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Hello and welcome to the debut Weekly Roundup on the Pow Pow Powell blog! In these posts, I’ll recap some of the previous week’s gaming headlines. I won’t be able to cover them all, so if there’s something I miss that you want to see feel free to drop a line in the comments! This week’s roundup features some big Nintendo franchise announcements and a new rewards program from PlayStation. Read ahead to learn more!

Probably the biggest news of the week was PlayStation’s announcement of their new rewards program, PlayStation Stars. The news came in a blog post from Grace Chen, VP of Network Advertising, Loyalty & Licensed Merchandise. The program will launch “later this year” and will be free to join. To earn rewards, users will complete various activities such as earning specific game trophies, platinuming (is that how you spell that?) games, or winning tournaments. In addition, there will be a “Monthly Check-In” campaign which simply requires users to play any game to get the reward.

“What are the rewards?” you may ask. Chen discusses a few different types. First, there are loyalty points which players can redeem for PSN wallet funds and other Store products. PlayStation Plus members will also earn loyalty points from Store purchases. Another set of rewards are what Chen calls “digital collectibles,” which are “digital representations of things that PlayStation fans enjoy, including figurines of beloved and iconic characters…as well as cherished devices that tap into Sony’s history of innovation.” This might sound a bit NFT-y, but Chen assures us that is not the case. In an interview from the Washington Post, Chen states “You can’t trade them or sell them. It is not leveraging any blockchain technologies and definitely not NFTs.”

A new gameplay trailer for The Lord of the Rings: Gollum dropped at the tail end of last week. The trailer shows the titular character sneaking and skulking across recognizable locales from Middle Earth, including orc-infested fortresses, elven forests, and what is perhaps Sheloth’s lair. Some familiar faces show up as well, such as Gandalf and the Ringwraiths (lack of faces in their case). The stealth-based gameplay takes advantage of Gollum’s lanky acrobatic movement, with many scenes of climbing and good ole 3D platforming traversal. However, to my eyes, the graphics look a bit lackluster in their current state. The game is still in development, so hopefully those kinks get ironed out. LoTR: Gollum launches on September 1 on PC, PlayStation, and Xbox platforms, one day before the upcoming The Rings of Power show premieres. A Switch release will follow later this year.

Kirby fans are likely still digesting Kirby and the Forgotten Land, which launched earlier this year. However, now they’ll have to prepare for a new course as Nintendo announced Kirby’s Dream Buffet. The trailer shows groups of Kirby balls rolling, bouncing, and racing through dessert-themed obstacle courses. According to the game’s official Nintendo Store page, players will compete in four rounds of challenges, collecting strawberries to increase their size. It seems Nintendo is cashing in on the success of silly, obstacle course co-op games such as Fall Guys, but giving the genre their own Kirby twist. The game launches some time this summer, so fans won’t have long to wait!

Speaking of Fall Guys, Epic keeps the fun rolling as the party game experiences a resurgence after releasing on PS5, Switch, and Xbox consoles last month. Yesterday they announced the Idol Games Event running now through Monday the 18th. Players can compete in various challenges to unlock the Crown Idol costume which decks your bean out in a Roman gladiator-esque set of armor. A close look at the trailer reveals a mix of challenges from winning a Squad Duos Show to simply playing specific mini-games. The Idol Games Event is active now, so be sure to get in on the action over the weekend!

Bayonetta fans have been patiently waiting for the next game in the series, and news continues to trickle in to satiate those appetites. Nintendo showed first looks at gameplay of Bayonetta 3 back in September 2021. Now, we’ve got a second look in a new trailer released Wednesday. The trailer revealed a new class of enemy called Homunculi, “man-made bio-weapons,” which appear to be a primary threat in the game’s story. The trailer also shows that players can play as new character Viola, who sports an impressive katana. The trailer ended with a release date reveal: October 28. Fans can pre-game their Halloween celebrations by taking on demonic monstrosities when the game releases on Switch.

That’s it for this week’s roundup. Again, I’m a one-man crew, so there’s only so much I can cover on my own. These are the headlines that most strongly jumped out to me this week. Did I miss something you want to discuss? Let me know in the comments, and I’ll be sure to keep those games on my radar! Thanks, and see you next week! (P.S. I’m taking catchphrase suggestions, so drop any ideas in the comments.)