Virtual game gobbledygook
Plus Lego Star Wars IRL, GTA delay and the best retro controller brands
Hello there! We are officially one month away from the launch of the Switch 2. And, as soon as that happens, we’re rolling directly into Summer Game Fest and the whole not-E3 season. But don’t think we’re just spending a whole month doing nothing until then, because we also have Midnight Walk, Savage Planet, Doom Dark Ages, Elden Ring Nightreign, Lost Soul Aside and more in the next four weeks. We’ll barely have time to despair about the ubiquitous price rises and dire state of the games media industry we’ll be having so much fun!
This week we’re weighing up Nintendo’s newly adjusted digital games policies, assessing the fallout of the big GTA6 delay, seeing some sweet Star Wars Lego and shouting out our favourite makers of new controllers for old systems.
New Nintendo approach to digital confusing, but good
By Tim
As we get closer to the launch of the Switch 2, there’s been a lot of talk about Nintendo’s approach to digital and physical games. And while it is true that a lot is changing, and certainly that many of Nintendo’s initiatives are confusing and ill-explained, I think it all adds up to the company adjusting its platform to be more consumer-friendly.
Platform holders have largely controlled issues of ownership and licensing when it comes to the transition to digital. Most of the time, and unsurprisingly, their solutions are worse in terms of access and sharing than we saw in the physical era. Many have pointed to the Switch 2’s new “game key card” system as a scungy example of this, but I’m not so sure.
Nintendo is providing game key cards as a low-cost option for publishers to take their games to retail, and it’s up to them if they want to do it. Publishers who do opt for the system would otherwise likely be avoiding retail entirely, or selling “code-in-a-box” releases. Both formats mean you have to download the game from your own Wi-Fi, which sucks if yours is slow or capped. But the game key card has the license tied to the cartridge, not your account, meaning you can still easily resell or share it. This makes it no different to a PS5 or Xbox disc with a mandatory download, except the Switch 2 boxes are much more prominently labelled.
Then there’s virtual game cards, which have been much-discussed in the last week because they’ve arrived in an update for the original Switch. People who’ve really optimised their setup to exploit the previous system of primary and secondary systems are understandably put out that the script has been flipped here, but virtual game cards fix two grievances I’ve had with digital Switch games.
First, they get rid of the need to “check in” online if you’re playing on a secondary Switch, or if another family member is playing your Switch. Once you have a virtual game card on your console, anybody can play it there totally offline, and you can send as many as you like to a second Switch, so you know they’ll work on a tram or areoplane trip.
Second, they make sharing simple. Within your family group of up to eight people, you swap and lend games and it works no differently to literally handing someone a game card, except they have to download the data and the license snaps back to you after two weeks. This has made sharing my huge library of digital games with my kids so much easier, as they can continue using their profiles on their own consoles.
What to play
It’s a new month, so PlayStation Plus subscribers get three new games to add to their library. From tomorrow there’s the latest update for the premiere online dino crafting experience with Ark: Survival Ascended (pictured), as well as ubiquitous indie roguelite hit Balatro and boomer shooter Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun.
In the last week Game Pass has added Ubisoft town-building RTS Anno 1800, and 2022 shooter Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II. Tomorrow marks the arrival of Lovecraftian horror fishing sim Dredge, which I highly recommend.
Free on the Epic Games Store (until 1am tonight) are Super Space Club (a lo-fi arcade shooter) and Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga (you know what this is). I can’t speak to Super Space Club (the trailer looks fine), but obviously you need the Lego Star Wars game, so grab it while it’s free.
It’s a good time on Steam right now, as Sega, EA and WB are all having big sales, plus Ludonarracon is bringing out some great demos for upcoming story-focused indies.
GTA 6 delayed, Pope is (or was) a Catholic
By Alice
Douglas Adams once wrote “I love deadlines. I love the wooshing noise they make as they go by.”
With more and more game studios opting to treat developers as human beings with full lives, rather than as disposable trash to be burnt out and then replaced with a younger person who doesn’t know better, this has also become a rallying cry in the game industry, and I am all for it. On Friday, Rockstar announced that Grand Theft Auto 6 is being delayed to the 26th of May 2026, presumably because it’s just not going to be ready in time for this year. That strong breeze you felt was the huge sigh of relief from studio heads with 2025 game releases.
That said, while no one outside the studio knew that this was going to be the case before Friday, I think we all just knew it on an instinctual level.
The entire release schedule for video games in 2025 has been up in the air until people knew what was going on with GTA 6. No one wanted to release that same day, or even that same week, simply because who could compete with the raw power that is GTA? GTA 5 was released in 2013, and still routinely features in the weekly top 3 highest selling games now. There are children who have tricked their parents into buying them the game who weren’t even conceived when it was first released.
This now means that we can expect to see games start to get Q4 2025 release dates announced. I would hate to be a casual driving game trying to compete with GTA 6, so I wouldn’t be surprised if we either see Forza Horizon 6 get rushed out this year, or delayed to 2027. There are dozens of games without concrete 2025 release dates yet that will likely get dates around Summer Games Festival next month.
We can now also assume that the back half of May and first half of June 2026 will be absolutely dead for other game releases, only for GTA 6 to be delayed to the back half of 2026.
Bricks, Boards and Beginnings
by Alice
May the 5th be with you, or something. Last week I got to go to the opening of the new Lego Star Wars Exhibition at the Melbourne Museum, and it was spectacular. I will admit to not being a huge Star Wars fan, I’m glad other people love it, but I started with the wrong part of the sequel trilogy and thus didn’t get that introduction at the right time. So, trust me when I say that, regardless of the subject matter, this is one of the most impressive Lego exhibitions I have ever seen. The builds that “The Brick Man” pulled off were jaw dropping.
Multiple life-size tableaus of iconic scenes, 1:80,000 scale model of the Death Star, multiple opportunities to take photos and TikToks with life-size builds in fun ways.
But what I loved the most was how many areas there were to build and display your own creations: droids, spaceships and lightsabers. While you can’t take the builds home, they provided a great learning opportunity, with videos featuring “The Brick Man”, and little written tutorials to give people ideas. It means that people can go for the cool Star Wars statues, and then come home with the biggest gift of all: knowledge.
The builds at the exhibition comprised of a total of eight million bricks, which is just so many bricks.
Another thing I really liked is that many of the plaques next to the statues had QR codes so you could see time lapse videos of the builds. Getting to see how these huge builds are created is as inspiring as it is intimidating.
The exhibition is open now at Melbourne Museum, with adult tickets (including general museum entry) available for $38, children $24.
Retro Esoterica
by Tim
Controllers are a vital part of the old-school gaming experience, but also make for some thorny problems. Pads that are decades old don’t always hold up so well, and modern loungerooms aren’t always friendly to comparatively short cables. If you’re using modern hardware for old games, you probably also don’t have anywhere to plug a classic pad in. I’m not exaggerating when I say I have several dozen controllers tucked away, and here I’d like to highlight three of my preferred brands when it comes to finding new pads for old games.
8BitDo: This company has the broadest range of good quality gear by far, including Bluetooth adapters for several machines, and even internal Bluetooth kits for old original controllers. It also makes great wireless replica NES, SNES and PC Engine controllers, and a very good Mega Drive model if you’re not a purist for the boomerang shape. Some swear by the more modern style controllers too, and I love 8BitDo’s wireless arcade sticks.
Retro-bit: I’ve had mixed opinions of Retro-bit hardware, but the reason I’m listing it here is because of its officially licensed Sega controllers. These come in Mega Drive or Saturn style, some with a wired USB cable and some with wireless adapters for USB and for the original consoles. I’ve had a number of these and they feel super close to the originals, with some nice extras and the convenience of wireless.
Retro Fighters: These guys make some weird controllers, but they also make some excellently wide and comfortable pads for systems that originally had odd layouts, including N64 and original Xbox. A personal favourite of mine is the wireless Dreamcast controller which has a slot of the VMU in the receiver, and I’ve just received my BattlerGC Pro for Gamecube (pictured), which will replace my failing Wavebird and which I may also use for GC games on Switch 2.