Where there’s Smoke… A fan-favorite is confirmed to be returning to theMortal Kombatgrinder. Today’snew trailerforMortal Kombat 1reveals both Rain and Smoke will appear in the new entry. Smoke is a well-liked member of the Lin Kuei, who finally gets a human re-debut in Liu Kang’s new era. Here, Smoke is a fellow member of the Lin Kuei who joins with Scorpion and Sub-Zero to defend Earthrealm. Also arriving is Rain, a High Mage of Outworld who wields water magic....

‘Flip Mysterious Space Bee with Motos!’ And thus was the utterly bizarre tagline with which the fledgling Namco corporation advertised its brand new space-age release,Motos. And if you too want to flip mysterious space bee, you can, as retro publisher Hamster has now added the forgotten title to its mammoth Arcade Archives on PS4 and Nintendo Switch. Released in arcades in 1985, before later finding its way to the home computer market,Motosis a very early entry in the car battler genre and sees vehicular carnage located against the backdrop of a bizarre platform floating adrift in outer space....

Hack & slash fun It has been several months since the last game in theNeptuniafranchise hit western shores and something about that is just wrong. Usually, we’re drowning in releases, but it’s been barren since October’s crossover with theSega Hard Girlsfranchise. Luckily, hope is on the horizon. Idea Factory International announced todayCyberdimension Neptunia: 4 Goddesses Onlinewill release in North America and in the EU this winter. Coming to PS4 and Steam,Cyberdimension Neptuniafeatures Neptune, Vert, Blanc, Noire and more teaming up to defeat the Demon King in the game-within-a-game known as 4 Goddesses Online....

Capcom jealous of the record cancellation speeds We all know theFive Nights at Freddy’sfranchise. A series of horror games set in a spooky pizzeria with haunted killer animatronics, five entries were released within the span of two years created by a dev team of only one man. It would appear that the Freddy train has potentially come to a halt, as developer Scott Cawthon announced on June 30 via Steam update that he would be no longer working on the next main entry to the franchise....

Hey there, did I tell ya ’bout my robot friend? At Blizzard’s Reveal Ceremony at Gamescom today, they screened a brand new animatedOverwatchshort, the first in quite some time, featuring the story of adorable/frustrating Queen of Cryo, Mei. Mei’s episode is short on action, but features a bit of backstory, a bit of joy and some sorrow. I absolutely love all these mini-movies, and this one even made meshed a tearget something in my eye (To be fair, I’m pretty much a constant ball of heightened emotion, blame the coffee)....

Nothing in our solar system I always enjoy PBS Digital’sGame/Showas a source for smart commentary on the culture surrounding games. The whole videogame thing must be good for views, because the first episode of newest showSpace Time!is all about Mario’s jump height in Super Mario World. The series is meant to focus on astrophysics in general, but what better way to get people watching at square one than to tap into one of the biggest cultural icons of the past few decades?...

The aesthetics and functionality to the Wii U’s opening menu screen are… different. Code named “Mii Wara Wara,” booting up the Wii U grants you the sounds of a horde of little Miis all wandering around your television screen. These Miis will come from your own console, from your online friend list and from any Wii U owners that “speak your language.” They will gravitate towards the icons for whatever games they’ve been playing, dropping little type written and hand written messages to you a long the way....

Also, Cozy Grove Well, I didn’t expectPac-Man 99to spring up out of nowhere on the eShop, but here we are. As of yesterday,Pac-Man 99was announced and dropped on the eShop. It’s there! And it’s a Switch Online pack-in just likeTetris 99andMario 35was.Yep, that one is still dead as of this past week. Cozy Groverounds out the offerings this week, as does the JRPGLegend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV,Don’t Give Up: A Cynical Tale, andSay No More....

Speculation, ho! Nintendo justfiled a patentapplication for a home console without an optical disc drive, which might indicate the company plans to forgo physical media with its upcoming system, codenamed NX. Or it could mean nothing. Companies file for patents all the time. Back in 2009, Nintendo filed a patent for a horseback-riding peripheral, which never came to fruition. So don’t worry too much yet. The new filing also states the potential console’s controller would feature a “display unit,” which suggests the system has a Wii U-like gampad....

2023 is drawing to a close. The air is cold, the fires are lit, and now we gather ’round the digital hearth to celebrate the games we enjoyed throughout the year. Let’s talk about the best indies of 2023. Since I have the honor of publishing first this year, welcome to Destructoid’s end-of-year coverage! Throughout this week, we’ll be revealing our nominees for our favorites in a variety of categories. Then, starting next week, we’ll announce the winners, as chosen by our staff and contributors....

Putting the ‘aggro’ in aggregate Review aggregate site OpenCritic has accused developer CD Projekt RED of demonstrating “deceptive and selfish behavior” in regards to the marketing and launch of the PS4 and Xbox One editions ofCyberpunk 2077. The last-gen editions of CDPR’s epic action-RPG launched alongside their PC brethren on December 10. However, the console edition ofCyberpunk 2077is particularly shoddy, so much so that CDPRis now offering refundsto customers who picked up the new release on PS4 or Xbox One....

All about making the devs’ jobs easier There’s going to be a new framework for future Platinum games, one that’s more conducive to the exact types of experiences the studio loves making. Platinum now has a brand new engine that’s tailor-made for over-the-top character action games. Platinum detailed the new engine in alengthy series of interviews. The studio’s CTO, Wataru Ohmori, says that the PlatinumEngine (a work-in-progress name) will “help [Platinum] make bigger, more expressive games than ever before,” while adding “Modern games demand a whole new level of quality, a greater variety and number of objects on-screen, and a richer amount of expressive visual power....

Podtoid is a thing that happens on a weekday On this week’s edition of Podtoid, Jim Sterling finally feels his world crumble as an intense workload breaks his mind. As a result, Jonathan Holmes becomes the new face of Coca Cola, the Mushroom Kingdom gets multiple endings, andZombiUasks if you know the definition of insanity. Elsewhere, we ponder the poetry of a “Katy Pervy” love doll, have a big ol’ chat about Wii U launch games, and even talk about some other things!...