That's now two major markets that have delayed the deal.

Following the lead of the US Federal Trade Commission, a second regulator has said the deal cannot go through. Microsoft is appealing the decision.

In a statement, the Competition and Markets Authority of the UK said that the deal was being blocked on the grounds that it would prevent competition... Read more...

It's just Jon and James this week, so we're all pretty much doomed as it is.

GOOD MORNING/AFTERNOON/EVENING TO ALL MY HATERS

As you may not know, RFN is a wounded animal this week: Greg is out for the NFL Draft and Gui is still on his vacation.

But with God as my witness, I promised you THREE EMAILS. And I lied like a dog. Instead, Jon and I will be hosting TALK RFN!!! a new radio show, right here, in the NWR Discord.

It's Kusoge Week, to be followed by Golden Week and then Golden Turd Week.

Things we missed last week: Teslagrad Remastered, Teslagrad 2, Shadows over Loathing, and Five Nights at Freddy's: Security Breach as an Indie World hit outta nowhere.

This week presents a high quantity of releases (currently 45 in North America), though the quality of same is HIGHLY questionable.... Read more...

At this point, we're flat out of coin puns so make your own.

The Super Mario movie is racking up records still after its third weekend in the box office.

In the United States, the picture racked up an estimated $58.23m at the box office, for a new US total of $434.33m; worldwide, the film's estimated take is $871m. This is the highest third weekend ever for an animated film, the seventh-largest overall for a third weekend, and is more than the Detective Pikachu movie made in its opening weekend.

At least now you don't have to send the save file to the mothership.

A new update is available for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet that resolves some big issues that cropped up around Pokemon Day.

Version 1.3, available now, resolves a pair of major errors that could result in save data corruption; one around the special Paradox Pokemon Walking Wake and Iron Leaves and... Read more...

The debut of the month didn't chart, but hey... you asked about something from February?

Although the PlayStation 5 is still leading hardware, the Switch bounced back a bit in software with a surprising top 20 debut.

All figures based on revenue from February 26 - April 1 unless noted, third parties can contribute digital sales to the survey.

For the third consecutive month, the Switch trailed the PlayStation 5 in both dollar (due to higher price) and unit sales in hardware, though no figures were provided.

All the stuff that can't be downloaded today in one spot.

The other announcements from a busy Indie World presentation:

Thankfully we avoid the lucky 7 this week.

Indie World presentations traditionally feature surprise immediate releases, and four games received the honor in today's show.

Some bangers here, and we don't just mean Dhalsim's kicks.

The Switch Online Expansion Pack has just updated with four new games tonight.

Again, SOME of us haven't finished the base games yet!

We have details on the final wave of Xenoblade Chronicles 3's DLC, as well as some relevant Amiibo details.

Wave 4, titled "Future Redeemed", will be available on April 25 (NA time). It is a prequel to XC3 that will use characters from the three Xenoblades on Switch in one party, and gives new battle options including the dual-attacking "Unity Combo".

Time to declare some independents.

The next Nintendo video presentation will be all indie, all the time.

An Indie World presentation will air tomorrow at noon ET (9 a.m. PT, 1800 CET) and will run for approximately 20 minutes.

The last Indie World presentation aired in November, though there was a week of indie announcements in December that ran up until December 23.

"My gamertag is xX_R3lm_Xx, and I'm an MLG pro."

Things we missed last week: Dig Dug II was added to the Archives.

I often joke about "a bomb being lobbed into the Downloads", but just before my vacation began Square Enix lobbed SEVERAL bombs into this week's column with the announcement of the Final Fantasy Pixel Remasters coming out on Switch... Read more...

Hope Charles Martinet signed up for residuals on this one.

As the Mario movie wraps its second weekend in theatres, it's continuing to rack up ungodly box office totals.

According to estimates at Deadline, the animated feature is tracking for a total worldwide box office of $678m since its premiere - $348m US, $330m in the rest of the world. This represents... Read more...

You might have been able to guess that if you've watched Critical Role.

The voice of Ganondorf may have sounded familiar, and now it's been made official for the English version of Tears of the Kingdom.

In a social media post this evening, Matthew Mercer announced that he would play the role of Ganondorf in Tears of the Kingdom. Speculation had been running since the... Read more...

(Count only accurate if you start counting in September 2022.)

There's not going to be any more Tears of the Kingdom trailers before launch, as the third and final one after the name reveal has just dropped.

The trailer can be viewed below:

Mostly, the trailer focused on story teases (similar to the final trailer for Breath of the Wild, including a first village shot and scenes with the four champions aiding Link.

Guess featuring it in a mid movie was enough to put it over the top.

The Library of Congress has inducted the first video game song into the National Recording Registry, and it was probably the most obvious selection.

In a release today, the "Ground Theme" (aka the 1-1 Theme) from the original Super Mario Bros was announced as joining the registry of famous recordings... Read more...

The big show for the big N won't be straying too far from the North American headquarters.

Nintendo is about to bring one of their major live events in Japan to the West for the first time.

"Nintendo Live 2023 Seattle" will run in September in Seattle, though the official date and location will be announced later. Tournaments and other Switch games, live entertainment, and photo opportunities will be available.

The news desk took the week off (of the paying gig) to get ready for next week, but there's still Mega items of note this week.

Things we missed last week: The R-Type-like Rezon in the Archives.

Next week got five massive bombs lobbed into a busy week that already includes games from two console manufacturers at once (Microsoft and Nintendo), but this week still has some items of note. The big one is the Mega Man Battle... Read more...

Well, guess we know who wins THAT argument at the next Smash planning meeting.

Mario's animated big screen debut has been a record breaker at the box office.

Early weekend returns for the Nintendo / Illumination collaboration have it tracking for a box office take of US$146.36m for its opening weekend in the United States, with a total take of $204.6m since its launch according... Read more...

How many commanding officers does one army need?

Nintendo has released a new trailer for their next first party release, with some new features being introduced.

The trailer for Advance Wars 1+2 Reboot Camp was an overview of the game's modes beyond the two story paths of the GBA games. The "War Room" mode will allow for local play with up to four players (in a wireless mode) or two COs on the same system. A two-player online battle mode will be available as well.