You can grab your gift now In typical Nintendo fashion, multiple first-party games updated around midnight, Eastern time, yesterday. Super Smash Bros. Ultimategot Min Minand a new balance patch, andPokemon Home/Pokemon SwordandShieldgot their own updates as well. But whileSmashfans were able to get in smoothly and try out the new character,Pokemonfans were greeted with error screens. The update was small, but impactful.That Shiny Zeraora everyone wanted? It was finally available for every eligible player....

Tumblestone is calling my name These games are yours to nab through the Twitch app as of today: Gentle reminder: if you are an Amazon Prime member, you can get Twitch Primeat no extra cost. Twitch Prime members, add more awesome to your game collection with June’s Free Games with Prime![Twitch]

Get to know the people that make great videogames For a game that hasn’t been released yet,Monacosure has won a lot of awards. It was bestowed with the Seumus McNally Grand Prize and the Excellence in Design award back at GDC 2010. The co-op heist caper game has come a long way since then. If you haven’t played it yet, you’re in for a treat. GDC 2013 is almost upon us as we speak, and we have none other thanMonacodesigner Andy Schatz, on Sup Holmes today to help kick it off....

Illidan is representing A pretty monumental change is coming toHearthstone, which will result in a substantial meta shakeup: there’s a new class coming. It’s kind of crazy that it hasn’t happened sinceHearthstone‘s 2014 launch, but the Demon Hunter (represented by Illidan himself) is breaking into the tavern. His hero power is “+1 attack,” which isn’t all that exciting all on its own, but synergizes with a bunch of his cards that allow for burst lifeleech and “aggressive attacking....

Please be good So far, Nintendo has been pretty fair with their mobile releases. But a strategy game that houses microtransactions? It has the potential to get a little hairy. Well, maybe not any more hairy than a typical NIS SRPG that has characters linked to a fee but I digress. Fire Emblem Heroesis going to be here really soon (just over a week on Android), but for now you can check out the newest character trailer that showcases quite a few series staples....

They Shall Not Pass We’re more than a month out from the firstBattlefield 1expansion, but DICE has begun showing the new maps, mode, and weaponry ofThey Shall Not Pass. As I said the last time Itouched on this stuff,by the time the pack is out in March, I’m liable to cave and get the whole season pass. I can’t be helped. First off,They Shall Not Passis adding the French army, which, yeah, that’s only now happening post-release....

And will run through August 30 AsGenshin Impactcontinues to grow, developer miHoYo continues to add new characters, zones, storylines, and events. As we wait for the next big party member drop, there’s aGenshin ImpactPhantom Flow event to partake in. It kicks off today, and will provide daily challenges with both a “Shoden and Okuden” mode on offer. So the former is actually just the standard entry point, with the classic normal, hard, and extreme difficulty settings to get through....

Dolla dolla Bill, y’all Jonesing for officialPokémonmerchandise from the Pokémon Center but nowhere close to one? I feel your pain. That one trek to Manhattan wasn’t enough for me. Luckily, The Pokémon Company plans to open up an official online store carrying a nice variety ofPokémon-themed merch on August 6. Siliconerareceived a goodie bag full of some of what you can expect to find at the store, including a travel mug, a Pikachu iPhone case, notebook, and a plush Special Delivery Pikachu....

Yes Simpsons is still on In a bizarre turn of events, I’m writing about newSimpsonsin 2017. You know, that once-great show that ended after Season 9? Some say that it actually continued past then, and into Season29, which supposedly premiered this week. In that debut, “The Serfsons,” the episode takes a decidedly Treehouse of Horror-esque turn (even though it’s not actually a Treehouse joint) and plops the dysfunctional family into a fantasy setting, aping works fromGame of Thrones, toLord of the Rings, toNarnia, toZelda....

Conquest and Rush on the Sinai Desert map As a series,Battlefieldusually shows well in trailers given the sheer spectacle of its multiplayer. Case in point: this one forBattlefield 1! You’ve got horses, tanks, planes, and a ferocious-looking armored train all clashing in a sandstorm. This is World War I filtered through the chaos ofBattlefieldall right. Zack had a grand old time with therecent alpha build, and I’m curious to try the open beta....

WOAH! FIRE! Cropping up last week from seemingly nowhere, multiple retailers have a listing for aSpyro Reignited TrilogyandCrash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogybundle pack. The compilation is listed for PS4 and Xbox One with a November 13 release date and is going for $59.99. It contains all six games in one package, though curiouslySpyrostill makes mention ofrequiring a content download. That last bit is concerning since theSpyrotrilogywas delayedseemingly to fix that issue....

In today’s episode of Impulse, Sam Mui fromInfinite Backlogjoins me to discuss our favorite details and moments experience so far in Rockstar’sRed Dead Redemption 2! From terrifying grizzly attacks, placing people on railroad tracks, and even something as simple as twirling Arthur’s gun! So far,Red Dead Redemption 2has been a game that I genuinely think sets the barso highfor open world game design, that it’s pissing down on the competition and they think it’s raining....

With less shirt than ever It’s not even a slow news day, butsomeoneneeds to talk about the rampant shirtlessness that’s going on in Hyrule these days. If someone is even wearing a shirt, it’svery likelythat it is only half a shirt.Zeldahas long been the series of choice for people who leave the camera lingering on a character’s physique for an inappropriate amount of time, ever since the Great Fairy popped out ofOcarina of Time....