It doesn’t even have the French Goth one When esoteric publisher Microids announced that we were gettingfiveSmurfsgames in as many years, we all laughed, then we cried a little, then laughed more to alleviate the pain. But it seems that weallhad a lot of growing up to do, as Microids has channeled that bemusement into sadistic determination. Following up the fall 2021 release of platform adventureThe Smurfs: Mission Vileaf, the French publisher has now moved on to that second video game genre detailed in the Big Book of IP Licensing: Kart Racing....

‘Kooloo-Limpah!’ Freshly-Picked Tingle’s Rosy Rupeelandwas a 2006 Nintendo DS title that gave us an all-too-terrifying look into the solo adventures of the world’s most horrifying map-maker, Tingle. Tingle’s brilliance proved too great for audiences outside of Japan and so the sequel,Ripened Tingle’s Balloon Trip of Lovewould never see release beyond its home country. That is, until now. That’s right,Tingle’s Balloon Trip of Loveis now playable in English all thanks to a new fan-translation....

The gang does not make a Minecraft movie Next year was supposed to see four films featuring four of the most popular characters in video games. Now, there will only be three. Everything is going right forDetective Pikachu,The Angry Birds Movie 2, and even theSonicfilm, but the highly toutedMinecraftproject seems to be edging closer to development hell now that writer/director Rob McElhenney is out. According to the Wrap, McElhenney, best known as Mac onIt’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, is no longer attached to the project....

The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) has rated Sledgehammer Games’ upcomingCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 3ahead of its July 05, 2025 release. In the contents of theESRB rating summary, the boardmayhave revealed new freight delivery, No Russian-style mission. 2009’sModern Warfare 2featuredone of the most controversial mainstream video game missions, where players opened fire on civilians in a terrorist attack. Though2011’sModern Warfare 3had its own takeon the shocking sequence, the mission didn’t receive quite as much attention....

It’s zombie-smashing time Starbreeze and Skybound Entertainment has announced that co-op shooterOverkill’s The Walking Deadhas begun its closed beta on PC, allowing pre-order customers the opportunity to check out the team-based shooter ahead of its release next month. Players who have pre-ordered the standard edition ofOverkill’s The Walking Deadshould find a code waiting in their inbox, while those who purchased the deluxe edition will be given four codes for themselves and a trio of buddies to partake in the survival horror action....

September 6 Temtemis out in September, according to publisher Humble Games, and it’ll arrive on thePC, Switch,PS5, andXbox Series Xplatforms. Acollector’s editionhas also been announced, and will feature a statue of the three starters, a card set, pins, patches, and a collector’s box. If you’ve never played or heard of it beforeJordan has a great writeup here, but suffice to say it’s essentially a different take on thePokemonformula. You play the role of a tamer [trainer], and attempt to catch creatures and battle them....

It’s either “all online” or “all local” for N64 games with Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack We’re only a couple of days removed from the launch of N64 games on Switch with theNintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack service, and the issues, complaints, and caveats are piling up. One of them — a problem that reveals itself when local players attempt to compete together in Nintendo 64 online multiplayer — ticks all three boxes at once....

Goodbye, Miramar! WhenPUBGintroduced a new map, one of the first requests from players was some sort of ability to toggle whether they wanted to play on it or not. This was such a seemingly simple addition that it is kind of mind boggling why it has taken so long. Finally, though, a map toggle selector will soon be coming to the popular battle royale game. As theSteam community forum updateexplains, the reason for the delay in the update was down to matchmaking....

German exhibit looks at the positive and negative history of the media A new exhibition has been installed in the Schwules Museum in Berlin, Germany to celebrate LGBTQ culture and history in video games. Titled “Rainbow Arcade”, the new exhibit was designed by art director Nicolas Simoneau and co-curated by Schwules PR Jan Schnorrenberg, Professor and author Dr Adrienne Shaw, and German gaming journalist Sarah Rudolph. Described by Schnorrenberg as “a love letter to games”, Rainbow Arcade features a unique colour-coded layout, with each of the rainbow’s colours representing a different facet of LGBTQ gaming culture....

Back in the trenches I have run the rollercoaster of emotions in the brief time it took thisMedal of Honortrailer to roll. I went from “There’s a newMedal of Honor?” to “Huh, they got the original writer to direct” to “Hell yeah, he smashed a dude’s head with a stone bust” to “Okay, I’d play this.” I’ll admit that I have no real love forMedal of Honorbut Respawn has earned our trust by now....

A portion of a 125 million userbase are going to want a real answer When I talked about the problem with Sony not backing down with cross-play last year withMinecraft(when even Apple and Nintendo were on board), most people laughed it off — “why would Sony work with their arch rival Microsoft and benefit them?” they said. Well, they can’t really laugh off this other biggercross-play problem. That game of course isFortnite, which just launched on Switch....

Welcome to the gun show And so we reach the conclusion of our three-part look at theMetro Exodus.We’ve seen the allies, andwe’ve seen the mutants. This last gallery is arguably more important than any friend or foe. These are the weapons ofMetro Exodus, and they are an A1 priority because they’re the only things that’ll keep Artyom not-dead. Being still-alive in post-apocalyptic Russia is a major accomplishment. It doesn’t happen by sheer luck....

You Fool! I’m not looking to start a fight here. WhenThe Genji and the Heike Clanswas released in Japanese arcades by Namco in 1986 asGenpei Tōma Den, it was generally well-respected. However, here at the Destructoid Institute of Critiquing Kusoge (DICK), we have a saying: If it walks like Kusoge, quacks like Kusoge, andsmellslike Kusoge, it’s definitely Kusoge (crap game). So, are you going to take the word of Japan, the experts on Kusoge?...