumors down.
"[The development team] did just want to make clear one point," Nakanishi says through an interpreter. "They've seen some speculation of whether there's any open world elements in the game, and they just want to set the record straight that this isn't an open world game."
Welp, that's about as direct as it can get. Nakanishi continues, explaining, "The main concept behind this game is combining the very different gameplay of Grace and Leon into a cohesive package, and having those two gameplays represent the Resident Evil series, and I think when you play the game, you realize that, or you will find as well that the development team picked the best approach to do this."
For more about the game, read my hands-on preview of Resident Evil Requiem here, and then check out the latest news from the Resident Evil showcase that aired last month. After that, read about Leon's custom Porsche in the game, and then check out the Resident Evil Requiem Nintendo Switch 2 Pro controller.
Are you happy to hear that Resident Evil Requiem isn't an open world game or bummed? Let us know in the comments below!
Bandai Namco Reveals Age 1000, A Mysterious New Dragon Ball Game

During this weekend's Dragon Ball Genkidamatsuri event, Bandai Namco revealed a cryptic trailer announcing the next Dragon Ball game. Known only as Age 1000, it’s slated to launch next year.
The mysterious trailer focuses on a new, original character designed by the late Dragon Ball creator, Akira Toriyama. The white-haired youth’s outfit and color scheme are somewhat reminiscent of Gohan’s Great Saiyan costume, and it interestingly bears the Capsule Corp name. The trailer shows the character effortlessly battling masked goons in a seemingly digital simulation, then ends with him transforming into a Super Saiyan. And of course, it wouldn’t be a Dragon Ball game without a Goku tease, who is briefly shown in the form of a silhouette.
“The world of Dragon Ball continues to expand with a brand-new Dragon Ball world and its entirely original characters— all brought to life by Akira Toriyama. Set for 2027, the 'Age 1000' project will introduce even more unique characters as the adventure unfolds,” reads Bandai Namco’s press release.
Unfortunately, we don’t know what type of game Age 1000 is or the platforms it will be released on. However, we won’t have to wait too long to learn more details as Bandai plans to share new information during Dragon Ball Games Battle Hour, taking place April 18-19 in Los Angeles.
Resident Evil Requiem Preview – Exciting Emulation

Platform:
PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Publisher:
Capcom
Developer:
Capcom
Release:
Rating:
Mature
Nearly 30 years ago, a rookie cop named Leon S. Kennedy exited a vehicle and stumbled into a labyrinthine police department within Raccoon City, a metropolis in the process of being overrun by a horrific virus. In the present day, I sit within an unassuming office building in Los Angeles, watching a much older Leon do almost the same thing in Resident Evil Requiem. His hair’s longer, his sculpted jaw shaded by the remnants of an early morning shave, his jacket more stylish; he exits not a police car, but a custom Porsche this time around, and once more stumbles into a labyrinthine building. It’s not long before a mysterious virus turns humans into zombies, and the hallways of this quiet building, a therapeutic care medical facility, echo with painful groans, stumbling bodies, and a familiar chaos Leon was practically born for.
I dispatch a few zombies before one rushes me with a chainsaw. I dodge and riddle its head with bullets. The chainsaw falls to the ground and begins spinning wildly, like it has a mind of its own. Nearby zombies walk into its path, losing legs in the process, blood painting the surrounding walls, fake plants, and expensive office chairs. As I approach the weapon, I take damage too before picking it up. Finally, Leon’s got a chainsaw.
Resident Evil Requiem Impressions – Video Preview:
The chainsaw rips mercilessly through zombies before its use is depleted and left buzzing in the chest of what used to be a doctor. It’s exhilarating, both diegetically and as a fan of the series who’s been terrorized by this machine’s rapid-spin teeth many, many times.
During this preview, I play as Leon for an hour and control the game’s other protagonist, Grace Ashcroft, for two. Everything I see, hear, and feel while playing as Leon speaks to the final hours of Resident Evil 4, specifically on The Island, when confidence built up over the game’s prior eight or so hours, combined with the weaponry on hand, allows you to feel like a blonde killing machine. Though Requiem’s Leon is much older, that killing machine is still ready at a moment’s notice – you need only to prime its engine with a threat and pull a cord, like the very chainsaw I just used to eviscerate the undead corpses of this facility’s patients and employees.
Playing as Leon in Requiem during this specific preview is so clearly meant to provide the feeling of control and power that Grace’s sections strip away in favor of methodical exploration and terror. Leon is not concerned with finding every green herb and box of ammo here. Though I don’t know the details, he’s on a mission and deftly handles any obstacle before him with speed, cunning, bullets, and a nasty roundhouse kick. Compared to Grace, Leon’s movement feels like a sprint. I worry little about the room full of zombies, or the hulking, pus-filled monstrosity squeezing through attic hallways later in the preview, and what they can do to my health. I kill and kill and kill, and it feels good.
It’s the adrenaline I need before my two hours (and after) with Grace in this very same medical facility. Separated from Leon, Grace finds herself in a similarly nostalgic and familiar situation. For some ungodly reason, this medical facility uses gems like quartz, exceedingly advanced levels of security, and old, musty hallways to create a maze-like puzzle. I can imagine employees spending hours (rightfully) complaining about this layout after work over a beer or two. Why does Grace need to find mysterious jewels, security bracelets, cast-iron keys, and more to get around this facility? Why are these items mystifyingly placed in puzzle boxes that require me to understand ritualistic poems and observe faded photographs for clues? Why, because the Raccoon City Police Station in Resident Evil 2 did.
Capcom is not trying to hide what Grace’s section is meant to emulate. It isn’t the aforementioned police station, but, like… it is. And Grace plays like 1998’s (or 2019’s) Leon, too, boldly trying to put aside fears to confront zombies that stand before her and some key items she needs.
After blitzing through Leon’s section in third-person, I go first-person for Grace’s section, adding some Resident Evil 7-inspired flair to this horror experience. I pass through a kitchen where a rotten behemoth of a man chops meat, scanning the room and its surrounding hallways for signs of life (presumably also to be chopped). It’s unnerving in first-person, just as it was cowering through the Baker family’s demented dinner party. Requiem plays its greatest hits here as I kill a zombie with the very last bullet in my inventory, as I reach the next typewriter to save at, as I open another drawer and locker and cabinet to find something, anything that will help me survive this god-awful night.
It’s not all familiar tricks here, though. A new crafting system in the form of blood synthesis allows me to make use of the zombies I mar as I can now collect their ichor in an upgradable tube. I can combine it with ammunition, herbs, and more to create powerful healing vaccines and one-shot-one-kill bullets, among other things. It’s a fun addition to Resident Evil’s inventory resume, and makes me think twice before sprinting past a zombie to advance – what could its blood do for me? I can even craft a special inhibitor that Grace plunges into the backs of unaware zombies to prevent them from metastasizing into an unholy tumor of blood, muscle, and guts, a second life of sorts for zombies already brought to the ground by my bullets.
There are some surprising, interesting, and strange (complementary) things happening narratively, but I won’t spoil them here. I’m both excited about what I see play out on that front and nervous – what’s interesting and strange in the first halves of many Resident Evil games morphs into something weaker in the second half. I hope the other hours of Requiem match the adrenaline and horror I felt in this preview’s sections.
For more about Resident Evil Requiem, catch up on the reveals from the latest Resident Evil Showcase, and read our interview with director Koshi Nakanishi and producer Masato Kumazawa.
What questions do you have about Resident Evil Requiem? Drop them in the comments below!
What's Going On With Ubisoft? | The Game Informer Show

It's a news-heavy week on The Game Informer Show, as Ubisoft announced some major changes to its roadmap over the coming years amid numerous delays and game cancellations. Alex, Marcus, and Eric get together to break all that down in the last half of the show, and try to make light of how the Far Cry and Assassin's Creed publisher got here.
Before that, though, the crew talks about two fascinating new indie games they've been playing. Marcus dives into MIO: Memories In Orbit, a new Metroidvania that might be Hollow Knight-levels of difficult. Eric, meanwhile, has been testing his mental mettle with TR-49, Inkle's new mystery game that tasks players with tearing their way through a strange machine.
The Game Informer Show is a weekly podcast covering the video game industry. Join us every Friday for chats about your favorite titles – past and present – alongside Game Informer staff and special guests from around the industry.
Watch the video version:
Listen to "What's Going On With Ubisoft?" on Spreaker.Follow our hosts on social media:
- Alex Van Aken (@itsvanaken)
- Marcus Stewart (@MarcusStewart7)
- Eric Van Allen (@seamoosi)
Jump ahead to specific segments:
- 00:00 - Intro
- 05:08 - MIO: Memories In Orbit
- 18:11 - TR-49
- 39:39 - Ubisoft discussion