A big month for soccer and soldiers.

The top of the hardware and software charts from the NPD Group seems unchanging, but there's a lot of action down below in this month's survey.

All data based on sales from May 29 - July 2 in dollars, unless noted otherwise. Digital sales for select third parties are included.

The Switch was... Read more...

A good way to still get the baseball fix in during the All-Star break.

Hot off the heels of Mario + Rabbids, the next Switch Online trial for North America will feature the boys of summer.

MLB The Show 22 will be available for free play for NSO subscribers tomorrow beginning at 1 p.m. Eastern, with the trial ending on July 22 at 2:59 a.m. ET. (Note that the download... Read more...

A rare example of an "acqhire" from Nintendo, since they're going in-house.

Nintendo has made a small acquisition in order to create an in-house visual content creator.

In a statement on the company's investor website released this morning (NA time), Nintendo announced the acquisition of Dynamo Pictures Inc.: when the deal closes (expected in October), the company will be renamed "Nintendo Pictures Co. Ltd." and focus on enhancing "the planning and production structure of visual content in the Nintendo group".

Grand Platinum opening, grand Platinum closing.

After a nearly five year wait, we finally have a date for the witch's Switch return.

A new trailer for Bayonetta 3 has confirmed the action game will finally launch on October 28, following its return in the general Nintendo Direct last September. Retail and digital preorders are both available now.

That's not very specific, though we can probably rule out the next couple of weeks.

Although it won't have a Mouthful Mode, Kirby's next Switch adventure will still involve mass amounts of eating.

Kirby's Dream Buffet is a 4 player (local and online) competitive game in which players race around food-themed environments collecting food in order to make their Kirby as big as possible. It will be possible to use larger Kirby to knock other players off the course.

Acronymphomania is running wild this week. (That doesn't work for me, brother - HH)

Things we missed last week: Apico, the beekeeping RPG, dropped at the end of the week.

The second of a couple of weeks before The Gauntlet 2022, it starts with a few interesting indie titles. Time on Frog Island is a good relaxation game, while there's a couple of smaller RPG entries with Pascal's Wager and XEL, or if you prefer quirky side-scrollers WayForward's Spidersaurs is coming over from Apple Arcade.

Match 'em, match 'em, gotta match 'em all...

The list of announced games may have been exhausted, but the N64 library for Switch Online's Expansion Pack has room for surprises.

Pokemon Puzzle League has been announced for a July 15 (likely night of the 14th Eastern time) release. The 2000 puzzle game is a branded version of Panel de Pon (present... Read more...

We'll see about that.

E3 has taken steps to return after three years away, along with some new help.

The show has announced an in-person return in the second week of June 2023 (likely referring to June 12-16) in Los Angeles, with assistance from ReedPop. ReedPop, the owners of Eurogamer and Video Games Chronicle among others, also runs the PAX conventions and the New York Comic-Con.

How to really stay fresh this fall.

Splatoon 3 is going to be getting a big push in hardware as well.

Nintendo have announced that a Switch OLED themed with Splatoon 3 will release on August 26. It will retail for the standard Switch OLED MSRP (US$359.99 or equivalent), and have a white dock with blue and yellow Joy-Cons.

A Splatoon... Read more...

This almost got delayed due to Seregios et al, but odd shooters and Klonoa won out.

Things we missed last week: Thanks to an (un?)expected Partner Showcase we got Portal: Companion Collection and Little Noah: Scion of Paradise.

It's definitely a quiet week to start the third quarter, but there were a few things I'm keeping an eye on. Jordan reviewed Yurukill: The Calumniation... Read more...

One Sega Channel, one summer blockbuster, and the first two years of some people's internet lives.

The Genesis library for Nintendo Switch Online has added four new games to round out the month of June. The new titles are:

One returning champion and two new challengers.

A gameplay showcase for October's Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope confirmed the game's music will rock even harder than the original.

Veteran Rare composer Grant Kirkhope, who supplied the score for the original Mario + Rabbids, is returning for the sequel. Joining him are Gareth Coker (previous... Read more...

Will they prevent a second Blaze Attack on the servers?

After the first attempt went poorly, Nintendo of America is taking another crack at opening preorders for the Xenoblade Chronicles 3 special edition.

A specific time was not communicated in Nintendo's Twitter post announcing the sale, just that it would occur "on 6/30". The preorders will be limited to one per account for this round, after being capped at two in the round on June 8.

The ups and downs of a half century in games.

The incorporation of Atari was 50 years ago this week, and a collection this fall will pay homage to all of it.

Game Informer has released a preview of "Atari 50", a compilation of more than 90 games from the historical developer and a few new titles. Games from the Atari Lynx (a late 1980s color... Read more...

Now with 50% more Space Harrier

According to publisher, Pixeljam, the indie Star Fox-like Ex-Zodiac is coming to Switch next year. The game is planned for a late 2023 release on Nintendo Switch around the same time it is planned to leave early access on Steam. Ex-Zodiac is the result of a successful Kickstarter campaign and blends... Read more...

Remember: Never spend more than twenty dollars on a Sonic game.

Other items discussed in today's Partner Showcase:

The last great Pac-Man game until Versus.

A title with unexpected demand for a remake has finally received it - and it's a full re-Pac.

Latter-day PlayStation 3D platformer Pac-Man World has been confirmed for a remake, which will launch on Switch August 26. Pac-Man is tasked with rescuing their family by using weapons including killer dots and the ability to go giant.

The rare Dragon Quest game directly published on Switch by Square Enix.

North America's first shot at the games from the Dragon Quest 25th anniversary celebration will be out later this year.

Dragon Quest Treasures, a monster-taming RPG starring a younger version of Erik from Dragon Quest XI along with his sister Maria, was shown for the first time in English today - along with a December 9 release date.

Let's face it, he's required to be playable in every other Mario RPG series.

After a year of silence, the curtain has been pulled back on Mario + Rabbids: Stars of Hope.

The Ubisoft strategy sequel was shown during the Direct Mini today with a release date of October 20. In addition to showing off the gameplay, it also revealed Bowser as playable at some point in the game.

Make a cake joke in the Talkback and you'll get launched into SPAAAAAAACE.

The eShop is going to be busy today with two new titles and a demo for one of next month's releases.