NPD Group has released a listing of the top ten best-selling games in the U.S. for the month of June 2016. The results can be found below.

1. Overwatch
2. Grand Theft Auto V
3. Lego Star Wars: The Force Awakens
4. Doom 2016*
5. Mirror’s Edge: Catalyst
6. Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End*
7. NBA 2K16
8. Call of Duty: Black Ops III
9. Destiny: The Taken King
10. Minecraft*

Note: for the first time, NPD is starting to include digital sales in its reports. Games marked with the asterisk do not include digital sales. Also keep in mind that NPD’s format has changed – this is a revenue ranking rather than unit rankings.

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Nintendo has just added a new item to today’s maintenance schedule. Splatoon will be undergoing maintenance for around two and a half hours starting in ten minutes.

Here are the relevant times:

– 3:30 PM PT – 6 PM PT
– 6:30 PM ET – 9 PM ET
– 11:30 PM in the UK – 2:30 AM in the UK
– 12:30 AM – 3:30 AM in Europe

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A potentially dangerous situation was thankfully avoided at the Pokemon World Championships back in 2015. Two men were put under arrest after threatening violence to attendees. Unlicensed guns were found in their vehicle, along with several other weapons.

Those men – James Stumbo and Kevin Norton – have now pled guilty to charges that they brought a rifle, shotgun, and hundreds of rounds of ammunition to the Pokemon World Championship last summer. Both will serve two-year sentences of prison and two years of probation. Stumbo and Norton had also previously served 335 days since they were arrested.

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Metroid Prime: Blast Ball uses amiibo to unlock special paint jobs. In the video below, GameXplain takes a look at how they look.

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We learned yesterday that Legendary Entertainment has obtained the rights to the Pokemon films, and will begin by producing a live-action Detective Pikachu film. Based on a new interview with screenwriter Max Landis, it sounds like that idea came straight from The Pokemon Company.

Landis, along with producer Roy Lee, pitched his idea for a different Pokemon film around a year ago. It was accepted, shown to studios (and led to a “huge Netflix offer”)… and then The Pokemon Company “pulled back”. Landis told Collider that they only wanted to sell one character, which was Detective Pikachu. He wasn’t interested, and that’s when everything fell apart.

You can hear about Landis’ pitch in the video below.

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NIS America is teaming up with Natsume to release a limited edition for Harvest Moon: Skytree Village later this year. Those who purchase the package will receive a copy of the game, Collector’s Box, 44-page softcover art book in full color, original soundtrack with jewel case, six lapel pin set, and a blue feather rubber strap keychain.

Pre-orders are up on the NIS America store here. Pricing is set at $49.99.

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Metroid Prime: Blast Ball made its way to the 3DS eShop earlier today. Check out 23 minutes of footage from the download below.

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IGN has another look at the Nintendo Entertainment System: NES Classic Edition. See the system up close via the video below.

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A few hours ago, Nintendo shared a new Metroid Prime: Federation Force video. It contained commentary from Kensuke Tanabe, the game’s producer.

Kotaku picked out one excerpt from the interview which is particularly interesting. At one point, Tanabe explained why Federation Force’s art style was chosen.

Tanabe spoke about how Next Level Games wanted “to make a multiplayer gameplay experience great on a handheld system” following Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon. Technical hurdles were in the way, however. Another issue was that players would be shooting objects that look tiny on a small handheld screen. That eventually led to the “more rounded art style for the characters”.

Here’s Tanabe’s full explanation:

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San Diego Comic-Con 2016 has begun. Nintendo is at the show, but also has a special setup at the Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina. View some photos of the area below, courtesy of Nintendo Life.

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