News & From the Web 🌐

On September 2, 2025, Nintendo and The Pokémon Company were officially granted U.S. Patent No. 12,403,397 by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. What brilliant piece of groundbreaking technology does this cover? A method of summoning a character to fight on behalf of the player. In other words, Nintendo has now patented pressing a button and calling in backup. If you play games, this mechanic should sound familiar. It is …

Nintendo’s Latest Legal Victory Against Modding Nintendo has once again proven that it will aggressively defend its intellectual property from anyone who attempts to undermine it. A federal judge in Washington recently ordered Ryan Michael Daley to pay the company $2 million in damages after he was found guilty of selling modded Nintendo Switch consoles, flash cartridges, and modchips through his site Modded Hardware. The ruling also permanently bans him …

A Platform Built on Freedom For more than a decade, Google’s Android operating system has been the backbone of the handheld emulation scene. Devices like the Retroid Pocket, AYN Odin, and countless other retro handhelds have leaned on Android because of its flexibility. What made the operating system so attractive to both developers and users was not just its adaptability but also its openness. Android allowed sideloading, which meant that …

When Wings of Death hit the Atari ST back in 1990, it quickly carved out a reputation as one of the system’s most intense and stylish vertical shooters. Developed by Eclipse Software and published by Thalion, the game threw players into the boots of Sagyr, a sorcerer cursed to transform into a series of winged creatures in order to battle his way through wave after wave of enemies. Across six …

One Of The Web’s Oldest ROM Sites Removes Games By Nintendo, Sega, And Lego Emulation site Vimm’s Lair – which has been running since 1997 – has announced that it has been asked to remove many games from its archive. God speed, old king. Takedown Requests In a statement on the site’s main page, Vimm’s Lair said: “Vimm’s Lair has been asked to remove many games from The Vault on behalf …

Former Senator Joe Lieberman Passed Away Former Senator Joe Lieberman passed away on Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at the age of 82. His family announced that he died in New York after suffering complications from a fall, with his wife Hadassah and other loved ones by his side. Joe Lieberman: The Senator Who Waged War on Video Games As a passionate video game enthusiast, I can’t help but feel a mix of emotions upon learning …

Indie developers Broke Studio and GGS Studio Creation are set to release a new game for the Sega Genesis / Mega Drive called ‘The Cursed Legacy‘. This upcoming title is a sequel to their previous action platformer, ‘The Cursed Knight‘. A Unique Blend of Run-and-Gun and Innovative 2D Gameplay ‘The Cursed Legacy’ promises to deliver a fresh take on the classic run-and-gun genre by incorporating unique gameplay elements. One of the most notable features is the …

Ex-Sega Staffer Confirms “Secret” Dragon Quest Demo For Saturn Yuji Naka, a former Sega employee, mentioned some time ago that Sega had created a demo of Enix’s Dragon Quest for the Sega Saturn console. Now, another former Sega staffer, Yumiko Miyabe, who served as art director on the Space Channel 5 series and worked on games like NiGHTS, Clockwork Knight, and Panzer Dragoon Saga, has confirmed its existence on social media. Yumiko Miyabe (ex-Sega, Space Channel 5 series art director) confirmed she …

The Quintessential Sega CD Games for Each Year of the Console’s Lifespan The Sega CD, released in 1991 as an add-on for the Sega Genesis, brought CD-ROM technology to console gaming. Despite its limited success compared to the SNES, the Sega CD had a notable library of games that showcased its unique capabilities. Let’s take a journey through the most quintessential Sega CD games for each year of its lifespan. …

The premier Sega Genesis Game for Each Year During the Console’s Heyday The Sega Genesis, also known as the Mega Drive in regions outside of North America, was a 16-bit gaming console that competed head-to-head with the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). The Genesis had its own unique library of games that pushed the boundaries of what was possible in gaming at the time. Let’s take a look at the …

Unveiling the Controversy: The Quest for Super Monkey Ball’s Lost “Adult” Levels Super Monkey Ball, a long-standing franchise known for its family-friendly puzzle-platforming gameplay, took an unexpected turn in 2012 with the release of “Super Monkey Ball: Banana Splitz” for the PS Vita. The game, which usually catered to a younger audience, suddenly found itself in the midst of a controversy due to a set of levels featuring adult-oriented content. …

Suare Enix Releases Controversial FFVII Remake Update Square Enix recently deployed an update for Final Fantasy VII Remake on PC and PlayStation. While containing some minor bug fixes, this update also censors Tifa’s cleavage in a notable cutscene. In the Nibelheim flashback sequence, Tifa’s outfit has been altered to cover her chest area with a black undershirt. Her original design showed more cleavage in this scene. Fans have debated whether …

SEGA’s nostalgic gem, Vay, initially released in 1993 for the SEGA CD and subsequently earning its place as a JRPG cult classic, particularly in the West, is poised for a resurgence. Fans can look forward to an “entirely new, fully reimagined port” specifically tailored for iPhone devices, set to launch later this year. The original game, developed by Hertz and released by SIMS in Japan, saw its North American debut thanks …

Lunar: Silver Star Story Touch Launches for Android Fans of classic RPGs, get ready! The beloved Lunar: Silver Star Story Touch, previously available on iOS, is set to make its way to Android devices on January 26th. This news comes via Pocket Gamer, and it’s sure to excite those who have been waiting to experience the game on their Android phones and tablets. The journey of Lunar: Silver Star Story began on the Sega …

The video game sector continues to face a challenging period marked by ongoing layoffs. Sony has joined the ranks of companies reducing their workforce, announcing on Tuesday the dismissal of approximately 900 employees from its PlayStation division, which accounts for 8% of its global headcount. The impact of the layoffs will be felt across several high-profile development teams within the Sony family. Notable studios that will be affected include Naughty …

22-Year-Old Finds ‘Holy Grail’ Copy of 1987 Zelda Game Worth Over $700,000 A sealed copy of the 1987 Nintendo classic ‘The Legend of Zelda’ is expected to sell for over $700,000 at auction this week, thanks to a chance discovery by a 22-year-old. The owner, who goes by Kiro online, originally purchased the game for just $30 back in 1987. Stored for decades in his family’s home, Kiro decided on …

he Return of Optical Media? New Disc Can Store 200TB Optical discs like CDs and DVDs may be making a comeback for long-term data storage, if new technology developed by researchers pans out. Scientists at the [University of Shanghai for Science and Technology] have created an ultra high-capacity optical disc using advanced 3D recording techniques. Their new disc can hold a whopping 1.6 petabits or approximately 200 terabytes (TB) of …

Sega has revealed that the upcoming reboot of the classic arcade racing game Crazy Taxi will be a big-budget, triple-A release. This news came from Takaya Segawa, president of Sega’s Sapporo Studio, in an interview with the Japan Times. Sapporo Studio is one of the developers working on the new Crazy Taxi game. When discussing the studio’s current projects, Segawa said “We are also participating in the development of triple-A …

In this modern era of unlimited digital content, the boundaries meant to protect the innocence of childhood are being pushed and, in some cases, completely ignored. The heart of this issue currently lies with Twitch, the premier live streaming platform that has recently come under fire for its increasingly lax approach to mature content. With the revelation that children as young as 14 are being exposed to adult-themed streams, including …

Sega of America to Cut 61 Jobs – QA and Localization Hit Hard, Union Responds In a move that has sent shockwaves through the gaming industry, Sega of America has announced plans to lay off 61 staff members next month. This restructuring, which significantly impacts the Quality Assurance (QA) and localization departments, is a sobering reminder of the volatile nature of the gaming business. According to the union representing the …

Dear Sega,   I hope this letter finds you riding the wave of nostalgia and innovation that has always been your hallmark. I am one of the countless fans whose voice has longed to see Sega leap back into the console hardware race, even though the timing never seemed quite right. The landscape of gaming has evolved, with future consoles setting their sights on a digital-only horizon. Yet, in this …

The Game-Changing Graphical Ascendancy: Why N64 to Dreamcast Was the Real Revolution Fact Piece (this is a fact) As gaming aficionados wax poetic about the visual leaps from the PlayStation 2 to the PlayStation 3, they seem to have overlooked the true graphical deity of its time—the Sega Dreamcast. While the PS2 to PS3 evolution indeed brought us into the HD era, it pales in comparison to the seismic shift …

We found an amazing remake of Streets of Rage that everyone should play. Starting as a small fan project in 2003, it has blown up and into a huge remake of the ultimate beat em ups of our generation. After 16 years of development there are well over a hundred stages and all of the characters from the first three games are present with new moves. Every aspect of this …

There has been and epic global shortage of face mask respirators, endangering the health our men and women on the front lines. To fight back against Covid19, Nintendo has found almost 10,000 n95 particulate respirator masks which are now being donated to the brave 1st responders near the company’s North American operations. It is being reported by North Bend Washington, where Nintendo of America’s packaging and distribution center is based, …

The world Health Organization (WHO), a specialized agency of the United Nations concerned with international public health, states that being transgender is no longer classified as a mental illness. There is nothing wrong with it, and they apparently had it wrong for ages. In the newest version of the ICD, the WHO “has removed trans-related identities from a list of mental disorders, reclassifying them under ‘Conditions Related to Sexual Health’. …