GBP (£)
EUR (€)
Another February gone and another Valentine’s Day over with. All of the flowers are dead and the overblown romantic gestures forgotten. Now everyone can get back silently resenting one another. Beautiful. But fear not, March brings the true day of love - Pancake Day. I can’t wait to wake up on Pancake Day morning to see what Father Pancake has left under our tree. We’ll open our pancakes before cooking Pancake lunch. We’ll watch the Queen’s Pancake speech before watching a Pancake film (I’ll no doubt fall asleep during it). Then we’ll make sandwiches with Pancake leftovers. Making room for some video game news along the way!
In all seriousness though, I love Pancake Day, I can’t cook much, but I absolutely smash out pancakes. I’ve got four different recipes to make for the family. My six-month-old has just started weaning, so I’ll be stuffing that little poop machine full of cakey goodness. I’ve even got some squeezy bottles so I can take a run at some pancake art with my eldest and I’ve got a fire extinguisher for when it all goes wrong!
But you’re not here to listen to me prattle on about pancakes, no, you’re here for some delicious gaming news, so let’s get on with it!
I’m currently playing: A 10-day isolation gave me plenty of gaming time. I smashed through Call of Duty Vanguard, Call of Duty Cold War, Chorus and Dying Light 2 on PlayStation4. I dipped back into Halo Infinite to grab some missing collectables on Xbox One. While on Nintendo Switch I scratched the surface of Octopath Traveller.
I’m currently hyped for: Lego Star Wars The Skywalker Saga on PlayStation4 and Advance Wars 1+2 Reboot Camp on Switch.
New Games
February hit everyone with some nice big releases. Dying Light 2 kicked things off on the 4th for PlayStation4, PlayStation5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S (it’ll appear on Switch eventually). Horizon Forbidden West kicked the doors exclusively for PlayStation owners. And on the 25th Elden Ring hit Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PS4 and PlayStation5 as did GriD: Legends. February 25th also saw the long-delayed release of Life is Strange: True Colours on Nintendo Switch.
It’s safe to say February really brought the goods for everyone except Switch owners. Well, March is here for you Nintendo fans, and not just because March 10th looks like MAR10! Triangle Strategy hits Nintendo’s console exclusively on the 4th. This is quickly followed up with Chocobo GP on the 11th, which is also an exclusive! And if that’s not enough then the 25th sees another Switch exclusive - Kirby and the Forgotten Land. Yep, March is bringing a lovely Nintendo hat trick. For other platform owners, there’s Monster Energy Supercross releasing on the 17th and Lake hitting both of Sony’s consoles on the 25th.
Announcements
Xbox Keen to Revive Dormant Activision Franchises
With Microsoft acquired Activision Blizzard for a tasty $70 billion last month. Xbox boss Phil Spencer has already said he is keen to revive Activision franchises the publisher has recently ignored.
Spencer also suggested Activision studios such as Crash Bandicoot 4 developer Toys for Bob would also be released from its recent move into the Call of Duty machine.
Spencer also said his team would talk to studios about working on games from Activision Blizzard’s franchise history. Aside from Crash, Guitar Hero and Tony Hawk, Activision also owns the rights to Skylanders, Spyro, True Crime, Blur, Singularity and Geometry Wars, among others.
Fans of Crash Bandicoot and Tony Hawk games have been left in limbo, as the studios behind their recent releases were reassigned to other work.
A report also suggested Activision is now considering plans to ditch Call of Duty’s annual releases.
Street Fighter 6 Announced
Capcom has now made Street Fighter 6 official. There aren’t many details available yet, with Capcom promising more information coming this summer. Until then, you’ll have to make do with 30 seconds of teaser footage. Which shows Luke squaring up against Ryu.
If you’re asking yourself “Who’s Luke?!”, then allow me to enlighten you. He arrived as DLC for Street Fighter 5 in November 2021. Capcom have dubbed him as “the future of Street Fighter” and a major part of the next Street Fighter game. Fans of the combatant liken him to Jake Paul, which is spot on as they both annoy me immensely and I wouldn’t be surprised if Luke paid for wins either.
Horizon: Forbidden West is the Second-Biggest PS5 Physical Game Launch So Far
Horizon: Forbidden West has notched up the second-biggest launch for a boxed PlayStation5 game in the UK. Just behind console launch title Spider-Man: Miles Morales.
Horizon: Forbidden West is also the second-largest boxed game launch of the year so far in the UK. With roughly half the physical sales of Nintendo Switch exclusive Pokémon Legends: Arceus!
And That’s That!
So there you have it, February is gone for another year! What games did you pick up? Which ones will you be getting in March? Let us know on the Zatu social media pages. Until next time, have a good ‘un.