‘Pokémon Legends: Z-A’ Is Coming in 2025. Will a New Nintendo Switch Join It?

A new Pokémon Legends game is coming to the “Nintendo Switch family of systems” in 2025. Pokémon Legends: Z-A, announced Tuesday with a brief teaser trailer, is an “ambitious new entry” into the series that will launch simultaneously worldwide. It’s also fuel for the fire that a new Nintendo Switch console is coming next year. … Read more

Twitch Plays Pokémon Returns to Its Roots for 10th Anniversary, This Time on an Old CRT TV

If you long for 8-bit graphics and Pokémon adventures of yore, I’m happy to report that your wait is over. A Twitch channel is making it possible to play Pokémon Red, the first game in the franchise and a staple of the ‘90s, on an old CRT TV alongside countless fans across the globe. How … Read more

20 Nostalgic Collectibles From the Golden Age of Fast-Food Movie Tie-Ins

Screenshot: YouTube: Television Archives/KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut Remember fast-food kids meals with specially marketed pop culture toys? They just don’t make ‘em like they used to. In the 1990s, Taco Bell, KFC, Pizza Hut, McDonald’s, and Burger King often chose chaos with their tie-ins, like the Batman Forever glass mugs or the Hercules plates. … Read more

‘Palworld’ Pokémon Modder Tests the Limits of Nintendo’s Legal Reach

It’s a beautiful day in ToastedShoes’ version of Palworld, where the YouTuber is currently hunting creatures on “Legal Island.” He creeps through the grass and makes a delighted discovery: “Look at that!” he yells. “It’s my favorite legally distinct pocket-sized creature—Electric Yellow Rat.” Indeed, that is exactly what it is, and nothing more. Definitely not … Read more

The Pokémon Company says it will ‘investigate’ Palworld

You can all stop calling now — The Pokémon Company’s lawyers are on the case. In a statement posted on the company’s website, The Pokémon Company says it’s aware of a “game released in January 2024” and plans to “take appropriate measures to address any acts that infringe on intellectual property rights related to the … Read more

‘Palworld’: How ‘Pokémon With Guns’ Became an Overnight Hit

In the grass ahead lurks a cotton-ball puff of a creature with stubby appendages, round, yellow eyes, and a macaroni-noodle smile. Appropriately named Lamball, it is one of many island creatures that can become your pal, with the right touch: smashing it over the head with a big wooden stick (to weaken it, of course), … Read more

Gamers flock to Palworld’s ‘Pokémon with guns’ despite copyright qualms

When Palworld made its inauspicious debut in a teaser a year or so back, few thought this strange, blatant Pokémon ripoff would be anything but a quickly forgotten oddity. But after its Early Access release last week, the game has broken records and sold millions — reflecting the pent-up demand for a truly modern Pokémon-type … Read more

‘Palworld’: 6 Beginner Tips for Getting Started

The first breakout video game of the year is also the most outrageous. Palworld, dubbed “Pokémon with guns” by the internet writ large, takes base elements of survival games, like Rust, and mixes them with collectible, edible little creatures for a satirical twist. (Yes, you can give your adorable companions machine guns to use.) Released … Read more

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet could have been so much more

Pokémon Scarlet and Violet arrived a little less than half-baked and buggier than any of the franchise’s previous mainline entries. But for all of the glitches, frame rate dropping, and straight-up crashes that plagued players as they first began exploring the Paldea Region, the promise of new DLC content gave many hope that the games … Read more

Pokémon Concierge’s Psyduck Is for the Millennial Pokémon Fans

Pokémon thrives on a generational crossover that has made it one of the most popular and endearing franchises in the world—from those of us who trod through the tall grasses of Kanto as kids, to new generations who hopped on board in Scarlet and Violet, there’s a connection that transcends years. But as an older … Read more