About a month ago Monodi, Destructoid community member extraordinaire,posted aboutan organization called Playpower. Playpower is a volunteer organization and network of game developers and other computer types who develop educational games for the 8-bit gaming computers that are widely used by low-income families around the world. This makes disseminating information and education extremely inexpensive and super easy. Needless to say we think it’s kind of awesome, so I figured I’d point you towards them for this weekend’s Weekend Charity....

It has been a while since the last Weekend Mobile roundup, mostly due to a lack of time on my end (sorry!), but it’s back in force this weekend. The good news: a lot of great games have been released on iOS lately and every game in this weekend’s edition is a must-have, so I hope you saved some money! The bad news: the Android game market still looks as dire as ever and until I can find a dedicated Android gaming editor to help out with these posts, I’m going to have to stick with iOS games for the time being....

The Pokemon Company collaborates with DeNA That Pokémon train keeps rolling. Multiple projects are in the works, including Nintendo’s upcoming main generation Switch entriesSword & Shield, as well as any number of projects The Pokémon Company (which again, is separate from Nintendo, though The Big N owns a piece) is working on. One of those was announced just this morning compliments of DeNA’s financial results briefing, described as a “new and exciting smartphone game [to launch] this fiscal year based on the globally popularPokémonfranchise, in partnership with The Pokémon Company....

Hope you don’t embarrass easily While some games in theMario Partyseries are easily better than the others (coughMario Party 2cough), I think we can all agree that each one has been fun to play.Mario Party: Island Tourfor the 3DS is no different, especially thanks to how it’s using some of the unique hardware features on Nintendo’s handheld system. First the good news:Island Tourwill offer single-cart play for up to four players, which means only one person needs a copy of the game....

If you are an indie developer who doesn’t know how you’re going to find funding for your totally awesome new game, take heed because Activision andIndieCadewant to help. Starting October 3rd and running until December 31st, any independent developers working out of the United States will be able to enterthe second Activision Independent Games Competition. The first and second place winners will be given funding for their game in the form of $175,000 and $75,000 cash respectively....

We’re getting ever closer to Steam’s bigSummer Sale 2024. We’re still a few weeks away, admittedly, but there are a couple more events until then to keep us in the mood, and one of them is ongoing for the next few days. Yesterday, Steam kicked off its Endless Replayability Fest, a sales event that celebrates those games that just seem to go on forever. But, you know, in a good way....

As it should be No, there likely wouldn’t have been a large multiplayer audience forBatman: Arkham Originson Wii U if the performance of prior multiplatform games on the platform is any indication. Since WB Games has decided against includingthe componentaltogether, we’ll never know for sure. It’s been suggested that given thecomparatively lacking content, the Wii U port ofOriginsshould be priced lower than its PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 counterparts — this is happening, thankfully....

Beta starts next week A mere four days before Treyarch and Activision christenBlack Ops 4‘s Blackout mode with a private beta, we’re finally treated to the first dedicated look atCall of Duty‘s take on battle royale. Details have trickled out in recent days — like that the matches will bepunctuated with zombiesto keep everyone on their toes — but we haven’t actually seen it until today. This trailer makes Blackout seem way moreCall of Dutythan battle royale, as if those two are somehow mutually exclusive....

Weird Tales, indeed Tentacle-bearded freakshow Cthulhu will be summoned at the most appropriate time later this year. Lovecraft’s most famous abomination unleashes the full force of his terror the day before Halloween. Cyanide Studio has revealed a release date forCall of Cthulhu. The “investigative RPG” with the same name as Lovecraft’s short story where he debuted the nightmare monster will launch on July 27, 2025. It’ll be on PC, PS4, and Xbox One....

So it’s come to this Ahead ofCall of Duty: WWIIlaunching this Friday, a clip has surfaced onredditthat shows how the game handles loot boxes. Rather than just go through a menu, you’ll be able to call in a supply drop while you’re out and about in the Normandy beach social space with other players. It’s all very showy. How to open a Supply Drop in WW2fromWWII Asked if anyone can steal your stuff (now wouldn’t that be something?...

Yeah, they didn’t really give me a free lovely v2Street Fighter IV FightStick. Not a real one, anyway. I’m not one of the famous Street Fighter champs that they send the free units to. We might get one for review later, but for now I got this little thing to hold me over. It’s a keychain. Yeah, I know what you’re thinking.Why is he blogging about a keychain?Because I can. And I think it’s pretty cool....

I was a bit too old when thePokémoncartoons started rolling out so they don’t hold a truly cherished spot in my heart, but for any kid (and kids at heart) growing up in the 90s we’ve gota bit of sad news. Takeshi Shudo, the chief writer for thePokémonanime passed away at the age of 61. He suffered a subarachnoid hemorrhage. Shudo was also the creator of the anime classicMagical Princess Minky Momoand worked onMartian Successor NadesicoandLegend of the Galactic Heroes....

Two winners, twelve months of free chicken dinners [Congrats topumpkinheadedandthammuz— you guys won! I sent you emails. And you’re able to playForza Horizon 4TODAY with Xbox Game Pass!] This is a mini contest. It ends tonight, but if you win get you 12 months of Xbox Game Pass! I won’t waste a lot of time on this one, because there’s simply not much time to waste — we’re giving out two 12-month subscriptions to Xbox Game Pass....