Pokemon Scarlet & Pokemon Violet announced!

Today, the Pokemon Company hosted Pokemon Presents as part of Pokemon Day, where they talked about upcoming news and updates for various games such as Pokemon Go, Pokemon Cafe Mix, and Pokemon Legends: Arceus. The stream ended with the reveal of the 9th generation of the Pokemon games: Pokemon Scarlet and Pokemon Violet!

From what can be seen in the trailer, the games appear to be following up on the open-world gameplay that Pokemon Legends: Arceus built. The trailer showcased a few areas, such as some grassy plains, a forest, a desert, a beach, and a town. Some familiar Pokemon from past titles were also seen during this, such as Starly, Hoppip, Petilil, Bounsweet, Driftloon, Meowth, and of course, Pikachu.

But speaking of Pokemon, it also showed off the new three Starter Pokemon! A green cat called Sprigatito, a duck with what appears to be either a hat or some stylish hair called Quaxly, and a red crocodile-pepper-thing called Fuecoco.

The trailer also showed off what appears to be the protagonists. Unlike the Pokemon, their names were not revealed. (Though following Pokemon tradition - mainly the naming conventions that the Pokemon Adventures manga goes with - the boy's placeholder name will be Scarlet, while the girl's placeholder name will be Violet) Notably, their designs resemble how the humans looked in the spin-off game, New Pokemon Snap.

You can watch the trailer here! The game is planning to release in late 2022 for the Nintendo Switch.

Digimon Adventure: 2020 anime will receive an English Dub!

Yesterday, it has been confirmed that one of the recent anime of the Digimon franchise, Digimon Adventure: - and yes, the colon is part of the name, though it's easier to just refer to it as Digimon Adventure 2020 - will be receiving an English dub, though when it will be released is unknown.

For those who don't know, Digimon Adventure 2020 serves as a reboot of the classic 1999 Digimon Adventure show. Set in more modern times, the series sees Tai, and his friends - Matt, Sora, Mimi, Izzy, and Joe - getting transported to the Digital World, where they meet Agumon and his friends - Gabumon, Biyomon, Palmon, Tentomon, and Gomamon. Together, they must work together to stop the evil Digimon, who's relentless attacks on the Digital World are causing disastrous effects in the Real World.

When it comes to the voices, it's been confirmed that all of the characters will be receiving new voice actors. However, only Tai's and Agumon's new voices have been revealed. Tai Kamiya will be voiced by Zeno Robinson, who notable works include voicing Hawks from My Hero Academia, as well as Genya from Demon Slayer. Agumon will be voiced by Ben Diskin, who previously voiced Shoutmon from Digimon Fusion. Both voice actors appeared in a video message to the fans, with Robinson commenting that he had grown up with the original show and was honored to be voicing the series' main character.

Following this news, some fans wonder if the current Digimon anime, Digimon Ghost Game, will be dubbed as well, though nothing was said about it.

Are you excited to see this? Would you have preferred if some of the original voice actors returned? Let us know in the comments!

Kirby gets new powers in the Kirby and the Forgotten Land!

A new trailer shown in the Nintendo Direct goes into more depth with Kirby and the Forgotten Land... including a new power for Kirby called Mouthful Mode!

When Kirby tried to inhale certain objects - such as the car pictured above - he'll be able to get them in his mouth, but won't be able to fully swallow them, hence the name "Mouthful Mode." During this, Kirby will gain access to new abilities. In Car Mouth mode, Kirby can race around at high speeds, jumping over ramps and ramming into enemies!

Other new Mouthful Modes include Arch Mouth, allowing Kirby to glide through the air; Cone Mouth, which slows him down greatly, but allows him to poke through certain terrain; Light-Bulb Mouth, which can allow Kirby to brighten up dark rooms, at the cost of moving slower while doing so; and Vending Mouth, which allows Kirby to shoot juice cans at his foes.

Another thing new to the game is upgrading Copy Abilities! During his adventure, Kirby can visit Waddle Dee's Weapon Shop to evolve his Copy Abilities into stronger forms, and each one appears to have three levels of evolution. An example given of this was the Fire ability, which can evolve into Volcano Fire, than then mighty Dragon Fire! Each upgrade costs a certain amount of stars to evolve them.

The final shot of the trailer shows more members of the Beast Pack, who are the antagonists of the game. It also shows King Dedede is with them as well, though whether he's working for them, commanding them, or being mind-controlled is currently unknown.

Kirby and the Forgotten Land will release on March 25, 2022.

New race tracks heading to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe!

While the news may disappoint some fans hoping for a Mario Kart 9, those who don't mind may be excited to hear that Mario Kart 8 Deluxe for Nintendo Switch is receiving 48 new courses via the Booster Course Pass!

The Booster Course Pass will be sent out in 6 waves, with each wave having two 2 Cups that have 8 race tracks each. All of the tracks are picked from previous games in the series, as well as some courses from the Mario Kart Tour mobile game!

The Golden Dash Cup contains Paris Promenade (Mario Kart Tour), Toad Circuit (Mario Kart 7), Choco Mountain (Mario Kart 64), and Coconut Mall (Mario Kart Wii). Lucky Cat Cup contains Tokyo Blur (Mario Kart Tour), Shrom Ridge (Mario Kart DS), Sky Garden (Mario Kart: Super Circuit), and Ninja Hideaway (Mario Kart Tour).  Wave 1 will be released on March 18, 2022.

The Booster Course Pass costs $24.99. Even if you don't buy the DLC. you can still race on these new courses with others in the online mode, as long as one of the players your up against has purchased the DLC. You just won't be able to race on them whenever you want offline.

What are your thoughts? You excited for this upcoming DLC? What courses are you hoping make the cut? Tell us in the comments below!

Master Splinter joins the battle in TMNT: Shredder's Revenge!

As revealed a few days ago, the Ninja Turtles sensei, Master Splinter, is the fifth playable character in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge! Though the initial reveal trailer teased this, this is outright confirmation of it.

Compared to his rambunctious kids, Splinter is more calm and stoic. As the one responsible for teaching the turtles the art of ninja, you can expect him to be quite the powerhouse. Along with attacking foes from afar with his walking cane, he can also use powerful ninjutsu techniques to overwhelm the various Foot Soldiers Shredder has sent out to gain up on our heroes.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge is planning to release sometime in 2022.

EarthBound and its prequel finally arrive on Nintendo Switch!

It took a while, but it's finally happened: EarthBound has finally arrived to Nintendo Switch's SNES online service! Not only that, but it's prequel, EarthBound Beginnings, tags along as well on the NES version of the online service!

EarthBound stars a young boy named Ness, who is awoken from his sleep from a meteorite landing near his house. From the meteor emerges a small bee-looking creature named Buzz-Buzz, who warns Ness of an upcoming disaster that will be caused by an evil being called Giygas. Ness isn't alone, as he'll meet some new friends along the way on this trip, such as the kind Paula, the nerdy Jeff, and the stoic Prince Poo. Can Ness and his friends stop this evil alien's upcoming invasion?

EarthBound Beginnings is a prequel to EarthBound, and stars Ninten. Bizarre things are happening in his hometown of Podunk, so he decides to go out and investigate. This eventually leads him to the magical world of Magicant, where he meets the Queen, who asks for his assistance in locating the eight melodies. Along with some new friends - such as the shy Lloyd, the adorable Ana, and the rough 'n tough Teddy - Ninten will have to scour the land as he tries to locate the melodies and discover the source of all this weirdness going on!

These games will be available to play for as long as your subscribed to Nintendo Switch Online service.

If you would like some in-depth info on the character of Ness, click here! Be warned: there are spoilers.

Monika from Doki Doki Literature Club gets her own Nendroid figure!

As confirmed on the official Twitter account, GoodSmile has opened up a pre-order page for their upcoming Nendroid figure of Monika from the hit visual novel/horror game, Doki Doki Literature Club. (And on Valentines Day no less, which is quite fitting.)

The nendroid comes with various accessories, such as her pen, a desk, a chair, some dialogue boxes with some choice quotes from the game, and one of Monika's special poems! She also comes with additional hand and leg parts, so that she can hold her pen and poem, as well as sit on her chair.

Monika also comes with three face plates. Her default one is an innocent smile. Another shows a more focused and mischievous expression. Another one is based on a unique scene that occurs in the middle-half of the game if you're streaming it.

As previously mentioned, Monika is available for pre-order at about $70, and will ship out sometime in December, 2022.

What do you think? Will you be picking one up? Are you hoping that Sayori, Natsuki, and Yuri will get one as well? Tell us your thoughts below!

Play a round of extreme soccer in Mario Strikers: Battle League!

A new entry in the Mario Strikers series, Mario Strikers: Battle League, has been announced yesterday in the Nintendo Direct. 

In Mario Strikers: Battle League, a team of five players compete against another team in a soccer match to score the most goals. Of course, this being Mario, the game puts a Mario twist on it: players can use items to assist themselves or hinder their opponents. Additionally, you're also free to tackle your foe as much as you want, though missing will leave you open.

Compared to the previous entry's Mega Strikes, this game introduces Hyper Strikes, which are similar in concept, but function differently. During the game, orbs will appear somewhere on field. Collecting one will power your whole team up. Afterwards, if you're on your opponents side of the field, pressing and and holding the kick button will allow you to perform a Hyper Strike! If the ball then manages to get into the net, you'll score two points! But be careful, as trying to use a Hyper Strike leaves you open!

New to this game is gear! By equipping gear on your character's head, body, arms and/or legs, their default stats will be modified. You can make your character move more quickly, make their tackles stronger, or even make them powerfully hit the ball faster and farther.

Speaking of characters, these are the ones who are currently confirmed to be playable in the game:

1. Mario
2. Luigi
3. Peach
4. Toad
   
5. Yoshi
6. Bowser
   
7. Donkey Kong
8. Wario
9. Waluigi
10. Rosalina (New)
    

Of note is that sidekicks appear to have been removed from the game, as Toad has been upgraded to a main playable character, not to mention that the other returning playable characters - who were previously Team Captains - are now able to work together on a team instead of being unable to. (Example from Mario Strikers Charged: if you picked Mario, you could not have Luigi, Peach, Bowser, etc... on his team) Additionally, it appears that Boom Boom replaces Kritter as the goalkeeper for this game.

The game is planned to release on June 10, 2022.

Shredder from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles joins Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl!

As revealed earlier in the day, Shredder is the latest character who will join the battle in Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl!

Making his debut back in 1984 in the original Mirage comic book, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Shredder (real name Oroku Saki) was the first villain the Turtles - Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo - fought against. Saki's older brother, Oroku Nagi, was one of the best members of the Foot clan, alongside another individual named Hamato Yoshi. Nagi and Yoshi fought each other over the love of a woman named Tang Shen. However, Shen only had eyes for Yoshi, which enraged Nagi. He ended up trying to attack Shen, only to be killed by Yoshi. Yoshi, Shen, and Yoshi's pet rat Splinter would then flee from Japan to America, due to Yoshi being disgraced for killing another member of the Foot Clan.

Saki, who admired his older brother, would swear revenge on Yoshi. He would return to Japan and join the Foot Clan, slowly climbing up the ranks until he was put in charge of the American branch of the Foot Clan. Taking on the mantle of "The Shredder," he took advantage of his new position to hunt Yoshi and Shen down to finally avenge his brother. Unknown to him, Yoshi's pet rat Splinter would manage to escape to the sewers, where he would end up finding four baby turtles and some mutagen that would mutate them into anthropomorphic forms.

15 years later, Shredder would confront the Ninja Turtles in a bloody battle. Leo would manage to stab him, giving Shredder the opportunity to die an honorable death. However, he decided to try to take them all down with a grenade, which Donatello whacked back at him, sending both the grenade and Shredder into the alley below, where the explosion did him in

All of that happened in the first issue, making him the shortest living Shredder among the various adaptions, though he would sort of "live on" through various clones the Foot Clan would try to create. By 1987, the franchise would receive a cartoon adaption with the same name, though it was heavily toned down to be suitable for kids. Here, Saki's origin story was that he was jealous of Yoshi's leadership, and set him up to look like he was planning to assassinate the Foot Clan leader. With Yoshi exiled to America, Saki would rise in the ranks until he became the leader of the Foot Clan, turning the noble ninja into an army of crime. It's also around here he would adopt the alias of "The Shredder."

Discontent with Yoshi's banishment, he moved to New York City to not only conquer it, but also rid himself of his former rival. At some point during this, Shredder would meet an alien named Krang, and the two would team up to try to take over New York City. Upon finding Hamato Yoshi, he would try to use Krang's Mutagen to kill him, only to unknowingly end up mutating Yoshi into a rat, as well as mutating four baby turtles into his worst enemies, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Befitting the Ninja Turtles arch-nemesis, Shredder towers over the other characters, and has lightning-fast moves. Most of his attacks involve him using the claws on his armor to try to shred his foes, though a few attacks also use weapons, such as using a spear and a sword. One of Shredder's moves involves him grabbing a foe in the air and slamming them down into the ground!

Additionally, along with Shredder comes a new stage! Surprisingly, it's not a TMNT stage to go with Shredder, but rather a stage based on one of Nickelodeon's game shows, Double Dare! This stage has green goo below it, which the fighters slowly sink into. Better keep jumping, so you can escape to the upper platforms, unless you want to sink into the depths!

Shredder's alternate costume, which happens to be a reference to Shredder's appearance in Batman Vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Shredder is available to play right now, so if you haven't updated your game yet, you'd better do so! And with that, Shredder is the last free character for the game, with the rest - if any - having to be bought.

Are you happy that Shredder has joined the battle? Are you hoping that one of your favorite Nickelodeon characters can still manage to get in? Tell us your thoughts in the comments below!