Christopher Choose feedback on his fellow Kratos. A brand new Kickstarter will remodel your Swap 2 dock into an old-school GameCube. And two individuals who labored on Pirates of the Caribbean argue about what’s accountable for contemporary VFX trying boring and lifeless. It’s a really late version of Morning Checkpoint, Kotaku‘s every day roundup of gaming information, rumors, and tradition.
Who’s prepared for extra dangerous information for PC gaming? Samsung and SK Hynix are reportedly dropping NAND manufacturing to give attention to DRAM. That would imply much more costly SSDs. Unhealthy timing for me to interchange the PC I constructed again in 2015 with an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960.
Christopher Choose has weighed in on Ryan Hurst being Kratos within the Prime TV collection
Christopher Choose reacts to Ryan Hurst being solid as Kratos within the live-action ‘God of Conflict’ present 🪓
“It’s a powerful alternative. Nice actor and a gamer who really performed God of Conflict since its inception. So Kudos, you’ve bought an ideal live-action Kratos” pic.twitter.com/XFvPaMftH3
— Tradition Crave 🍿 (@CultureCrave) January 21, 2026
“It’s a powerful alternative,” the in-game performer for the titular character stated this week. “Nice actor and a gamer who really performed God of Conflict since its inception. So kudos, you’ve bought an ideal live-action Kratos.” The TV collection also revealed that Max Parker will play the Watchman of Asgard, Heimdall.
Chris Pratt guarantees the Mario Galaxy film nonetheless has extra characters to disclose
“I’m not allowed to say what they’re, however sure, there are some actually unimaginable…Nicely, I believe a few of them have been launched within the trailer–Rosalina, Bowser Jr.–after which there’s even a pair extra that aren’t within the trailer that folks needs to be excited to see,” the star of Mercy told Gamesradar. Who could it be?
The maker of Payday 3 is shedding builders
A number of staffers at Starbreeze Studios have been let go, Insider Gaming reports. “At this time, many people at Starbreeze, Stockholm, bought unhappy information and I’m now searching for a brand new function and would respect your assist,” wrote certainly one of them on LinkedIn. “After over 7 years, the longest I’ve ever been at any firm in any business, my time has (greater than probably) come.”
No on-line multiplayer for Lego Batman: Legacy of the Darkish Knight
Following within the footsteps of all of the earlier Lego video games, the brand new Lego Batman received’t have on-line co-op. “Followers of all generations will be capable of benefit from the recreation solo or workforce up with a good friend or member of the family by means of two-player native sofa cooperative gameplay solely,” reads the FAQ (by way of Prima Games).
Flip your Swap 2 right into a GameCube
Battle Dock coming quickly! pic.twitter.com/hRdu7zI6IV
— Retro Fighters (@retrofightersco) January 19, 2026
A brand new dock on Kickstarter guarantees to do precisely that. It’s going for $40 with a January ship date and attaches on to your present Swap 2 dock. It is available in varied old-school GameCube colours like silver, indigo, and orange, and has connectors for as much as 4 of the retro console’s controllers. Good for when Swap On-line provides Mario Kart Double Sprint and Smash Bros. Melee, if ever.
Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Darkish Ties will get a free demo
It’s out right this moment on PC and console, together with Swap 2, and lets gamers expertise a little bit of the Ryukyu district in Okinawa as Kiryu and the collection’ acquainted Kamurocho setting in Tokyo as Mine. The complete remaster and all-new aspect story releases on all platforms on February 12.
Dueling Pirates of the Caribbean VFX takes
Director Gore Verbinksi talked to But Why Tho (by way of VGC) concerning the state of VFX. “So it was a divide, with Unreal Engine being excellent at video video games, however then folks began pondering perhaps films can even use Unreal for completed visible results,” he stated. “So you could have this form of gaming aesthetic coming into the world of cinema.” He added, “I believe that Unreal Engine coming in and changing Maya as a form of elementary is the best slip backwards.”
Epic Video games VFX supervisor Pat Tubach, who stated he additionally labored on the Pirates films, fired again. “It’s inaccurate for anybody within the business to say that one device is accountable for some erroneously perceived points with the state of VFX and CGI,” Tubach stated in a statement to VGC. “Unreal Engine is primarily used for pre-visualization, digital manufacturing, and in some instances remaining pixels. I can assure that the artists engaged on large blockbuster VFX movies like Pirates of the Caribbean 10-15 years in the past might solely dream about having a device as highly effective as Unreal Engine on their desks to assist them get the job finished. And I ought to know–I used to be certainly one of them.”
