Ball News, Tips, Tricks & Ideas

Hearken to this, my fellow retro gaming sickos: Nintendo is finally catering to our very unusual tastes with the latest updates to the Nintendo Switch Online retro game library. This time, we've gotten a pair of N64 games that I'd wager you've either never heard of or entirely forgotten up until this moment.

I want to preface this by saying I have a certain fondness for Bandai Namco's anime video game adaptations. Sure, the studio pumps 'em out like Dairy Queen and chocolate soft serve on a hot Phoenix day, and yes, very few of them are objectively great games, but there's a consistency to the way it makes serviceable interactive versions of beloved anime stories that I find comforting. For example, Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot is a solid 3.5/5 that I happen to love simply because I love the source material, not because the game itself is anything special.

Sand Land, the new open-world action-adventure based on one of Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama’s lesser-known works is out now, and its surprisingly complex for an anime adaptation. A big focus of Sand Land is upgrading your combat abilities by leveling up main character Beelzebub and his party and collecting crafting materials to upgrade your vehicles. So, what’s the best way to collect XP, money, and materials so you can power up quickly? Here are some quick tips…

Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 is finally giving Goku Black his iconic scythe weapon as part of his Ultra Supervillain form in the upcoming Future Saga DLC.

From the Green Bay Packers’ Jamaal Williams and the Seattle Seahawks’ John Reid to the New Orleans Saints’ Cameron Jordan and more, the NFL is packed with players who are just as passionate about anime and manga as they are about football.

We’re only one night's sleep away from the release of Bandai Namco’s new RPG based on the late Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama’s underappreciated wasteland series, Sand Land. To celebrate the occasion, the game’s developers have shared a message written by the renowned manga creator before his passing in March.

Earlier this year, famous mangaka and Dragon Quest co-creator Akira Toriyama passed away at the age of 68. But before he did, he had the chance to try out the new Sand Land game, based on his one-shot manga series from 24 years ago.

Sega has released a new Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble which details the game’s five multiplayer battle modes.

I couldn’t tell you what the last Super Monkey Ball game I played was, but I can still talk your ear off about the series. That’s thanks to the speedrunning community that has formed around the franchise, making it into the most exciting game to watch when it’s played at a high level. After spending close to a decade watching old games turned inside and out, I’m ready to finally dig into a new entry for myself.

Thandiwe Newton has joined the cast of Wednesday season 2.

blends classic mechanics and new additions to create something fun for both new and old fans of the long-running franchise. From Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio — the same developer behind the series — and SEGA, the upcoming platformer is the first completely original mainline entry in several years following multiple remaster releases. recently got an hour of hands-on time with the title that gave a glimpse into its handling, storyline, and biggest changes.

Nintendo has added two more games to Switch Online’s Nintendo 64 library.

After a thirteen year hiatus, the TopSpin series is back with TopSpin 2K25, and with the weighty moment-to-moment gameplay still at its core, it’s a tennis game revival that doesn’t disappoint.

If you asked me what my favourite football née soccer game is, it wouldn’t be anything as prosaic as FIFA, Pro Evo or Football Manager. It wouldn’t even be Sega Soccer Slam – though that’s a close second. It would be Inazuma Eleven. The fact that it is as much a Pokémon-esque RPG where you’re collecting football players as it is an actual game of football only makes it better. As does the fact that it, and its mainline sequels, were all played with the Nintendo DS’ stylus. If I’m being honest, the fact that it’s only vaguely a football game at all is probably what makes it my favourite football game.

The latest issue of V-Jump has revealed that Future Gohan will be playable in Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero and, surprisingly, will only have one arm.

The latest issue of V-Jump has confirmed that Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero will feature Beerus, Whis, Gohan, Future Gohan, and Videl as playable characters.

If you’re anything like us, you spend more time at your desk than pretty much anywhere else. 

New screenshots of Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero, the next game in the beloved Budokai Tenkaichi series, confirms more characters coming to the hotly-anticipated 3D fighting game. Among its ranks of super-powered heroes is Dragon Ball Z’s oft-forgotten Saiyan warrior, Future Gohan.

We have the solution to Wordle on April 16, as well as some helpful hints to help you figure out the answer yourself, right here. We’ve placed the answer at the bottom of the page, so we don’t ruin the surprise before you’ve had a chance to work through the clues. So let’s dive in, starting with a reminder of yesterday’s answer.

Bandai Namco's new trailer for Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama's desert wasteland manga, Sand Land, committed what could possibly be the most intellectual marketing song choice of 2024 by having it accompanied by the iconic 2001 dance hit, Darude's Sandstorm. While folks rightfully lost their minds at the trailer's apropos song choice, eagle-eyed Dragon Ball Z fans spotted a clue toward a Dragon Ball Z crossover.

Season 10 of Overwatch 2 will be a big one for Blizzard’s free-to-play shooter. It will introduce a new hero in Venture, a new damage-class addition to the roster, and the first taste of a brand-new game mode, Clash. We’re also getting a very evil-looking Mercy.

Earlier today, the Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero website added four new pictures from the game before quickly removing them. However, eagle-eyed fans managed to save the images before they were taken down, revealing that Son Gohan will be playable after all.

Genius Pokemon players have somehow uncovered an RNG exploit in Scarlet and Violet that allows you to generate infinite rare items – including Master Balls – just by changing the date and time on your Nintendo Switch. 

The latest Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble trailer is all about the single player adventure mode and shows off the game’s 4-player co-op. The NintendoSwitch exclusive game is coming out on 25th June 2024.

Ahead of its release this summer, Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble is bringing plenty of fast-paced hype with a new trailer highlighting the title’s new Adventure Mode. Featuring 200 stages across numerous different worlds, players can look forward to both local and online four-player co-op.

fans are in luck as the game is set to grow even bigger with a new event that will add two new playable characters players will no doubt be excited to try out. Having released back in 2016, the long-running anime brawler has maintained a solid community as developers QLOC and DIMPS have offered players an exceptional amount of post-launch content, especially for a game that's nearly a decade old. Fortunately for veterans, the experience isn't about to end any time soon as the DLC is set to expand the roster even more.

If you're an Avatar: The Last Airbender fan, chances are you were looking forward to the recently launched Fortnite collaboration that has seen Aang, Zuko, Katara, and Toph (sorry Sokka) head to the island. All four characters have been added to the Item Store to celebrate the collaboration, along with some emotes and Avatar-themed items, but many players have been coming away furious after seeing the prices.

Hello! It’s been a while since my last blog – but we’ve been hard at work! Let’s get right into it!

While can be a great way to gain hours of enjoyment, it can also be very tedious when accruing hearts and stamina early on in the game. For this reason, players have discovered a cheat that remains effective seven years after the game's release, allowing Link to duplicate his heart and stamina vessels early on in his journey.

Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero has disappeared from the Xbox store. Some fans say that they've been unable to access the store page for a few days now, with no explanation as to why it's been taken down.

2024 has become a year of equally joyous and tragic significance for fans of Akira Toriyama. Earlier last month, the TV anime adaptation of the late mangaka’s 2000 sci-fi comedy manga Sand Land premiered on streaming, just a few weeks after Toriyama’s passing at the age of 68.

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire sees the titular giant lizard get an all-new look, turning bright pink when he powers up, and it turns out the transformation was inspired by one of the biggest anime of all time, Dragon Ball. 

Sand Land will come out on April 25 on PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. The RPG, from the creator of Dragon Ball, is set in a world where water is severely limited. You play as Prince Beelzebub and build vehicles to trek the desert world, with the goal of finding The Legendary Spring’s water to hydrate Sand Land. Preorders are now available (see it on Amazon).

In order to make the best viral video possible in Content Warning, you need the proper equipment. Once you and your crew of friends go down into the Old World, all manner of spooky monsters and events will start popping off, but you only have so much air and battery life to get the best shots. Each video you post to SpookTube earns you cash to invest in better items to catch even scarier stuff on tape next time, but not all the items are very clear in how they will help you rack up the views. These items can get quite pricy, so save up that ad revenue and check out what all the items are in Content Warning before quitting your job to be a full-time SpookTuber.

Blizzard has added new skill tags for many class skills in order to interact with the new itemization. They also added existing skill tags to multiple skills to open up new possibilities by adding the Core tag to various skills such as Ball Lightning and Bone Spirit. These changes should allow for a greater variety of skill interactions, both with each other and with the new gear and affixes that have been introduced.

Connections is the latest puzzle game from the New York Times. The game tasks you with categorizing a pool of 16 words into four secret (for now) groups by figuring out how the words relate to each other. The puzzle resets every night at midnight and each new puzzle has a varying degree of difficulty. Just like Wordle, you can keep track of your winning streak and compare your scores with friends.

I was about 40 hours into my first playthrough of Dragon’s Dogma 2 when a sinking feeling started to settle in. “Wait, am I about to beat the game? Is this the final boss fight?” I thought. Turns out I was, and about 10 minutes into that final confrontation, I pulled the in-game equivalent of the ejection seat lever and quit.

Tuesday has never been the most exciting day, but at least we get new to solve. Today's categories are a nice mix of niche topics that most people should be able to solve, but there's always a chance you could get stuck on some matches that just don't match-up.

Dragon Ball’s Goku and the giant radioactive lizard Godzilla have one thing in common: their irrepressible fighting spirit. Both of them have been around for decades, starring in sprawling franchises full of shifting adaptations and overhauls. But in every new incarnation, they’re willing to throw down at the slightest provocation. That means their resumes are filled with takedowns of countless superpowered foes who got a little too big for their britches. The latest Godzilla film, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, takes the comparison one step further, with a plot that feels like a kaiju-sized version of a Dragon Ball story.

On the hunt for some shiny new games for your PS5? Well, you're certainly in the right place!

Dragon Ball XenoVerse 2 is over seven years old at this point, but it just keeps getting bigger. With the PS5 version still set to release on the 24th May, Bandai Namco has revealed that a new series of DLC chapters will be dropping «soon». Titled the 'Future Saga', it'll be made up of four chapters, which, again, just seems nuts for a title that's been kicking for close to a decade.

Eagle-eyed Tekken 8 fans have noticed a cheeky reference to Christie Monteiro in the Eddy Gordo gameplay trailer, which has raised some questions about what has happened to her.

17 years ago, Akira Toriyama provided art for the cult classic Xbox 360 JRPG Blue Dragon, and after the Dragon Ball creator's death, Microsoft is paying tribute with a piece of dynamic background art for modern Xbox consoles.

Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2's next DLC chapter has been revealed as the "Future Saga", and it'll be introducing new Ultra Supervillain versions of Super Saiyan God for Vegeta and Super Saiyan Rose for Goku Black.

The latest trailer for Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero has seemingly confirmed that certain characters won't be able to fly, which was the case in previous Budokai Tenkaichi games.

GamesReview is always excited when we are considered for Kickstarter preview coverage, but we still only choose to preview games we think we will enjoy. The trouble with doing preview work is you walk that fine line between being a marketing tool and actually providing solid coverage on a game. Thankfully, I’ve been having a blast with Welcome to Meeple Beach from the Table Golf Association, so everything you are about to read is my legitimate thoughts!

Sand Land, the new Hulu/Disney Plus anime adaptation of Akira Toriyama’s other big manga, is gaining the attention of critics – with one calling it a "final masterpiece" from the late Dragon Ball creator, who died in early March.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom lets you build a whole lot of ridiculous contraptions out of mundane parts, and there's nothing more mundane than the portable pot. This item turned out to be one of the game's wildest building options, and during a talk at the Game Developers Conference (broken down by Eurogamer), lead physics engineer Takahiro Takayama explained that this only happened because the devs wanted to keep you from spilling your soup.

Manga creator Eiichiro Oda - who last week announced that One Piece would be taking a three week "scheduled maintenance" break - has commented once again on the recent passing of his friend, and fellow legendary mangaka, Akira Toriyama.

Nearly 50 talented artists recently joined together to create an amazing mural in tribute to the late Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama. Earlier this month, fans of anime and gaming alike were saddened by the heartbreaking news that Toriyama had passed away from acute subdural hematoma at age 68. Dragon Ball itself has spawned countless video games, but Akira Toriyama also had a hand in creating legendary titles like Chrono Trigger and the Dragon Quest series, and numerous other franchises like Sonic the Hedgehog have drawn influence from his work.

A Pokemon fan artist created a realistic version of the Legendary Pokemon called Mewtwo and compared their new design to how Mewtwo was originally depicted in its movie debut. For their effort, the Pokemon fan artist received feedback from their peers, with some remaining divided on the creative liberties taken in the realistic Mewtwo depiction.

A recent update to the official Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero website hints that we could see the classic Dragon Ball Z version of Broly as a playable fighter on the roster.

Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero's official website has been updated with an age rating from the ESRB, which supports the idea that it might launch in 2024.

Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero has made some big visual changes to Goku's Super Saiyan God form, although fans seem a little mixed on whether it's for the better.

A live-action Legend of Zelda movie is on the way from Wes Ball and, now, The Maze Runner director has outlined his exciting vision for the upcoming Nintendo project.

Dragon Ball Z fans think that the latest trailer for Sparking Zero has confirmed that What-If battles will be returning from Budokai Tenkaichi and Raging Blast.

A new trailer for Sand Land, a new JRPG adaptation of Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama's beloved manga, just debuted at the Future Games Show Spring Showcase.

When I sat down to demo World of Goo 2 at this year’s GDC, I noted to the developers on hand how surprising it was to see a sequel after so long. “It’s been, what? Ten years?” I said. I was very far off the mark: They noted that the original World of Goo launched in 2008. After playing a few levels (and having an existential crisis over time’s rapid passing), I’d find myself wondering how such an obvious slam dunk didn’t come sooner.

The Nintendo Switch has entered what is likely its final year in the console market, and it appears to be going out in a blaze of glory with some exciting games to make way for its successor, the Nintendo Switch 2. Whether they’re exclusively developed for the Switch or ported over from other platforms, we’ve rounded up the upcoming Switch games that will make the hybrid console’s final year one of the most memorable.

Bandai Namco has unleashed raw gameplay footage for upcoming brawler Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero, and boy does it have potential. A true successor to the Budokai Tenkaichi games gives Dragon Ball FighterZ a run for its money in the visuals department, and it quite clearly captures the insane action of Dragon Ball.

A new Dragon Ball: Sparking! ZERO gameplay showcase was shared today, providing new details on new and returning gameplay mechanics, characters and more.

Hogwarts Legacy is the best Harry Potter game to ever land on consoles and PC, and the title’s open-world setting is one to be reckoned with. You’ll spend hours exploring the fantastical universe, completing an array of inspired side quests and puzzles, all while evolving your character. The Merlin Trials is a particular set of challenges you’ll want to take on, as you’ll earn additional inventory slots when you beat one. And if you’ve ever played an open-world RPG, you’ll know just how vital these extra digital cubbies can be.

Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero is bringing back the Budokai Tenkaichi series after 17 years, and we've got a brand-new gameplay trailer to celebrate. However, there's still no release date.

Why I Love is a series of guest editorials on GamesIndustry.biz intended to showcase the ways in which game developers appreciate each other's work. This entry was contributed by Sigtrap co-founders Gary Lloyd and Luke Thompson, who launched the Time Crisis-inspired Under Cover on Meta Quest earlier this month.

MLB The Show 24 is the latest baseball simulation by PlayStation Studios developer San Diego Studio, inspired and influenced by the 2024 season of Major League Baseball, which will run from 20th March, 2024 through 29th September, 2024. The game is available on the PS5 and PS4, in addition to the Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.

A demo for Sand Land is out now on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, and PC via Steam, publisher Bandai Namco has announced.

Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero, the newest Budokai Tenkaichi, is hosting a gameplay showcase tomorrow at 7am PT (3pm CET / 2pm GMT) that will last around 13 minutes.

Ultra Instinct Sign Goku hasn't been confirmed for Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero after all, despite a new image of Goku bearing a striking resemblance to one of his strongest forms.

A Pokemon fan with a knack for painting has created a cosmetic Poke Ball accessory. After purchasing the design blueprints, he created the item with a 3D printer and then applied a custom paint job to make the final product look like the real thing. This marks another fan-made Pokemon item that is now finished and on display.

A ton of new characters have been announced for Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero, including Ultra Instinct Sign Goku, Kefla, Hit, Ascended Trunks, and Dypso.

Before I saw Dragon Ball on VHS tapes in American flea markets and airing on Toonami, I saw it on TV in Guatemala, crowding around a tiny set with distant cousins I barely knew, in a language I had little command of. I learned to say Goku in Spanish before I did in English — you stress the second syllable a little more, let that last vowel ring out just a bit longer. Go-khoo. I didn’t know it at the time, but Dragon Ball — and Akira Toriyama, its creator — would follow me my whole life.

Everyone loves building gigantic castles and mountain-side lairs in Minecraft. These give you a cozy place to rest between adventures — and if you're a seasoned builder, you'll want to upgrade your home by personalizing it with decorations. Few decorations are as timeless as flowers, which have been available in Minecraft for years and add a nice pop of color to your foreboding fortress or countryside cabin.

Celebrate the legendary crew of Bebop in Overwatch 2! Immerse yourself in the iconic saga of Cowboy Bebop with an array of new skins found exclusively in the Overwatch 2 shop. From now until March 25, you can also tackle in-game challenges to answer the call of the bounty hunter and snatch up your cosmic cosmetic rewards. Keep reading to find out how you can claim these legendary bounties of this limited-time event.

Blizzard Entertainment’s collaboration with anime studio Sunrise to bring the world of Cowboy Bebop to Overwatch 2 was met with great enthusiasm when it was first revealed in its stylized, animated form. But when Blizzard released a full look at the in-game skins for Cassidy, Ashe, Mauga, Sombra, and Wrecking Ball, a dose of reality set in.

Love crossword puzzles but don’t have all day to sit and solve a full-sized puzzle in your daily newspaper? That’s what The Mini is for!

Recommended Videos

Connections is the latest puzzle game from the New York Times. The game tasks you with categorizing a pool of 16 words into four secret (for now) groups by figuring out how the words relate to each other. The puzzle resets every night at midnight and each new puzzle has a varying degree of difficulty. Just like Wordle, you can keep track of your winning streak and compare your scores with friends.

Akira Toriyama’s impact on the media of manga and anime, thanks to Dr. Slump and Dragon Ball, was gargantuan. In addition to his expansive fictional worlds and trademark illustrative style, Toriyama was a brilliant character designer — right down to the lowly Dragon Quest Slime, video gaming’s most perfect character design.

Manga icon Akira Toriyama’s untimely passing has led to an outpouring of emotion across the entire Internet, with tributes being paid all over social media. But one particularly poignant post that caught our attention is this clip of Dragon Ball XenoVerse 2, where fans all gathered in a lobby to pay their respects to the legendary artist: