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Asia Gaming Beat: 11 January 2025
Hello and welcome! This weekly feature-slash-newsletter is the fruit of our collaboration with awesome independent Malaysia news website Twenty Two 13.
In a nutshell, we recap the best gaming news from all over Asia and the rest of the world. We also list out the games that are out in the week as well as bring up videos and feature pieces that are worth bringing up for Asian gaming audiences to tune into. As this is the start of 2025, we will be spotlighting editorials and feature videos from the tail end of last year.
2025 might be a slower year when compared to the windfall of game releases that was last year. Truth be told, we had trouble just restricting our picks to just 40 games for our Best Of list last year when there were more than 60 to choose from.
A quick Google search for 2025 game releases lists a lot of titles, but half these titles have the generic 2025 release window, and there’s a good chance they will have actual dates and delays locked down. At least until the next big games showcase from Geoff Keighley who basically controls the E3-style narrative at this point and major companies like Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo.
Speaking of which, the Big N will have to officially announce the worst-kept secret in the games industry right now: the Nintendo Switch 2. As far as we know from insiders and rumour mills, the device will officially be announced later in January 2025 and will be released on March 2025, much like the Nintendo Switch’s release schedule back in 2017.
Take these tidbits with a grain of salt, but Nintendo is gearing up to dominate the gaming landscape in 2025 and 2026 after taking the foot off the pedal in 2024.
Professional wrestler Kenny Omega has a new entrance music theme out during last weekend’s New Japan Pro Wrestling World annual show. It’s made by Final Fantasy composers Nobuo Uematsu and Masayoshi Soken, with vocals by Jason Miller.
Nintendo Switch 2 prototypes and third-party companies have been leaked during the past weekend. We get an alleged first look at the Nintendo Switch 2 controller, which is basically similar to the Switch 1 controller but with extra padding.
There will be a new Minecraft sequel, made under Minecraft creator/billionaire Markus “Notch” Persson.
PlatinumGames’ action title Bayonetta has celebrated its 15th anniversary teasing a new announcement related to the series. The Asian company would not have reached its level of fame were it not for the spiritual successor to Capcom’s Devil May Cry series.
Sonic The Hedgehog 3, the third in a series of films adapted from Sega’s Sonic The Hedgehog game series in the 90s, has amassed a worldwide box office grossing of US$336 million at this time of writing. The movie came out in Malaysia & Southeast Asia regions from 26 December onward. On a related note, the digital release of Sonic The Hedgehog 3 is slated for 21 January via Paramount+, a month after the film’s release in cinemas. The Netflix releases will probably follow suit.
The next Virtua Fighter game from Sega, the long-awaited follow-up to the Virtua Fighter series, was teased at CES 2025 during an NVidia keynote presentation by CEO Jensen Huang. Sega then uploaded a few more seconds of gameplay featuring a mirror match of Virtua Fighter iconic character Akira. It looked impressive despite being just in-game footage and not “gameplay”.
Also during CES 2025, Sony Pictures and PlayStation Pictures announced two upcoming live-action adaptations of the following titles: Helldivers and Horizon: Zero Dawn. Both are currently in the works, but no other details or information were revealed, including the cast or release windows.
Kakuchopurei has gathered a good number of gaming media folks and game developers from Southeast Asia to bring up their favourite Southeast Asian-made games and demos of 2024. The developers and creators of these elected games have also received their digital certificates courtesy of Kakuchopurei.
Freedom Wars Remastered (PlayStation 5, PC, Nintendo Switch) – A remaster of a 2014 PlayStation Vita title that combines the giant-slaying gameplay of Monster Hunter, the grappling hook system from Bionic Commando titles, and the sci-fi prison dystopia of numerous works of fiction inspired by Tom Godwin. This revamp features improved controls, 4K resolution and 60 frames-per-second, reworked upgrade systems, and a new difficulty level called Deadly Sinner for those who didn’t find the base game challenging enough.
Wuthering Waves (PlayStation 5) – Last year’s new action-adventure China-made game that follows the Genshin Impact template made its debut on the PlayStation 5.
Sea Fantasy (PC) – An indie action RPG where you fish your heart out while searching for the elusive SeaAZ worldwide.
Ys Memoire: The Oath in Felghana (PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch) – Falcom’s remake of the third mothership entry in the action RPG series starring plucky red-haired adventurer Adol is finally out for Nintendo Switch and recent PlayStation consoles.
SEAGamethetic hosted a Southeast Asia Games Onward 2024 showcase, highlighting upcoming SEA-made games for 2025 and onward.
Kakuchopurei has released its eclectic game music list of 2024, featuring the best aural pleasures from the games industry worldwide.
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