2023-06

Publisher Humble Games and developer Crema have revealed Temtem Showdown, a new standalone battle-focused game, and it's out right now.  This surprise reveal comes less than a year after the full 1.0 release of Temtem, the game that Showdown is based on. Similar to Pokemon Showdown, Temtem Showdown is all about battling. It's also free to everyone.  "Temtem Showdown takes the best Temtem competitive action and places it within immediate reach for everyone," a press release reads. "Get to know the colorful critters from the massively multiplayer creature-collection adventure, build your team in seconds, and dash into battle to test it out against other players and their teams – or carefully curate a plan of action to overpower your opponents."  Unlike Temtem, which is a multiplayer Pokemon-like game where you catch and train Temtem to use in 2 vs....

Between the Super Mario Bros. Movie and several announcements during last week's Nintendo Direct, Nintendo's mascot is having a great 2023. Carrying on the Mario momentum, Oreo announced a limited-edition cookie collab with the iconic Nintendo franchise. The cookies feature 16 unique embossments starring characters like Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, Goomba, and Bowser Jr., as well as power-ups like Super Stars and Fire Flowers. Packs will be filled at random. Oreo is also holding a social media event where they're asking those who buy the cookies to stack as many of the hero-embossed cookies on the rim of a glass of milk without the cookies falling into the milk and share the video on social media in a concerted effort to save Princess Peach from Bowser's Castle. "We hope to unite cookie lovers and Super Mario enthusiasts alike with this playful mission, inspired...

Microsoft created a Barbie-themed Xbox Series S, the first ever Xbox Barbie dolls and Barbie cars for Forza Horzion 5 to promote the Barbie movie starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling....

Update, 6:03 p.m.: Bethesda has confirmed that physical versions of the Standard Edition of Starfield for Xbox will include a disc. The confusion began yesterday, June 25, when Bethesda's support Twitter account tweeted that all physical versions of the upcoming game would include a code instead of a disc, a message that was later deleted without clarification. You can read all about that in the original version of this post below, but that same support account responded this afternoon with a link to a June 11 blog post detailing the release details and stating... "Starfield Standard Edition is included with Xbox Game Pass. Game disc included with physical purchases of Xbox Standard Edition. Game code included with physical purchases on PC Standard edition." Hi, the site has info on the release editions: https://t.co/xLeFvEoGLg - Starfield Standard Edition is included with Xbox Game Pass. -...

Physical editions of Starfield will not include a disc, according to a now-deleted message from the Bethesda Support Twitter account. Yesterday, a user asked the account if the Physical standard edition of the game on Xbox Series X would include a disc. The account responded, “All physical editions include a code for the chosen platform. There are no physical discs.” This tweet, posted yesterday, June 25, has since been deleted, and Bethesda has yet to comment on it, but one of our editors captured a screenshot of the message, posted below. However, according to Eurogamer, fans have uncovered a contradictory message from the Bethesda Spanish account posted on June 13, stating the Standard Edition includes a disc while the $300 Constellation Edition only has a game code engraved on one of the collector’s items. A screenshot of this message is...

Why Celeste means more than ever to the transgender community in an increasingly hostile world....

Xbox corporate vice president Sarah Bond has claimed that Activision Blizzard demanded Microsoft provide a larger revenue share to put new Call of Duty games on the platform, according to a new report from IGN.  This news comes from yesterday's court trial between Xbox (and Activision Blizzard) and the Federal Trade Commission over Microsoft's attempted acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Bond claimed in court that, in the leadup to the launch of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S generation of hardware in 2020, Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick said his company did not intend to put Call of Duty – presumably new, upcoming ones – on the Xbox platform unless Microsoft shared more revenue.  "Time was limited," Bond said in court, according to IGN. "We had players whose expectations we wanted to meet, so we ultimately made a decision that it was the...

A mishap at the Square Enix Store has left some of the most dedicated Final Fantasy 16 fans — those who spent $350 on the Collector's Edition — without their copy of the game well after launch....

During today's Sonic Central stream to celebrate the anniversary of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, Sonic Team announced that the second free content update on Sonic Frontiers' 2023 roadmap, titled Sonic's Birthday Bash, is available today. The update was announced in November 2022 as part of the game's 2023 roadmap. The Sonic's Birthday Bash update adds new challenges, moves, and a new kind of collectible Koco for Sonic. The update also promises free birthday decorations for our hero, as well as the addition of New Game Plus. As is standard with most New Game Plus modes, you can begin the adventure from the start with all of your skill tree and power-up levels carried over into the new file. Sonic's Birthday Bash arrives free to download beginning today at 5 p.m. PT / 8 p.m. ET. The first of...

Sonic Superstars received prime placement in both the Summer Game Fest 2023 stream and this week's Nintendo Direct. As you might imagine, today's Sonic Central also shined a spotlight on the highly anticipated 2D Sonic game. We received a new trailer that showed off some new DLC coming to Sonic Superstars that features a collaboration with the Lego brand. Players will be able to download a free Lego Sonic DLC skin to give the Blue Blur a new, bricky look. In addition, those who preorder Sonic Superstars will receive a Lego Eggman skin as well. You can see the new trailer below. While Sonic is a recent addition to the Lego stable of characters, he appeared in the 2015 toys-to-life game Lego Dimensions, where he received specialized stages geared towards the speedy playstyle. However, it wasn't until 2021 that...