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New Game Releases 10/14/25 – 10/20/25

Andy Tuttle

Top Releases:

We’re two weeks into the 4th quarter of 2025 and Nintendo is poised to make this another banner year for themselves, with the release of a brand new Pokémon game, with Legends: Z-A. Following in the same footsteps of Legends: Arceus, with an open world setting and battles happening in real-time, Z-A finds players returning to the Kalos region that was first introduced in Pokémon X & Y, with Z-A serving as a sequel to that entry. The big gimmick in this game are the mega evolutions that some Pokémon can achieve. These super-powered versions can deal far more damage, which make them both tough to beat and to catch. You can do it, though, I believe in you!

Pokémon Legends: Z-A (Switch/Switch 2) – Releases Oct. 16th

Developed by: Game Freak
Published by: Nintendo

The rest of our top releases this week aren’t as big as Pokémon, but they certainly have their fanbases. Like Just Dance 2026 Edition, the 17th mainline entry, and 29th overall, in Ubisoft’s long running dance game franchise. With 40 songs in the base game, including recent hits from Lady Gaga (“Abracadabra”), Bruno Mars (“Apt”), Dua Lipa (“Houdini”), and Chappell Roan (“Good Luck, Babe!”), you should have plenty of songs to get down to. However, if you just can’t get enough, 2026 Edition will also be compatible with Just Dance+, the subscription service that will unlock hundreds of songs, letting you dance the day, night, week, month, even year away.

For all you racing fans out there, NASCAR 25 is arriving this week to satisfy all your “driving in an oval” needs. I wonder if those people who park RVs in the middle of the track are playing this on their Xbox while the actual race is going on? I would. This week’s “cool indie” is the game Ball X Pit, a unique take on the “brick breaking” genre in which players fight off hordes of monsters by bouncing hundreds of little balls at them. I think you play the game as a mail plane.

Just Dance 2026 Edition (PS5/Switch/Series X|S) – Releases Oct. 14th

Developed by: Ubisoft Paris
Published by: Ubisoft

NASCAR 25 (PS5/Series X|S) – Releases Oct. 14th – PC later this year

Developed by: iRacing Studios
Published by: iRacing Studios

Ball X Pit (PC/PS5/Switch/Series X|S) – Releases Oct. 15th

Developed by: Kenny Sun
Published by: Devolver Digital

Finally, we’ve got brand new hardware this week; what?! Now, I could write something about the new Xbox themed ROG handheld from ASUS, but I think this preview video from IGN does a really good job of showing off the capabilities of the device:

ROG Xbox Ally – Releases Oct. 16th

Everything else:

Notable Releases from 10, 20, and 30 (and sometimes 40) years ago:

Games:

We’ve got some heavy hitter today, but I really just want to get us to 1985, so let’s speed run these. From 2015, we’ve got the Wii U game Yoshi’s Wooly World, the seventh game in the Yoshi franchise that began back in 1995 with Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island. The game was developed by the Japanese company Good-Feel who also created Kirby’s Epic Yarn, with Wooly World following a similar yarn-crafted graphical style. The game was mostly enjoyed by critics, though it wasn’t a slam dunk.

With a major focus on accessibility and player comfort, you can easily glide through Wooly World without much of a challenge. While critics agreed that the game looked and sounded beautiful, there wasn’t a whole lot there to keep players engaged and it quickly became repetitive and boring. A 3DS version would arrive in 2017, re-titled Poochy & Yoshi’s Wooly World, with a stronger emphasis on Yoshi’s canine companion, Poochy. The game had a much better received follow-up on the Switch, 2019’s Yoshi’s Crafted World, and we are going to get a Switch 2 entry in the series come 2026, Yoshi and the Mysterious Book.

From 2005, we’ve got a game that many would consider to be one of the greatest artistic achievements in video games, Fumito Ueda’s Shadow of the Colossus, for the PS2. Developed by the same team who created Ico, Shadow of the Colossus continues that game’s minimalist style. Players take control of a young man named Wander, who is trying to resurrect a young woman named Mono. To do this, Wander must seek out giant beasts, known as Colossi, and slay them. With his trusty horse Agro, Wander sets out into a massive, open world, seeking out the Colossi.

The game is separated into two parts, essentially, world exploration and Colossi battle. Using his sword as a guide, Wander travels on horseback to the location of the nearest Colossus. Once encountered, players must find a way to get on top of the beast, typically by grabbing onto an appendage and climbing them, but there may be instances where players must jump up and grab them from below, or jump down on them from above and hang on for dear life. Once attached to the Colossus, the player will need to find its weak points, thrusting their sword into it and turning this once majestic creature into a massive corpse.

Receiving universal acclaim upon release, Shadow of the Colossus would find itself listed among the best games of the year and, in subsequent years, become regarded as one of the greatest video games of all-time. At the DICE Awards, Shadow of the Colossus would be nominated in 7 categories (tied for second most with Guitar Hero), including Game of the Year (losing to God of War), and winning one, Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction. The Spike VGA’s, on the other hand, completely snubbed the title, giving it a nomination in the Game of the Decade category in 2012 (losing to Half-Life 2).

A remastered version of the game would release for the PS3 in 2011, where it was bundled with Ico, while a full remake would arrive on the PS4 in 2018. Highly influential, and a strong contender for the “video games are art” crowd, Shadow of the Colossus is brilliant. The game is exciting, contemplative, heart breaking, exhilarating, breathtaking, awe inspiring, and just about every other positive adjective you can think of.

From 1995, we have the action-RPG Secret of Evermore for the Super NES. While the game was developed by RPG juggernauts Squaresoft, Evermore’s production was handled by the company’s US division, the only game they would ever make. Secret of Evermore’s gameplay took heavy inspiration from the game Secret of Mana, with a similar engine and the need to navigate wheels in order to switch weapons and cast spells.

In the game, players step into the role of “typical US teenage boy” and his dog, as they explore the fantasy realm of Evermore. The game world is broken up into four zones that all correspond to different periods of time on Earth; Prehistoria, which mimics the time of dinosaurs, Antiqua, which mimics ancient Greece & Egypt, Gothica, which mimics medieval Europe, and Omnitopia, which mimics an idealized sci-fi future. There’s some kind of evil entity that wants to take over the world (obviously), and players must stop them.

Received positively by critics, Secret of Evermore was seen as a competent entry in the RPG series, but it paled in comparison to Squaresoft’s Japanese developed games, particularly when paired side by side with its inspiration, Secret of Mana. Evermore was only released in the North America, Europe, and Australia, and while a Japanese localization was in development, the game never made it to Squaresoft’s home country (likely due to it being a late era SNES game). While the game isn’t as bad as you probably think it is, it’s not all that great either.

From 1985, we’ve got what is probably the most important console release of all-time, the Nintendo Entertainment System, NES for short. With the North American video game market crashing & burning in 1983 ,thanks to an oversaturation of poor quality titles on the Atari 2600, the region’s market leader, the general public seemed to be done with video games, relegating it to the dust bin of past gimmicks, like the Pet Rock and the Hula Hoop. However, the rest of the world, particularly Japan, were NOT done with gaming, especially toy company & arcade developer, Nintendo.

With the highly successful arcade titles Donkey Kong and Mario Bros. under their belt, Nintendo had to, at first, port these to existing hardware. Seeing that they could better control their destiny with their own machine, the company developed and released the Family Computer, more commonly known as the Famicom, in July of1983 for the Japanese market. While the Atari was crashing and burning in the US, the Famicom was selling out all over Japan, with retailers having a difficult time keeping up with demand.

Prior to the video game crash of 1983, Nintendo and Atari were set to partner on the release of the Famicom, renamed the Advanced Video System (or AVS), but Atari got petty when it learned that Nintendo signed a deal to make Donkey Kong a Colecovision exclusive. This delay in the release, along with the firing of Atari’s CEO (and subsequent crash of the industry) caused Nintendo to balk at any further partnerships, deciding to release the system on their own.

Nintendo were fully aware of the problems that video games were having in North America so, in an effort to get the public familiar with the AVS, the company released arcade cabinets that contained the same software that players would be experiencing at home. Called the VS. System, nine of the initial seventeen launch titles would release in arcades first in both 1984 and early 1985; they were: Tennis, Baseball, Wrecking Crew, Pinball, Golf (two versions, Stroke & Match and Ladies), Excitebike, Ice Climber, Hogan’s Alley, and Duck Hunt.

By the Summer of 1985, Nintendo had redesigned the console, dropping the AVS name and going with the NES name we all know. Initially, back when it was still called the AVS, Nintendo had planned to make the console more of a home computer, complete with a keyboard and cassette tape disk drive. By 1985, during the console’s redesign, both of these items were stripped away. With video games being seen as a negative, Nintendo opted to give the NES the appearance of both a toy AND an “entertainment” device, i.e., something like a VHS player, which were just starting to take hold in North America.

To help give the NES more of a “toy” feel (which was a key strategy to get retailers to sell the console), Nintendo introduced two add-on peripherals for the machine, the Zapper, a light gun, and R.O.B., a companion robot that offered real-world functionality with two of the NES’ launch titles, Gyromite and Stack-Up. While Nintendo knew they had a winning product, some retailers were still skeptical. To combat this even further, Nintendo partnered with the toy company Worlds of Wonder, distributors of two highly popular interactive toys, Teddy Ruxpin and Laser Tag. With these toys selling like gangbusters, WoW would force retailers to stock the NES if they wanted to also carry Mr. Ruxpin and Laser Tag.

With a solid three-prong launch strategy (arcade previews, unique peripherals, and a gutsy distributor), Nintendo launched the NES in New York City on October 18th, 1985; it was a smash success. Shortly after, in February of 1986, the console would debut on the West Coast in Los Angeles, before receiving a nationwide release in September of 1986. While I’ve mentioned a few of them already, the NES launched with seventeen titles: 10-Yard Fight, Baseball, Clu Clu Land, Duck Hunt, Excitebike, Golf, Gyromite, Hogan’s Alley, Ice Climber, Kung Fu, Pinball, Soccer, Stack-Up, Tennis, Wild Gunman, Wrecking Crew and, the granddaddy of them all, Super Mario Bros.

The success of the NES helped propel Nintendo to the top of the US video game industry, easily taking over from the floundering Atari. While most critics, and the public at large, assumed the NES would fail, Nintendo’s strong commitment to quality and player satisfaction, as well as the console design and shrewd marketing tactics, ensured that the console would surpass expectation. I’d like to save some history for this year’s Notable Releases feature, so we’ll get more into the impact when that rolls around in December.

The video game industry in North America would likely look a lot different if the NES didn’t come out, or if it failed to take off. Who knows what we’d all be playing right now if things had turned out differently. Could Atari have made a comeback? Would we have been playing more PC games growing up, or would Sega have been the big winner? It’s fascinating to think about the what-if’s. However, I’m happy with the way things went, the NES was my whole life as a child. Every free moment I had was spent with that thing and, I imagine, it was a big part of most of the lives of anyone who grew up in the 1980’s. We’re all reading this right now, talking about games and getting excited for the new stuff 100% because of Nintendo and the NES. We’re pretty lucky.

Movies:

In notable films, 2015 saw the release of the Guillermo del Toro’s gothic ghost story, Crimson Peak. Written as a spec script in 2006 by del Toro and his sometime collaborator, Matthew Robbins, the film sat in development hell at Universal Studios for nearly a decade before production finally began. The film tells the story of a young woman who is plagued by visions of the dead. Following the death of her father, the young woman moves into a decaying mansion with her newly betrothed husband and his sister. Soon enough, ghosts begin to haunt her daily life, leading to a dark, twisted secret.

The film received mostly positive reviews from critics, including glowing recommendations from horror master Stephen King and his equally spooky son Joe Hill, but it failed to ignite audience interest. Opening in a crowded field, which included the new Steven Spielberg/Coen Brothers film Bridge of Spies, and the highly anticipated adaptation of R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps books, Crimson Peak ended up in 4th place, beaten by Spies, Bumps, and holdover film, The Martian.

On a personal note, I LOVE this movie. While it is decidedly spooky, I have come to enjoy it as a Christmas movie, opting to watch it every Xmas Eve with my wife as we wrap presents. The film’s cold, snowy atmosphere gives it a wintertime vibe, and helps put me at ease while I stress about making sure I got all the stuff on my daughter’s wish list. Kind of weird to say about such a tense (and taboo) film, but sometimes the familiar helps to center me. I strongly endorse Crimson Peak, go watch it!

From 2005, we’ve got the Shane Black action/comedy Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. Following a career setback with the box office bomb The Long Kiss Goodnight, writer/director Shane Black, best known at the time for the Lethal Weapon franchise, decided to write a light hearted romantic comedy. Wanting to mimic writer/director James L. Brooks, Black showed him the script to which Brooks replied that he liked it, but it needed some more zing, more edge. Black went back to his action film roots and turned the script into something that was half romantic comedy, half action film, thus the title, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.

Released in limited release among a crowded slate of films, including the film adaptation of the video game Doom, the Dakota Fanning horse girl movie Dreamer, and two other small films, Niki Caro’s Whalerider follow-up, North Country, and the Steve Martin penned Shopgirl, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang opened well out of the top 10, all the way down in 37th place. However, word of mouth and a steady roll-out would see the film’s grosses improve week after week, coming to a final take of $15.8 million on a budget of $15 million. Modest, but (just barely) profitable.

While it may seem strange to us now, in 2005, the film’s star, Robert Downey Jr., was a non-entity in Hollywood. Coming off a short prison term, RDJ was seen as a liability on a film, causing chaos and stress wherever he went. Shane Black, and producer Joel Silver, felt that Downey was a good fit for the character and, more importantly, he came super cheap. Brilliant in the role of a small time crook mistaken for a method actor, Downey was a major highlight of the film (playing against a very good Val Kilmer) and it would lead to his casting as Tony Stark in the Marvel blockbuster, Iron Man.

From 1995, we’ve got Kevin Smith’s second film, Mallrats. Following the success of his indie film Clerks, major studios all over Hollywood had dollar signs in their eyes and wanted Smith to make his next Gen X masterpiece with them. The lucky winner was Universal Studios and it should have been apparent from the start that things would not go too well, insisting that Smith recast Jay & Silent Bob with Breckin Meyer and Seth Green.

While Clerks was seen as one of the defining voices of Gen X, with its witty dialogue and pop culture references, Universal was in the business of making mainstream films that appealed to the masses. Smith delivered a vulgar, raunchy comedy full of sex jokes and comic book lore. Test audiences hated the film, leading to several scenes being cut or re-shot. Entire subplots were removed that made many of the jokes and throw away lines make no sense. One bright spot, though, both Smith and Jason Mewes did get to reprise their roles as Jay & Silent Bob.

When Mallrats released into theatres it was a total box office bomb. Despite having a very modest budget of only $6.1 million, the film was only able to gross $2.1 million during its short theatrical run. The film would get destroyed by three other new releases, the John Travolta/Gene Hackman gangster comedy Get Shorty, the coming of age teen drama, Now and Then, and the Antonio Banderas erotic thriller Never Talk to Strangers.

It wasn’t just those three that beat Mallrats, though, it was such a bust that it opened in 13th place, losing ground to just about every hold-over film of the previous four weeks (even another box office bomb, Strange Days). The only new film it managed to out gross was another Gen X aimed film, The Doom Generation, from another film auteur, Greg Araki, and starring Gen X bombshell Rose McGowan. Despite the poor box office performance, Mallrats has gained cult status over the last thirty years, being seen as a favorite among Kevin Smith’s most die hard fans. Perhaps released a decade or two too early, well before the comic book/nerd culture boom of the late 2000’s, early 2010’s, Mallrats was well ahead of its time, but feels so quintessentially 90’s.

Closing out notable films, from 1985, we have the movie Silver Bullet, based on the novella Cycle of the Werewolf by Stephen King. One of the handful of King adaptations written by the author himself, Silver Bullet tells the story of a small town in Maine that is terrorized by a werewolf, and they may just somehow be connected to a young boy in a wheelchair…

Not particularly loved by critics or audiences, Silver Bullet is mostly forgotten as both a film and a book. The film contained very few scares and was seen by some critics as almost a parody of King’s works, claiming that it failed as both a horror film and an accidental comedy. The werewolf was also poorly received, as it seemed to resemble something closer to a bear, causing some critics and viewers to describe it as a “werebear” instead of werewolf.

Producer Dino de Laurentis was so furious at the creature design that he demanded it be redone. King and the designer, Carlo Rambaldi, refused and King threatened to derail the entire production if he didn’t get his way. In the end, de Laurentis acquiesced to King’s demand and the suit remained, becoming yet another failure of the picture. Grossing $12.4 million on a budget of $7 million, Silver Bullet was profitable, and its stars, Corey Haim and Gary Busey, would go on to act in some of the most well known films of the 80’s and 90’s.

Albums:

In notable albums, 2015 gave us Demi Lovato’s Confident, featuring the hit single “Cool for the Summer”. I won’t pretend that I know much about this album, I mean, I was 34 when it came out and far too old to be listening to music by pop stars in their early twenties. “Cool for the Summer” was a banger, though. I also don’t know a lot about 2005’s notable album, Feels, from the group Animal Collective. Hailed as not just one of the best albums of 2005, but one of the best of the entire decade, Feels was purchased by 55k music critics and people who listened to it once because a music critic told them to.

From 1995, we’ve got the album Insomniac from Green Day, finding themselves in a more grunge-y, alternative space than they did on their mainstream breakthrough, Dookie. Praised by critics for its darker themes and more mature sound, Insomniac was, alas, not a hit with fans, with the album failing to reach the same level of success as Dookie. While Green Day helped usher punk into the mainstream, it seems they didn’t really want to stay there.

While bands like No Doubt and the burgeoning ska scene were showing that punk/alternative could be happy, Green Day wanted to wallow in misery. In retrospect, we should have seen it as a rejection of the punk scene that, in turn, had rejected them for “selling out”. By not catering to the mainstream punk fan, and losing the respect of the “real” punk fan, Green Day didn’t gather many fans with Insomniac, and led to a downward spiral for the band that wouldn’t really pick back up until the early 2000’s, following the release of American Idiot. Fun fact, I saw Green Day perform at the Warped Tour in, like, 2000, during the middle of the day to very little fanfare. Even more fun fact, Weezer also performed at that same concert, who were also in a similar downward trend following the poorly received Pinkerton.

Closing things out this week, from 1985, we’ve got the album Love by The Cult. While not the biggest band of the 1980’s goth/new wave scene, The Cult certainly had mainstream appeal in the US (and even more in their native UK) thanks in large part to the single “She Sells Sanctuary”. A staple of rock and alternative radio for four decade, “She Sells Sanctuary” is probably playing somewhere RIGHT NOW, maybe even your town!

While it did moderately well in the US when it released, it wouldn’t hit the Billboard Top 200 until December of 1985, debuting at #87, eventually peaking at #34 in April of 1986. The Cult never set the world on fire (though they did have a hit single later called “Fire Woman”), they’re just one of those bands that’s always there; ya know? You’ve certainly heard their songs before, and you might have even been to a festival or concert where they played and thought, “oh shit, it’s this band“. They’re like a familiar sweater that’s been buried in the back of your closet that you forgot you had. You love it and you’re happy you found it, but you didn’t really think about it all that much when it wasn’t around.

Yoshi’s Woolly World (Wii U) – Released Oct. 9th, 2015

Notable Film Release: Crimson Peak – Starring Mia Wasikowska, Jessica Chastain, Tom Hiddleston, Charlie Hunnam, and Jim Beaver
Click here to watch the trailer
Notable Album Release: Demi Lovato – Confident
Click here to listen to the album

Shadow of the Colossus (PS2) – Released Oct. 18th, 2005

Notable Film Release: Kiss Kiss Bang Bang – Starring Robert Downey Jr., Val Kilmer, Michelle Monaghan, and Corbin Bernsen
Click here to watch the trailer
Notable Album Release: Animal Collective – Feels
Click here to listen to the album

Secret of Evermore (SNES) – Released Oct. 17th, 1995

Notable Film Release: Mallrats – Starring Jason Lee, Shannen Doherty, Jeremy London, Claire Forlani, Ben Affleck, and Michael Rooker
Click here to watch the trailer
Notable Album Release: Green Day – Insomniac
Click here to listen to album

Nintendo Entertainment System w/10-Yard Fight, Baseball, Clu Clu Land, Duck Hunt, Excitebike, Golf, Gyromite, Hogan’s Alley, Ice Climber, Kung Fu, Pinball, Soccer, Stack-Up, Super Mario Bros., Tennis, Wild Gunman, and Wrecking Crew – Released Oct. 18th, 1985

Notable Film Release: Silver Bullet – Starring Corey Haim, Everett McGill, and Gary Busey
Click here to watch the trailer
Notable Album Release: The Cult – Love
Click here to listen to album

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