So about that Call of Duty post...

The largest objection to the Microsoft / Activision merger has been levied in the home country of the two monoliths.

The United Stated Federal Trade Commission (FTC) voted 3-2 today to proceed with a lawsuit blocking the $68.7b buyout of the Call of Duty / Warcraft / Candy Crush publisher by Microsoft.... Read more...

Answers? Check. Theme of Love? Check. Crazy Chocobo? ...unfortunately, check.

Square Enix has released the list of tracks that will be on the Final Bar Line, barring a few tracks for the special editions.

As part of a "Thearthythm Thursday", Square released the list of 385 tracks in the base game, as well as most of the tracks to be included in the Digital Deluxe edition at launch.

Four races, no COMs, blue shells only, all on different Rainbow Roads.

A major feature has been added to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe for all players alongside the Booster Course Pass courses.

The free update for all players includes the ability to disable specific items in online races, similar to the Item Switch found in Super Smash Bros games. Pass owners will receive the eight new-to-8-Deluxe courses as well.

Semi trucks are being dispatched to prevent his escape as we speak.

Former Sega developer Yuji Naka is facing charges related to a second insider trading case from his time at Square Enix.

Naka and another former Square Enix employee have been charged with more counts of violating Japan's Financial Instruments and Exchange Act, according to Japan's TV Asahi (link... Read more...

A massive shot across the bow of Sony to get them to shut up, most likely.

If the contentious Microsoft acquisition of Activision Blizzard King goes through, Nintendo players will directly benefit according to an announcement from Microsoft gaming head Phil Spencer.

Overnight, Spencer announced in a social media post that Microsoft has signed a deal with Nintendo that... Read more...

As it regards that email from RFN this weekend: I'm sorry, but it's truly the fault of the publishers. Anyway, treasure is big now.

Things we missed last week: A streaming release of RE7 - so basically nothing. And since there was one other Western shadowdrop, that held us out of the 2000-game year for another week.

However, we will definitely hit 2000 this week with the headliner being Dragon Quest Treasures - the modern take... Read more...

You bring the Flamigo, I'll come at the bugs with a Hustle/Aerial Ace Squawkabilly.

The first of potentially many bug fix patches for Scarlet and Violet will be out tomorrow.

Nintendo's support page for the game has announced that a new update (version 1.1) will be available December 1 (North American time). The update will fix one of the more infamous bugs where the first few seconds of the battle theme loop during the endgame of the Victory Road story along with "select bug fixes".

The facts so far.

Smash World Tour, an unofficial Super Smash Bros. circuit run by the eSports team VGBootCamp, announced yesterday that they would be ceasing operations. The tournament series was nearing the end of its 2022 season with championships set to take place during the weekend of December 9th, and the planned... Read more...

Including a couple of major milestones - one passed, one pending.

Things we missed last week: Galaxian in the Arcade Archives, a new Joe and Mac game.

So last week we made a bit of dubious history in that the list of Switch releases this year passed the total for all of 2021 with more than a month to go and are now at 1,955 games released in North America (margin... Read more...

If you're having trouble finding Gimmighoul coins they're CLEARLY at NCL headquarters.

The wilds of Paldea are full of trainers, if Nintendo's sales reporting is any indication.

Nintendo released a statement on their Japanese corporate site this afternoon NA time confirming the pair have shipped more than 10m copies worldwide in their opening weekend (retail copies + digital sales).... Read more...

Who said Nintendo had nothing left after Pokemon?

Today appears to be the day of update announcements for Nintendo.

Following the announcement earlier today of the third wave for the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course Pass, Nintendo have also confirmed the Nintendo Switch Sports update for golf will tee off on November 28.

The free update will... Read more...

So who's up for the Rainbow Road cup?

The third wave of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe DLC is taking the green flag early next month.

A new trailer has confirmed the wave will launch on December 7, and also confirmed the eight courses included. In addition to the previously announced Peach Gardens and Merry Mountain announced in September's Direct, the other courses will be:

Let's be honest, you're just here for the sales.

Things we missed last week: A Gameloft (meh) version of The Oregon Trail, Team17's Bravery and Greed, Indie World game Goodbye World, and Archives launch of Taito's Metal Black.

With this week being Black Friday, of course the big deal is the sales, but that also warrants a US holiday with family... Read more...

Let's rat, let's rat, future ratting game.

A famous Japanese game developer is facing charges stemming from one of his most infamous works today.

According to a report by the Fuji News Network, former Sega creative lead Yuji Naka has been arrested and charged with insider trading (the act of trading securities, such as stocks, using information not available to the public).

Including an option for those who don't want to have to deal with that rando who keeps knocking you down with the Longsword.

The third update for the Sunbreak expansion of Monster Hunter Rise is bringing some nice quality of life and more insane monsters.

Launching on November 24, "Title Update 3" will include an option to bring the Followers on regular quests, including Master Rank and Anomaly Research hunts. The trailer below shows three new monsters, all of which are variants: "Risen" Kushala Daora, "Risen" Teostra, and "Chaotic" Gore Magala.

Marth hasn't been this evil since we had to put up with a C-stick.

A new trailer has dropped for Fire Emblem: Engage as it prepares to step into the on-deck circle for Nintendo.

The new story-focused trailer confirms that the rings containing the previous heroes of Fire Emblem can become corrupted, resulting in "evil" versions of the likes of Marth while shedding light on the world of the game.

Wait, I thought international soccer was already run by the mob.

Another soccer game is attempting to ride the wave of this weekend's World Cup kickoff, but this one has a bit more satire with it.

No More Robots, who previously announced Soccer Story for a 2022 release, have confirmed the game will release on November 29. As with Not Tonight from the same publisher, the game is a satricial take on a soccer RPG.

That's... a lot of stability updates.

Four distinct Switch games have all received minor updates in one evening from Nintendo.

ARMS, Splatoon 2, Super Mario Maker 2, and Animal Crossing: New Horizons have all been updated this evening (NA time). All four games listed patch notes are identical: "Several issues have been addressed to improve the gameplay experience."

"Big Run is imminent!" On the cosmic scale, perhaps.

Splatoon's second season starts as soon as possible in December.

The "Chill Season" will open on December 1 (time TBD) and will feature new stages and weapons in addition to modes. The trailer shows multiple new weapon variations including a new set of Dualies, a Tentatek Splattershot, and a sniper rifle with a visible bullet chamber.

A busy end of the month is all over the sales charts.

In a month full of new releases, the Switch's software was strong in the US according to the NPD Group's sales survey for October.

All data based on dollar sales unless noted for the period of October 2 - 29. third parties report digital sales for the eShop.

The Switch was going to be down necessarily... Read more...