Pokémon Celebrates a Milestone With Some Big Announcements
Check out the biggest reveals as the franchise celebrates three decades
The Pokémon company held their Pokémon Presents livestream, providing updates and showing off new games as they turn 30 this year. Also, the state of New York is suing Valve. Find out the details and all the latest news below. Let’s go!
Pokémon celebrates 30 years
As they prepare to turn 30 this year, the Pokémon Company held their annual Pokémon Presents livestream. As you can guess, there were a number of big announcements. They include:
Pokémon Wind and Waves
Scheduled for 2027, the new game features Browt, Pombon, and Gecqua as the new starter Pokémon. Both games will be released simultaneously.
Pokémon Champs comes to Switch next month
The battle-focused game Pokémon Champs arrives on Switch in April, with the mobile version set to launch later in the year.
Game Boy Jukebox
All the music for Pokémon Red and Blue will be on individual cartridges (45 to be precise) that can be inserted into a player that looks like a miniature Game Boy.
You can check out everything announced at the Pokémon Presents livestream here, including news about Pokémon Go, the world championships and the card game.
Are loot boxes gambling?
The state of New York is suing Valve, saying the company’s in-game loot boxes are illegal gambling and a threat to addiction for children.
In a complaint filed by Attorney General Letitia James, she asserted Valve's loot boxes amounted to "quintessential gambling," violating the state's constitution and penal law. James says that valuable items are often hard to win, while many of the items won in-game are worth pennies.
Loot boxes give players a chance to win a variety of virtual items such as caps, gun skins and other cosmetics. However, loot boxes cost real money to acquire. The suit was initiated after an investigation found "Valve's video games, including Counter-Strike 2, Team Fortress 2, and Dota 2, enable gambling by enticing users to pay for the chance to win a rare virtual item of significant monetary value."
Legal experts who have looked over the case say the state of New York faces an uphill battle convincing the counts that these actions constitute gambling. Some equate it to buying a pack of Pokémon or baseball cards. However, it is now up to the courts to decide if that is truly the case.
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Side Quests (more stories worth reading)
🎮 We spent the night with Perfect Tides: Station to Station. Check out our review of this delightful indie treasure.
🤖 A few months before being named the head of Xbox, Asha Sharma was discussing how AI could help stop declining birthrates.
👾 God of War studio Sony Santa Monica is reportedly working on a new franchise within the God of War universe.
🥊 The fighting game tournament series EVO announced more regional events and a new world championship. However, there is growing skepticism of the event, as it is now fully owned by the Saudi megaproject Qiddiya.
🤖 A Resident Evil Requiem review from the UK gaming news site Videogamer was pulled from Metacritic after it was learned the review was written by a fake AI journalist who doesn’t exist.
🎸 RedOctane announced Stage Tour, a spiritual successor to Guitar Hero.
🧑🏼⚖️ The publisher behind Styx, Hell is Us and GreedFall filed for insolvency, just before the release of GreedFall 2.
🆔 Amid backlash from users, Discord is delaying its age verification rollout.
📅 Marvel's Wolverine officially has a release date: September 15, 2026.
🍖 Amazon Game Studio is shutting down King of Meat six months after it launched.
👎🏻 A Bloodborne Remake was reportedly pitched by now-shuttered studio Bluepoint and accepted by Sony, but turned down by FromSoftware.
💒 The creator of Stardew Valley revealed that there will be two more characters you can marry in the next patch.
😢 IGN Owner Ziff Davis announced editorial cuts at Eurogamer.
🎩 Hello Kitty and friends are coming to the mobile game Monopoly Go!
New Releases this week:
Check out our article on 14 new games to play in March.
3/2: World of Warcraft: Midnight (PC)
3/3: Legacy of Kain: Defiance Remastered (PlayStation, Xbox, Switch and PC)
3/3: Scott Pilgrim EX (PlayStation, Xbox, Switch and PC)
3/5: Marathon (PlayStation, Xbox and PC)
3/5: Planet of Lana II: Children of the Leaf (PlayStation, Xbox, Switch and PC)
3/5: Pokémon Pokopia (Switch)
3/5: Slay the Spire 2 (PC)
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