New characters to be free for a limited time Next year,PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royalewill get two additional characters via download: Emmett Graves fromStarhawkand Kat fromGravity Rush. I know how some of you feel about downloadable content being discussed before the core game has even released — we’ve still got another week to go, in this case — but this pair will be free. The characters themselves are still in development, according to Sony Santa Monica’s Seth Killian....

If you haven’t played Yoku’s Island Express yet, don’t miss out — it’s charming as hell I try not to oversell the promise of any given month for any given subscription service, but I think that Xbox Games with Gold is bringing out somesurprisingly good stuffin May. It helps when you’ve heard of most of the featured games, and the “wild card” under-the-radar title actually looks cool. That’s the sort of mix I’m looking for most months....

Mega Man is pretty mega, this is true. He’s often adopted by various agencies for his services (like Red Bull, which was innocuous outside ofthis killer art) but now he’s been commissioned by…the Osaka police force?! Yep, according to the Rockman Unity Twitter account, Japan has officially requested Mega Man to be the face of cyber crime prevention. The “character” has been awarded a letter of appreciation for his services by Osaka over the weekend....

Back-to-school season is approaching quickly, andMonopoly GOis celebrating (or lessening the pain) by introducing some academic-themed events. The first in the bunch is Tycoon Academy, where you’ll learn all about gathering dice and making a lot of money. At least, that’s what we wish it’d be. Let’s check out the list of Tycoon Academy event rewards. All Tycoon Academy event rewards in Monopoly GO Monopoly GO’sTycoon Academy event has 50 rewards to win from now until August 23....

Much sooner than expected! Monster Hunter: Worldnow officially has aSteam pageand a release date: August 9. That’s real soon! The store page also lists the recommended and minimum system requirements, mirroring theleaked list.All of this can also be read on theofficial Capcom blog. While the screenshots show some nice options being listed specifically for the PC Port (including a 60 FPS option!), the mention of Denuvo is awful as usual, and I know that some users will avoid the port just for that reason....

50 Platinum Points Super Mario 3D All-Starsis out, and now everyone can argue about the merit of each individual game all over again. I’ve seen all sorts of “I’m coming around onSunshine” testimonials (along with plenty of “I still hateSunshine” takes), as well as the same polarized reception aroundMario 64. Yes, I vividly remember some people not likingSuper Mario 64at launch: wild, right? Now it’s time to celebrate the launch, as well as the 35th anniversary of Mario himself....

Shipments and digital 2017 is off to a pretty crazy start, with a string of critically and commercially successful games. That list now includesNieR: Automata, which Square Enix has announced just hit a one million milestone. Now that accomplishment comes with a caveat — that number takes both physical shipments and digital sales into account, but it’s still an impressive feat for a previously niche franchise. The publisher didn’t break down the sales, but it seems clear that the Steam version’s quality port helped (rough low-end estimates put Steam salesin the 220,000 range)....

Now we have exact dates rather than windows This whole“Virtual Console 30th Anniversary”thing has been a bit confusing for all of us. So here’s the scoop now that the dust has settled: on certain dates this year, you’ll have the opportunity to download select games on the Wii U eShop for 30 cents, for a limited time. That’s it. There’s no catch, it’s just a promotion to get people into the eShop — like a virtual doorbuster sale....

They aren’t calling this the Imperial Edition for nothing Bethesda has announced The Elder Scrolls Online Imperial Edition,availablein a physical form ($99.99) or digitally ($79.99). It contains the typical bonuses one would expect of anElder Scrollscollector’s edition, but then you get to the line about its “exclusive collection of digital content,” which so happens to include the Imperial race. That’s disappointing. The other digital bonuses are a white Imperial horse, a Mudcrab vanity pet (obviously the other big draw here), and the experience-boosting Rings of Mara....

Never question Kamiya’s mental health It took two days after Microsoft’s announcement ofScalebound‘s cancellationfor Platinum Games togive a response. President Kenichi Sato expresses the company’s remorse for the disappointment caused by the cancellation as “many of our fans were looking forward to this game as much as we were.” They seem ready to move past this and focus on future titles; “Going forward, we will strive to continue delivering high-quality games to you, starting withNieR:Automatain March, and including products likeGRANBLUE FANTASY Project Re:LinkandLOST ORDERin the future....

PS4 lifetime sales get closer to 100 million With the reveal of each month’s new PlayStation Plus free games, there’s a common-and-disappointed refrain that there isn’t much to get excited about. However, plenty of people must find value in Sony’s premium online PlayStation service because it just continues to grow. The growth of PlayStation Plus can be partially attributed to Sony’s aggressive PS4 sales strategy of slashing prices during the holidays to get them in the hands of more consumers....

Are you ready for battle? Nintendo has released a five-minute-plus trailer for the upcomingPokémon Sword & Shield,offering fans a showcase of the regions, trainers, abilities and, of course, Pokémon themselves, all waiting to be explored when the games hit Nintendo Switch next week. The preview offers a look at the huge Galar region – from its wide-open fields to its opulent cities – as well as an array of the Pokémon old and new just waiting to be checked off on your Pokédex, and the friends and rivals that you’ll make along your journey....

Beats out Super Smash Bros. Ultimate launch numbers According to figures inJapanese publication Famitsu, Nintendo’sPokémon Sword and Shieldsold a total of 1,364,544 combined physical copies during the first three days of release, including boxed releases, download cards and the special “Dual Pack.” This number just beats out last year’sSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate’slaunch, which saw 1.23 million units sold in the same time frame. Of course it should be noted thatSwordandShieldare two individually listed titles, and thus some players will have picked up both, bolstering the numbers somewhat....