The Nintendo Switch Pro Controller is on sale for $63 at Amazon, and we wouldn’t be surprised to see this sell out rather quickly. Though a 10% discount probably sounds small (retail price is $70), it’s exceedingly rare to find the controller for less than its MSRP at a major retailer. The Pro Controller is even resistant to discounts during big sales events like Black Friday and Prime Day. Joy-Con controllers are similarly averse to sales, but right now you can get red and blue Joy-Con bundle with Super Mario Party for only $79 at Walmart. It’s quite the day for Nintendo controller offers.

The Nintendo Switch Pro Controller released alongside the console in 2017, but it’s still one of the best controllers on the market. It ticks all the right boxes for its design, which features an attractive translucent shell that shows off the internal hardware, an absurdly strong battery life, and a wonderfully ergonomic design that makes this feel like a premium extra for your Switch.

It also supports near-field communication for Nintendo Amiibo figures, offers HD rumble, and has built-in motion controls. Even if you don’t have a Switch, this controller will work great on PC, Mac, Steam Deck, and mobile devices via Bluetooth or with the included USB-C cable.

One other smart piece of engineering here can be found on the face buttons, which are larger than the ones found on Xbox Wireless Controllers or PlayStation DualSense peripherals, making this an idea piece of technology for younger members of your household.

This Switch Pro controller deal isn’t the only one worth considering, though. Right now, you can grab the best third-party controller alternative for a great price. The 8BitDo Ultimate Bluetooth Controller is on sale for $55 (down from $70) at Amazon. This price only applies to the white, but you can also save on the other color variants. The 8BitDo Ultimate has some cool features not found in Nintendo’s first-party controller, including a pair of mappable back buttons, three custom profiles, adjustable stick/trigger sensitivity and rumble intensity, and Hall Effect sticks.

Samus Aran from the Metroid series almost made an appearance in Fortnite, but Nintendo and Epic couldn’t agree on how she’d be implemented.

In an interview with Game File, former Epic Games chief creative officer Donald Mustard said that Nintendo declined Epic’s offer to have Samus join Fortnite. “They got really hung up on their characters showing up on platforms that weren’t their platforms,” Mustard explained. “They would be thrilled to have Nintendo characters in Fortnite, but just only if it’s on their platform.”

Mustard went on to say that Epic and Nintendo couldn’t come to a mutual decision because of Fortnite’s content parity across all platforms. Epic wanted the game to be the same experience no matter what device players were on.

Nintendo is the only console platform holder that doesn’t have a representative in Fortnite. For PlayStation, God of War’s Kratos joined the game and for Xbox, Halo’s Master Chief joined the fray, among many other gaming characters, such as Nathan Drake and Lara Croft.

Back during Epic and Apple’s legal battle, court documents revealed that Epic wanted to implement Samus, but that somehow never came to be and there was no clear reason as to why. Now, we know. The inclusion of Samus in Fortnite was even heavily teased back in a Fortnite comic that released in 2021.

Fortnite is still introducing more collaborations, and one with pop star Billie Eilish is coming on April 23.

An extra controller is a necessity for Switch owners, and while the official Nintendo Pro controller is a great piece of tech, 8BitDo has a terrific and feature-packed alternative that’s worth considering. The 8BitDo Ultimate Bluetooth Controller is on sale for as low as $53.54. This specific price applies to the eye-catching red color variant and requires you to click the coupon box on the listing to get the full discount. Alternatively, you can get the white model for $55 or the black version for $56.69 with a bonus coupon. The 8BitDo Ultimate Bluetooth Controller is GameSpot’s favorite third-party Switch controller and is already a bargain at its $70 list price–so you shouldn’t miss out on this deal.

The red and blue models also come with stylish optional thumbstick caps.

This controller is fantastic for many reasons: It has Hall Effect analog sticks that mitigate stick drift, two remappable back buttons that perfectly align with the controller’s stellar ergonomics, and offers robust customization. Plus, it comes with a matching charging dock. A compartment on the bottom of the dock stores the 2.4GHz adapter, which can be used as an alternative to Bluetooth for a wireless connection. It also comes with a detachable USB-C cable, if you prefer a hardwired connection.

As mentioned, the 8BitDo Ultimate is also incredibly customizable, as you can store up to three profiles on it and use 8BitDo’s mobile and PC app to fine-tune the device to your liking. From remapping inputs to adjusting trigger and rumble sensitivity and analog stick dead zones, you’re getting a bunch of features normally found in controllers that cost twice the price or more.

Though the 8BitDo Ultimate Bluetooth Controller is primarily considered a Nintendo Switch controller, it also works wirelessly with PC, Mac, Steam Deck, iOS, Android, Analogue Pocket, and more devices–its three connection types help make this particular 8BitDo controller one of the most versatile options around.

You’ll get around 20 hours of battery life on a full charge, and the charging dock offers a convenient way to get your controller ready for your next session.

“The 8BitDo Pro 2 Ultimate and Pro 2 are the best Switch controllers when it comes to customization,” we wrote in our best Nintendo Switch controller feature. “These controllers have features that pro-style controllers sold for twice the price or more don’t have. Incredible value.”

You can check out the 8BitDo Pro 2 at Amazon. The Pro 2 is particularly great for retro games and is a great choice for those who prefer aligned, PlayStation-style sticks.

It’s worth noting that the official Nintendo Switch Pro Controller is on sale for $63 at Amazon. Though this is only a 10% discount, deals on Nintendo controllers are very rare. If you need more Switch controllers for your next game night, you should also take a look at Walmart’s Joy-Con bundle deal.

Konami, the publisher behind critically acclaimed franchises such as Metal Gear, Silent Hill, and Castlevania, earned a reputation for stashing cheat codes for many of its older games. Just recently, fans of 1999 Castlevania: Legacy of Darkness discovered a previously unknown code that gives the name new life.

In a video explained by JupiterClimb (via The Gamer), a YouTuber who makes Metroidvanias and Konami games, this code makes it “the definitive way to play Castlevania.” All players have to do is input the original code twice, which is: C-Up x4, C-Down x4, C-Left x2, C-Right x2, C-Left x2, C-Right x2, L, R, Z. After doing this, players will unlock all playable characters alongside their alt uniforms. Prior to this, the only way to unlock all the characters was by beating the game twice.

It’s also worth mentioning that this code unlocks the game’s hard mode. To get it, all players must do is reach a save point, quit, and reload. Once they’ve done that, they can play the game on hard. That’s not the only code that was newly discovered. Another allows players to max out their inventory, while another one gives players 99 jewels, and the last one maxes out the power of the player’s weapons and sub-weapons. It’s worth noting that these two codes formerly worked only with the PAL and JPN versions of the game.

These codes were discovered by Moises and LiquidCat, who are both members of the Castlevania 64 Discord server. Moises was able to find this cheat by looking through the game’s code, while LiquidCat discovered what the code actually did.

For more gaming news, check out our story on how Fortnite will now let players block specific emotes and our story detailing how 7 Days To Die is leaving early access.

There are a handful of Fortnite emotes that have become primarily known for their toxicity, and Epic Games is taking the unusual step of adding a toggle to the game settings that will allow you to never have to see other players do them.

The setting in question, which will be implemented in Tuesday’s update that kicks off Fortnite Festival Season 3, is the “See Confrontational Emotes” toggle under Account and Privacy. There are three options: Always see them, never see them, or only see them if your party members are doing them. If you choose to block these emotes, players will appear motionless to you, as if they hadn’t fired off an emote at all, when they use one of them. But regardless of which option you choose, you’ll always be able to see and hear the emotes if you do them.

There are currently four emotes that are affected by this: Laugh It Up (aka the donkey laugh), Take the L, Whipcrack, and Make It Plantain. Laugh It Up and Take The L are included because they’re common and particularly obnoxious taunts that players have complained about for years. Whipcrack and Make It Plantain, meanwhile, are popular among racist trolls.

Take the L was a battle pass emote from six years ago, so nobody’s been able to get that since then. The other three emotes were all sold in the item shop, but it’s been about six months since Whipcrack, which is a DC Comics emote belonging to Catwoman, and Make It Plantain have been available. And Laugh It Up hasn’t been sold in nearly two years, as Epic likely wanted it out of circulation a while ago.

By adding this toggle to the settings, Epic gets to avoid the hassle of removing any of these emotes from the game–usually Epic gives refunds when it does that, and permanently removing an old battle pass item would surely cause an uproar from the community.

Atlus has announced that its latest RPG, Metaphor: ReFantazio, will launch on October 11 for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S.

In a recent livestream, director Katsura Hashino states that he worked on previous Atlus titles such as Shin Megami Tensei III, Persona 3, Persona 4, and Persona 5. Persona composer Shoji Meguro is returning to do ReFantazio’s soundtrack and Nier: Automata concept artist Koda Kazuma is contributing as a guest artist.

Now Playing: Metaphor: ReFantazio — The Royal Tournament Trailer