Still can't believe this is real!

I went so crazy Doug Bowser quit.

At least it's a quiet news week, not like the president of the company retired or anything

I AM GOING ROGUE DON'T TELL LOGAN In a clearly deranged power trip, I have swapped half the cast and replaced the entire run-of-show with an extended segment on indie games. Not sure how much time we'll have, but anyone have any asks for Question Block?

10/10 night. Division champions 💙 🔱

Taking the rest of the week off to watch these guys. @tomrmarks.bsky.social has a great episode of NVC planned for you in my absence!

Mario Kart World fixed Knockout Tour!!!

-A direct followup to a landmark Mario game -Stars one of Mario's animal friends -Carry a child version of a key character from said Mario game on your back -Features bizarre transformations and tons of collectibles Could've called it Super Mario Odyssey 2: Donkey Kong Bananza

My Bananza DLC review is up on @ign.com! DK Island is nostalgic, but there's not much to actually do. Emerald Rush is a really fun roguelite take on Bananza's phenomenal gameplay that leads to scenarios you'd never see in the base game, but I wish they'd gone a bit further with it.

So, a bit of an announcement: I'm retiring. My last day at IGN will be Oct 1; after that I'll be a full-time dad for a bit while my kids are of an age where they'll think spending time with me is cool rather than lame. It's been a huge honor and privilege to run reviews here for the past 12.5 years.

I am 99% convinced Prime 4 was planned for 11/6 and Hyrule Warriors took its spot to give Retro another month. -HW was originally announced for "winter", likely always a Metroid-dependent placeholder, and 11/6 is not winter -2 Metroid amiibo are launching 11/6 I really hope Metroid is fully ready.

Well into my replay of Prime 1 (going to replay one a month until 4!) and I'm always so taken by this quiet moment when Ridley glides over Phendrana Drifts. What a great, foreboding silhouette

I had a totally broken build on this run of Emerald Rush and cracked 1 million points. I reached the credits tonight after roughly 7 hours, and the amount that opens up afterwards was really surprising. Fun DLC!

Seeing a lot of this going around, Emerald Rush is absolutely not "Balloon World but now it's $20." It's Splatoon 3's Side Order, which was also a $20 roguelite mode that came bundled with a nostalgic hub to explore. It's the exact same playbook.

Coolest amiibo idea in years

We have a full picture of Nintendo Switch 2's first six months of first-party games. How do you feel about it?

The first thing I think of when I see all the new amiibo is @loganjplant.bsky.social and his poor, poor wallet 😂

I am reviewing DK Island & Emerald Rush for @ign.com. I can't wait to dive into new content for this 10/10 masterpiece, especially since it looks like Emerald Rush will unleash all of the crazy movement techniques I've been perfecting over the last two months. Jumping in later today!

I really liked that show. Great to get dates for the rest of 2025 (even if Metroid didn't show particularly well...), Galaxy 2 is finally here, Yoshi's art style is wonderful, new Fire Emblem is always good news, Virtual Boy is a crazy surprise, and so many amiibo. Oh, and BANANZA DLC! 8/10 from me.

This is the best I've ever done

Hang out with NVC during the Nintendo Direct! We'll be live from 5:55 a.m. Pacific, live react to the show from 6-7, and do a live post show from 7-8:15. Hope to see you there! www.youtube.com/live/6xF_F4K...

Evergreen post

Worth it

Why do the Mariners have to play a 12-inning game the night before I have to get up at 4 a.m. for a Nintendo Direct?

I played Kirby Air Riders at PAX West. Then I played it again. And again. And again. What presents as a simple racing game is actually a complex action game. I'm very excited for this fascinating Sakurai sequel, and I wrote about it in my latest column on @ign.com: www.ign.com/articles/kir...

60 minutes is a long Nintendo Direct, but let's remember it's about Switch 2 and Switch 1 all in the same presentation. So don't be mad when Rhythm Heaven, Tomodachi Life, and a bunch of Switch 1 farming / cozy games take up 10-15 minutes of the show.

Nintendo Direct Predictions: 1. Metroid Prime 4 December release date (this is all I need) 2. Off-the-wall Kirby Air Riders character reveal 3. DK Island Mario Kart World DLC 4. Mario Maker 2 Switch 2 Edition + Wonder Builder expansion 5. Fire Emblem revealed for early 2026

Splanky Kong

Fine, I'm in

That's another PAX West in the books. The best event in the best city. Thanks to old friends, new pals, and all the Super Ninfriendos who stopped to say hi. I can't wait to see you all again! But for now, I gotta get back to playing Animal Crossing: New Leaf on my Nintendo 3DS.

Just a couple of Ninfriendos at PAX

Logan lore ⬇️

@loganjplant.bsky.social is very good at ping pong

Air Riders is FAST. Maybe too fast? I collected over 100 powerups in City Trial, my machine was totally out of control when we got to the stadium. I still had a lot of fun, and think the higher intensity could benefit the racing, but feeling like the balance might be a bit off.

Sakurai is back

Hyped to see Kirby Air Riders and more at PAX West this weekend. Hope to see you there!

Ziff Davis and IGN routinely decide that work done by our laid off colleagues is not important. But inevitably, that crucial work falls onto those who remain. Not this time. Not anymore.

I'm slowly getting better at this

Kirby Air Riders looked like a GameCube game in the best way

Sakurai really made the same game from 20+ years ago with a few new features, complained about how hard games are to make, straight up told us racing wasn't the focus, threw shade at Mario Kart World, and essentially read the user manual to us for nearly an hour. And I loved it

Kirby Air Riders kind of looks like an experiment in nostalgic reassessment. What if you took a game that got dragged through the mud at launch and made the exact same thing, but after people have warm memories of it? How will the narrative change? Genuinely curious to see how it shakes out.

Air Riders is the November game. It looked great! It sure was Kirby Air Ride. I was hoping for a little more new stuff, but it really looks like another shot at what they made 20 years ago. Should be awesome for OG fans, I hope it gets enough players online to last a long time.

City Trial is the main event!

Sakurai made this exact change to Smash Ultimate as well. I love seeing his ideas carry over from game to game.

Smash Bros. jumpscare!

Real

Sakurai presentations are the best presentations -- I love the unparalleled level of detail he goes into on his design and thought process. Can't wait to see what he has up his sleeve for his first non-Smash game since Kid Icarus: Uprising!

I want to track down some sort of DK Bananza retail promotional signage for my office. Has anyone ever done this?