In the wake of weeks of E3-esque conferences, Nintendo Direct came out swinging with some big Switch updates. Meanwhile, Final Fantasy XVI released exclusively for PlayStation 5 — but it was Xbox that found itself back in the spotlight with its FTC (Federal Trade Commission) trial to gain approval to purchase Activision-Blizzard for $68.7 billion.

Here’s the quick rundown of everything that happened in Biggest Gaming News for the week ending on June 23, 2023:

• Super Mario Bros. Wonder is coming out October 20, 2023 for Nintendo Switch. It’s a shiny looking, one- to four-player game for $59.99 USD

• Super Mario RPG remake is finally happening. The revered, 1996 classic collaboration between Nintendo and Square will see updated graphics and cinematics. And — yup, it’s $59.99 and can be all yours on November 17, 2023.

• Original Princess Peach game for Switch in 2024.

• “Metallll Gearrrrr!” Ahem… Metal Gear Solid Vol. 1 Master Collection is coming to Switch on October 24, 2023. And, for another cool $59.99 — just how you like it.

• Rocksteady’s genre-defining Batman: Arkham Trilogy (Asylum, City and Knight) is ready for your handheld nightmares. It’s targeting “Fall 2023” and is being ported. It’ll include all the DLC but no price is set (however, the trilogy has general sold for $60 in the past).

• Super Quick Hit. Bros Nintendo News Vol. 2023! …new Wario Ware: Move It!, Pikmin 4 gameplay & details, HD GameCube remasters of Pikmin 1 and 2 available now, Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon (from 3DS) remaster, Vampire Survivors for Switch in August, and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe gets more booster course DLC “this summer.”

• …and another RPG remake: Star Ocean: The Second Story R (originally for PlayStation in 1998) will make it to Nintendo Switch alongside PS5, PS4, and PC on November 2, 2023.

Microsoft’s Activision-Blizzard FTC Trial Was a Whole Other Thing (with Elder Scrolls 6 News)

All you need to know is Microsoft is still pushing (of course) hard to close its $68.7 billion deal to acquire Activision-Blizzard. And with it: Call of Duty, Diablo, World of Warcraft, and so much more. Activision’s communications officer called FTC’s case “factually weak and legally a stretch” in a company internal Slack message viewed by IGN.

But the case cracked open a bevy of internal details thanks to Microsoft and Activision’s testimonies.

• Elder Scrolls 6 is still “five-plus years away” and platforms aren’t decided. Xbox admitted it could even miss this generation of hardware.

• The next-generation of consoles (i.e. Xbox-next and PlayStation 6) is expected around 2028. That’s one year longer than last generation, which spanned 2013-2020. As for a Switch successor, just a reminder: it’s quite possible it will release in 2024.

• Microsoft admitted it lost the console wars in a section of a document submitted during the FTC trial. This mirrors Xbox Head Phil Spencer’s previous comments that it cannot catch Sony’s PS5 sales.

• Xbox said it “will not pull Call of Duty … from PlayStation.”

• Starfield could have missed Xbox completely had Microsoft not purchased ZeniMax/Bethesda.

• Indiana Jones (from recent Wolfenstein developers MachineGames) is still an Xbox/PC exclusive. But it was previously planned for multiplatform, including PlayStation according to emails exposed during the trial.

Super Mario Bros. Wonder

Super Mario RPG (Remake)

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I’m still extremely hooked on Diablo 4 — and have also been committed to deeply learning it again after all these years. I reached level 80, which is definitely not realistic for most. The campaign is good fun, but Diablo is still a “spreadsheet, statistics, grab-a-notepad” RPG game through-and-through. You can enjoy it on the surface, but the insane variety of builds, legendary drop combinations, potion buffs and more is what excites its biggest fans.

I want to play FFXVI. But, hey, there’s too much good stuff to play. (Looking at your nowhere-near-finished Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom).

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