The ludicrouslycontrived controversyoverCall of Juarez: The Cartelcontinues with news that some Mexican legislators want the game banned. Again, it’s worth pointing out that all we’ve seen so far is some box art. That’s enough for some government officials, apparently. On both sides of the border, there has been a lot of controversy (and a jaw-dropping amount of presumption) surrounding the freshly released game. Legislators in the state of Chihuahua are said to be lobbying the Secretariat of Governance and the Secretariat of Economy to block sales of the game....

Free for existing owners After launchingwith less content than its competitors,Minecraft Wii U Editionis finally getting some unique bells and whistles. Nintendo has just announced this morning that it’s partnering with Microsoft to release a Super Mario Mash-Up pack, which will provide a new world, as well as music and texture assets. Inspiration is said to have been drawn fromSuper Mario World, 64, andSunshine. The pack will include 40 skins, “15 pieces of music,” and the textures you see below in the gallery....

As a free update Mojang recently unveiledMinecraft‘s “Battle mini game,” and had a nebulous date of “sometime in June” for its release. Now we know that it’s actually coming June 21, which should give you some time to settle down after E3. you may get an idea of what to expectfrom my preview, but here’s a video that also highlights the basic gist. As a reminder, this will be a free update that is coming to PS4, Xbox One, and Wii U....

‘This one might be more divisive than the first game’ Naughty Dog is counting down the days untilThe Last of Us Part IIlaunches on June 19 with aseries of “spoiler-free” developer videosexploring the team’s “largest and most ambitious” game yet. I won’t cover any specifics, but today’s video is all about the story scenario. Next up, Naughty Dog is going “inside the gameplay” on May 20, “inside the details” on May 27, and “inside the world” on June 3....

R-9? Never heard of it, mate… Almost nothing recalls the halcyon days of the arcade quite like a shmup. The twitchy, reactive and often infuriating genre swamped game rooms the world over, ensnaring a community of masochistic fans who are still dedicated to the genre today. SNK’sPulstar, released in 1995, was just one more game in an overcrowded market. Whilst it has impressive visuals, thanks to its pre-rendered graphics (a first for Neo Geo hardware)Pulstarwas ashamelessclone of Irem’s masterful hitR-Type, liberally ripping off its main sprite, enemy movement patterns, control system, weapon power-ups and even stage designs, without quite nailing the 1987 hit’s crisp gameplay....

Energy Hook In 2002, Jamie Fristrom, the technical director for theSpider-Man 2game (commonly hailed as one of the best western action games from that era), created the web-swinging mechanic. Fast forward 10 years and he’s creating his own game calledEnergy Hook— four years after that, and it’s ready to release. There’s no sugar coating it here, the visuals look awful. Like, worse than your average 2016 mobile game awful. But if the swinging gameplay is halfway decent it could make for a fun little PlayStation Plus offering down the line....

[Update:Here’s the trailer detailing the new downloadable content.] In an interesting twist, the upcoming 3DS titleNew Super Mario Bros. 2will have additional coin rush stages made available via DLC, to be sold sometime after launch. Nintendo is already trying to dodge criticism by stating that these DLC stages will be createdafterthe game has been released, and that they will be taking user input into account when designing them. They’re also showing off celebrities playing the game, which is cool if you like celebrities....

You thought the Xbox 360 action titleNinja Bladewas coming out in March, didn’t you? You thought you were going to spend a nice March day doing ninja-esque Quick Time Events, didn’t you. I hate to disappoint, but blame someone at From Software or Microsoft, not me. Someone close to the game told us that it has been pushed back a bit, with a new date of April 7th. They don’t give any reasons, though....

Updated: July 21, 2025 We searched for new codes! Well, I’m not a fan of horrors in any way, but this title really piqued my interest.Pillar Chase 2is all about your survival skills if you’re a survivor and the chase if you’re a monster. Regardless of the role, this experience can be really challenging. As the game progressed, I realized that I needed help to survive. That’s why I looked forPillar Chase 2codes hoping I’d get freebies, but luck wasn’t on my side since there aren’t any codes available right now....

See something you like? Never one to be outdone, PlayStation has unleashed its own mad flurry of discounts unto the world. What? You didn’t think Sony would sit this one out, did you? ThePlayStation Black Friday Salejust started and there are more than 100 games that are discounted. A few highlights areOverwatchfor $35,Far Cry Primalfor $15,HitmanSeason One for $36,Star Wars BattlefieldDeluxe Edition for $14, andThe Witcher 3Complete Edition for $30. There’s a notable lack of first-party games, however; maybe those will show up closer to the actual Black Friday, probably in a Flash Sale....

I had the pleasure of working through my firstQuantum Conundrumplay session with the help of its Creative Director, Kim Swift. After helping create Valve hit gamesPortaland bothLeft 4 Deadtitles,Swift moved onto Airtight Games to bring this dimensional shifting delight to us. I’m thankful that she was on hand at a Microsoft press event to help me push through some of the brain-twisting puzzle rooms in the very first hands-on session with the game....

At the Paradox Interactive preview event I attended during GDC, ZEAL Game Studio showed me an interesting active real-time strategy hybrid game calledRED Frontier. It fuses the strategy of RTS games with much more action-oriented combat play RED Frontier is a multiplayer RTS with a focus on accessibility through drop-in/drop-out online gameplay and a respawn system that lets you continue to battle even if your initial strategy failed. During some hands-on time with the game, I could see how the generally slow pace of RTS games has been slightly evolved to make this particular game feel more engaging and fun to a larger audience....

2D PUBG Arc System Works has announced thatRiver City Melee: Battle Royale Specialwill behitting Steamthis week on September 14. The game is a spin-off of the main Kunio Kun series and features four player multiplayer action in the form of a fighting game similar toStreet Fighter. Apparently there are 25 storylines to play through if you’re a solo player, though the action won’t become like a traditionalRiver Citygame. If you own the previous Arc System Works releasedRiver Citygame on Steam (which isSuper Sports Challenge ~All Stars Special~), you’ll receive a 10% discount on the game in addition to the 10% off launch week special....