Balatro Removed From European Nintendo eShops Due To Ratings Switch

“We are especially disappointed in the actions of the ratings board”.

LocalThunk’s excellent roguelike deckbuilder Balatro has been removed from various Switch eShops “without any advance warning” following an apparent age rating change from 3+ to 18+ by European ratings board PEGI.

Publisher Playstack issued a statement via Twitter saying the publisher is “especially disappointed in the actions of the ratings board” following post-appeal assurances in October 2023 that the game did not contain gambling themes after they had presumably been flagged in the certification process.

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Review: Balatro (Switch) – Devilishly Compelling Cardplay, And A Clear GOTY Contender

A full house.

Games like Balatro don’t come around very often. It’s the sort of experience that quickly burrows its way into your mind until you can think of little else, so you tell your friends about it, and then they tell their friends about it. Eventually, through the sheer power of word of mouth, a game that has seemingly popped up from nowhere is now one of the clear frontrunners for Game of the Year. We’re not even exaggerating, by the way; it really is that good. It’s destined to sit alongside the likes of Stardew Valley, Celeste, and Undertale as one of, if not the defining example of its respective genre, and frankly, we’re kicking ourselves that we didn’t catch wind of it sooner.

If words like ‘roguelike’ and ‘deckbuilder’ fill you with dread, we understand, but just bear with us on this. Balatro is a roguelike deckbuilder that’s built around the general concept of poker. The idea is that you need to utilise classic poker hands to build up your chips and beat the target score for each round (or, officially, ‘blind’). It sounds simple, and it genuinely is — you don’t even need any prior knowledge of poker hands because a quick tap of the ‘–’ button will bring up a handy list of every possible combination — but the challenge comes when the target chip number starts increasing.

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Random: The Simpsons Meets Mario Kart In Bizarre TV Mash-Up

It’s-a me…. Lisa..?

The Simpsons is, somehow, still a thing in 2024. Regardless of what we might think of its overall quality, however, there’s no denying that the cartoon is able to pull off some truly weird and wacky crossovers.

While presumably not an official crossover by any means, the show has recently strayed into the realm of Mario Kart with a bizarre dream sequence in which Lisa, Homer, Milhouse, and more partake in a race on what appears to be a take on the racing franchise’s Rainbow Road (thanks, Eurogamer).

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Random: Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Producer Had To Put His Playthrough Of Zelda “On Hold”

Work on the new PS5 game “got really busy”.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is out this week and while many PlayStation 5 owners will be likely diving into the highly anticipated release, the game’s producer Yoshinori Kitase is actually planning to return to The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

Speaking to BAFTA, Kitase mentioned how he had been a lifelong fan of the series since the original game Legend of Zelda on NES and while he was enjoying Tears of the Kingdom, unfortunately, life got in the way (like it probably has for so many other Zelda fans).

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Head To Outer Space In The New Free Update For Vampire Survivors

The ‘Space-54 update’ has arrived.

If you’re still enjoying the roguelite bullet shooter Vampire Survivors, you might want to check out its latest update which sends players to space (again).

It’s officially titled the ‘Space-54 Update’ and is completely free. It adds one new bonus stage, two new characters, four new weapons, a new relic, and seven achievements to unlock. There’s also a bit more to uncover as well!

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WarioWare-Like Minigame Collection ‘Super 56’ Brings The Party To Switch This Year

One-button fun.

WarioWare: Move It! came to Switch in 2023 and threw us back into the wild world of wacky minigames. Those who enjoyed the experience might want to check out SUPER 56, which launches on Switch later this year and looks to be just as bonkers.

From indie development team Onion Soup Interactive and publisher WhisperGames, SUPER 56 offers a collection of one-button minigames (56 of them, would you believe) for you to drive, fish, date, catch and generally laugh your way through. It doesn’t seem to quite match the ‘Act like a chicken’ level of humiliation in the WarioWare series, but is that really such a bad thing?

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Feature: “It Would Be Really Cool To Do A Retrospective On Iwata” – Atari’s CEO On Acquisitions & Dream Collaborations

Retro revival.

For many younger gamers, the idea that Atari was once the undisputed king of console gaming might seem somewhat farfetched. Yet in the late ’70s and early ’80s, the gaming giant dominated the market with the Atari 2600, introducing audiences to the likes of Adventure, Yars’ Revenge, and Haunted House. However, after a wave of shovelware and some poor management decisions, the video game market crashed in 1983 and was seemingly done for. Until a little company called Nintendo stepped in, that is.

Since then, the Atari brand has struggled to regain its footing in the industry, but with the appointment of Wade Rosen as its CEO in 2021, the company is heading in a decidedly focused direction, leveraging its broad history and expertise in retro gaming to tap into an increasingly growing interest in older games amongst the community.

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Guide: Splatoon 3: Fresh Season 2024 – Every New Weapon, Stage & Feature

Freshly squeezed.

Splatoon 3‘s next season, ‘Fresh Season 2024’ is almost upon us and, as ever, that means that a whole bunch of new content will soon descend on the Splatlands.

Fresh Season 2024 begins on 1st March 2024 and promises to add new stages, weapon loadouts, gear and more. All of the newbies were shared on the @SplatoonNA and @NintendoUK Twitter accounts, and we have collected together each and every one of them and sorted them into the relevant categories below.

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Jam Out To The Penny’s Big Breakaway OST, Now Available To Stream

Yo-yo!

We were treated to the surprise release of Penny’s Big Breakaway last week during the February 2024 Nintendo Direct: Partner Showcase and now Evening Star has dropped yet another way to keep us thinking about the 3D platformer at all costs.

Tee Lopes’ vibe-filed score for Penny’s Big Breakaway is now available to stream on just about every platform. You can listen to the 46-track soundtrack on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, Amazon Music and more. Heck, if you listen to music on it, it’s probably there. You can find links to each available streaming platform on the Kid Katana Records website.

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