Whenever a new system launches, debates also ensue about if it’s worth buying right away. Partially due to the quality of the console itself. But the titles that launch alongside it can also make or break a debut. While the Switch 2 launch library might not seem as exciting in some ways, I think it ended up being a really solid collection of games you can play for weeks, months, and in the case of some years to come. 

One criticism going in to the Switch 2 is the flagship launch title is Mario Kart World. As of March 31, 2025, the Nintendo IR site noted Mario Kart 8 Deluxe sold over 68.2 million units on Switch 2, Mario Kart 8 sold 8.46 million on Wii U, Mario Kart Wii sold 37.38 million on Wii, Mario Kart 7 sold 18.99 million on 3DS, and Mario Kart DS ended up at 23.6 million on DS. Financially, it makes sense. Over multiple console and handheld generations, we see the demand at a glance. Also, given what happened with the Switch installment and room for growth, I think we’ll absolutely see a Booster Course or some other sort of ongoing update schedule. This is the company coming in with a title that will be huge at launch, enjoyed alone or with others, and probably ed for a few years.

Next is that we actually do have some entirely “new” launch window games for the Switch 2 that add incredibly lengthy experiences to the library. I played Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma. That could easily be a 30-40 hour game just from the campaign and before you get into the daily life, find a partner and settle down, enjoy the post-game with a virtual family experience. Moreover, the Switch 2 experience even without the upgrade pack is making me reconsider only giving it an 8 when I wrote the Switch review, because it’s closer to a 9 on the new system. Deltarune Chapters 3 & 4 is something I’m going through now, and it’s also a solid commitment. FAST Fusion ended up being a great budget racer in the series with a lot of replayability and, honestly, the kind of challenge is that is sort of missing in Mario Kart World single-player sometimes. While I’m sure it won’t be game of the year material, Tamagotchi Plaza is going to fill that launch minigame collection hole that folks invest in when they want something silly and short to play with others. Even though Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time came out on other platforms a bit ahead of Switch 2, this is a 10/10 game that makes you feel like you’re only scratching the surface after 100 hours. It’s a huge “get” for a new console.

Besides, we also need to consider the value of the HD remasters and definitive editions of games coming to the Switch 2 at launch. While these are returning titles, I think three are exceptionally valuable here. Bravely Default: Flying Fairy HD Remaster is an updated release of one of the most creative JRPGs Square Enix released in the last 10 years, and it is still absolutely captivating. It looks fantastic with the updated graphics. The single-screen version works great! Yakuza 0: Director’s Cut’s extra story and multiplayer modes are pleasant extras for what I consider my favorite entry in the series. (The story is so much fun.) Raidou Remastered: The Mystery of the Soulless Army is going to bring an underrated Shin Megami Tensei spin-off to modern systems for the first time so soon and, as I said in my preview, it’s a wonderful game that deserves this second change at a wider audience.

Even the bad games in the Switch 2 launch library offer their own type of value. Survival Kids isn’t a good Lost in Blue installment, but it is the type of title adults or older kids could play with younger children to get them adjusted to the console. It’s also one of the first examples of the GameShare mechanic, offering a bit of a proof of concept to show how sharing one game among multiple local consoles could work in a low-stress, no-consequence environment. Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour isn’t all that much fun and should have been either $5 or free, but it does offer a lot of insights into why the company made certain design decisions via quizzes and tech demo minigame examples. 

As for the ports, they represent a really well-rounded bunch of genres. Whenever a new Nintendo console or handheld’s shown up, it’s often been accompanied by versions of titles that past systems couldn’t. With the Switch 2 launch games, we are both seeing that and getting titles that might’ve had issues on other handhelds like a Steam Deck getting a specific version tailored to this type of experience. Street Fighter 6: Years 1-2 Fighters Edition does that! It looks fantastic, even with compromises. Plus, it involved the motion control mode that could provide a workout. Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition is something of a wonder. It runs way better than I expected. Sid Meier's Civilization VII - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition fits the bill with integrated mouse controls. And, like many of the new titles, they’re lengthy games that take up dozens of hours. 

I’d even consider all of the upgrade pack games valuable of the Switch 2 launch library. In each case, titles are running better than ever. For those who might’ve skipped the Switch 2, it’s a wealth of proven games like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild or Tears of the Kingdom, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, Super Mario Odyssey, and Xenoblade Chronicles 3 that will work better than before. With paid expansions for Kirby and the Forgotten Land and Super Mario Party Jamboree, it’s adding major content updates with more to do. These are opportunities to maybe see how great games become even more wonderful with added power and adjustments behind them. 

The Switch 2 launch library is packed with great games. There might not be as many first-party endeavors immediately available, beyond Mario Kart World, Donkey Kong Bananza, and Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour, but every other element is filled with lengthy, well-executed, and meaningful games that showcase the system’s capabilities and could keep us occupied for hundreds of hours.

The Switch 2 is available now worldwide. 

The post There’s Nothing Wrong With the Switch 2 Launch Games Library appeared first on Siliconera.

Good Smile Company shared the winner for the Rainwear category of the Hatsune Miku Illustration Contest. The winner for each category will have their illustration turned into a figure, and will also receive a money prize of 2 million yen (or about $13.795.)

The winner for the Rainwear category was Japanese artist Saine (or @sainexxx on X.) At the time of writing, there is no information on when the figure will appear. This category is the sixth out of 12 in the contest, with the latest reveal marking the midway point for the competition. You can check out the Rainwear winning illustration in the Hatsune Miku Illustration Contest here:

The contest features various motifs and themes for Hatsune Miku and other Vocaloid and Piapro characters, such as Kaito or Kagamine Len, among others. The next three categories are still open for participants, with submissions being accepted until June 23, 2025. These are Vacation theme for Meiko, Cute Subculture for Hatsune Miku, and Animal theme for Kagamine Len.

Plenty of other Hatsune Miku Illustration contests have been held in the past, with some of the winners also being turned into figures. One of these figures include a design for Hatsune Miku dressed in an Autumn Trip costume, announced back in September 2024.

The Hatsune Miku Illustration Contest is currently undergoing, and the Rainwear category is the latest entry to reveal its winner.

The post See the Hatsune Miku Illustration Contest Rainwear Winner appeared first on Siliconera.

The Story difficulty in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 will involve more manageable battles, as a new patch included dodge and parry time adjustments to make the windows for reacting larger. There are also options to change settings to arrange for a greater challenge if you are in Act 3. All are present after updating to 1.3.0.

Both of the Story difficulty changes in Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 are designed to make things a bit more manageable if someone experienced issues mastering dodge and parry timing. Both are now more forgiving. You get 40% larger windows to respond to an enemy by moving out of the way or counter their attack. Also, if you do get hit, it won’t hurt as bad. While previously, an attack that hit would do 60% of the damage it would on other difficulty levels, now it will only deal 50%.

As for making the game more difficult, you can set caps on your damage or adjust the health of enemies. With characters, you get two options for damage. You can make it so attacks top out at either 99,999 or 999,999. With enemies’ health, there are six different variants, all of which increase their vitality. The minimum increase is twice as much HP as normal, while the maximum is up to 100x.

Here are the full Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 patch nots for 1.3.0, which Sandfall shared on Steam. Note that there are spoilers in them, if you haven’t gotten to about Act 3.

Simon Rematch

• Players can now rematch Simon after defeating him!
  

Story Mode Balancing.

Story mode is our easiest difficulty setting.

• Parry and dodge windows increased by 40%
• Incoming damage reduced by 10% to 50%

Challenge Modifiers (Act III onward)
At flag checkpoints, players can now:

• Limit max player damage to 99,999 or 999,999
• Multiply enemy HP by x2, x5, x10, x20, x50, or x100

Bug Fixes (297 total, notable examples below)

• Verso now gains Perfection correctly when in reserve
• Simoso weapon will no longer cause lag due to memory leaks
• General polish across collisions, terrain, and scripting
• Cutscenes scale properly on ultrawide and non-standard resolutions
• Fixed a bug where loading a save after resting at a different location would spawn the player at coordinate zero
• Placeholder textures removed near Chromatic Boucheclier and his battlearena
• Fixed performance drops from repeated resting on certain levels
• Crash after dialogue sequences resolved
• Fixed stability issues after extended play sessions
• French voiceover now plays correctly when selected

System & Settings

• Audio can now be muted or unmuted when the game is running in the background
• Mouse and joystick sensitivity improvements
• Manual save file renaming is now ed (EXPEDITION_XX format required. XX must be a value between 00 and 09.)
  

Localization

• Rolling credits updated (added creature VO, refined IOI section)
• Font size adjustments for Chinese, Japanese, and Korean
• New strings added and minor text corrections implemented
  

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is available for the PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC. 

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Back in 2024, Good Smile Company announced there would be casual figures of Hololive Vtubers ing the Nendoroid line, with one being Usada Pekora. Now we know that will debut in Japan in October 2025, followed by a worldwide release in Q1 2026. It will cost ￥7,500/$49.99. There is no Good Smile Company Store exclusive this time, so anyone who chooses to purchase from other retailers won’t miss out on any accessories.

There are three face plates with this figure, and all of them feature various stages of joy. One is a standard smiling face. The other is designed to show more excitement, as she has shiny eyes. The third features closed eyes and a wide, open-mouth smile. To go along with the casual nature, she’s wearing blue gym shoes, a white sailor dress, a blue jumper over it, and a white hair bow that looks like rabbit ears. She also comes with a milk carton she can hold and extra hand and arm parts. She also comes with a circular stand with her name and a white bunny icon on it.

Here are some example photos of the Usada Pekora Casual Outfit Nendoroid in the Hololive figure collection:

This is the second Usada Pekora figure in this line. The first Nendoroid came out in 2022. That’s still available through places like Amazon for the standard $54.99 price.

The Usada Pekora Casual Outfit Nendoroid will debut in Japan in October 2025, and the Hololive figure will show up worldwide in Q1 2026. Pre-orders are open until July 23, 2025. You can see the performer at Pekora Ch. on YouTube.

The post Latest Hololive Nendoroid Is a Casual Usada Pekora Figure appeared first on Siliconera.

Square Enix announced that more Kingdom Hearts mouse pads are on the way, with four circular options and one desk-size option coming to Japan. These will debut there on September 20, 2025. While these items will likely appear worldwide, as Amazon and Square Enix Store both do carry past and other series designs, none of them are currently on any US storefronts just yet.

As the Kingdom Hearts II desk-size mouse pad is the largest, it is also the most expensive. It will cost 3,850円 (~$27). It is over 31 inches by almost 16 inches, and it is designed to cover a substantial area on a desk. These types of mats could also be used when playing card games or engaging in other activities. It features characters like Sora, Riku, Kairi, Roxas, Donald, Goofy, Mickey, Namine, Ansem, and of Organization XIII. 

Here’s how that looks:

The four Kingdom Hearts circular mouse pads are 1,650円 (~$12) each. They are about eight inches around (200mm), so they’re really designed to only be used with mice. These each feature stained glass motifs. One features Xion front and center, with characters like Axel, Saix, Roxas, and Xehanort behind her. The second features Riku with Namine, King Mickey, and Ansem behind him. After that is one with Sora and Kairi back to back, with images of Namine and Roxas behind them. Finally, the last one features Sora in a crown sitting on a throne.

This is how all four of those will look:

As a reminder, all of the past mouse pads in this line featured similar sorts of designs. So circular ones always looked like stained glass windows, and the rectangular full-desk ones featured notable art with multiple characters.

The Kingdom Hearts mouse pads will debut in Japan on September 20, 2025. We’ll likely see them worldwide sometime after that. 

The post New Kingdom Hearts Mouse Pads Debut in September appeared first on Siliconera.

There will be two Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter collector’s editions appearing alongside the standard release of the game after September 19, 2025. However, they won’t both be available at launch. The SteelBook, which features an additional case as a selling point, will debut alongside the Nihon Falcom JRPG. However, all non-game and SteelBook case items in the Bracer Edition sold via Limited Run Games and Clear River Games will ship separately from the game and appear between November 15, 2025 and December 15, 2025. Both all also provide permanent access to the Launch Celebration Pack of DLC costumes and items that will otherwise only be available until October 19, 2025.

The SteelBook Edition of Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter is $79.99. This includes a normal case with foil embossed slipcover, the SteelBook case, and a physical Switch or PS5 copy to start. We also get the Classic Estelle and Joshua DLC costumes based on their appearances in The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky. The Launch Celebration Pack is a part of this bonus as well.

The Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter Bracer Edition is the more expensive of the two at $179.99. It comes with everything in the SteelBook Edition. However, more physical items are. included. There’s an art book, a mini soundtrack CD, a replica of the Bracer Guild notebook, a cloth map showing the whole Liberl region, and a music box that plays the theme song called “The Whereabouts of Light.” 

Here’s a gallery showing how both of these Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter collector’s editions will look: 

In addition to the two Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter collector’s editions, there is also a set with other accessories and items. Pin Box confirmed it will sell a Bracer Supply Box. That costs $272.66 and includes items like a replica Orbment with Orbment Quartz and take on Estelle’s bag. 

Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter will come to the Switch, PS5, and PC on September 19, 2025.

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Square Enix set up new Final Fantasy XIV social media s, with the company now discussing FFXIV on Bluesky. There are actually four s on the service, and all of them currently shared the first announcement post and teaser video. This means people can follow the MMORPG there in English, French, German, and Japanese.

In the reveal, Square Enix noted this isn’t a replacement for any of the other FFXIV social media s. It’s designed to complement them instead. It is unknown if everything we see on, say, the X and Instagram s will also be mirrored on the FFXIV Bluesky . However, right now there are posts on both of those matching the new announcement. As this is the most recent notice on every platform, we’ll need to keep an eye on s in the future to see if every message will always appear everywhere.

It is important to note that the different language FFXIV social media s can post unique news based on what is relevant to the region, so we could see that happen with the Bluesky one. For example, June 6th is “Sheep Day” in Japan, and only the official Japanese X shared a screenshot from Solution Nine. 

This means we’ll have another option to check for possible announcements from events. There will be a Letter from the Producer LIVE LXXXVII held on June 20, 2025. Then on July 4, 2025, there will be a with Naoki Yoshida that will touch on games at Anime Expo 2025.

Final Fantasy XIV is available for the PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC. A mobile adaptation is in development.

The post New FFXIV Social Media Opens on Bluesky appeared first on Siliconera.

Square Enix announced that two Final Fantasy XVI books will appear outside Japan, with The Art of FFXVI: Echoes of the Rising Tide art book and LOGOS: The World of FFXVI lore compilation both appearing in English in 2026. LOGOs will appear first on March 31, 2026, followed by the art book on May 5, 2026. 

I suppose someone could consider LOGOS to be similar to the Ultimania Final Fantasy books, only this is written from the perspective of Final Fantasy XVI character Harpocrates II Hyperboreos and others to go over lore. Square Enix also has Ben Starr as Clive, Stewart Clarke as Dion, and Christopher York as Gav writing segments as their characters to help provide additional insights into the people they played. That will cost $44.99, and the Square Enix Online Store version comes with bookmarks. 

Here are official photos of the cover, bookmarks, and some of its pages. 

The Art of Final Fantasy XVI: Echoes of the Rising Tide is the second art book for this entry, as the first FFXVI one showed up in 2023. While LOGOS is a 256-page tome, this is a lighter, 96-page book. That’s because it specifically focuses on the Echoes of the Fallen and The Rising Tide DLC released after launch. The Square Enix Online Store version comes with an A4-size print of Kazuya Takahashi’s art of the cast. 

Square Enix shared initial images of the bonus art and this book as well.

LOGOS: The World of Final Fantasy XVI will launch on March 31, 2026, The Art of FFXVI: Echoes of the Rising Tide will debut on May 5, 2026, and the game is on the PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC now.

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During a Shift Up Producers' Creative Dialogue Special Livestream that included NieR: Automata creator Yoko Taro and producer Yosuke Saito, a rerun of that crossover event in Goddess of Victory: NIKKE ended up confirmed. That collaboration comes back on July 3, 2025. This is almost two years after its debut in September 2023. 

Since this is a rerun event, we do know quite a bit about what to expect from it. 2B and A2 appeared as the banner units and were SSR ones, while Pascal showed up as an SR unit we could earn. A special story appeared involving Machine Lifeforms. There were also costumes, with 2B getting a YoRHa Uniform 1 design. It is unknown if we could see more characters or costumes in the rerun yet.

Here’s the PV from the original run of that NieR: Automata Goddess of Victory: NIKKE crossover:

The full Producers' Creative Dialogue Special Livestream can be seen below:

This means we’ll see one crossover collab come to Goddess of Victory: NIKKE after another. The Stellar Blade one kicks off on June 12, 2025. That features Eve and Raven as banner characters, Lily as one we can earn from the event, and Providence as a boss we can fight. There will also be Neurolink and Skin Suit costumes for Eve that are based on attire from the game.

All three of these games are tied together in another way too. Stellar Blade got both NieR: Automata and Goddess of Victory: NIKKE DLC added to it after launch.

Goddess of Victory: NIKKE is available on PCs and mobile devices, and the NieR: Automata event returns on July 3, 2025. The game is available on the PS4, Switch, Xbox One, and Windows PC. The anime adaptation is streaming via Crunchyroll. Stellar Blade is on the PS5 and PC.

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A new crossover merchandise collection pairing Spy x Family characters with Sanrio mascots will appear in Japan. Shueisha revealed the new collaboration on the Japanese official website for the Spy x Family franchise.

This crossover will pair all four of the Forger family with different Sanrio mascots. It will respectively pair Loid with Pompompurin, Yor with My Melody, Anya with Hello Kitty, and Bond with Cinnamoroll. The Anya-Hello Kitty pair will also have an additional non-chibi artwork in the overall lineup.

The new merchandise collection will be primarily available physically via pop-up stores set to appear temporarily in Tokyo (Ikebukuro), Osaka (Umeda), and Fukuoka (Tenjin) in the latter half of August 2025. Online pre-orders for the goods are also immediately available via Toho Animation Store. However, the Japanese web store only s domestic shipments without any international forwarding widget.

Here is the complete list of merchandise, along with the prices in Japanese yen:

• Anya drawstring purse - ¥2,420
• Anya & Hello Kitty mesh pouch - ¥2,420
• Clear cards - ¥660 for a random item or ¥6,600 for the complete 10-in-1 set
• Heart-shaped badges - ¥660 for a random item or ¥6,600 for the complete 10-in-1 set
• Clear file (2 designs) - ¥440 each
• Die cut sticker (5 designs) - ¥440 each
• Acrylic stand (4 designs) - ¥1,100 each
• Set of two multi clips (4 designs) - ¥1,100 each
• Hand towel - ¥880
• Mini pouch - ¥1,430
• Canvas board - ¥3,850
• Big acrylic stand of Anya & Hello Kitty - ¥1,650
• Lunch tote bag - ¥1,650
• Tote bag (2 designs) - ¥2,200 each
• Can mirror (4 designs) - ¥770 each
• Acrylic keychain - ¥990 for a random item or ¥4,950 for the complete 5-in-1 set

The Spy x Family - Sanrio Characters Pop Up Store will be available August 13-31, 2025. Online pre-orders of the merchandise are immediately available in Japan, and Toho Animation Store will ship the products domestically starting in September 2025.

The post Spy x Family Sanrio Crossover Merchandise Will Appear appeared first on Siliconera.

Nintendo used its Nintendo Today app to announce a new Splatoon Raiders spin-off game and Splatoon 3 update for the Switch 2. While there’s no release date for the new title, the patch that adds upgrades is 10.0.0 and debuts on June 12, 2025. This comes after the company ended new events and additions in September 2024 for Splatoon 3.

In the case of Splatoon 3, this will be one of the free Switch 2 patches to enhance the game. Of course it will run better on the new system and look better there. There will also be crossplay between folks on the Switch and Switch 2. Urchin Under will debut as a stage, 30 weapon kits will be part of a Splatlands weapon collection, more Badges will appear, Freshness caps will be higher. Finally, Anarchy Battle will use Series Weapon Power to ensure even weapons you’re trying for the first time or learning will be as powerful as ones you’ve mastered. 

In the case of Splatoon Raiders, the first trailer teased players as a pilot and mechanic heading to Spirhalite Islands alongside Shiver, Frye, and Big Man from Deep Cut. The trio learned about potential treasure there. Following a crash, it looks like we’ll explore areas alongside a robot. Other segments also showed our avatar fishing and hanging out with characters at a camp. That segment closed on a teaser of a major beam of light emerging from the ground and unusual storm brewing around it.

Here’s the official trailer for both the new game and Switch 2 upgrade. 

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Astro’s Playroom on the PS5 set something of a standard for console “tech demo” launch games and showpieces. It educated while also acting as a genuinely pleasant and compelling platformer. Especially since it ended up being a free pack-in for the system. Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour is the equivalent for Nintendo’s newest console generation and, while it is education and enlightening, it is nowhere near as enjoyable. Especially since it comes with a $9.99 price tag.

The setup for Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour is one of the things I genuinely appreciate about this application. It’s set up in the same way as the sort of console experiences for this system ahead of launch. You pick an avatar for yourself out of a line of pre-generated folks waiting to get into a Nintendo Exhibit. Once your time comes, you head out onto a show floor organized on top of a giant Switch 2 and its peripherals. So the experience begins on Joy-Con 2 (L) Area, with more opening up as you collect stamps and unlock new difficulty levels for the minigame tech demos or additional locations. You can also chat with other attendees. The concept is sound, the design is great, and I love the style.

Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour is broken down into two types of experiences. One involves short quizzes taken after reading an article describing either an element of the console or its one of its peripherals’ design. The other involves an interactive display of some feature tied to the device. So in Joy-Con 2 (L) Area, you can take quizzes about the construction of the controller, play Dodge the Spiked Balls: Survival Mode, and play Find the Strongest Rumble: Along a Line. The quizzes there cover things like the new rumble feature, while the activities show off the mouse-based elements of the new controller and HD Rumble 2. Once you do enough there to earn its stamps, you unlock Area B, which is Nintendo Switch 2 Console Area. 

The execution of everything is fine too. There’s a fast travel option that comes up after you reach Area B. The UI is clear, so it is easy to see how many stamps you collected. Since the minigames are all essentially tech demos, there are ample explanations and they’re usually quite educational. The quality isn’t something I’d call into question.

I’m just not a big fan of how Nintendo handled the content presented here. The information for the quiz sections is fascinating. I did feel like I understood the console, controllers, dock, and camera much better after going through them. They aren’t challenging either, so long as you pay attention. But while they’re novel, I would probably never gone through them if I didn’t need some easy stamps. They weren’t so interesting that I consider them required reading.

Likewise, the minigames present in Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour are nowhere near as joyful and fun as Astro’s Playroom. I think I might have had more fun with 1-2-Switch. I know I liked Nintendo Land better. None of the minigames here are memorable, and they all feel like tech demos manned by overly enthusiastic staff trying to manufacture a “good time” while nudging you along like, “Hey, see how this works here? Try this! Neat, right? Right?” Some are incredibly bland, like HDR Fireworks designed to show the difference between brightness in SDR and HDR. At worst, I felt like I did the thing and at least got a stamp out of it. At best, I thought the educational element of it ended up being worthwhile. Especially in Super Mario Bros 4K, which helped show how many pixels the original Super Mario Bros 1-1 level took up, the way HD Rumble 2 mimics sensations in Maracas Physics, and appreciated how Open the GL/GR Locks got me used to using the new buttons on the Switch 2 Pro Controller. 

Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour works fine. It’s totally functional and educational. It just isn’t fun in the same way games like Nintendo Land and Astro’s Playroom are. Considering this is a product that costs real money, I feel like there needed to be more to it in order to make it worthwhile. If it was even $4.99, rather than $9.99, I might consider recommending it for the insights and experiences that can sometimes be fascinating. As-is, you’ll probably pick out the more novel elements and upgrades to the new system while playing better games like Mario Kart World. 

Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour is available for the Switch 2. 

The post Review: Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour Is Disappointing appeared first on Siliconera.

From June 14, 2025, Avail stores will start stocking Sanrio and Vocaloid collaboration clothing featuring characters like Hatsune Miku and Cinnamoroll. They’ll also appear in the online stores, though Avail does not offer international shipping.

As a note, the only characters with items who appear in this collection are Miku with Cinnamoroll, Rin with Pompompurin, Len with Badtz-Maru, and Luka with My Melody. Kaito and Meiko do have Sanrio counterparts, but Avail is not stocking any items featuring their color schemes or designs.

As for the actual apparel, you can buy:

• Miniskirt: 2800 JPY
• Pullover shirt: 2800 JPY
• Set: 5800 JPY
• Track jacket (design 1): 3300 JPY
• Track jacket (design 2): 3800 JPY
• T-shirt: 2300 JPY

With the exception of the T-shirts, the designs for each item has a black base with the Vocaloid character’s signature color as an accent. The set includes a shirt and a bottom, along with arm warmers. Aside from clothing, Avail also offers little accessories. This time, the accessories do include Kaito/Tuxedosam and Meiko/Pochacco. You can purchase:

• Bottle holder (insulated): 1200 JPY
• Cloth bag: 590 JPY
• Mini tote bag: 1500 JPY
• Mini towel: 490 JPY
• Reusable bag: 1200 JPY
• Seat cushion: 1200 JPY
• Stickers: 900 JPY
• Tote bag: 1800 JPY
• Waist cushion: 1500 JPY
• Wall pockets: 1200 JPY

All the Sanrio character and Vocaloid collaboration clothes and items featuring Hatsune Miku and other singers will appear in Avail stores in Japan, both physical and online, from June 14, 2025.

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Back in 2021, Square Enix and Victoria Rosenthal released The Ultimate Final Fantasy XIV Cookbook: The Essential Culinarian Guide to Hydaelyn. You can still find that for $29.99 on stores like Amazon. Now, a companion to it will appear, as volume 2 of the FFXIV cookbook launches in October 2025. The Square Enix Online Store and Amazon are already taking pre-orders for $34.99 each.

The full title this time is The Ultimate Final Fantasy XIV Cookbook Volume 2: The Culinarian’s Journey from Shadow to Shore. This is to represent the regions covered in this installment. While the first entry primarily covered the base game, Heavensward, and Stormblood, this one includes food from the expansions Shadowbringers, Endwalker, and Dawntrail. 70 total recipes based on meals from the game will appear, and there will be step-by-step instructions and photos of how everything should look. 

Only three specific meals ended up being confirmed for this book so far. One is the Alpine Breakfast that debuted in Heavensward, and will likely involve ingredients like bread, eggs, cheese, chicken, spinach, and tomatoes. The Tacos de Carne Asada are a Dawntrail recipe. In-game, this dish involves items like flour, meat, garlic, onion, paprika, and pepper. Finally, Pudding of Perseverance & Prominence will be in there, though I can’t seem to find a counterpart for that.

The Ultimate Final Fantasy XIV Cookbook Volume 2: The Culinarian’s Journey from Shadow to Shore will debut in October 2025, and FFXIV is available for the PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC. 

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Idol Corp announced on its official social media that the Vtubers Coni Confetti, Kai Saikota, and Nikki Rei will all graduate, but all three will perform at a concert at OffKai Expo Gen 4 between June 20-22, 2025 ahead of their June 30, 2025 graduation date. Of the three, only Nikki will continue to perform as an indie under the same identity after that date. 

First, here is the Idol Corp announcement that stated the three Vtubers would be leaving the company by June 30, 2025. It thanked all three of item. It also noted that anyone who attends OffKai Expo Gen 4 will be able to leave fan letters for the performers at the San Jose, California event. 

Each of the performers also shared messages on social media and, in some cases, during streams that went over the announcement. On June 8, 2025, Coni Confetti said on social media, “…I cant do an announcement stream or grad stream cus im [sic] locked out of my stuff right now LMAO.” She did share this message, however:

Kai Saikota said in her first message, “ive [sic] loved being your dragon god for every second of it. youve [sic] changed my life in ways i [sic] could have never imagined. thank [sic] you for always loving me.” She also shared a stream going over her decision and graduation.

Finally, Nikki Rei shared an extended statement on social media and announced she would hold a stream on YouTube to answer questions at 11am PT/2pm ET on June 9, 2025. You can read the full comment below:

You can watch her stream below:

The last major group of departures from Idol happened after Brave Group acquired the company in August 2024, as five people chose to leave. One of the more notable who left back then was Rin Penrose. 

Coni Confetti, Kai Saikota, and Nikki Rei will graduate from Idol Corp by June 30, 2025, but all three Vtubers will perform at OffKai Expo Gen 4 before that happens.

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