Boba Fett arrives in 'Fortnite' on December 24th

 

Epic Games / Disney

Move over, Mando. It's Boba Fett's time to run amok in Fortnite. Epic Games will add the bounty hunter on December 24th at 7PM ET. That's the weekend before The Book of Boba Fett makes its Disney+ debut on December 29th. Epic hasn't said much more about the crossover, but judging by the teaser art the studio shared, Fett's partner Fennec Shand will also make an appearance. Whether it will offer skins of both characters for players to purchase, Epic hasn't said yet, but that's probably a safe bet.

The announcement comes on the same day Disney shared all of its Disney+ Day news. That includes first looks at Obi-Wan Kenobi and Baymax!, and early details on a dozen new Marvel shows coming to the streaming service in 2022 and beyond. Ahead of the premiere of The Book of Boba Fett, Star Wars fans can watch Under the Helmet: The Legacy of Boba Fett. The documentary details the history of the character and is available to watch on Disney+ now.

Sony reportedly cuts PS5 production again as chip shortages and shipment issues bite

 

Engadget

Sony's PlayStation 5 may not be able to beat the PS4's first year sales record due to an ongoing component shortage, according to Bloomberg. The company has reportedly cut its previous production forecast of 16 million down to 15 million, putting its target of 14.8 million PS5 sales by March in jeopardy, if the report is accurate. It also makes a bad situation worse in terms of consumers being able to pick up a PS5 over the holidays. 

Sony is supposedly having trouble with not just parts supply but shipping logistics as well, according to Bloomberg's sources. The problems are due in part to uneven vaccine rollouts in nations where Sony builds chips, and shortages of essential parts like power chips.

The situation has affected other console makers like Nintendo and even affected the launch of an entirely new console, Valve's Steam Deck — pushing the date back until some time in 2022. It's got to the point that publishers are reportedly saying that sales are gradually shifting over to PC versions of games due to a lack of consoles.

March is still a long ways off, so Sony might still be able to pull off the sales record goal. But it's rather ominous that this report is arriving just ahead of Christmas, so if you're looking for a PS5 as a gift and see an opportunity to get one, better snap it up quick. 

Twitch is now available on Switch

 

Twitch

Twitch is officially available on a Nintendo console — the Amazon-owned brand has released a Twitch app for the Switch (yes, that rhymes) that lets you watch the livestreaming service on the hybrid console. The free app offers the same core functionality as Twitch on other consoles, including on-demand videos. However, the Switch's nature might give it an edge — you can watch docked if you want the largest screen possible, or handheld if you have the itch to tune in from bed.

There is a potential hitch in the Switch version, though. As you might have predicted, this Twitch app is strictly for viewing. You can't natively broadcast your Metroid Dread session, and you certainly can't show your face when there's no selfie camera. You'll still have to route video through a PC (typically using a capture card) if you're more interested in creating content than watching it.

Not that you'll want to expect broadcasting any time soon. While Nintendo hasn't been adamantly opposed to Twitch, former president Reggie Fils-Aime told Polygon in 2014 that the company preferred more focused video sharing instead of simply streaming whatever you happened to be playing. The video game pioneer also has a long history of trying to control online videos and share profits from video producers' work. Although Nintendo has softened its stance since then, it's not exactly in a rush to make Twitch a two-way affair.

Panic's Playdate handheld is delayed until 2022

 

Panic

Valve’s Steam Deck isn’t the only handheld that won’t ship in 2021. Panic has pushed back the launch of its Playdate portable to 2022. The company announced the delay Thursday, attributing it to a “critical” battery issue it discovered late in the process of manufacturing the first 20,000 production units of the console. “We made the difficult, expensive call to replace all of our existing batteries with new ones from a totally different battery supplier,” said Panic’s Cabel Sasser.

Hi! If you've pre-ordered a Playdate, check your email for a copy of the "Playdate Owner's Update #1".

There's bad news (a battery tragedy means Late 2021 units are now Early 2022, see email for your timing) but also good news (Pulp+SDK release dates!!)

Thanks for reading it. pic.twitter.com/03BUolZetY

— Playdate (@playdate) November 11, 2021

Panic estimates those units will now begin making their way to customers sometime in early 2022. If you reserved a Playdate prior to today’s announcement, your spot in the pre-order line won’t change as long as your order remains active.

If there’s a silver lining to the news, it’s that Panic claims the new power cell features “much better” battery life from what the previous one offered. Moving forward, future units will ship with a new CPU and redesigned motherboard. That won’t change how the final product performs, but it’s something Panic says it was forced to do due to the ongoing chip shortages that are affecting everything from GPU prices to car production.