Nintendo’s new hardware

Nintendo surprised fans with a new hardware announcement last week. No, it’s likely not the device you were hoping for. Also, a new report looks at how toxic Roblox is for children and investors. All that and more. Let’s go!

Tick tock, Nintendo won’t stop

People have been waiting for new Nintendo hardware for the past few years. Last week, they got their wish.

Except, not really. 

Nintendo announced Alarmo, an interactive clock. The clock has a built-in motion sensor that determines when the owner begins to move, and responds to actions with sounds. When the owner gets out of bed, the alarm turns off automatically. 

The alarm has themes based on five games: Super Mario Odyssey, Pikman 4, Splatoon 3, Ring Fit Adventure and Zelda: Breath of the Wild. More themes will eventually become available via download. The clock can also play “sleepy sounds” when you get into bed, record your sleep habits and play an hourly chime. 

Alarmo costs $100, and is currently available to Nintendo Switch Online members in the US and Canada, or purchased at the Nintendo New York store. Wider retail distribution is scheduled for early 2025. The Verge got their hands on one the day they went on sale, while Kotaku curated the internet’s reaction.

Roblox: a “hellscape” for children

A new report says that Roblox inflated user numbers while downplaying child predator presence to investors.

The gaming platform that is geared towards young children has garnered its share of complaints and notoriety. The new report from Hindenburg Research makes a number of allegations about the company. From their report: 

• Roblox is lying to investors, regulators, and advertisers about the number of “people” on its platform, inflating the key metric by 25-42%+. We [Hindenburg Research] also show how engagement hours, another key metric, is inflated by an estimated 100%+.
• Roblox is compromising child safety in order to report growth to investors, per [Hindenburg Research’s] interview with a former senior product designer: “If you’re limiting users’ engagement, it’s hurting your metrics…in a lot of cases, the leadership doesn’t want that.”
• Despite Roblox’s claims of “best in the world” content moderation, [Hindenburg Research’s] interviews with moderators show safety was largely outsourced to Asian call centers. Moderators described being paid $12 a day to review countless instances of child grooming and bullying with a limited ability to keep perpetrators off the platform permanently.

The article goes in-depth with their research, statistics and interviews of former company employees. Roblox responded to the report, rejecting their allegations. 

Every day, tens of millions of users of all ages have safe and positive experiences on Roblox, abiding by the company’s Community Standards. Roblox takes any content or behavior on the platform that doesn’t abide by its standards extremely seriously, and Roblox has a robust set of proactive and preventative safety measures designed to catch and prevent malicious or harmful activity on the platform.

Side Quests (more stories worth reading)

🎃 Oh, the horror! Check out our piece on 13 Spooky games to play for Halloween. 

💻 Pokémon developer Game Freak admits they were hacked, with employee information, unannounced games and more data leaked online. 

🤑 Genshin Impact is on track to make $10 billion globally in 2025 after cracking $5 billion just in China. 

📱 Microsoft will start selling games in the Android Xbox app beginning next month. 

🤠 After 14 years, the original Red Dead Redemption is finally coming to PC. It will cost $50. 

🕹️ Steam now warns players they’re only buying a license to a game instead of an actual product. 

🤖 The AI programmer for the 2001 game Black & White won the 2024 Nobel Prize for Chemistry.

😱 Don’t scream! The upcoming game A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead measures how loud you are and in-game monsters react accordingly. 

👽 An Alien: Isolation sequel is in the works. 

🕹️ Check out the nominees for the 2024 Golden Joystick Awards. 

⚽ Konami is replacing Electronic Arts as FIFA's esports partner.

🚗 The award-winning documentary Grand Theft Hamlet, a movie about two actors trying to perform Hamlet in Grand Theft Auto Online, is coming to American theaters. 

📉 August video game spending drops 7% to $4.1 billion, led by Madden NFL 25. 

👍🏻 Ex-Disco Elysium devs announce two rival studios.

👋 LittleBigPlanet 3 and all its DLC are being delisted on October 31.

🎮 Leaders from publisher Paradox Interactive gave a blunt interview with Game Developer, saying their “overconfidence” led to “undisciplined” decision-making.

📈 Metaphor: ReFantazio sells 1 million units on its first day.

⚖️ A new lawsuit alleges that Ubisoft illegally shared user data with Meta.

🇮🇹 Silent Hill 2 got an emergency patch after a “huge translation mistake” spoiled the whole game for Italian players. 

👁️‍🗨️ Nintendo announced a Switch Online playtest for a mysterious new feature. 

©️ An author is suing Bungie for copyright infringement over Destiny 2's story.

⚽ Football Manager 25 has been delayed to March 2025.

💰 The Tomb Raider franchise tops 100 million lifetime copies sold, while Detroit: Become Human sold 10 million copies over six years. 

🤔 PC Gamer opinion: Nintendo is shedding its veneer of kindness and embracing a new reputation: Vigorous legal bully.

New Releases this week: 

Check out our article on 13 New Games to Play in October.

10/15: Just Dance 2025 Edition (PlayStation, Xbox and Switch)
10/15: Neva (PlayStation, Xbox, Switch and PC)
10/17: Super Mario Party Jamboree (Switch)
10/17: A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead (PlayStation, Xbox and PC)
10/18: Unknown 9: Awakening (PlayStation, Xbox and PC)

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