With over 155 million sold, Nintendo’s Switch is officially the company’s biggest console hit ever. It’s been a long road to surpassing the DS, which reached 154 million consoles over its seven-year lifespan. The Switch, meanwhile, is a year shy of its 10-year anniversary. 

We’ve seen the original console, the non-hybrid Lite and the OLED versions of the Switch over the decade, but despite being replaced by Switch 2, the original is still selling at a strong pace: 1.36 million units in Q3. Just think how many Joy-Cons it sold/replaced?

Next goal: try to be the best-selling console of all time. Currently, that’s the PlayStation 2. 

Nintendo is just shy of five million units to go. 

— Mat Smith

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Explained: Moltbook, the social network for AI agents

Are they talking about us behind our backs?

TMA

Moltbook is a “digital petri dish,” a Reddit-style forum populated entirely by AI agents that post, follow and even gossip about their owners in dedicated submolts. Built using vibe coding, it’s a surreal experiment in autonomous socialization — though there’s no shortage of user-data security flaws. Is Moltbook a profound look at the dead internet theory or just a very loud AI echo chamber? Or something in the middle? Karissa explains it all. (Sorry, Karissa.)

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Nintendo’s Virtual Boy is a niche slice of gaming history.

Lean in.

Engadget

Nintendo’s worst-selling console was probably the Virtual Boy. It sold less than 800,000 units, with only 22 games in Japan and 14 in North America. And it didn’t even have the guts to launch in Europe or Australia.

But Nintendo doesn’t care. It’s brought the Virtual Boy back, baby, as an add-on for the Switch 2, in all its red monochrome ’90s-tech glory. And we finally got to test it. 

It even includes the original bipod, which you use to prop it up and lean into it. Yes, you still can’t just wear the thing like modern VR headsets. The Switch 2 console, sans Joy-Cons, then slides in, acting as display, battery and processor. 

It seems more of a historical nod than anything else. This is pretty much 30-year-old VR tech, as-is. But… I still want one as a gaming objet d’art. A hundred bucks is a fair chunk of change for that, though. Read on for our full impressions.

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Surprise! Google teases the Pixel 10a

Pre-orders open later this month.

Google

Google posted a teaser video revealing its new entry-level smartphone, the Pixel 10a, in a lovely lilac colorway. We don’t know much more, however. You can see it’s another dual-camera Pixel, with that same flush body — which I like. (How does that already seem retro?) 

Leaks suggest a 6.3-inch display and a large 5,100 mAh battery. It otherwise looks and seems like the Pixel 9a, although Google promises that there’s “more in store.” Last year’s A-series launched at $500 — will this land at a similar price? You can pre-order the Pixel 10a on February 18. 

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AMD suggests a 2027 launch for next-gen Xbox

Shouldn’t Microsoft be saying this?

AMD CEO Lisa Su revealed on the company’s latest earnings call that Microsoft’s development of an Xbox with a semi-custom SOC from AMD is “progressing well to support a launch in 2027.” Maybe Microsoft can chase that best-selling console crown too?

Continue reading.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/general/the-morning-after-the-switch-is-officially-nintendos-most-popular-console-ever-121500738.html?src=rss

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Nintendo has lined up its first showcase of the year. The next Nintendo Direct is taking place on February 5 at 9AM ET, the company has announced. It will run for around 30 minutes.

As previous reports suggested, it will focus on third-party titles from partners instead of first-party games from Nintendo itself. So if you were hoping for new Mario or Zelda announcements, that may not happen during this event. Still, you can expect to hear about new games that are coming to Switch and Switch 2. You can tune into the Direct via the YouTube video embedded above.

FromSoftware’s The Duskbloods, a Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive, is slated to arrive this year, so we may get another look at that (or the Switch 2 version of Elden Ring, for that matter). Meanwhile, Resident Evil Requiem will hit the console later this month, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see Capcom making an appearance during this Direct.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/nintendos-first-direct-showcase-of-2026-is-scheduled-for-february-5-141931154.html?src=rss

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Microsoft could launch the next-generation Xbox console sometime in 2027, AMD CEO Lisa Su has revealed during the semiconductor company’s latest earnings call. Valve is on track to start shipping its AMD-powered Steam Machine early this year, she said, while Microsoft’s development of an Xbox with a semi-custom SOC from AMD is “progressing well to support a launch in 2027.” While it doesn’t necessarily mean Microsoft is releasing a new Xbox console next year, that seems to be the company’s current goal.

Xbox president Sarah Bond announced Microsoft’s multi-year partnership with AMD for its consoles in mid-2025. Based on Bond’s statement back then, Microsoft is embracing the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning in future Xbox games. She also said that the companies are going to “co-engineer silicon” across devices, “in your living room and in your hands,” implying the development of future handheld consoles.

Leaked documents from the FTC vs. Microsoft court battle revealed in the past that Microsoft was planning to make the next Xbox a “hybrid game platform,” which combines local hardware and cloud computing. The documents also said that Microsoft was planning to release the next Xbox in 2028. Whether the company has chosen to launch the new Xbox early remains to be seen, but it is possible when the Xbox X and S were released in 2020, and they haven’t sold as well as the Xbox One.

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/xbox/amd-suggests-the-next-gen-xbox-will-arrive-in-2027-052707822.html?src=rss

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Another first-party Xbox game is making the leap to PlayStation 5. This time around, Obsidian’s Avowed — one of our favorite games of last year — is crossing the great divide. The fantasy action RPG will hit Sony’s console on February 17, one day shy of the game’s first anniversary. 

As it happens, an anniversary update is set to go live on all platforms at the same time. This includes a new game+ mode (allowing those who have beaten the RPG to replay it with all their gear and upgrades from their previous run), a photo mode, a new weapon type and more. 

Avowed is set in the same universe as Obsidian’s Pillars of Eternity games. It tasks you with investigating a fungal plague that has infested the world. “The writing is stellar throughout, though the sidequests that reveal your companions’ backstories are particularly poignant," Engadget senior reporter Jessica Conditt wrote. "Avowed is gorgeous, its combat systems are fully customizable, its characters are intriguing and its encumbrance limit is generous. There’s a real sense of magic about the entire game — and no, that’s not just the mind-altering mushrooms talking."

Microsoft has brought a string of first-party Xbox games to PS5 over the last couple of years, freeing them from console exclusivity. Forza Horizon 5, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Senua's Saga: Hellblade II and Sea of Thieves are among the games that have crossed over to PlayStation. Later this year, you’ll even be able to play a Halo game on PS5, something that was utterly unthinkable not too long ago. 

This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/playstation/xbox-is-bringing-avowed-to-ps5-120000035.html?src=rss

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