A new mobile app called Pokemon Trading Card Game Pocket has been revealed as part of the latest Pokemon Presents showcase. The title looks to digitally recreate the experience of physically opening up packs and battling friends.

Pokemon Trading Card Game Pocket is planned to launch sometime this year, with DeNA and Creatures Inc. supporting development. Players will get to open two free packs per day within the app.

Along with remaking the physical cards within the app, Pokemon Trading Card Game Pocket will also offer immersive cards that let players go inside the illustration. That's not the only change, either. There will be streamlined rules for battling so people can quickly fight when having a free moment in their day.

Action star Vin Diesel recently updated fans on the future of the long-running Fast and Furious franchise amid the legal issues that are now hovering over his career.

Last Friday, Diesel posted on his Instagram and shared that he met with the writers and team behind the finale for the action movie series earlier that day. It was also Diesel's first public post since allegations were levied against him by a former assistant who is suing him for sexual battery. The suit was filed in December, stemming from an alleged 2010 incident at a hotel in 2010. Diesel "categorically denies" any accusations.

"Just finished our end of the week Fast meeting with the writers and the whole team," Diesel posted. "To say the excitement for our finale was incredibly powerful is an understatement. Wow. So exciting. While everyone was heading into the weekend amped and excited, I thought of you all… reminded of the countless moments when your enthusiasm and passion became the driving force behind our creative journey."

When you think of Pokemon, you probably think that Nintendo owns the lucrative intellectual property in its entirety. In reality, it's not that simple as the rights to the pocket monster franchise are almost equally split between several parties. Suppose you've ever wanted a brief history lesson on the franchise. In that case, GameSpot has a new video breaking down the complex ownership foundation of the franchise and how each partner--Nintendo, Game Freak, Creatures, and The Pokemon Company--pool their efforts and resources to constantly evolve the series.

Interestingly, Game Freak is still an independent studio with relatively few employees when compared to other companies. The developer has regularly released a mainline Pokemon game every three years while juggling other projects, like underrated classics Tembo the Badass Elephant and Pocket Card Jockey. The big Pokemon games responsible for introducing dozens of new pocket monsters also serve as the foundation for the far more lucrative merchandising arm of Pokemon.

Factor in the involvement of Creatures, Nintendo, and The Pokemon Company, and you can quickly see how the Pokemon machine is a complex arrangement of moving parts across video games, anime series, movies, merchandise, and the massively popular trading card game. All of that hard work has paid off, because as of 2021, Pokemon was valued at an estimated $92.1 billion, eclipsing other mega-popular IPs like Hello Kitty, Mickey Mouse, and Star Wars.

Sony's PlayStation division is cutting jobs in the latest round of high-profile layoffs in the video game industry. By some estimations, 2024 has already seen more than 6,000 video game industry layoffs. Reporter Jason Schreier of Bloomberg was first to reveal the cuts, which have subsequently been confirmed by Sony in a blog post.

Related to these moves, PlayStation is proposing to close its London games studio, which was most recently responsible for developing PlayStation VR games.

In a blog post, outgoing SIE CEO Jim Ryan said it was an "extremely hard decision" to make these cuts, which amount to 900 people or about 8% of PlayStation. Ryan is leaving in March.

Pokemon Presents is almost here, as February 27 marks the date for a brand-new livestream and the 1996 Japanese release date of the original Pokemon Red and Green games. The Pokemon Company is preparing to show what's next for the franchise that has grown tremendously over the decades, and here's a look at when you can tune in, where to watch Pokemon Presents, and what to expect from this year's event.

Grab a seat, brew a hot cup of tea, and settle in at 9 AM PT / 12 PM ET / 2 PM GMT to watch the new Pokemon Presents.

As usual, you can watch the livestream through the official Pokemon YouTube channel.

In keeping with The Simpsons' long history of parodying popular culture, the latest episode of the long-running cartoon sees Lisa, Milhouse, and Homer take on Mario Kart. In the episode, a dream sequence imagines Lisa as Mario, Milhouse as Yoshi, and Homer as Wario on a track resembling the iconic Rainbow Road.

The most recent episode of The Simpsons to air--and the series' 762nd overall, Lisa Gets An F1 follows Lisa as she delves into the world of professional go-kart racing. With the storyline primed for a Mario Kart reference, it appears in the form of Homer's anxious dream, as he stresses about Lisa's potentially dangerous new hobby.

Mario Kart reference from tonight's new episode of The Simpsons, "Lisa Gets an F1". pic.twitter.com/fagfFUL5YR

Lisa, of course, takes the role of Mario in the dream, giving her own version of his iconic line, while her fellow Springfield Elementary students also make cameos in the starting line-up. Homer stars in his own dream as antagonist Wario, bombing Lisa off the track before he wakes up, giving an iconic Wario "wah!" to end the reference.

It's a big week for cosy farming sim Stardew Valley as the game celebrates its 8th anniversary, with creator ConcernedApe taking the opportunity to announce that major update 1.6 will finally arrive on March 19. The 2016 game also hit a major sales milestone, having sold over 30 million copies since release.

Update 1.6 was first announced in April last year, with more recent updates revealing that the patch will add more new content than first expected, including 8-player co-op, new major and mini festivals, and over 100 lines of new dialogue. Stardew's long-time players will also get to enjoy more end-game content with the new update.

The upcoming patch will launch on PC on March 19, and while other platforms don't have a release date yet, ConcernedApe says console and mobile updates will follow "as soon as possible."

Following the box office bomb of Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi left Square, as did a few folks who worked with him. In an interview on Episode 60 of My Perfect Console, host Simon Parkin asked Final Fantasy VII Rebirth producer Yoshinori Kitase if he ever considered leaving with his mentor and friend Sakaguchi-san, as well as what convinced him to stay.

"So I think there were two main reasons for me in deciding to stay at the time," Kitase-san replied via a translator. "And I think one was that--while Sakaguchi-san was this creator that has established this history for himself and also had worked on these various projects throughout his legacy and time here--I myself was still feeling as if I was still forming my vision and still working toward that in that regards. So that was one of the reasons why I felt to stay. And a second reason also was I felt that I truly wanted Sakaguchi-san to still have this point of connection with the Final Fantasy series despite his departure. So that was another consideration."

Kitase-san goes on to say that the second reason is less prevalent these days, given Sakaguchi-san's more recent work. "Once he went independent, there was not a connection back into Final Fantasy until 2016 with Mobius Final Fantasy--which was the smartphone game--and that was the first time since Sakaguchi-san had left that he was able to promote and be connected to the Final Fantasy franchise again at that time with the Terra Battle. Nowadays, he can be seen again with the promos for Pixel Remaster or through the Fan Fest and he continues to retain his connection there."

One of the most-quoted lines from 2008's The Dark Knight is "you either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain." Director Christopher Nolan has now responded to the fervor of this quote, saying he wants people to know he did not write it and didn't originally understand what it meant.

Speaking to Deadline, Nolan said he feels "plagued" by that line, which was written by his brother, Jonathan Nolan. "It kills me, because it's the line that most resonates. And at the time, I didn't even understand it," he said.

Looking back on it, Nolan now understands what his brother was trying to convey with that particular line, which was delivered by Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart).

Helldivers 2 has seen incredible success over the past few weeks, and now that its servers are mostly stable, players are finally free to spread democracy across the galaxy. However, folks on Xbox are left out of the fun, as the cooperative shooter is only available on PS5 and PC. It's not clear if Helldivers 2 will ever see the light of day on Xbox Series X, but there are tons of alternatives to check out that offer a similar gameplay loop. Best of all, many of these games are incredibly cheap.

While nothing is identical to the chaos of Helldivers 2, there are plenty of great cooperative Xbox games that scratch a similar itch. Remnant 2 is a good alternative, as having a few extra guns by your side makes it easier to survive its unforgiving world. It's currently on sale for $30 (down from $50), so consider giving it a closer look before the discount disappears.

For something more lighthearted, you'll find Tiny Tina's Wonderlands for $10 on Xbox One and $20 on Xbox Series X, along with Borderlands 3: Next Level Edition for $10 (down from $70), which includes heaps of DLC content.

It looks like Larian Studios has landed a critical hit, as Baldur's Gate 3 has far surpassed 10 million players. The director of publishing for the developer revealed the major milestone for the RPG over the weekend, as well as warned against "threats [and] toxicity" toward his team.

Spotted by VGC, Larian executive Michael Douse mentioned the dramatic player base increase on X (formerly known as Twitter) while talking about how mod support is coming to consoles for Baldur's Gate 3. "This is a game that went from [roughly] 2 [million] players to way over 10 [million] in a very short space of time, so it's natural the conversation becomes muddier and complex," Douse wrote on the social media site. "But in order to maintain the same level of dialogue, we need people to understand that these conversations take time."

We’ll be talking in depth about what our mod support will look like soon. Been working on it since launch. As always, we’ll discuss it in our way with our community. Threats & toxicity against our devs & community teams will only harm the conversation. Please stop that.

Apparently, Baldur's Gate 3 updates have been disrupting unofficial mods for the RPG too, leading to some unkind feedback toward the developers as official mod support gets worked on. Douse does say that most of the game's community is understanding. But, "a few bad eggs will start a fire," he writes.

Honkai Impact 3rd, HoYoverse's sci-fi ARPG, is debuting the Part 2 chapter on February 29. Taking place on Mars, you will gain access to new maps, enhancements around the aerial combat system, and monsters to fight against. Honkai Impact 3rd is also releasing on the Mac App Store in the near future.

In terms of story, the Sea of Data is slowly invading space. You'll travel to a new city and make use of the Anchor of the Apocalypse to explore different civilizations across multiple bubble universes. Meanwhile, combat is being renovated with 3D scenes, new jumping mechanisms, and the Astral Ring system. Three more characters are joining in the fray, too, including Senadina, Erdos Helia, and Coralie 6626 Planck.

As per bonuses, once the Honkai Impact 3rd v.73 update goes live, you can log in to receive the Anchoring the Past and Present Memorial Ribbon, Voyage to the Future Memorial Emblem, growth materials, and some more goodies via in-game mails. You can pre-register ahead of time for a chance to win an Apple Vision Pro, if you're lucky, as well as other physical prizes.

Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth is the latest game in the beloved franchise. Taking place across both Japan and Hawaii, it's another excellent entry--offering the usual dose of fast-paced combat, off-beat side quests, and poignant storylines. It hasn't seen many discounts since arriving in January, but right now you can pick up the hit game for just $40 (down from $70).

This is the lowest price we've ever seen for Infinite Wealth, making this a great time to check out the adventure. The deal is available at Best Buy for both Xbox Series X and PS5 versions, while Walmart has just the PS5 version on sale. If you're hoping to play on PC, you'll find Infinite Wealth for $61 at Fanatical. It's not as generous as the Best Buy deal--but considering the game just launched a month ago, a $9 price cut isn't bad.

Amazon is offering big discounts on six popular Intel processors, some of which are seeing price cuts of up to $150. Many of these new prices are about as good as the ones we saw during Black Friday 2023, making this a great opportunity to save a few bucks while snagging a powerful new processor.

One of the most exciting deals is for the Intel Core i7-12700KF, which is just $210 (down from $272). That's one of the lowest prices we've seen for the processor in months. Featuring eight performance cores and four efficiency cores, along with speeds up to 5.0GHz, it's great for most gaming rigs. For something cheaper, the Intel Core i5-12600KF is just $153 (down from $311).

While there's no shortage of great third-party Xbox controllers, it's hard to beat the ones designed by Microsoft. From the standard Xbox Core Wireless Controller to the premium Elite Series 2, they're among the best Xbox controllers available. They're also rather expensive--but right now, you'll find nice discounts on over 10 different models, making this a great time to add one to your collection.

One of the best deals is for the Xbox Core Wireless Controller (Black), as it's down to just $44 from its usual $60. Like all Xbox Core Controllers, this one includes a Share button to capture in-game clips, an ergonomic design that's great for long game sessions, and support for Xbox, PC, Android, and iOS.

If you want something with more flash, the Pulse Red model is also down to $44.

After almost a decade, Jack Black returns as Po, in Kung Fu Panda 4. The story follows the events of Kung Fu Panda 3 where Po is to become the Spiritual Leader of the Valley of Peace, while still searching for his successor as the new Dragon Warrior. The Kung Fu Panda franchise has grossed $1.8 billion across its three movies, and they all received strong reviews, while the pre-sale for the fourth installment has been sluggish, here's how you can possibly grab free tickets to the movie.

Black will be joined once again by Dustin Hoffman, James Hong, Bryan Cranston, and Ian McShane reprising their roles from the previous installments. Awkwafina, Ke Huy Quan, Ronny Chieng, Lori Tan Chinn, and Viola Davis join the cast as new characters, with Davis as the new villain, the Chameleon.

To see if you have access to the free tickets, first you need to have an Xfinity account. When you log into the account, click on the "rewards" tab and look for a Fandango code to snag two free tickets to the film. Codes expire on March 15 and aren't available to all accounts. So your best bet is to log in and see if they are available for you. If not, you still may have access to a print-at-home activity kit from the film.

Nick Offerman won Best Supporting Performance at the Independent Spirit Awards for his role as Bill on HBO's The Last of Us, and he used his speech to call out those who criticized the "Long, Long Time" episode and praise HBO for airing the episode.

Offerman said during his acceptance speech that he was "astonished" to even be nominated, and he went on to praise HBO for "having the guts" to tell powerful stories.

"Stories with guts, that when homophobic hate comes my way and says, 'Why did you have to make it a gay story?' We say, 'Because you ask questions like that.' It's not a gay story. It's a love story, you asshole. So more of that," he said (via The Hollywood Reporter). You can watch Offerman's acceptance speech below.

Yip yip! A new leak points to Aang dropping into Fortnite on an Appa glider in the upcoming future. That's right: An Avatar: The Last Airbender collaboration could be on the horizon for one of the world's most popular games.

According to iFireMonkey on X (formerly known as Twitter), Fortnite Chapter 5 Season 2 will reportedly feature an Avatar mid-season event with an Aang skin. There will apparently be a mini-pass available that offers additional rewards as well. Currently, there is something similar happening in Fortnite with a TMNT crossover called the Cowabunga event.

EXCLUSIVE: Fortnite x Avatar The Last Airbender
Upcoming Mid-Season Event Pass
Collect all 6 Books by completing quests to get the Appa Glider!
Instantly claim the AANG Fortnite Style and AANG LEGO Style!
Access the bottom reward track and earn more rewards!
Premium Reward… pic.twitter.com/mfYIndlxky

The leak points to the Avatar event getting an Elements Pass, which might also be the name for the crossover. Other possible skins for the collaboration could include Katara, Sokka, Toph, and Zuko. It's unknown if The Legend of Korra might be included as well. Nothing official has been announced, though iFireMonkey is a prominent Fortnite leaker who has revealed skins early in the past.

Marcus Lehto--best known for co-creating the original Halo--has left Ridgeline Games and Electronic Arts. He was Ridgeline's game director in charge of creating new experience for the Battlefield series.

According to Lehto's Facebook and LinkedIn profiles, he recently left Ridgeline Games. Additionally, his profile on Twitter doesn't have mention of Ridgeline Games--only references to his work as the co-creator of the Halo series and creator of Disintegration.

Neither Lehto nor EA have said anything, so it's unknown whether he left voluntarily or if layoffs occurred. However, he recently posted a picture earlier this month with his team out for lunch, suggesting an abrupt departure. Lehto joined Electronic Arts back in 2021 after the launch of Battlefield 2042, which got a disappointing reception.

Supermassive Games, the British studio known for games like Until Dawn and The Quarry, is cutting numerous positions. According to Bloomberg, the studio notified staffers on Monday that there will be 90 layoffs at the studio, and that 150 positions overall are "at risk."

The site pointed out how UK labor laws require companies to give advance notice of layoffs. The notification reportedly came today, February 26.

Supermassive apparently has more than 300 staffers, so the cuts run deep. Nordisk Games bought Supermassive in 2022.