February has arrived, and as with every new month, it comes with a new batch of LEGO sets. There aren’t many new sets this month (just wait for the wild deluge scheduled for March 1), but all of them are worth a look. We’ve got the first Pokémon LEGO sets releasing toward the end of the month, plus a couple more sets, all of which are detailed below. Let’s dive in.

Featured in this article

Is you’re just looking for a quick list of what’s coming this month, just scroll through the catalog above. There are only five sets for February 2026.

Eevee - LEGO Pokemon

Pikachu and Poké Ball - LEGO Pokemon

Venusaur, Charizard and Blastoise - LEGO Pokemon

LEGO Golden Retriever Puppy

LEGO Flower Wall

LEGO Star Trek: U.S.S. Enterprise Is Available at Amazon

New LEGO Gift With Purchase

A big band remix of Super Mario themes just won a Grammy Award, beating Wicked star Cynthia Erivo to win in the Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella category.

Super Mario Praise Break, a five-minute medley of toe-tapping Mario tunes, marks the second win for talented video game soundtrack outfit The 8-Bit Big Band, which previously won in the same category for a Kirby cover back in 2022.

Featuring tunes from throughout the Mario franchise, from its earliest days through Super Mario Galaxy and beyond, you can listen to the Grammy Award-winning composition below:

Jazz Orchestra '8-Bit Big Band' won a Grammy Award for Best Arrangement, Instrumental, or A Cappella for ‘Super Mario Praise Break’

It contains music from Super Mario Bros., Super Mario World, Super Mario 64 and Super Mario Galaxy.https://t.co/dqaA1X7buZ pic.twitter.com/YV0zel6gLt

— Stealth (@Stealth40k) February 2, 2026

Once again, this is an entirely unofficial cover, meaning that Nintendo shares none of the glory (other than having created the original tunes in the first place). The tune beat three other tracks to the award, most notably including Cynthia Erivo, who was nominated for her arrangement of original song Be Okay.

"WE JUST WON OUR 2nd GRAMMY 🤯🤯🤯," The 8-Bit Big Band wrote on social media. "Thank you to everyone who listened and supported to all of our new releases and huge congrats to my co-arrangers on the now Grammy winning Super Mario Praise Break."

Video game nominations remain a rare occurrence at the Grammys. Back in 2011, Civilization 4 theme song Baba Yetu scooped the Grammy Award for Best Arrangement, Instrumental and Vocals. A year later, Austin Wintory's soundtrack for Journey became the first video game soundtrack to receive a Grammy nomination in the Best Score Soundtrack For Visual Media category, though that award was ultimately won by The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

Since 2023, the Grammy Awards have featured a dedicated video game soundtrack category, at least. This year's award was another gong for Austin Wintory, who won for his work on Sword of the Sea. Losing out this year were Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora — Secrets of the Spires, Helldivers 2, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, and Star Wars Outlaws: Wild Card & A Pirate's Fortune.

Despite cover versions from two of its franchises now being Grammy winners, Nintendo has never officially been nominated itself, despite decades of soundtracks and tunes.

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social

I’m a sucker for nostalgia, so I have yet to tire of the enhanced ports, remasters, and remakes that are all the rage these days. I love revisiting games from simpler times, sporting fresh graphics and handy new features, but I also enjoy completely new takes on them I would never have expected. Dragon Quest VII already got the latter treatment on 3DS a decade ago, and now Dragon Quest VII Reimagined is ringing in the 40th anniversary of the series with a fine third iteration, though it’s not one without sacrifices. This time around, there is a clear focus on improving the pacing of one of Dragon Quest’s most notorious entries, and Square Enix has succeeded in that regard – but some of the other adjustments Reimagined makes in an effort to appeal to newer players have come at the expense of longtime fans.

Alone on a small island in a vast ocean, Dragon Quest VII Reimagined tells the tale of a humble fisherman’s son (your main character) and his childhood friends, the outspoken Maribelle and the rebellious and brotherly Prince Keifer, as they seek out fragments of 17 magical tablets in an effort to restore the world. Their quest takes them to the pits of volcanoes, under the sea, high into the sky, and even through time itself, meeting new allies and uncovering dark secrets from history along the way. I’ve always thought Dragon Quest VII stands out among the series, approaching its storytelling in a different and engaging way thanks to those time-travel elements and how it reveals the overarching story over the course of the adventure.

Instead of a single sprawling plot that grows increasingly complex, Dragon Quest VII weaves a tapestry from many seemingly independent strands into a final work of art – a grand story the Dragon Quest games are known for, but one that’s hidden at the start. That really helps drive home its themes of isolation, with the oddly disconnected nature of each island’s tale being lessened as you literally rebuild the world. Add in that you get to see how your actions in the past echo through into the present, and this still remains one of my favorite stories of the Dragon Quest series.

Bringing the world of Dragon Quest VII into the modern era of high-definition graphics, Reimagined sports a brand-new art style inspired by a puppet-and-diorama aesthetic that does a really good job of depicting Akira Toriyama’s original cast of characters. The proportions of these particular heroes have always been a bit more chibi compared to others in the franchise, but here muted tones and being able to see the fabric materials of hats and clothing have replaced the vivid colors and dramatic, anime-inspired outlines that I usually adore about Dragon Quest. The fact that Reimagined removed the 3DS version’s outfit changes for the different vocations saddens me as well. I admittedly found myself growing more accustomed to the puppet-y look as I went, and both my wife and my two-year-old loved to point out how cute everything was as I played, but I’d still be fine if this art style ended up being a “one and done” affair.

Thankfully, Reimagined retains much of the same classic RPG goodness that the Dragon Quest series has held onto these long decades, but it also introduces more goodies than just a facelift to mix up the adventure. New Monster Heart accessories impart unique aspects to the character they are equipped to, such as reducing your MP to zero but doubling your strength or increasing the damage you dish out with each subsequent attack. You can now take out weaker enemies in the field without ever entering combat as well, cutting them down from the world map itself. As nifty as both of these additions are, they are just the tip of the iceberg.

What I found more fun to mess around with and build my team around were the powerful Let Loose attacks, which are super moves that act as Reimagined’s take on the Square staple Limit Break concept, and the ability to have characters equip two vocations at a time. Both of these can result in some deliciously broken combos that feel great to pull off. Anyone currently equipped with the Priest vocation will be able to fully heal and revive the entire party with its Born Again action, while the Troubadour's Encore ability will temporarily reduce the party’s MP costs to zero. My personal favorites were the Champion’s Divide and Monk’s Critical Stance, with the former causing three copies to appear and perform whatever action you pick that turn, and the latter guaranteeing your next physical attack to be a critical hit – a particularly devastating option when using the Monk’s Multifist attack that hits seven times.

It’s nice that the new Moonlighting feature that allows each party member to have two vocations at a time provides both their specific stat buffs and access to their toolkit of spells and abilities. Accessible a few hours after unlocking the vocation system itself, I appreciate the flexibility that Moonlighting offers in adjusting how you want your team to run. What I like even more is that there are no downsides or restrictions with whatever you pick for that Moonlighting spot – both vocations earn the same amount of experience points after combat, and it just speeds up the whole process of unlocking the especially good advanced vocations that require you to have mastered multiple other ones already. Keeping one of those mastered vocations equipped even gives the non-mastered role a boost with extra vocation experience.

The previous versions of Dragon Quest VII, especially the original PlayStation release, were known – almost notoriously so – for how long they could take to play through or get to the cool stuff, like combat or unlocking character classes for your party of heroes. Addressing those pacing issues was a core principle behind Dragon Quest VII Reimagined, and some of those changes are more welcome than others, but the pursuit has been a success overall. You’ll get to swing your sword (or sticks, in this case) at some monsters for the first time within 30 minutes of starting Reimagined, and I was able to get to Alltrades Abbey to unlock the vocation system, the crux of your party customization, around 11 hours later. To put the difference here into perspective, at one point I booted up a save from my 3DS version of Dragon Quest VII that was at roughly the same spot: not only was I five levels higher in Reimagined with twice as many vocations mastered, I had also done all that in half the time. When I rolled credits in Reimagined, I clocked in at just over 46 hours, with my party hovering right around level 50, which is much shorter than both previous versions – although that time doesn’t include either of the post-game dungeons or going for 100%, which will likely put you up to the 70+ hour mark.

It’s no secret that this adjusted pacing has come at the cost of some parts of the original game being removed, with producer Takeshi Ichikawa being transparent about how locations such as El Ciclo, Gröndal, and Providence were left on the cutting room floor. Certain areas and dungeons have been reduced in size, too, with the boat the main character’s father departs on right out of the gate now being only a single level instead of two. The Sunken Citadel in the Wetlock region is another such example, with the dungeon being basically removed altogether and replaced with a short, straight-shot corridor. Losses like that are certainly disappointing, but outside of the occasional dungeon feeling a bit small, I actually really enjoyed how the story flows now, and I never felt an obvious gap or awkward break caused by “missing” content.

What I think has had a more noticeable negative impact on the pacing, though, is how Reimagined has seemingly smoothed over nearly every aspect of the original that could potentially cause even the smallest bit of discomfort or aggravation. That may sound fine on the surface, but it has resulted in the removal of things that have traditionally helped define this series, taking away much of that crucial sense of discovery. When I boot up a Dragon Quest game, I expect that the journey will take me into some headwinds and that there will be points where I struggle with a challenge to overcome. In Reimagined, I found none of that.

In any other Dragon Quest, managing your resources – be it your HP, your MP, or your consumables – is something you always need to keep in mind. For example, you have to weigh the benefits of an encounter with whether or not you can spare the MP to end that fight quickly, at the expense of not being able to cast your biggest spells as many times in the eventual boss fight. In contrast, Reimagined bombards you with free healing statues, respawning items that refill both health and magic are all over the place, characters fully heal whenever they level up, and party members that die during a fight even respawn with a single hit point afterwards, doing away with that classic Dragon Quest imagery of seeing your lone character leading around a parade of colorful coffins in a dreary dungeon. And if you do find yourself in a situation where everyone dies, the penalty is so minimal, forcing you to lose only 1,000 gold as opposed to half of your total, that even that threat is far from scary. The first time I actually had to pay this fee was in the very last dungeon, playing on hard difficulty, and at that point I was more just curious to see what would happen.

Individual carrying bags have been done away with in favor of a single shared inventory as well, making it so you don’t have to worry about strategically divvying up your items. (And you have no need to worry about accidentally equipping a cursed item you can’t get off – those are gone now.) There are some difficulty options you can toggle and adjust, such as lowering or raising the amount of experience, vocation points, or gold you earn after a fight (though, unfortunately, you can’t set them to zero), but none of the other stuff I mentioned is included in those settings. In fact, you can choose to make things even easier for yourself by fully restoring your party after every encounter.

This handholding approach, where you almost can’t fail, even extends into the main questline. So much of the sense of exploration and discovery has been removed, with enough information being fed to you that quests almost turn into a simple matter of glancing over your screen to find where the big icon is. Is there a tablet fragment in your location? You’ll see a marker on your map letting you know one is somewhere nearby, which turns the hunt for them into an almost mundane task to check off a list rather than the epic, world-saving mission it’s made out to be. You don’t even have to try spells out on enemies anymore to know how they might affect them, as an icon over the monster's head will show whether the one you have highlighted is weak or strong against it, or if they will resist it altogether.

Having recently played through last year's spectacular HD-2D remakes of Dragon Quests I & II, all of this smoothing gave me whiplash. That package added some solid accessibility options to help newer players, but it still retained – and in many cases expanded – the challenge of the originals. Dragon Quest VII Reimagined feels like it goes in the complete opposite direction, with the only real challenge coming from the last hour of the story and the post-game grind.

That all said, the more I played this new version, the more I eventually came to accept it for what it was, even if that wasn’t exactly what I was expecting or looking for. Between its faster pacing, toy-like aesthetic, and insistence on reducing pain points, this really is a literal reimagining of Dragon Quest VII as a sort of “My First Dragon Quest” entry point for new players. Once that realization clicked, I just let myself enjoy the ride as I soaked in a story and characters I still adored – I just also had to come to grips with the fact that it wasn’t going to deliver the challenge and discovery that I usually play Dragon Quest games for.

Amazon is offering some excellent discounts at the moment on a select few JRPGs, which is great news for those looking to fill up their game library with something new.

After clipping a coupon on its store page, Metaphor: ReFantazio for PS5 is down to $23 at the retailer, while the Xbox Series X version is down to $32. Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake is another on sale, with its Xbox Series X version down to $20.59 with a coupon and its PS5 and Switch copies down to $34.99. Then there's Octopath Traveler 0, which is down to $31.99 for Xbox Series X with a coupon and $39.99 on all other platforms. Finally, Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake has dropped to $49.99.

Select JRPGs on Sale at Amazon

What's nice is that each of these games has earned a glowing 9/10 rating from us in their respective reviews, and Metaphor: ReFantazio was even chosen as our Game of the Year back in 2024, so they all certainly seem like worthy additions to your library. In particular, for Metaphor: ReFantazio, its PS5 price even marks its lowest price yet, so there's no better time to scoop it up.

It's not the only game that's down to its lowest price at the moment from this selection. Octopath Traveler 0 is another that's now available at its best price so far on all platforms, and Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake for Xbox Series X hits its lowest price if you use the coupon on its store page.

There are plenty of other game deals worth checking out right now, too. Over at Woot, which is an Amazon-owned online retailer, there's a big selection of video game deals available as part of its Video Game Mega Sale, including quite a few Switch deals. If you're stocking up, it's well worth a look before the sale ends on February 6.

Hannah Hoolihan is a freelancer who writes with the guides and commerce teams here at IGN.

Netflix has pulled the curtain back on Stranger Things: Tales From ‘85, the upcoming animated series set between Seasons 2 and 3 of the hit show.

We have a release date, April 23, 2026, a new trailer, below, new images and art, and further voice actor confirmation.

Here’s the story setup:

Return to Hawkins with Stranger Things: Tales From ’85, an exciting new animated series from Showrunner Eric Robles and Executive Producers the Duffer Brothers. In the winter of 1985, snow blankets the town and the horrors of the Upside Down are finally fading. Our heroes Eleven, Mike, Will, Dustin, Lucas, and Max have settled back into a normal life of D&D, snowball fights, and quiet days. But beneath the ice, something terrifying has awakened. Could it be from the Upside Down? From the depths of Hawkins Lab? Or from somewhere else entirely? Our heroes must race to solve this mystery and save Hawkins in this untold story set in the Stranger Things universe.

Something from the Upside Down must have survived…

Stranger Things: Tales From '85, a new animated series, premieres April 23. pic.twitter.com/7lwtOsU0wr

— Netflix (@netflix) February 2, 2026

In the trailer, the main characters from the show encounter what looks like a sort of pumpkin monster. It evolves into a more terrifying creature. We’re told something from the Upside Down survived last year — a reference to prior events in the Stranger Things timeline.

"We get to spend time with these kids in a way that you did not have time to in the flagship series,” commented showrunner and executive producer Eric Robles. “We were able to freeze time and really go on these never before told adventures with them in this timeline.”

Of course, given fans know the events that follow those we see in Tales From ‘85, there is a risk of a lack of stakes here. But Robles insisted that wasn’t the case.

“We want the audience to feel that these kids are in danger, the stakes are real, and bad things can happen to anyone,” Robles said. “And things do happen that are very scary in a sense, so that really makes the danger for the kids that much more tangible."

Stranger Things: Tales From ‘85 features the main characters from Stranger Things itself, but they’re voiced by new actors. Today, Netflix confirmed Jeremy Jordan as the voice of Steve. Jordan is the voice of Lucifer Morningstar in the adult animated musical series Hazbin Hotel.

Stranger Things: Tales From ‘85 voice cast:

• Brooklyn Davey Norstedt is Eleven
• Jolie Hoang-Rappaport is Max
• Luca Diaz as Mike
• Elisha “EJ” Williams as Lucas
• Braxton Quinney as Dustin
• Benjamin Plessala as Will
• Brett Gipson as Hopper
• Jeremy Jordan as Steve
• Odessa A’zion
• Janeane Garofalo
• Lou Diamond Phillips

Stranger Things: Tales From ‘85 comes hot on the heels of Stranger Things Season 5’s dramatic and controversial ending, which wrapped up the main characters’ stories for good (at least, according to creators the Duffer Brothers). The Duffers have ruled out a Stranger Things sequel that would check in on the characters years later, saying it would be “a gross cash grab.” As well as Tales From ‘85, there is an unnamed live-action series spinoff also in the works. We don’t know much about it, but we do know it will address a plot thread left dangling in the Season 5 finale.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

As part of a "month of anniversary surprises," Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead has formally introduced us to the "face of Freedom, the voice of Victory, the light of Liberty… John Helldiver."

In a fascinating deep dive into the writing and casting of the iconic character, actor Craig Lee Thomas and lead writer Russ Nickel discussed developing the face and voice of the game that the fandom has dubbed, quite rightly, John Helldiver.

"Casting was crazy," said Russ Nickel, Helldivers 2's lead writer between 2020 and 2022. "I did all the writing, and then the script went off sort of into the abyss, and I didn't hear anything for a while. Then I found out that it was going to shoot in a week.

"They actually hadn't really done any casting. They were just going to use this actor who's based in Sweden, who was perfectly good, but I was like, 'This is going to be John Helldiver!' (I didn't know that would be his name at the time). We can't just get someone who's good! Like, we need to get the funniest person we can possibly find!"

"From the initial audition, you read for what you can as an actor, and you get excited about so many things," added Thomas, admitting: "But this in particular, as soon as I read it, I was like, ahh, I really, really, really want to do this." So, with very little notice, he recorded a quick audition tape and sent it off. The video includes Thomas' audition and even though his portrayal is a little less amusing than we've come to expect, there's no doubting that it's our John Helldiver.

"Within a couple days, I had gotten self tapes from Craig Lee Thomas, who plays John Helldiver," Nickel explained. "He's perfect. I love that man. He's so good!"

For more, check out the 15-minute featurette on YouTube, complete with insights into the recording and mocap process, and some thoughts from the director of the opening cinematic.

Helldivers 2's next Warbond 'Siege Breakers' will release tomorrow, February 3. As detailed in a recent post by Arrowhead's social media and community manager, this Warbond is for players needing "something to smash through [...] towering foe with impenetrable fortifications,"... which I'm pretty sure means it's needed by all of us.

In September, the studio’s CEO confirmed Helldivers 3 is not in any plan developer Arrowhead has right now, saying that instead it wants Helldivers 2 to keep going for years and years, like veteran MMO RuneScape. The Helldivers 2 movie is also picking up steam, and in December, Helldivers 2 received its big 5.0.0 patch as well as its jungle-themed Python Commandos Warbond, which added a number of fan-requested weapons, including a minigun.

Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world's biggest gaming sites and publications. She's also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.

Nioh 3 is slated to release on Friday, February 6, on PC via Steam and PS5, but the game's latest trailer has revealed that Xbox and maybe even Nintendo Switch 2 owners may not have too long a wait for a version of their own.

According to the small print in the trailer, the PS5's console exclusivity period looks set to run for just six months. This means Nioh 3 could debut on other consoles, such as Nintendo Switch 2 or Xbox Series X and S, as early as August 6, 2026, potentially marking the first time a Nioh title will be available on any console other than Sony's PlayStation.

Though none of this is confirmed, of course — and publisher Koei Tecmo may hold off on porting to other consoles for technical and other reasons — it should be good news nonetheless for Team Ninja fans with an Xbox Series X and S looking to give it a go.

Nioh 3 was unveiled at Sony's State of Play show in June 2025. Here's the official blurb, as shared in the PlayStation Blog: "In Nioh 3, the protagonist is a young warrior poised to become the next Shogun. Why is he dedicated to battling against yokai? We’ll save those details for another day, but what we can tell you today is as the battles unfold, players will now be able to fight using two distinct combat styles: Samurai and Ninja.

"The Samurai style provides a gameplay experience similar to previous Nioh titles," it adds. "New actions such as Arts Proficiency, which enhances the power of martial arts, and Deflect, which allows players to block enemy attacks at the last moment have been added, helping create a series of intense and deadly face-to-face confrontations."

A demo is out now, progress for which carries over into the full game, plus players who complete the demo will receive the Twin-Snake helmet reward when Nioh 3 officially releases. IGN gave the original Nioh a 9.6/10, calling it "an epic, unforgettable adventure carried by a fierce combat system that cleverly balances style and strategy," and we similarly praised Nioh 2 with a 9/10, too.

Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world's biggest gaming sites and publications. She's also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.

Veteran actor John Lithgow has addressed his decision to play Albus Dumbledore in HBO's upcoming Harry Potter TV series, despite pressure for him to ditch the role due to J.K. Rowling's divisive comments on trans issues.

In comments reported by Variety, Lithgow said he found Rowling's views "ironic and inexplicable" when contrasted with the Harry Potter stories, but refused to be told he should "walk away from the job."

"I take the subject extremely seriously," Lithgow began. "She has created this amazing canon for young people and it has jumped into the consciousness of the society. It's about good versus evil, kindness versus cruelty. I find her views ironic and inexplicable. I've never met her, she's not really involved in this production at all. But the people who are, are remarkable.

HBO Max has announced early episode debuts for A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms and Industry ahead of Super Bowl Sunday.

Super Bowl LX kicks off this Sunday, February 8, and will see the Seattle Seahawks do battle with the New England Patriots. It will command the attention of a global audience, which is why entertainment companies pay so much money for ad slots (speaking of which, here are the movie trailers to expect at the Super Bowl).

So, to avoid a particularly brutal clash with the Super Bowl, HBO has brought the upcoming episodes of two of its biggest shows forward. Season 1, Episode 4 of Game of Thrones spinoff A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms and Season 4, Episode 5 of Industry will premiere early globally on HBO Max on Friday, February 6 at 12.01am PT / 3.01am ET ahead of their respective HBO airings on Super Bowl Sunday, February 8.

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms just aired Episode 3, and you can check out IGN’s review right here. It’s a six-episode season, which debuted on January 18. Industry, meanwhile, is halfway through its eight episode Season 4, which debuted January 11. Check out IGN's Industry Season 4 review to find out what we think.

HBO boss Casey Bloys recently confirmed that fellow Game of Thrones spinoff House of the Dragon will end with Season 4. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms was renewed for a second season ahead of the Season 1 debut earlier this month, with Season 2 due out in 2027. House of the Dragon Season 3, meanwhile, debuts in summer 2026, with Season 4 set for 2028.

Bloys also responded to Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin's “abysmal” relationship with the House of the Dragon showrunner, and suggested Season 3 of The Last of Us will be its last.

Photograph by Steffan Hill/HBO.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Following the trade paperback collection of Absolute Batman Volume 1: The Zoo, the next installment in writer Scott Snyder's newest Bat-title is out on February 3.

Volume 2, titled Abomination, is seeing a small discount on Amazon. Pick it up for $18.59, 7% off. Not the biggest price cut, but we're excited to finally get more Absolute Batman.

Absolute Batman Vol. 2: Abomination

Read DC's Absolute Universe Comics

The Absolute Universe started after the events of Absolute Power from 2024, and has spawned a handful of more unique takes on popular heroes. and villains.

Without the restrictions of a preexisting continuity to inform character decisions, the creators on the Absolute comics have been given free reign to have some fun.

Below is the first wave of Absolute Universe graphic novels you can pick up before their respective second volumes start to release throughout 2026.

Myles Obenza is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Bluesky @mylesobenza.bsky.social.

Two actors from Silent Hill f revealed today that they have been appointed ambassadors of the real life location in Japan that inspired the survival horror game’s eerie setting.

Takeshi Masago, who plays Kanta Shimizu, the father of main character Hinako, and Tamami Hiraoka, who plays her mother, posted a YouTube short cryptically entitled ‘Important Announcement’ on February 2, 2026. The video begins like a solemn apology or serious announcement, with the two actors suddenly jumping for joy at the end of the video, while holding their tourism ambassador certificates.

The actors have both been made tourism ambassadors for Gero City in Japan's Gifu Prefecture. Gero City, specifically the Kanayama-cho area with its quiet, narrow alleyways and old houses, served as inspiration for Silent Hill f's fictional Ebisugaoka, a rural Japanese village in the 1960s.

Although Hinako's father in the game is abusive, the actors who play her parents started uploading wholesome videos on YouTube last month of themselves going on "husband and wife dates." The actors are not married in real life, but these videos have got some fans wishing they were. The solemn tone of the ‘important announcement’ video caught many viewers off guard, as did the ‘jump scare’ with the certificates. "I thought you were going to say 'we're getting married for real’ lol," said one commenter about the tourism ambassador announcement video, with others echoing the same sentiment: “When they revealed the documents, I seriously thought for a moment that they were marriage certificates.”

As part of efforts to promote what Gero City has to offer, Masago recently visited the 300-year-old Okuhida Shuzo rice wine brewery in the area, as posted on X. Last month, the brewery released Silent Hill f themed sake and chocolates, the first batch of which quickly sold out.

先日、SILENT HILL fで雛子のお父さん役”深水寛太”を演じられた真砂豪さんが奥飛騨酒造に遊びにいらしてくださいました✨

とても気さくにお話しして頂き、嬉しかったです☺️
寒い中ありがとうございました！#silenthill #silenthillf pic.twitter.com/LajrwornFS

— 奥飛騨酒造 (@okuhidashuzo) February 1, 2026

Since Silent Hill f was released, many of the Japanese actors involved in the production have livestreamed all or parts of the game, while sharing behind-the-scenes stories about what filming was like. This kicked off when Hinako’s actress Konatsu Kato began livestreaming her playthrough of Silent Hill f back in October 2025, amassing over 5 million views. Shortly after, Yuuka Iijima (who plays Rinko Nishida) and Natsuki Osaki (who plays Shu Iwai) also set up YouTube Channels and did their own livestreams of the game.

Although Takeshi Masago and Tamami Hiraoka are the first game-related tourism ambassadors for Gero City, this is not the first time that video games have been used to attract visitors to lesser-known parts of Japan. Back in 2020, the Tsushima Tourist Board partnered with Sucker Punch’s hit PlayStation game Ghost of Tsushima to promote the real life Japanese island. Not long after, fans banded together to raise funds to repair one of the island’s shrine gates, which was destroyed by a typhoon. The following year, Ghost of Tsushima lead developers Nate Fox and Jason Connell were made permanent tourism ambassadors to the island, for spreading its history to the world in "such a wonderful way," according to Tsushima mayor Hiroki Hitakatsu.

Verity Townsend is a Japan-based freelance writer who previously served as editor, contributor and translator for the game news site Automaton West. She has also written about Japanese culture and movies for various publications.

It’s almost time for Super Bowl LX, and with it the promise of a number of new movie trailers to whet the appetite for cinemagoing during the rest of 2026. But what should fans expect to see? And, perhaps more importantly, what should they expect not to see?

A new report from Deadline suggests Marvel will skip the Super Bowl ad rush entirely, which would mean no Spider-Man: Brand New Day or Avengers: Doomsday trailers. If true, this would be a shock omission, as Marvel has a history of using the Super Bowl to tease its upcoming movies. Last year, for example, Marvel showed up with a trailer for Thunderbolts*. In 2024, Marvel fans were given a first look at Deadpool & Wolverine.

Similarly, Deadline reports that Warner Bros. will sit out the Super Bowl, which means no new trailer for Supergirl. But that’s less of a surprise than the Marvel skip, given Warner Bros. tends not to go in on the Super Bowl.

So, if Marvel isn’t splurging millions of dollars for a 30-second spot during the Super Bowl, who is? According to Deadline, we’ll see a new trailer for Michael Jackson biopic, Michael, due out April 24. We’ll also reportedly get a new trailer for Scream 7, which hits theaters on February 27.

While Marvel is sitting it out, parent company Disney is reportedly all in on the Super Bowl, with trailers for Pixar’s Hoppers and Toy Story 5 apparently due. Deadline also expects a trailer for Star Wars movie The Mandalorian and Grogu, which is due out in May.

Meanwhile, Deadline said to also expect new trailers for The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, Minions 3, and Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day, which comes out on June 12.

Super Bowl LX kicks off this Sunday, February 8, and will see the Seattle Seahawks do battle with the New England Patriots. Meanwhile, marketers at the biggest entertainment companies in the world will do battle for the hearts and minds of the Super Bowl’s global audience. Brace yourselves!

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

The developer of a game censored due to Nintendo's content guidelines has apologized to fans and said it that its own disclaimer on the changes should have been more visible.

Last week, fans were shocked to discover that hit superhero game Dispatch had been censored on Nintendo Switch — where enormous black boxes cover nudity and even a character raising their middle finger. While an option to hide these already existed on other platforms, on Switch it is enforced by default, and cannot be toggled off.

Now, after a backlash largely aimed at Nintendo, and questions around why the game has been censored when others (such as The Witcher 3) have not, Dispatch maker AdHoc Studio has released a lengthy statement addressing the situation, apologizing for its own part in it, and promising it was working on changes.

"As Nintendo states, any game that's going to be on the Nintendo platform needs to 'meet [Nintendo's] established content and platform guidelines'," AdHoc wrote, referring to Nintendo's own statement on the matter last week.

"This is the key point. Nintendo has content guidelines. Our game didn't meet those guidelines, so we made changes that would allow us to release on their platform. That's what happened here. Honestly we thought this would be obvious since we're the devs that released the fully uncensored version of the game on other platforms."

In reality, numerous fans had blamed Japanese rating board CERO for the censorship, as it is widely believed to be the reason why an entirely separate Japan-only version of Cyberpunk 2077 exists for Nintendo Switch without nudity or beheading, even though an uncensored version was released for the platform everywhere else in the world.

"We initially assumed, like some of you, that because games like Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk are on the platform with similar types of uncensored mature content, Dispatch would be allowed to do the same," AdHoc continued. "During the porting process it became clear that was not the case. So we asked that we include a disclaimer on the store page to inform customers that content would be different than on other platforms. We worked with Nintendo to get storefront language approved.