Microsoft is bringing Xbox Live cross-platform support to Nintendo Switch, iOS and Android devices, according to Eurogamer.

The announcement was teased from the conference schedule details for GDC 2019 – which has since been taken down – and will take place next month.

Xbox Live achievements, friends, game history and multiplayer abilities across the other platforms will be available after the release.

The description read: "Xbox Live is about to get MUCH bigger. Xbox Live is expanding from 400m gaming devices and a reach to over 68m active players to over 2bn devices with the release of our new cross-platform XDK. Get a first look at the SDK to enable game developers to connect players between iOS, Android, and Switch in addition to Xbox and any game in the Microsoft Store on Windows PCs."

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Amazon's Echo devices are on sale right now, and if you're looking to grab onto the leading edge of the sci-fi future promised to us in movies, Echo is a great place to start. Video phones never really caught on in the way the 1990s thought they would, but we do have the new Echo Show, which is about as close as you can get. And the voice-controlled future of Star Trek is baked right into every Echo device.

What's even cooler is the integration of Amazon's Alexa service into non-Echo devices. There's a wide assortment of household electronics and appliances with Alexa built-in, and even more that work with the help of an Echo device. The AmazonBasics microwave, for example, can be controlled with your voice by pairing it with an Echo device. Picking up a remote control is some last-century nonsense. We don't have mind-controlled devices (yet), so this is as close as it gets without getting creepy.

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The Avengers: Endgame Super Bowl spot on Sunday night had fans questioning some shots in the 30-seconds of new footage, whether if a character was edited out as to not give away any spoilers.

The curiosity arose in regards to two main shots, which appear to have awkward gaps between the characters.

Looks like someone is edited out here too. Between War Machine and Scott. pic.twitter.com/AOoa9fk2ry

— Melly (@squoctobird) February 4, 2019

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For better or for worse, playing The Division 2 doesn’t immediately feel that different from the first game. The sound effects on kills remain intact, the cover system, the core mechanics and modes are all there. And it turns out that this familiar feeling is because the development team at Massive is beginning with the huge patch 1.8 from the original and using it as the bedrock of the sequel.

This similarity will be incredible news if you’re already a fan of The Division, and it gets better as they plan to launch with an endgame focus and some Dark Zone and Organized PVP changes. In addition to everything in 1.8, they promise weekly missions, strongholds, and clans which will be important for the team-based activities. Especially because the eight-player raids were teased again, though no further details were shown as of yet.

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Remaking a video game is a tricky situation. A developer needs to retain the overall feel of the original to avoid alienating the fanbase while updating the game to meet the expectations of modern gamers. Crash Team Racing: Nitro Fueled, at least so far, manages to find that distinct groove between retro and cutting edge.

Let’s get the obvious out of the way: CTR’s reboot looks fantastic. As eye-popping as its reveal was at The Game Awards last December, Crash Team Racing looks even better in person. Beenox has developed this remake from the ground up, using bespoke assets, sound effects, and animations to create something wholly their own. Even at top speed, you’ll see little flourishes and secrets hidden behind the twists and turns of the course you’re on. It’s a nice touch and one that absolutely could not have existed in the original back in 1999.

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Michael Condrey, Sledgehammer Games co-founder and former Visceral Games COO, has been announced as the president of a new 2K Games development studio in Silicon Valley.

Condrey, who recently co-directed Call of Duty: WW2 and helped establish the Dead Space franchise, will build and lead a new development team to work on an unannounced project. Condrey co-founded Sledgehammer for Activision in 2009, where he was responsible for the studio’s creative direction, production and business operations. He also contributed to games in the James Bond 007, Need for Speed and FIFA franchises.

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Bumble, a 20-week old Aussie Shepherd playing in her rookie year in the prestigious Puppy Bowl, has been officially named the Puppy Bowl XV MVP. Hailing from Hauser Lake, Idaho, Bumble showed dogged determination in the face of alpha competition as part of the 2019 Starting Line-Up at this year's Puppy Bowl.

The historic 15th year of Puppy Bowl pitted champion against chomp'ion, as the tail-to-tail prizewinners Team Fluff returned on the hunt for a flea-peat, while the former best-in-show Team Ruff now found itself the underdogs after having been left to lick their wounds for two straight years of rough Ruff losses. Neither canine team had any intention of letting go of the rope in this vicious tug-o-war, and every one of these pups came to play!

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Marvel fans just got another glimpse of Avengers: Endgame thanks to a teaser that aired with the Big Game.

While it wasn’t very long, this teaser offers a better look at how the Avengers are coping with their defeat in Infinity War.

Here’s every detail we were able to glean from the new Super Bowl spot.

The Decimation Fallout

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Hearthstone’s most recent expansion – Rastakhan’s Rumble – followed the trend of the last few sets by introducing a brand new hero card into the game. This time, it was the forest troll chieftain and warlord, Zul’jin. He’s a well-known character in World of Warcraft, but how did Blizzard’s Team 5 go about adapting him for Hearthstone? Lead Initial Designer Peter Whalen told me all about it.

IGN: Before we dig into Zul’jin specifically, I’d love to know broadly what you’ve learned about designing hero cards - from the Death Knights through to subsequent cards and how that informs what you might do looking ahead.

Peter Whalen: The biggest lesson I've learned about hero cards is that people love hero cards. They absolutely love them. When we did the Death Knights in Knights of the Frozen Throne, people really liked them then. We took a set off and then we brought them back with Hagatha

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