Good morning and welcome back to yet another Monday. I’m so sorry. I don’t control the days of the week. But I do control this post, and so I can say: I’m rooting for you. Anyway, welcome back to Morning Checkpoint, Kotaku’s daily round-up of news and other stuff you might care about. Today, we take a peek at a controller leak, get some advice from a veteran game maker, and hear what Hideo Kojima thought of Predator: Badlands
The new Steam Controller looks big and chonky
The new Steam Controller will look like this when it launches
Im told that it can also detect how far your hands are from the handles using a simple capsense feature
Similar to the index controllers, but not full finger tracking in the grips pic.twitter.com/loIqpJb0YZ
— Brad Lynch (@SadlyItsBradley) November 9, 2025
Fans of the Xbox Duke controller will likely be happy to hear that Valve’s next Steam Controller will reportedly be similarly large and in charge. On Sunday, reliable Valve insider Brad Lynch shared an AI-generated image of what the not-yet-officially-announced new Steam controller will look like. And yeah, it’s big, complete with two touch pads, like the Steam Deck, and even does some basic finger tracking. Leaks and info about this controller and other Valve hardware keep happening, and rumors are swirling that a reveal of something from the company is coming soon.
Modern Warfare 2 Remastered likely coming to Game Pass soon
2020’s Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2: Campaign Remastered will likely be added to Xbox’s Game Pass service, according to a leaked ad that was spotted by fans. It’s hard to make out, but it does seem like Modern Warfare 2′s cover art is included in a dashboard ad that appeared on one player’s screen. It’s possible this was just a mistake, but Xbox and Activision have been regularly adding old Call of Duty games to Game Pass since 2024.
Mega Man designer Keiji Inafune wants devs to stop clinging to the past
Over the weekend, as reported by This Is Game, Mega Man character designer and former Capcom producer Keiji Inafune appeared at the Console Game Developer Conference in South Korea and advised attendees not to rely solely on sequels and established franchises.
“To be clear, it’s not that games that continue a series or build off an existing famous genre are bad,” said Inafune via Google Translation. “What I mean is that only that is not enough.”
“If you make a hit, yes, you’ve succeeded, but it can also place a tremendous burden on you. Does success always seem like a good thing? It is good. You can’t succeed when you’re in a state of anxiety. You need confidence, and that confidence requires a foundation. A past success can provide that foundation. But few people who succeed once go on to succeed again. Success brings positive effects, but it also brings side effects. I’ve seen many people who cling only to past success. They cling to how things were done at that time and adopt a defensive attitude.”
“In the games industry, many people have succeeded once and that’s it, haven’t they? How often did their sequels succeed too?” asked the veteran developer. “I don’t want to boast, but I take pride in having many representative works – not just Mega Man, but Lost Planet, Onimusha, Dead Rising, and so on. The genres were diverse, too. Because I didn’t rest on past successes.”
Kojima suffered through a back injury to watch the new Predator movie
Hideo Kojima has seen the new Predator movie and really liked it, despite a painful back injury. Thankfully, Kojima brought a “secret weapon” to the theater: an inflatable lumbar pillow.
“[Predator: Badlands] represents a new direction for Hollywood entertainment led by a new generation of filmmakers who have inherited the global ‘memes’ of manga, anime, and gaming culture,” said Kojima on Sunday. “I especially hope young anime fans who usually steer clear of live-action Western films will give this one a try. Even with Dek’s ‘ugly’ face, you’ll find yourself emotionally invested from the opening scene. You’ll definitely get hooked.”
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