Nintendo has been known to vigorously defend its interests and intellectual properties in court, and one of its longest-running legal battles may be nearing its conclusion. In 2010, the Japanese video game publisher filed a suit in Germany against BigBen Interactive--the previous incarnation of Nacon--over its third-party Wii Remote controllers. Now, the latest ruling has unequivocally gone in Nintendo's favor.

As reported by Games Fray, the Mannheim Regional Court has reaffirmed the ruling that Nintendo is owed damages of over €4 million plus interest. Because Nacon fought the ruling, that interest has increased the total fee to just under €7 million.

Nintendo's contention was that Nacon's Wii Remote infringed on its patents for the sensor technology and camera needed to track player movements, as well as an acceleration sensor, and "the ergonomic features characteristic of Nintendo's Wii Remote." The initial verdict came down in 2011, but Nacon has consistently appealed the judgment and come up empty each time.

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World Tech Toys Licensed Air Hockey Tables

$50

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If you're sick of having to go all the way to Dave & Buster's to play some air hockey with your little ones, you'll want to check out these officially licensed, portable air hockey tables from World Tech Toys. Each one is just $50, and features characters from popular franchises like Spider-Man, Transformers, Toy Story, and more.

World Tech Toys Licensed Air Hockey Tables $50

World Tech Toys' new air hockey tables feature a built-in fan that mimics an authentic air hockey experience, while remaining portable enough to bring with you on the go. The tables are constructed from durable wood, too, which should withstand the usual wear and tear that children's toys endure. There are multiple variations of air hockey tables, each featuring a beloved character (or characters) from big-name franchises like Marvel, Disney, and more. Check out each World Tech Toys Air Hockey Table theme you can get below:

• Marvel Avengers Air Hockey Table -- $50
• Marvel Spider-Man Air Hockey Table -- $50
• Marvel Spidey and His Amazing Friends Air Hockey Table -- $50
• Mickey Mouse Air Hockey Table -- $50
• Minnie Mouse Air Hockey Table -- $50
• Toy Story Air Hockey Table -- $50
• Transformers Air Hockey Table -- $50

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These air hockey tables could make great last-minute gifts for kids--just make sure to confirm Amazon's delivery date is before Christmas, if you need it to arrtive by December 25. If you're looking for some other gift ideas, check out World Tech Toys' lineup, which includes RC cars and helicopters, toy work benches, mini pinball and foosball tables, plus much more. And yes, those come in plenty of fun themes as well, including Frozen, Star Wars, and Subway.

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Backbone Pro Mobile Controller

$135 (was $170)

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Backbone Pro Mobile Controller: Xbox Edition

$145 (was $180)

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Backbone Pro Mobile Controller (Pink): Target Exclusive

$140 (was $170)

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Just a month after its launch, the Backbone Pro Xbox Edition is on sale for a substantial discount at Amazon, Best Buy, and Backbone's online storefront. Normally $180, the officially licensed transparent green mobile controller is up for grabs for $145. Alternatively, you can get the standard edition black Backbone Pro for $135 (was $170) or the Target-exclusive pink edition for $140 (was $170).

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Prime Video's Tomb Raider TV series continues to add to its cast, with a new report saying Jason Isaacs will star in the show. Deadline reported that the Emmy-nominated actor will appear in the show, but his role is unknown at this point, as is the larger story for the series.

Isaacs is a veteran actor perhaps best known for his role as Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter movie series. He's also had roles in the movies The Patriot, Black Hawk Down, Peter Pan, and Fury. On TV, Isaacs recently had a starring role in the The White Lotus Season 3, a role that earned him his first Emmy nomination.

The Tomb Raider TV show stars Game of Thrones alum Sophie Turner as Lara Croft, with Avatar's Sigourney Weaver signed on to play a character named Wallace. British actor Martin Bobb-Semple will appear in the show, too, in an unspecified series regular role.

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Recently, it was announced that Alix Wilton-Regan will take over for Camila Luddington in the role of Lara Croft for the next two games in the series. In a new interview, she said she is afraid that it may all fall apart after the last game she was set to appear in, the Perfect Dark reboot, was canceled.

Wilton-Regan told TheGamer that she was filming her scenes as Joanna Dark for the Perfect Dark game at the same time she was shooting Lara for the new Tomb Raider games. It was "wonderful and genuinely one of the most creatively exciting times of my life."

However, she said she was and remains concerned that Tomb Raider could fall apart, given that Perfect Dark was canceled. "I just felt so relieved that I still had Lara, but I also felt really frightened about losing Lara. I'm still frightened of losing Lara," she said.

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A new report claims that Naughty Dog recently mandated that workers return to the office five days per week--up from three--and had been pushing staff to work "long hours" to get a demo of Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet ready to show off to Sony higher-ups.

The Bloomberg report said that beginning in late October, Naughty Dog asked staff to work "a minimum of eight extra hours a week" and document their overtime in a spreadsheet. "This overtime period was an attempt to get the production back on track after several missed deadlines," the report said.

Workers were told to not work more than 60 hours per week, the report said. The return-to-office mandate was disruptive to some workers who reportedly had to find cover for childcare and their pets. The report added that the "mandated overtime" period wrapped up this week with the completion of the demo.

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Fortnite's latest Winterfest celebration kicked off with the usual array of map and gameplay changes in Battle Royale and piles of free stuff in the Winterfest cabin. But that's not all there is to care about in Fortnite's latest update--we've also got a pair of new sets of quests that reward XP, and an additional free cosmetic that must be earned by completing a specific one of those new quests. Let's take a look at what we've got here.

Table of Contents [hide]

• Winterfest 2025 quests
  • Drop 1
    • Collect a Perfect Gift from a chest
    Winterfest 2025 quests

    The first of these new quests sets, listed under Winterfest in your quest log, are for Battle Royale. There are four time-gated groups of this set of quests--the first group is available now, and the rest will be added every two days until they're all there. Completing a quest awards 12K XP each, and there may be a reward at the end of the questline--but we don't know for sure yet. These quests expire when Winterfest ends on January 5.

    Drop 1Collect a Perfect Gift from a chest

    Every chest you open during Winterfest has a change to drop an item called Perfect Gift, which triggers a quest to deliver it to any non-hostile NPC on the map within five minutes. But for this quest, you just have to collect the item. Fortunately, the Perfect Gift does not require one of your inventory slots.

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It's impossible to deny the success of Embark Studios' extraction shooter Arc Raiders. Now, as 2025 comes to a close, the studio is reflecting on the momentous launch, which was recently capped off by the title's win for Best Multiplayer Game at the 2025 Game Awards, and what's to come in 2026. If you're to believe Embark, which seems on top of the world right now, "the work is just beginning."

In a post to Arc Raiders website, the shooter's executive producer Aleksander Grondal writes, "We had a feeling that Arc Raiders was something special. Internally, we were having a blast playing it before release, and your reaction to the tech test in April gave us an inkling of what was to come. What we didn't count on was the sheer scale of love and passion you guys were going to show this game."

Arc Raiders, which was released in late October, became a smash hit right out of the gate, selling millions of copies within days and solidifying itself as one of the most-beloved multiplayer games of the year. Though many multiplayer games enjoy a surge of popularity that eventually relents, Arc Raiders has held on impressively long. As of this writing, its Steam numbers alone are still in the six-digit realm.

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The new weekly update for Grand Theft Auto Online adds festive content, free gifts, discounts, and popular holiday modes. Rockstar Games also confirms snow will arrive in Los Santos later in the month.

The holidays arrive in Los Santos with several returning modes players can participate in. These festive limited-time modes include GTA Online's Yeti Hunt, The Gooch, Weazel Plaza Shootout, and Snowball Fights. Additionally, players can expect snowy weather conditions to arrive later in the month.

Players who log in to GTA Online anytime between December 23 and January 7 will receive an assortment of holiday freebies. These gifts include new items like the Season's Greetings Sweater, as well as returning favorites, such as the Snowball Launcher, Candy Cane, and Firework Launcher.

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Dispatch feels like the kind of game that must have always been headed for success, having sold a million copies in just 10 days, and while it missed most of the awards season, it still landed on several best-of lists for the year. That impression hides a much rougher reality. Dispatch took years longer than expected, nearly collapsed more than once, and only made it out because the team managed to survive long enough to finish it.

"We're taking GTA 6 amounts of time on this shit," writer and co-founder Pierre Shorette says in an interview with Eurogamer, explaining why Dispatch Season 1 took so long to make. The episodic superhero workplace comedy spent close to seven years in development. The time spent wasn't about endlessly refining a hit, but about dealing with lost funding, shifting plans, and simple survival. The upside is that the groundwork is now done, meaning a potential Season 2 would not need anything close to the same amount of time.

Game director Nick Herman is blunt about how close Dispatch came to ending. "We had a publisher who dropped us halfway through because of … financial things," he says. Shorette places that moment in the context of the wider industry collapse.

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It has been a big week for Larian Studios, which just announced its upcoming RPG Divinity to tons of fervor. Unfortunately, a lot of the week since the announcement has consisted of members of the studio, including its CEO Swen Vincke, fighting online about the team's current attitude towards AI tools in games development following an interview with Bloomberg.

Now, after a week of backlash, Larian is hoping to clear some of the air around Divinity and its use of AI. In a statement shared on Twitter, Vincke writes, "It's been a week since we announced Divinity, our next RPG, and a lot has become lost in translation."

It’s been a week since we announced Divinity, our next RPG, and a lot has become lost in translation.
Larian’s DNA is agency. Everything we work towards is to the benefit of our teams, games, and players. A better work day, and a better game. Our successes come from empowering…

— Swen Vincke @where? (@LarAtLarian) December 18, 2025

Vincke continues, "Larian's DNA is agency. Everything we work towards is to the benefit of our teams, games, players. A better work day, and a better game. Our successes come from empowering people to work in their own way and bring the best out of their skill & craft, so that we can make the best RPGs we can possible make."

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There have been some mismatched crossovers before, but Sonic Rumble may be taking that to a new level as the King of the Monsters himself, Godzilla, invades Sonic the Hedgehog's new mobile game.

On December 22, Sega and Rovio will unleash Toho's iconic monster on Dr. Eggman's Toy World with a new stage: Godzilla Survival. The goal of that stage is simple. Players simply have to survive a Godzilla attack in the middle of the ocean while running from boat to boat. Trust us, you don't want to be stuck when Godzilla unleashes his atomic fire. Players will only get a single respawn on this stage, so run as if your virtual life depends upon it. Because it does.

Sonic Rumble's free pass will unlock Godzilla and his fellow monster, Fire Rodan, without charging players. However, the premium pass will unlock Mothra and King Ghidorah, and it gives Godzilla his nuclear pulse ability in addition to his heat ray. The RSR Shop will also allow players to purchase Mecha Godzilla and his Absolute Zero blast as well as Destroyah and his Variable Slicer ability.

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Eric "ConcernedApe" Barone has teased what's coming with the 1.7 update for Stardew Valley, such as a new farm type, more social stuff, and "lots more." In addition, the game's creator says we'll get an update about the Switch 2 Edition sooner than later.

On X, Barone responded to a fan asking about any hints for the Stardew Valley 1.7 update. "There will be some more character/social stuff; it's also traditional to add a new farm type," Barone replied. "Lots more, but I don't want to reveal much yet." The upcoming update for the farming/life sim was revealed in August, with Barone noting in September that it's going to take "a while."

there will be some more character/social stuff, it's also traditional to add a new farm type. Lots more but I don't want to reveal much yet

— ConcernedApe (@ConcernedApe) December 17, 2025

Before then, Stardew Valley is planned to get a Switch 2 Edition that will include mouse controls and four-player local co-op. The update will bring GameShare functionality to the title, too, and was scheduled to roll out this fall. For those keeping track, there are only three days left in the fall season (in the Northern Hemisphere), but Barone said on X that he'll "announce something very soon" for the Switch 2 version.

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Bethesda veteran Harvey Smith has reflected on the closure of Arkane Austin and the struggles of the studio's final game, Redfall. For anyone just catching up, Arkane Austin made the vampire game Redfall under Smith's leadership. After the live-service game failed to find an audience after launch in May 2023, Microsoft closed the studio a year later and ended most support for the game.

Smith appeared on the My Perfect Console podcast recently and said (via Eurogamer), "Every company makes the decisions they make for the reasons they make them."

For Arkane Austin's closure, Smith said the "shock" was that Arkane--as a wider group that also comprised Dishonored studio Arkane Lyon--made well-received and commercially successful games.

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Bethesda's Todd Howard is the steward of the company's popular Fallout franchise, and many might have reasonably assumed he would have a cameo in the Prime Video TV show. He did not in Season 1 and does not have one in Season 2, either. But why?

Howard told IGN that he has been offered "a whole bunch" of cameo opportunities for the Fallout show, one of which was a doctor role at Vault-Tec. But Howard declined that opportunity and all others. "I think I'm best behind the camera," he said.

Howard went on to say he's rejected all cameo pitches because he does not want to draw focus away from the storytelling, even if it would only be for a small moment.

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Even after 30-plus years, the Final Fantasy games from the NES and SNES eras continue to stay in vogue. Square Enix has revealed that the Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster series has now surpassed 6 million copies sold.

The official Final Fantasy account on X announced the sales milestone, thanking players for their support. The Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster series originally arrived in 2021, and at first, there was quite a bit of blowback for the font choices in the retro RPGs. The collection features remastered versions of the first six Final Fantasy games, starting with Final Fantasy on NES (1987) through Final Fantasy VI on SNES (1994). Updates for the titles include auto-battle functions and modernized UIs.

The Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster series has sold over 6 million copies worldwide. Thank you for all your support, kupo! pic.twitter.com/1feTCfZrwj

— FINAL FANTASY (@FinalFantasy) December 18, 2025

The Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster collection came to PS4 and Switch in 2023, followed by an Xbox Series X|S release in 2024. Overall, the Final Fantasy franchise has sold more than 200 million copies, as of March 2025. At that time, Square Enix noted that the Pixel Remaster series had hit 5 million copies sold, meaning the collection has sold another million units over the past nine months.

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Apple AirPods Pro 3

$199 (was $249)

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The new Apple AirPods Pro 3 launched earlier this year, but the wireless earbuds are already seeing a limited-time price cut at Amazon, where you can snag a pair for $199. That's 20% off its normal $249 price tag and one of the lowest prices we've seen so far. The AirPods Pro 3 build upon the premium sound quality and feature set of previous models, offering better active noise cancelation (ANC), a longer battery life, and new functionality like auto-translation. If you're looking for a last-minute holiday gift or are looking to treat yourself to an upgrade, this is a great opportunity to pick them up.

Apple AirPods Pro 3 $199 (was $249)

As mentioned above, the AirPods 3 sport several upgrades over the previous models, including improved ANC. While the previous AirPods Pro 2 offered impressive ANC, Apple claims the AirPods Pro 3 ANC is twice as good and better at blocking a wider range of background noise. This means you can easily listen to your favorite music or podcasts without the audio being interrupted by noise from airplane cabins, traffic, or other low-frequency sounds.

The other notable AirPods Pro 3 feature is real-time speech translation powered by Apple Intelligence, which works similar to Mass Effect's auto-translator tech. The current list of supported languages includes English, French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish. Support for Italian, Japanese, Korean, and Chinese languages is coming soon.

Other upgrades include an improved soundscape that makes audio sound richer and clearer, built-in heart rate sensors that can track how many calories you burn across dozens of exercises, and seamless connectivity with other iOS devices. The earbuds are also lightweight and come with five pairs of silicone ear tips. Battery life lasts up to eight hours on a full charge with ANC activated, and they come with a charging case that quickly recharges the battery.

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If you don't need super high-quality earbuds, you can get a set of Apple AirPods 4 for $100. This still offers great audio for its price, a comfortable in-ear fit, and several neat features. They have a powerful H2 chipset, which enables improved sound quality, auto-noise cancellation, and spatial sound.

For a more traditional option, the Bose QuietComfort headset is on sale for $199 (was $359), a savings of almost 50%. This traditional wireless headset combines a sleek style with premium materials. Internally, it features a battery that lasts up to 24 hours on a full charge, fast charging, and high-fidelity audio playback. You can pick this up in several different colors, like black, pink, and blue.

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Mega Man Star Force Legacy Collection

$40 | Releases March 3, 2026

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Capcom is reviving the Nintendo DS-era Mega Man RPG series, Mega Man Star Force, with the upcoming Mega Man Star Force Legacy Collection launching on PlayStation 5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC on March 27. While preorders for the seven-game compilation are now live on all platforms, only the PS5 and Switch are getting physical versions. Fans can secure their copies now for $40, and doing so ahead of launch unlocks a few pieces of in-game bonus material.

Mega Man Star Force Legacy Collection Preorder BonusMega Man Star Force Legacy Collection Preorder Bonus

Preordering any version of Mega Man Star Force Legacy Collection gets you a few bonuses, including two custom main menu designs based on the characters Geo Stelar and Omega-Xis and four exclusive arranged background tracks for the in-game music player. Here's a look at all the bonuses:

• Geo Stelar (Casual Wear) Main Menu Character Model
• Omega-Xis Main Menu Character Model
• Additional arranged music tracks:
  • "Loneliness" - Summer Shade Version
  • "Astro Wave" - Brilliant Expanse Version
  • "Anthem of the Solitary" - Howling Void Version
  • "Cheerful Indoors" - School Days Version

Mega Man Star Force Legacy Collection $40 | Releases March 3, 2026

This new Mega Man Legacy Collection bundles the full Star Force RPG sub-series, which originally released on Nintendo DS between 2006 and 2009. The collection includes all versions of Mega Man Star Force, Star Force 2, and Star Force 3, totaling seven games. Here's the full list:

Mega Man Star Force Legacy Collection games

• Mega Man Star Force: Pegasus
• Mega Man Star Force: Leo
• Mega Man Star Force: Dragon
• Mega Man Star Force 2: Zerker x Ninja
• Mega Man Star Force 2: Zerker x Saurian
• Mega Man Star Force 3: Black Ace
• Mega Man Star Force 3: Red Joker

Each title in the collection lets you play online against other players. You can also swap between new, sharper graphics or the original visuals. The collection offers optional quality-of-life features like damage boost, speed boost, automatic healing after battles, damage reduction, and adjustable screen layouts. Like the previous Mega Man collection, Star Force Legacy also features a treasure trove of bonus content like art galleries and soundtrack playlists. Special in-game bonus cards can also be acquired, and several of these were previously event-exclusives.

Physical PS5 and Switch edition preorders are available for $40 at Amazon. Digital preorders are also available.

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The Mega Man Star Force series follows the Mega Man Battle Network series, featuring a new 3D take on Battle Network's fast-paced, grid-based RPG battle system. Star Force follows Geo, a young boy who fuses with the entity Omega-Xis to become Mega Man. Each of the three games had different versions released, with the first game having three: Leo, Dragon, and Pegasus. Each version offered variations on the same story, with different sets of playable characters, bosses, and transformations you could access.

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Blizzard Entertainment president Johanna Faries has said fans of the Diablo and Warcraft company can look forward to what she hopes will be Blizzard's "biggest year yet" in 2026.

2026 marks the 35th anniversary of Blizzard, and Faries told Variety that the company has a "bold vision" for what's coming next.

"The teams across Blizzard entirely, as an organization, are gearing up for what we hope to be the biggest year yet for Blizzard, and we take that statement very seriously," Faries said. "And it's all part of this new, bold vision for the future."

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If you logged in to Arc Raiders today, you might have noticed a special surprise. Developer Embark Studios is giving all players a gift of 1,000 Raider Tokens as a holiday treat.

Players will see a "Happy Holidays" message in the game now, telling them they have a free gift of 1,000 Raider Tokens that they can use to buy whatever they want. "Thank you from the Arc Raiders team and Embark Studios for being a valued part of our community," reads a line from the message. "We'd like to wish you Happy Holidays, and hope you enjoy this small gift as a token of our appreciation!"

1,000 Raider Tokens works out to just under $10 USD. People can spend Raider Tokens on things like raider decks, bundles, and a variety of cosmetic items, including backpacks, charms, and emotes. Players have until January 13 to claim the 1,000 Raider Tokens.

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