Games

Mat Piscatella of Circana said this is an unprecedented and "chaotic" situation as it relates to tariffs and their impact on video games, so anyone claiming to know how things will shake out may be speaking out of turn.

"All anyone can do at this point is speculate. We are certainly in uncharted waters here, and no one really knows what will happen next," he told GameSpot. "Obviously, the announced tariffs are having an immediate impact on the financial markets. And given the haphazard nature of how the tariffs are being calculated and applied, uncertainty is really the only certain thing at the moment."

Piscatella said there is "absolutely the chance" that the new tariffs or any additional future tariffs might amount to changes for US consumer products, and not just for Nintendo but for all players.

The top 20 most influential video games of all time in the BAFTA poll are as follows:

1. Shenmue
2. Doom
3. Super Mario Bros.
4. Half-Life
5. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
6. Minecraft
7. Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2
8. Super Mario 64
9. Half-Life 2
10. The Sims
11. Tetris
12. Tomb Raider
13. Pong
14. Metal Gear Solid
15. World of Warcraft
16. Baldur's Gate 3
17. Final Fantasy VII
18. Dark Souls
19. Grand Theft Auto 3
20. Skyrim
21. Grand Theft Auto

When you're dealing with a series with gameplay as refined as in Mario Kart 8, there are, thankfully, few major changes to the game's driving mechanics. Yes, you can grind rails now on occasion, though these only appeared fairly sporadically in the various courses I played. A wider selection of items/weapons are included, including Mario Kart Tour's Ice Flower, Super Mario Kart's Feather, and the Mega Mushroom originally from Mario Kart Wii. Items such as green shells and bananas are now automatically held behind you, meanwhile. Otherwise, the game controls similarly to the Mario Karts you probably spent hundreds of hours playing over the last two console generations - a welcome feeling of familiarity within the wider changes.

Mario Kart World's reinvention of the series may be a gamble, but it's absolutely one I think will pay off. With a web of possible routes and hours of time likely to be spent exploring every corner of its highways, deserts and mountains - or racing to stay ahead of the competition in Knockout Tour - it's just as well the game's a Switch 2 launch title. I absolutely can't wait to play more of what is undoubtedly Switch 2's killer app.

Dohta confirmed that Nintendo uses DLSS upscaling technology and is offering it as a tool to others in response to a question from Inverse's Shannon Liao.

"When it comes to the hardware, it is able to output to a TV at a max of 4K and whether the software developer is going to use that as a native resolution or get it to a smaller rate and an upscale is something that the software developer can choose," he said. "And that's, I think it opens up a lot of options for the software developer to choose from."

As for hardware ray tracing, Dohta confirmed the chip can support it, and suggested this is yet another tool for software developers to choose to implement.

After four hours with Switch 2, and time with all of its new first-party games, I can see it - though the console's more experimental side is also its weaker. Of course, there is absolutely nothing wrong with creating a better version of a hugely-successful console, keeping the main Switch concept of hybrid play intact while improving the elements that needed an upgrade: the Switch 1's aged processing power, its fussy Joy-Con attachments, its basic online social capabilities. With Switch 2 in your hands, you hold a console that can tick off a string of current-gen console standards: 4K, HDR, VRR and 120fps, at least on some titles. And while I'll leave the pixel analysis to Digital Foundry, it is evident just from a quick play with Switch 2's first-party software that Nintendo is now able to feed off of significantly more power under the hood.

Mario Kart World's open landscape is a dramatic revolution for the series - a gamble that I believe pays off, and a new landmark entry that seems likely to rival the huge popularity of Mario Kart 8 Deluxeover Nintendo's last generation. I've written my detailed thoughts on Mario Kart World's brilliance elsewhere. And then there's Donkey Kong Bananza, which ended the Switch 2 Direct in a slot many had expected to be reserved for a long-awaited new 3D Mario, but after some hands-on time actually feels just as exciting.

Members of ZeniMax Workers United, a union of over 300 quality assurance workers in Texas and Maryland, have voted to authorize a strike.

The vote, which passed with over 94 percent in favor of authorization, does not mean workers have gone on strike like SAG-AFTRA members have in the ongoing video game voice actors strike. But should contract negotiations break down, the ZeniMax union now has the permission to call a strike.

This authorization comes as contract negotiations between union members and parent company Microsoft continue into a second year.