The Wii U era has finally, definitively come to an end. Nintendo Japan says it has, at long last, run out of the parts required to continue repairing Wii U consoles and peripherals. As such, the repair shop is now permanently closed to the platform. The news came from a pair of posts on the company’s Japanese social media accounts. “We have posted “Notice regarding the planned end of repairs for the Wii U console and peripherals.”” reads a translation of the first post. “We have run out of parts necessary for repairs,” reads a translation of the second, “so as of July 3, 2024, we will no long ..read more

If you’re so worried about the Nintendo Switch sequel that you’re hovering your mouse over the buy button months before its official announcement, you can relax a bit. Nintendo is promising that they’ll beat the scalpers simply by making enough Switch 2s to go around. The legacy Japanese game maker told investors their main strategy for ensuring customers don’t turn toward scalpers is flooding retailers with enough consoles at launch. During an investor Q&A held late last month, as transcribed using Google Translate, Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa said the company would produce “suf ..read more

We’re encroaching on 25 years since Sony first unveiled the PlayStation 2, yet current-day PS5 owners don’t have much to be excited about in 2024. We’re on the short road to the expected release of the PlayStation 5 Pro. Despite it likely being the company’s biggest hardware release of the last four years, you wouldn’t know it judging by that dull affair that was its State of Play game showcase this past month. After watching Nintendo mop the floor with Microsoft and Sony with its most recent Direct game showcase, I’m stuck staring at my old Nintendo Switch, which sits at home on top of my an ..read more

The PlayStation Portal is Sony’s surprisingly great Remote Play handheld for the PlayStation 5, and it’s about to get even better thanks to some new features arriving by way of the latest firmware update. Outlined over on the PlayStation Blog today, the changes will begin rolling out on June 19 and includes three significant features. The first is support for sign-in screens on public Wi-Fi networks. Think coffee shops and hotel rooms, or anywhere else that requires more than just a simple password to begin accessing the internet. The new feature allows owners to scan a QR code on their PS Po ..read more

Sorry, but you were never going to get any Nintendo Switch 2 news at Tuesday’s 40-minute Nintendo Direct. However, Nintendo wasn’t just laying out the big titles to hit the original Switch for 2024; it was showcasing what games would keep us satiated just before and just after its next big console finally sees the light of day. The big news is centered on an all-new Princess Zelda-led Legend of Zelda title and the first trailer for the long-awaited Metroid Prime 4. But for fans of Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 and old-school Dragon Quest titles proved a good day to be a Switch gamer. Metroid Prime 4: B ..read more

The Legend of Zelda franchise has dabbled a few times with letting players actually get to play as Zelda herself—she’s been a playable character in spinoffs, fighting games, and, somehow, two of those awful Phillips CD-i games. But, at long last, Zelda is going to star as the hero of a classically-styled Zelda game… with a few twists. This morning, Nintendo revealed The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, the latest mainline entry in the franchise. Styled after the toyetic art design of the Link’s Awakening remake for Nintendo Switch, Echoes of Wisdom opens as many Zelda games do: Link marchin ..read more

For Xbox, hardware is an afterthought. If you were like us and spent nearly two hours watching the Xbox Showcase, you came away disappointed by whats on offer for 2024. We are getting the same Xbox console hardware first released in 2020, though now with more storage. We could have had a handheld. We could have had anything else. But for now, we’re stuck with the sneaking sense that Microsoft is throwing everything at the wall to justify its $US69 billion Activision Blizzard buyout. The rumored Xbox handheld was a no-show. So here’s the real news: The $US600 Xbox Series X Galaxy Black Edition ..read more

Today’s the day where Apple unveils all the updates to its products at WWDC 2024. This is the Oscars of the developer’s conference season! The morning began with the Apple execs jumping out of a plane and a nice Apple TV plug, it’s good to be back. And before you ask yes AI was a major feature at this year’s WWDC (see below) and the Apple Vision Pro has an Aussie release date. Here is everything announced at WWDC 2024. VisionOS: Apple Vision Pro Updates Apple Vision Pro is coming to Australia on July 12! Apple has released VisionOS 2 for its Apple Vision Pro with updates to its current apps b ..read more

The end of the financial year is coming up, so a few brands and retailers have started their annual sales. If you’re looking to nab yourself a nice bargain during these EOFY sales, there are a lot of deals and bargains to sort through. To help you out we’ve rounded up the best EOFY deals for tech that are currently available in Australia. Keep in mind that the financial year ends on 30 June, so you have just under a month to take advantage of these mid-year sales. Here’s every EOFY 2024 sale in Australia worth knowing about, from laptops to robot vacuums and smart TVs. Table of contents Best ..read more

YouTube has finally launched its much-trailed gaming offering named “Playables”, a selection of games you can play directly within YouTube. Why does this exist? Maybe a big launch exclusive? Perhaps something that will rival the consoles? Free stuff you can’t get elsewhere? Nope. You might not have heard, but gaming is big business. The games industry dwarfs movies in terms of revenue and audiences, despite the peculiar refusal of all other media to acknowledge its ubiquitous existence. Any corporation that has a requirement to make numbers go up wants to figure out a way to get a slice of th ..read more