Super Mario Maker 2 is set to launch in only a matter of weeks, with the game looking better in almost every way than the already great first game. More recently, the game has received a lot of flack for the reveal that online multiplayer would be exclusively matchmaking, thus not allowing you to play with your friends online. We were hoping this might change in the future and Nintendo confirmed today that online multiplayer with friends would indeed be coming to Super Mario Maker 2 in the future.

Even with how much Nintendo has shown us about the game in the past, it was still a bit surprising how little they showed of it during their E3 Nintendo Direct this morning. The main reason for that though is that they saved it to show off during the Nintendo Treehouse segments after the fact, which mentioned the online multiplayer.

During this segment, it was revealed that Super Mario Maker 2 will be getting a post-launch update that will allow players to play with their friends online rather than only in random matchmaking. No timeline was given for this, though the way they spoke made it sound like it would be sooner rather than later after launch. Hopefully it is something we’ll get very soon after release, but at least we know it is indeed coming at some point.

Super Mario Maker 2 will release for Nintendo Switch on June 28.

The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening remake for Nintendo Switch was first announced earlier this year, with Nintendo showing off even more during today’s E3 Nintendo Direct and the following Treehouse segment. In addition to all this new information about the game, a special edition of the game was announced as well known as The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening Limited Edition.

This announcement was made by Nintendo of Europe, which revealed this great looking collection. Not only do you get the game itself, but also a steelbook that looks like an original Game Boy, which The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening first debuted on back in the day. In addition, you also get a 120 page artbook as well. All of this then comes in a bigger box that looks fantastic, even though the final design could vary.

While this was announced for Europe, we have yet to get an announcement from Nintendo of America yet. While all the versions of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild were released in the US, the special edition The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D never was released here, so there is a precedent for this. Hopefully we will get this one though, as we all know it would sell out very quickly and make Nintendo a lot of money without question.

The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening will release for Nintendo Switch on September 20. Stay tuned for further details on if this edition ends up making it to the West and we will make sure to keep you posted if and when pre-orders go up for it.

Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age released last September for PS4 and PC to rave reviews, though Nintendo Switch owners were left waiting for the previously announced version on that platform. The Square Enix E3 conference last night simply stated that the game was coming this fall, but the Nintendo Direct for E3 revealed that Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age Definitive Edition S is coming to Nintendo Switch on September 27.

Rather than just being a port to the Nintendo Switch, Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age Definitive Edition S is so much more than that. In Japan, the game also released for Nintendo 3DS with a top down classic 2D visual style that we never got in the West at all. This game includes that as an option for playing as well, which really pushes the idea of it being the definitive version.

Those who have complained about the soundtrack in the original will also be happy here, as this one will have a fully orchestrated soundtrack option to change it from the more classic style that the PS4 and PC releases had.

Look for Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age Definitive Edition S to release for Nintendo Switch on September 27.

We first saw the release of amiibo alongside the release of Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, with an amiibo released for each and every playable fighter. With the addition of so many fighters in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, this has led to many more characters being released as amiibo and there are still more to come. We already had release dates for upcoming amiibo next month and now eight more have been given release dates.

Following up on the release of Pokemon Trainer, Isabelle, and Pichu coming next month, four more amiibo are coming on September 20th, including three from the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate line with Squirtle, Ivysaur, and Snake The other is the Link’s Awakening amiibo we already told you about.

A couple months later in November, we will be getting amiibo for Incineroar, Chrom, and Simon Belmont. Lastly, we have the announcement and images for both Dark Samus and Richter for an unannounced month in 2020. It would be assumed these will come in the first few months, but there is no guarantee for that.

Not including the Fighter Pass characters of Joker, Hero, and Banjo-Kazooie, this concludes the base roster amiibo for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. The question now is whether or not we would get additional amiibo for drastically different looking characters such as Princess Zelda, but that has yet to be announced in anyway at this point.

There might not be the amount of amiibo released as there once was a few years ago, but they are still steadily releasing them every few months. In addition to the various Super Smash Bros. Ultimate amiibo that are still releasing, Nintendo announced a brand new adorable amiibo for the upcoming The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening.

Nintendo really surprised us during their Nintendo Direct earlier this year that announced The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening as a remake of the original for Nintendo Switch. This Game Boy classic is one of the best in the series and people are really excited to see it return.

One of the first things people noticed about the game is the unique art style, which is very different from anything the series has ever done. This is on full display with the brand new amiibo announcement for the game that is seen in the image above.

The Link amiibo from The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening is set to release alongside the game itself on September 20th, which is pretty common with new Nintendo releases.

If previous The Legend of Zelda series amiibo are any indication, you will want to lock down a preorder for this one as soon as it goes up, as they tend to sell out pretty quickly.

People were really hoping for the reveal of a brand new Banjo-Kazooie game during Xbox’s E3 conference on Sunday, but were left very disappointed yet again. That left the E3 Nintendo Direct as fans of the series’ last hope for seeing the duo return and they did not disappoint us like Xbox did, as Banjo-Kazooie was revealed as an upcoming DLC fighter for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Banjo-Kazooie and Rare as a whole have a major history with Nintendo, as the first two entries in the series release for Nintendo 64 before Rare was acquired by Microsoft. Since that time, we’ve only gotten Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts for Xbox 360 and nothing else.

There have been rumors that Nintendo and Microsoft were playing very friendly behind the scenes as of late, with that being why Cuphead came to Switch, as well as a rumor that Ori and the Blind Forest coming as well.

This all culminated in the reveal trailer for the third DLC character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate near the end of the E3 Nintendo Direct, which started off very similarly to the King K. Rool reveal from last year. In that reveal, they trolled us with King Dedede before showing King K. Rool. This time, we get Duck Hunt trolling us instead, but then it is revealed that Banjo-Kazooie is actually in the game.

The duo look great in action, pulling moves directly from the games of the past. The visual style is also just like the classic games and not the ugly Nuts & Bolts version. Banjo-Kazooie will also come with a Spiral Mountain stage, which looks like it should be a lot of fun.

Banjo-Kazooie will be coming to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate sometime in Fall 2019.

The No More Heroes franchise began on the Nintendo Wii with two well regarded entries before kind of dying off for awhile until Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes earlier this year. While that game could be fun, it was very different from what the series have been before as a spin-off. We had hoped the game did well enough to get a full fledged sequel to the mainline games and Nintendo answered that question during their E3 Nintendo Direct with the reveal of No More Heroes III.

Starting off with a trailer, you might not have guessed this game was part of the No More Heroes franchise. The visuals look similar at first, but then quickly someone gets into a mech suit and flies into space to take on some sort of alien invaders.

Very quickly one of the mech suits comes off and we see the reveal of everybody’s favorite bad boy Travis Touchdown, confirmed this is indeed a new No More Heroes game. We don’t really get to see much of the game, but this trailer serves as more of a way to get us hyped for what is to come.

No More Heroes III will be coming exclusively to Nintendo Switch sometime in 2020.

Square Enix is having a major presence during Nintendo’s ongoing E3 Direct with reveals involving Dragon Quest teaming up with Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, but that is not all. Another rumor that has been around for awhile was that the Japanese only Collection of Mana would be finally coming to the West, which was confirmed during the Nintendo Direct.

Collection of Mana comes with the first three original games in the series, Final Fantasy Adventure, Secret of Mana, and the one game that has never released in the West, Seiken Densetsu 3, known as Trials of Mana here.

This collection is something that people have been asking for for awhile in the West, because we have never had the opportunity to play the third game whatsoever to this point without importing it. To have all three in one collection definitely helps with what are harder to obtain games.

Making this even better was the reveal at the very end that Collection of Mana will be available later today on the Nintendo eShop. That means there will be no more waiting, as you can get it as soon as it is put on the store. A physical release of the game will not be coming until August 27, so you’ll have to get if digitally if you want it today.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate was the central focus of Nintendo’s E3 presentation last year, were they stated “Everybody is here!” That proved to be the case at that time, but the game is getting more characters through the Fighter Pass, the first of which was Joker a couple months ago. We’ve been waiting to find out who else was coming and Nintendo started off their E3 Nintendo Direct with that information.

With a beautiful CGI trailer, we see Link fighting off the evil versions of Marth and Meta Knight, before he is saved by the Hero from Dragon Quest. While leaks specifically stated we would be getting Erdrick, the one that saves him is surprisingly the Hero from Dragon Quest 11 at first.

However, the trailer then quickly shows that he isn’t alone, with him having three other skins from the series, including Erdrick from Dragon Quest 3 and the version from Dragon Quest 8 as well.

The characters look great, with the usage of an actual RPG like meter to select magic attacks and such too. They also come with a Final Smash similar to Mega Man’s that brings together the protagonists from throughout the series together.

The Hero from Dragon Quest will be coming to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate sometime this summer.

Pokemon Bank was initially released back in late 2013 for the Nintendo 3DS as a way to store your Pokemon from Generation V upward, as well as the Virtual Console releases of the older games, in one location. Things have gotten a bit more complicated with the release of the Nintendo Switch and the Pokemon Let’s Go games, the upcoming Pokemon Sword and Shield, and even Pokemon Go, so now The Pokemon Company has announced a successor to Pokemon Bank known as Pokemon Home.

The Pokemon Company held a press conference last night that brought us many different announcements, including Pokemon Sleep. That press conference also revealed Pokemon Home for the first time as well, which looks to be the end all be all for connecting your Pokemon games.

Like Pokemon Bank, Pokemon Home will be a cloud based service that will allow you to store your Pokemon in one location. This time though, the app will not be exclusive to say the Nintendo 3DS, but instead will be available for both Nintendo Switch and mobile devices.

You will be able to transfer your Pokemon from Pokemon Bank over to Pokemon Home as a way to obtain your Nintendo 3DS Pokemon, as well as transfer between the two Pokemon Let’s Go games, Pokemon Sword and Shield, and Pokemon Go itself.

From the above image released through the press conference, it appears Pokemon will be a one way trip to Pokemon Home from everything except for Pokemon Sword and Shield, which will be able to both get and send Pokemon to Home from it. However, Pokemon Home is not slated to released until early 2020, so it will not be available at the launch of Pokemon Sword and Shield later this year.

It was also stated that you will be able to trade via Pokemon Home as well, though they did not reveal how exactly that will work at this time.

Resident Evil 4 is easily one of the most re-released games of the last few generations of consoles and it likely will continue to do so moving forward in future generations. The latest of these releases is for Nintendo Switch, which had people wondering whether or not it would include motion controls like in the Wii version. Now that the game has started to release in other territories, that question has now been answered and people likely aren’t going to like the outcome.

When Resident Evil 4 initially released for GameCube, the game obviously didn’t have any sort of motion controls. This all changed when the game released for the Wii two years later, offering one of the best shooter experiences on the platform. This became the golden standard for playing Resident Evil 4, which had people hoping we may get that feature included for the Nintendo Switch release.

However, now that Resident Evil 4 for Switch has started to release in some regions, we now know that the game in fact does not have any sort of motion controls included. According to GameXplain, this is simply just the same type release that we’ve gotten in recent years on platforms like PS4 and Xbox One, which did not have motion controls themselves.

This is incredibly disappointing, as now that means we have to go back to the Wii to play this game if we want motions controls. Having an HD version of the game with the motion controls would have been really nice, so all we can do now is hope for a patch later that likely won’t ever come.

Super Mario Maker 2 was announced earlier this year and had fans ready to use their creative juices to build all new kinds of stages with the new features available in the sequel. Nintendo announced earlier this week that they were holding a Super Mario Maker 2 Nintendo Direct and that very stream has just revealed a brand new style that people have been much requesting in the past with Super Mario 3D World.

Super Mario 3D World was a one of the most underrated Mario games in the series due to it only releasing on the Wii U, taking the classic side-scrolling mechanics and mixing it with a 3D plane. Super Mario Maker 2 is now adding this style, though still keeping things within the regular level design that the other styles utilize. This means it won’t be exactly like Super Mario 3D World, but still has the look you recognize from that game.

You couldn’t have Super Mario 3D World as a style without adding Cat Mario as a power up either and Super Mario Maker 2 doesn’t disappoint. Cat Mario allows you to climb up walls, which should be a lot of fun to mess around with in the different stages.

Super Mario Maker is also adding other Super Mario 3D World related things, such as Pom Pom as an enemy you can place in stages. It will be great to see what all Nintendo puts in Super Mario Maker 2 from this Wii U gem that hopefully will lead to it getting it ported to Nintendo Switch eventually as well.

The Nintendo Switch is a fantastic system overall, though there are still definitely plenty of features and apps that people have requested since launch two years ago. Any system changes are made through system firmware updates, of which a brand new one has just released. While it isn’t a major update, there are still a few interesting features included for the Nintendo Switch nonetheless.

This latest update for Nintendo Switch is known as 8.0.0 and is now available to download for the system. This latest update brings with it a few features that can be useful, along with some that you will probably never use.

The Sort Software feature now allows you reorder your software on the Nintendo Switch in the way you want, including by last time played, total play time, software title, and software publisher. Currently the system displays by last time played, so this is a nice feature to be able to change.

A feature that probably won’t be used much is the Zoom feature, which lets you turn on the feature and zoom in by pressing the Home button twice. This helps with accessibility on the system, but probably won’t be used too much.

Another new feature that wil be available will prevent the system from waking up from Sleep Mode when either the AC Adapter is disconnected or when you undock your system.

With the reports that Nintendo is set to release two new models of the Nintendo Switch later this year, one new features sounds like it could really help with that. This update adds the Transfer Your Save Data feature, which allows you to transfer save data for individual games between your multiple Nintendo Switch systems. Once you transfer from one system to the other though, the save data will be erased from the original.

Also coming with update 8.0.0 are 15 new player icons from Splatoon 2 and Yoshi’s Crafted World. This includes new Octoling player icons among others, so make sure to check them out.

In addition, there are a few other small updates, such as a View All Available News Options, a VR mode restriction in Parental Controls, and the ability to change you region to Hong Kong/Taiwan/South Korea.

As always, this update can be found in the settings area under System Update if you do not have your system set up to update automatically.

The Nintendo Switch recently celebrating its second anniversary and what a two years it has had. There have been some pretty substantial rumors from big names in the industry about upcoming revisions to the system coming in the near future and now one of the most connected reporters for Nintendo information has provided details of when and what we might actually be getting when it comes to new versions of the Nintendo Switch.

The Wall Street Journal’s Takashi Mochizuki is always on the pulse on Nintendo with breaking business related news for the company. His latest report revolves around the rumored Nintendo Switch revisions, where he states there will be two different versions coming.

According to his article in the Wall Street Journal, his sources are telling him that Nintendo will be releasing both a premium model and a cheaper portable model. He goes onto say that the premium model wouldn’t be as powerful as say the Xbox One X or PS4 Pro are, which we never really expected anyways considering how the current version is underpowered compared to the Xbox One and PS4 themselves. The real question would be how powerful this premium version would be in comparison to the base Xbox One and PS4 instead.

Mochizuki continues with details about the cheaper portable version that Nintendo is supposedly seeing as a replacement for the Nintendo 3DS family. This version is said to cut costs by taking away some features, with him mentioning rumble as possibly one of them. You have to wonder if this would potentially be a portable only system that does not include detachable Joy-Con controllers or just a regular Switch with lesser features that would allow it to be cheaper and fall into the portable market rather than the home console market price wise.

The announcement for these two models is expected to be at E3, with a release coming a few months after in time for the holiday season. With games like Pokemon Sword & Shield and the new Animal Crossing slated for later this year, there is no doubt there will be a run on Nintendo Switch consoles and these variations could really help sell even more if this turns out to be accurate.

Here is something that might come as both good and bad news to collectors: Hello Kitty Kruisers might be coming to the Nintendo Switch.

Specifically, Hello Kitty Kruisers was rated for the Switch by the German USK. Nothing is set in stone, but it would be odd for the game to be rated just for nothing to happen with it. Additionally, Nintendo has made a habit of porting many of its Wii U titles over to the Switch so that it could reach a larger audience (and potentially fill a void when there is a lapse in releases for certain franchises), so there’s certainly a precedent for this.

For all intents and purposes, there is nothing particularly special about Hello Kitty Kruisers. First released for iOS and Android in Jan. 2014, before arriving on the Wii U in March 2014, it is a simple racing game that features Hello Kitty and other characters developed by the Japanese company Sanrio. There are a fair amount of options in the form of vehicles, modes and outfits, but the game primarily fell flat due to its overall simplicity and the fact that the Sanrio license is essentially wasted, as none of the characters are voiced and do nothing to convey their personalities.

However, while the game might not be particularly good, the Wii U version happens to be exceptionally rare. As one might expect, not too many copies of this game exist outside of the Japan, so the ones that are out in the wild are quite expensive, with prices on eBay ranging from $39.95 to $219.99.

For those truly interested in playing it, the possibility of Hello Kitty Kruisers coming to the Switch means that they don’t have to burn a hole in their wallet for what is very much a mediocre game. On the other hand, collectors will likely be less than enthused to know that the game could potentially lose some of its value.

The Nintendo Switch has been selling like hotcakes since its release, so much so that it has now set the record of becoming the fastest-selling home console in U.S. history.

This achievement was announced by Nintendo who, citing its internal sales figures, revealed that since the Nintendo Switch’s launch on March 3, 2017, the console has managed to sell 4.8 million units in the United States within 10 ten months. Amusingly, this means that Nintendo now holds the position for both first and second place in this department, as the previous record holder was the Wii which sold more than four million units within the same time period.

“Fans across the country have experienced the joy of playing their favorite games at home or on the go,” said Nintendo of America President and COO Reggie Fils-Aime. “Now that many more people have received Nintendo Switch systems for the holidays, we look forward to bringing them fun new surprises in 2018 and beyond.”

The U.S. isn’t the only place where the Nintendo Switch has found success either, as it has posted impressive numbers in Japan as well. In late December, the latest Famitsu sales figures revealed that hardware sales had reached 2.9 million units since launch. Assuming it continues this momentum, it will easily beat out total Wii U sales (3.3 million) and even total PlayStation 4 sales (5.7 million) by the end of 2018.

And chances are that the Nintendo Switch will be maintaining that momentum, as several titles are already confirmed to release this year, such as Kirby: Star Allies, Bayonetta, Bayonetta 2, a new Yoshi game, as well as “continued support from major publishers such as EA, Activision, Ubisoft, Capcom, Sega, Take 2, and Bethesda, plus a growing catalog of quality content from indie developers.”

Nintendo has announced that Monopoly will be available for the Nintendo Switch on October 31st.

The following is the official description of the game: Experience three unique 3D boards at home or on-the-go with up to six players in total, or take your game online and challenge players in quick matches. Customize your game by selecting from six official House Rules chosen by MONOPOLY® fans around the world. Don’t have time for a full game? Speed it up with Special Goals that shorten play sessions, and Actions Cards to move you around the board and penalize your opponents. Build your empire and trade your way to victory!

Ubisoft originally announced Monopoly for the Nintendo Switch back in April with a Fall 2017 launch window. It looks like they’re going to hit that release window. The game will make good use of the Switch’s HD Rumble feature, which will allow players to actually feel the roll of the dice in their hands.

Monopoly will cost $39.99 when it launches for the Switch on Halloween. Will you be picking up this version of the classic board game? Or is the nearly $40 price tag a bit too spooky for you? Let us know in the comments below.

The Super NES Classic Edition has finally been released and people everywhere are still standing in line hoping to get their hands on one. The NES Classic was a massive success for Nintendo, so it makes perfect sense that the company has doubled down on these nostalgic consoles and followed it up with the SNES Classic.

Currently, these classic systems are the best way to enjoy Nintendo’s legacy content, and it might be the only way for the foreseeable future. Outside of “[recognizing] there is an appetite for all [their] great legacy content,” Nintendo has been completely silent when it comes to putting the Virtual Console on the Switch. Recognizing there’s an appetite? Oh you mean like releasing a new version of the NES back in November 2016 and seeing it fly off store shelves at light speed? Oh yeah, there’s an appetite. And it’s one of those “hangry” appetites.

More than any other feature, the Virtual Console gets brought up as the one thing sorely missing from the Switch. Yes, there are other features people want, but nothing compares to the VC. But with one classic system already proven to be a smash hit and another one set to launch that will likely outsell the original, how concerned is Nintendo with making their classic games library available on the Switch? Personally, if all of the games that are available on the SNES Classic were also available on the Switch, I would have no reason to pick up the former. I know there are die hard collectors out there who would seriously give their left foot for the classic system, but most gamers would probably be fine with just downloading each game individually on their Switch.

Why would Nintendo rush to put out classic games on the new system when they can sell the classic system?

It’s likely that we will be seeing a new classic system every year for the few years. I think it will play out like this:

2018 – NES Classic rerelease and Game Boy Classic

2019 – Nintendo 64 Classic

2020 – Game Boy Advance Classic

2021 – Nintendo Gamecube Classic

Think about that. In the next few years you could have an entertainment center full of miniature versions of classic Nintendo game systems. Those same systems you owned once upon a time. Tapping into nostalgia like that is a brilliant move on Nintendo’s part.

We already know that some NES games will be available on the Switch once the full version of their online service launches sometime in 2018. However, that is believed to be different than the actual Virtual Console. More of a perk of the online service rather than the definitive way to play classic Nintendo games on the Switch.

I would absolutely love the opportunity to buy classic Nintendo games piecemeal on my Switch, but I’m not sure it’s coming anytime soon. As long as these classic systems are selling like hot cakes, there is no rush to make the digital content available. It’s a great problem to have. I can just see the Nintendo top brass sitting around a conference table (shaped like a 1up mushroom) asking each other “how many different ways can we sell these games we made over two decades ago?” There is no real answer because Nintendo is having a renaissance year and everyone wants in on the action.

It’s possible that we will get a Virtual Console announcement at the same time Nintendo decides to share more information about the upcoming Nintendo Switch Online service. But with the NES Classic set to rerelease next summer, Nintendo might just be riding that classic console gravy train for the foreseeable future.

As many expected, Nintendo had some new information about Fire Emblem Warriors during its Direct presentation, however, not a soul could forsee who would be revealed as the newest playable character to join the roster: Lyn from Fire Emblem 7 (officially Fire Emblem in North America or Fire Emblem: Rekka no Ken in Japan).

For the longest time, players had assumed that Fire Emblem Warriors would only feature from characters from Shadow Dragon, Awakening and Fates because a past interview with developers revealed that those would be the three titles they would focus on. Of course, that statement could have easily meant that the majority of characters in Warriors would come from those three titles, rather than all of them, but it was hard to remain in that mindset when all of the recent announcements were for characters from Fates.

However, the streak has been broken with Koei Tecmo’s inclusion of Lyn and its now clear that characters from titles outside of the aforementioned three will be included in the base roster (though I’d wager we’ll only be seeing two or three at best).

Lyn is notable for being one of the three main characters in Fire Emblem for the Game Boy Advance, the first title in the series to be released outside of Japan. Unsurprisingly, she also became a fan-favorite quite easily: she’s pretty, had a unique fighting style and had an interesting backstory — there wasn’t much to not like about her.

However, despite her popularity, she (and the game as a whole) has been consistently overlooked by Nintendo. Fans have been clamoring for her addition to Super Smash Brothers, ever since Marth and Roy helped to popularize the series in the West with Melee. Ike was added in Brawl and Robin, Corrin, Lucina and a new version of Roy were added in Smash 4. The best Lyn ever got was an assist trophy, which wasn’t even used if players were playing in at least a semi-serious setting.

She didn’t get a reference in smaller Fire Emblem crossovers either. Chrom and Lucina were the only Fire Emblem characters included in Project X Zone 2 and the only characters present in Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE were from Awakening and SD.

Now, before I continue, I do have to acknowledge that the recent Fire Emblem titles were the most successful, so it makes perfect sense that a crossover game would focus on them. However, as I’ve argued in the past, with the series enjoying newfound levels of popularity, now’s the time to introduce characters such as Leif, Sigurd, Julia, Eirika, Ephraim and Celica, who would allow new fans to have a deeper appreciation for the series as a whole.

This is why Lyn’s inclusion in Warriors gives me hope for the series. Just like how Marth and Roy made people curious about Fire Emblem as a series (as well as Marth’s gender) back in 2001, including characters such as Lyn — who is an unfamiliar face to those who started with Awakening — can encourage them to approach older entries. This is particularly important because Nintendo has made it clear that its trying to popularize the series by creating remakes of the older series under the Echoes moniker. The first of these was the Gaiden remake, Shadows of Valentia, and while reviewers were receptive to it, it was amusing to see how many of them didn’t know the weapon triangle didn’t exist in that one.

Having more people accustomed to how the series was like before the 3DS, could encourage Nintendo to introduce older mechanics or remove new ones that have become unwelcome (please no more child units, there will never be another Severa or Cynthia).

Of course, now that Lyn has been introduced, the obvious question is who comes next. Ignoring Ike, Roy and Tiki (who I’m convinced will be included in the roster in some fashion), I’m hedging my bets on either Celica or Caeda. Celica is from Gaiden/Shadows of Valentia which is technically the latest game in the series, while Caeda is Marth’s wife from Shadow Dragon and could finally have Warriors truly be Fates/Awakening/SD and not Fates/Awakening + Marth.

Mario Party came out on the Nintendo 64 in 1999 (1998 in Japan), throwing many of the series’ prominent characters together on a game board as they sought to collect more Stars than anyone else by the game’s end. The series has spanned multiple platforms since then and Nintendo is looking to celebrate its history by releasing Mario Party: The Top 100.

Mario Party: The Top 100, as the name implies, takes the best minigames from titles in the main series (no Mario Party Advance, DS or Star Rush) and meshes them all together in one title on the Nintendo 3DS. As such, this game focuses solely on the minigames and ignores pretty much every other aspect of the series, such as traversing through various game boards and collecting coins and stars along the way.

That said, even if it sheds several other features, Mario Party: The Top 100 still retains its most notorious ability: the capability to make you hate and potentially lose your friends.

As much as Mario Party very much resembles party, with leisurely, uninvolved gameplay, its also a war. For all its bright colors and amusing cast, the series has consistently managed to bring out the darker side of those who play and sometimes even encourages it. Remember, as stated, the way to win the game is to collect the most Stars when all the rounds are over.

In theory, you could accomplish this by playing like a chump and just buying the Stars with coins or acquiring them through random events. But the ideal way to get Stars is to steal them from others — even if the person who has their Star stolen is in no position to win. Alliances are quickly formed and broken just as easily, its scary.

Fortunately, it seems Mario Party: The Top 100 won’t have this issue (to that degree at least) because there are no Stars to speak of. Of course, the game could be just as nasty even without them. Minigames can be FFA, 2v2 or 3v1 and it isn’t unusual to see some people botch a potential victory if it means going after someone who has wronged them.

Mario Party: The Top 100 has the potential to make you lose all your friends and I can’t wait until Nov.10 for when it happens.

Check out the trailer below:

Just when you thought that Minecraft couldn’t hit any other console, the game is heading to the Nintendo 3DS.  Set to release in digital version on 9/13, Minecraft 3DS was revealed during the most recent Nintendo Direct.

The digital version will arrive first, but there is a packaged version coming to the handheld at an unspecified date.  The Minecraft 3DS version includes five skin packs and two texture packs.  Other details gleaned from the video were that inventory, crafting and map would be handled on the touchscreen.  While the gameplay would be on the main screen.

Players will be able to choose between button or touch controls for the game.

Nintendo is no stranger to a relationship with Microsoft to put the crafting and building game on their platforms.  The game just arrived on the Nintendo Switch and we liked it in our review. 

We won’t need to wait long to see how Minecraft does on the Nintendo 3DS.  It will get the benefit of the New Nintendo 3DS handhelds.  The game will only be available for those that own the more recent 3DS systems.

Nintendo has and released update 1.10 for its Switch mobile app for iOS and Android and it finally allows users to do what it should have been permitted in the first place: chat while other apps are in use or when your phone’s screen is switched off.

As you might recall, the Nintendo Switch mobile app was released back in July as a companion app for the titular console. Unfortunately, the app left much to be desired, with users being unable to do other activities such as look up guides or check messages while the app was active or be able to use it at all if the screen wasn’t on.

With the coming of update 1.10, however, it appears that these issues have been fixed. Now, according to Nintendo’s official website, “voice chat will now continue when other apps are opened” and “voice chat will now continue during sleep mode.” There is also mention of other issues being resolved, but what those issues might be wasn’t specified.

Despite the update, there is still one major issue that the Switch mobile app suffers from: multiple apps with microphones/audio output. Users won’t be able to switch between this app and another one if it uses the device’s microphone or includes audio output. As such, turning on others apps that makes use of the device’s audio output, like Spotify or YouTube, will likely interrupt chat.

That said, users are already starting to take notice and while they aren’t giving the update outright praise, they do note that this is a step in the right direction.

“This is definitely good and it’s a step in get right direction,” one redditor wrote. “However fixing a completely broken app doesn’t make the overall voice implementation any better. Baby steps I guess.”

“We’re one step closer,” another wrote. “Next thing they need to do is build the function onto the console and delete the app.”

The Nintendo Switch mobile app is one of the features that will be covered once Nintendo launches its paid online service, so its good to see the company working out the kinks sooner, rather than later. Similarly, it will be interesting to see what updates or features gets applied to the app before the service goes live.

Nintendo has a Direct presentation coming up on Wednesday, Sept. 13 at 6 p.m. EST which will detail the future of the Switch and 3DS in the upcoming months. This one in particular, however, is sure to be a doozy as its a full 45 minutes long.

Thus far, the only title that has been confirmed to be making an appearance during the Nintendo Direct presentation is Super Mario Odyssey, which Nintendo promises will offer “new information about” during the livestream. It wouldn’t be surprising if this game gets the most screen time, honestly. Super Mario Odyssey is easily Nintendo’s biggest title for the remainder of the year and it comes out on Oct.27, leaving the company a little over a month to talk about it.

That said, 45 minutes is still a lot of time and surely there are other titles could get some screen time during that period. Xenoblade Chronicles 2, Fire Emblem Warriors and Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser’s Minions all are slated to arrive for the Switch or the 3DS by the end of the year, so it wouldn’t be unreasonable to expect announcements for any one of those three titles at any point during the presentation.

Of course, there’s the possibility of a few surprise announcements. Though these are all stretches, maybe something about Shin Megami Tensei V or Super Smash Brothers could pop up. There’s also the possibility of something related to Pokémon making an appearance — though Nintendo usually has specialized Pokémon Directs for those.

In any event, there’s little need to lose any sleep over wondering about which titles will make an appearance as the presentation is just two days away, so be sure to catch the Nintendo Direct on the company’s YouTube and Twitch channels come Wednesday.

The latest issue of Famitsu has revealed that Sakura from Fire Emblem Fates will be a playable character in Fire Emblem Warriors.

Sakura fulfills a similar to Elise (who was also featured in the preview) in the Birthright Route in Fates, so it makes sense that both would be revealed back-to-back. Both are the youngest of the four siblings featured in each route, each start off as support units with the option of adding physical/magical offense upon promotion and both, of course, are portrayed as your little sister.

Unfortunately, as its a preview, there’s no gameplay of Sakura in action. However, the pictures included in the article show her with a yumi (Hoshido’s bow equivalent) which suggests that her moveset will be inspired by her Priestess class and not Shrine Maiden or Onmyoji. As such, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to expect her to use the yumi as her main form of offense, while using some support magic and potentially even some attack magic on the side.

In addition, the preview also included information about the game’s Fire Emblem-inspired mechanics such as class changes and skills, as well as a “History Mode” that reproduces (major) scenes from the Fire Emblem series.

Sakura’s inclusion in Fire Emblem Warriors completes the royal sibling quartet on the Hoshidan side of the Fates lineup and brings the total amount of characters represented from that title up to nine. Other characters from Fates include Corrin (Female), Ryoma, Hinoka, Takumi, Xander, Camilla, Leo and Elise.

Surely there is some disappointment among older fans that yet another Fates character has been announced while other entries in the series have been left high-and-dry. If you count yourself among them, then you might be happy to know that there is a strong possibility that Sakura could be one of the last characters from Fates to be on the (base) roster. The only remaining characters who haven’t been announced that could be considered important are Azura and, to a lesser degree, Felcia/Jakob or Kaze.

Of course, there’s also the possibility of a random reveal like with what Koei Tecmo did with Cordelia.

In any case, the bottom line is that it was already confirmed that Fire Emblem Warriors will feature mostly Shadow Dragon, Awakening and Fates characters (though its looking more like the latter two for the time being). So even if there aren’t any more Fates characters, KT will use Awakening (or Shadow Dragon), rather than other titles to fill that void.

Fire Emblem Warriors will release for the Nintendo Switch and New 3DS on September 28 in Japan, and on October 20 in North America and Europe.

Final Fantasy XV director Hajime Tabata and the rest of the team have been really putting in a lot of work on expanding the title and its universe recently, announcing a mobile version of FFXV and a PC version that’s in the works. Up to this point, the only platform that has nothing to do with FFXV was the Nintendo Switch and even that might be a thing of the past if recent comments by Tabata are to be taken at face value.

During Final Fantasy XV’s Twitch live stream at Gamescom 2017 earlier today, a user asked if there any other projects planned for FFXV in the future. This question prompted Tabata to state that the development team wants to do as much as it can with the universe and that added that they really like the game console with the name that sounds like “Twitch,” so it is something that they are properly thinking about at the moment.

Unfortunately, he preceded this comment by stating that he couldn’t go into any further detail, so whatever he and the rest of the team are truly planning will likely be under wraps for quite some time.

Here’s the clip where it all went down:

Despite what he said, there is little to no reason not to at least expect some type of FFXV-related project to hit the Switch at this point. Since its launch, Final Fantasy XV has seen received various updates, spin-offs and DLC, with more on the way. Furthermore, Nintendo is no stranger to Final Fantasy spin-offs, with the likes of Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, Crystal Chronicles and Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings gracing its consoles and handhelds in the past. And if you consider that Switch can be used a handheld, it almost seems like a Final Fantasy XV Switch title, despite it only being around for a few months.

Regardless, don’t take precedence or Tabata’s musings as confirmation for a Final Fantasy XV Switch title, as the most effort the team has done towards such a project is merely thinking about it.

In a move that is almost to be expected of it at this point, Nintendo announced today it will release Pokémon Gold and Silver for the 3DS on September 22 in Europe — with some added twists.

As evidenced by Pokémon Red and Blue, Nintendo has already shown it is keen on releasing its older Pokémon games on newer handhelds. However, what’s so strange this time around is that not only will Gold and Silver be a physical release, but they won’t be the updated Heart Gold and Soul Silver titles that came out in 2009. Instead, this release focuses exclusively on the original Gold and Silver that came out in 1999.

“On 22/09, shiny packaged versions of #Pokémon Gold and Pokémon Silver containing a download code will be released in shops,” Nintendo of Europe stated on Twitter.

Of course, the Game Boy Color classics only coming in their original form shouldn’t be too surprising as Nintendo already confirmed during the Pokémon Direct back in June that they would be coming to the eShop, but there’s no escaping the fact it was an odd decision to release them at all, especially when considering that Heart Gold and Soul Silver are both readily available on the 3DS via DS cartidges.

Unfortunately, those expecting to get an actual 3DS cartridge with the original Gold and Silver will find themselves somewhat disappointed, as the box will only include a download code on a piece of paper for you to then enter via the 3DS eShop.

On the bright side, the game will be compatible with the Pokémon Bank app, so it is possible to transfer Pokémon caught in either game and transfer them to other titles.

Beyond that, however, the original packaging is exactly the same — albeit with a big yellow warning, informing buyers that they’ll need an internet connection to download the game.

As a final disclaimer, this announcement only pertains to Europe for the time being. However, the only thing weirder than releasing a “physical” copy of Pokémon Gold and Silver in this manner, would be to have a Pokémon release that leaves both North America and Japan out of the loop.

Atlus has announced that Persona Q2 is coming to the Nintendo 3DS.  Despite many holding out hope for a version of Persona 5 to head to the Nintendo Switch, this announcement will have to do for Nintendo fans.

A teaser site for the game recently went live, and it’s using graphics and text from Persona 5 so we can likely expect that Atlus follows suit and releases something similar to what they did with Persona Q: Shadow of the Labryrinth.  A crossover title, Persona Q used a different artstyle on the 3DS but focuses on dungeon crawler gameplay with characters from Persona 3 and 4.  Shadow of the Labryrinth was considered canon in the Persona timeline and we can likely expect the same from Q2.

However, this is just speculation. Exact details about Persona Q2 are unknown as we’ve just gotten the announcement for the game.  We can only look at the previous Q title as for what to expect from Q2.

Atlus continues their trend of releasing games on mature platforms.  The 3DS’ massive installed base is probably a good place to start when asking why they chose to release Persona Q2 on Nintendo 3DS only and not have anything Persona related at this time for the Nintendo Switch.

A release date for Persona Q2 on Nintendo 3DS has not been announced at this time.

Today (August 1) marks the 25th anniversary of Kirby in North America. Kirby’s first game, Kirby’s Dream Land, came out in North America for the Game Boy on August 1, 1992. To celebrate this, Nintendo has started a sale on a bunch of digital Kirby games for the 3DS and Wii U.

Happy Anniversary Kirby! We’re celebrating with a sale on select digital Kirby games until 8/8, 8:59am PT. #Kirby25 https://t.co/9a64kIeQv9 pic.twitter.com/AGrPSV0KR3

— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) August 1, 2017

For the 3DS, five Kirby games are on sale; two 3DS games and three classic games available via virtual console. The 3DS game Kirby: Triple Deluxe gets its price reduced from $20 to $15 and Kirby: Planet Robobot is reduced from $40 to $30. The three virtual console games have about one or two-dollar price cuts, with 3D Classics: Kirby’s Adventure being $5.24 on sale and Kirby’s Dream Land and Kirby’s Dream Land 2 both being $3.

On the Wii U, seven games are on sale, including one Wii game via eShop and six virtual console games. The Wii game, and later Wii U eShop game, Kirby’s Return to Dream Land has its price reduced from $20 to $15 for this sale. The virtual console games on sale for the Wii U span consoles such as the Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Nintendo 64, Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS.

These games also have their prices cut by about one or two dollars. Kirby’s Adventure is available for $3.74, Kirby & the Amazing Mirror is $5.24, Kirby Super Star and Kirby’s Dream Land 3 are $6 each and Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards and Kirby: Squeak Squad are each $7.49.

This sale is slated to go on for only one week, ending at 8:59AM PST on August 8. Kirby is also on schedule to get a new game for the Nintendo Switch, working title Kirby 2018, in (obviously) 2018.

At long last, the Nintendo Switch is getting its very first streaming app. No, its not YouTube, Hulu or Netflix…its Niconico.

NicoNico is streaming platform not unlike YouTube Live. As users livestream their content, viewers can leave comments which then appear on the video itself. Furthermore, users can go the usual route of uploading their videos and add unusual features such as polls and quizzes. Of course, these videos come real-time comment pop-ups as well.

Don’t worry if you’ve never heard of Niconico either — it’s immensely popular in Japan, but it is also only exclusive to Japan (with some English options). And that’s perfectly fine because the app will also only be available on the Japanese eShop for the foreseeable future. At the very least, Switch owners outside of Japan do have the option of downloading the streaming app by making a Japanese account and seeing what Niconico is all about.

Here’s a sneak peak of the app in action:

【今夜】Nintendo Switch niconicoリリース！

Nintendo Switchで動画を見ようhttps://t.co/OuOADTJOu9 pic.twitter.com/aj3GZWOl1m

— ニコニコ＠ニコ動公式 (@nico_nico_info) July 12, 2017

Despite it only being fully accessible to Japanese users, the addition of the Niconico app is still significant. Up to this point, the Switch had no streaming apps to speak of on its system, making it a departure from the Wii U which had access to several streaming services like Netflix. In fact, the Wii U was a surprisingly good fit for such streaming services because of the Gamepad. At any rate, the presence of Niconico on the Japanese eShop means that Nintendo is still open to the idea of streaming apps in principal, potentially meaning that it might not be too long before we see others with universal appeal such as Netflix or Hulu make their appearance on the Switch.

As you might recall, Nintendo released a trailer for Fire Emblem Warriors last week which revealed Robin, Lucina, Lissa and Frederick as the latest characters to join the game’s cast. Only the trailer was available, however, so we didn’t get to see any gameplay of any of these new characters in action…until now.

It turns out there was a demo for Fire Emblem Warriors at Japan Expo which was a different build than the one at E3. This time around, the demo featured Lucina, Robin, Lissa and Corrin as playable characters, as well as Frederick as a boss fight.

We already had an idea of how each character would fight due to the trailer, but we now have confirmation thanks to the demo footage. First off, there’s Robin who uses tomes to fight and some of what he does will seem similar if you’ve seen him in Super Smash Brothers. He can create lightning spheres for his normal attacks, as well as summon fire, lightning lasers, purple spheres, lightning vortexes and a magic circle that allows him to float for his charge attacks. As for his special attack, he uses the Levin Sword to rain down destruction on a group of hapless foes.

Meanwhile, Lucina, who was described as as fighting as a typical sword user, is essentially a faster Chrom (similar to what she was like in Fire Emblem: Awakening). One interesting thing about her, however, is that she can use a giant bow made of light during her special attack.

Lissa, though using an axe, is actually pretty fast. As for her fighting style, she twirls her axe around like a baton and even uses her staff to hit foes with bolts of lighting at the end of some of her combos. Furthermore, keeping true to her class background, Lissa is capable of using her staff to heal and a circular zone is shown before you cast the spell.

Lastly, there’s Frederick who we didn’t see much of because he only appeared as an enemy. Despite that, much like what we already surmised, his moves are noted as being “what you’d expect from a cavalier with an axe.”

Fire Emblem Warriors is scheduled for a fall 2017 release date for the Nintendo Switch and New Nintendo 3DS.

Check out the demo below:

Bandai Namco has announced that Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 will arrive on the Nintendo Switch in the Americas and Europe on September 22.

Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 has been available for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC since October 2016, and even though Bandai Namco expressed plans to release a new version once the Switch arrived, there was no word on precisely when fans could expect the game to arrive. Fortunately, that wait is over now and it will be worth it for eager fans. Not only is this new version available for Switch owners (obviously), but it also features a few new features unavailable on other platforms.

The first two of these features revolve around multiplayer. First, players can use use individual Joy-Con controllers to play with a friend locally. Second, up to six people can play at once via local multiplayer, but more than one Switch console will be needed to execute this.

The final feature, and probably the most interesting, is the presence of motion controls. Remember when you were a kid and you used to have fun pretending you were Goku (or any other DBZ character) by making the same motions they do when executing a major attack? Through the use of the Joy-Con, not only can you imitate those motions once more, but attacks like the Kamehameha and Spirit Bomb will actually come out when you do.

Outside of the Americas and Europe, Japan is also slated to get a Switch version of Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 on September 7. Though a release date has been announced, Bandai Namco has yet to mention a price or if it has plans to release a Special Edition or Season Pass.

Custom peripheral company ColorWare have released a pair of beautifully painted Joy-Con modeled after the classic Nintendo Entertainment System. With a high level of quality and a niche audience, you can be sure that these Joy-Con will be quite expensive. How expensive? Oh, about $200.

ColorWare’s peripherals are all created on top of the original controllers. Any controller for any and all systems available to purchase comes straight from the original manufacturer of that system, meaning that build quality will be exactly the same as what your console seller provides. The Joy-Con features that you have come to love are not tampered with in any way, leaving the gyrometer, accelerometer, rumble features and buttons exactly the same as your average Switch controller. Should you have a dodgy pair, every controller is kept under ColorWare’s warranty policy for a quick return. As they should be if they cost $200.

For those of you who are interested in the NES Joy-Con, you might want to hurry up and snatch them up. These special controllers are going to be a timed limited edition piece, alongside a retro-style PS4 Pro and PS4 Controller. The first 25 controllers will even have a special number of authenticity, just to prove that you’re the best. For those who decide to buy, the Joy-Con will take three weeks to ship, so you better be a patient customer.

Super Bomberman R may have been a mixed bag of sorts when it launched alongside the incredibly popular Nintendo Switch, but that hasn’t stopped Konami from doing a very un-Konami move of supporting the title with a myriad of free DLC and updates. The latest update, Version 1.4, not only includes a handful of new maps and Team Battle mode options, but also the ability to play as three characters from classic Konami titles.

Silent Hill’s frightening Pyramid Head, the fearless Simon Bellmont from Castlevania and Vic Viper Bomber from Gradius are all available for players to pick up from the in-game shop. All of these characters have unique abilities such as Vic being able to boost around the map, Simon having the ability to move bombs or stun enemies, and Pyramid Head gets to do what he does best: murder people. It’s actually really frightening.

Alongside these new characters, four new maps are now available for players to destroy with explosives in Versus mode. Classic Conveyor Belt, Panic Factory, Plain Floor and Desert Fort are all available to blow yourselves and your friends up on. In case you were wondering, Konami have also altered how Gems are earned and the game now rewards you with gems for playing in Versus mode as well. You know, the mode people actually play.

With some basic bug fixes and two new accessory lines–Item and Snowflake–Super Bomberman R is actually turning out to be a decently updated and well-maintained game from Konami. Huh, who would’ve thought?

In addition to the story trailer, Nintendo showed off 26 minutes of gameplay for Fire Emblem Warriors showing off a mission and a bunch of the game’s mechanics.

If you have any fears that Fire Emblem Warriors will be a simple reskin of Hyrule Warriors or not try to remain faithful to its source material, then you’ll pleased to know that everything which was shown will put those fears to rest. FE Warriors is its own game through and through and not only incorporates a good many of the Fire Emblem series core mechanics, but its quite clear Koei Tecmo is improving the Warriors series from both a mechanical and gameplay perspective.

(Scroll down to the bottom if you want to get straight to the action)

To start, unlike previous Warriors games, the player has the ability to give commands to an allied character. By going to the pause screen, its possible to send off one of your characters to an an allied base or enemy base to help defend or assault it, respectively. Furthermore, players can switch between any allied character at will, allowing them to take direct control of a certain character when the situation demands. The ability to switch between characters at will and order them around the map is important because of the weapon triangle system imported from the Fire Emblem series — if a lance user is left to their own devices, they might wind up in an encampment filled with axe users; when this happens, players can opt to have them leave the area or reinforce them with a sword user.

While on the subject of the weapon triangle, there are quite a few other things that have been brought over from the main Fire Emblem series and woven in seamlessly. The pair-up system is in full effect in Fire Emblem Warriors, with players having the option of having two characters join forces and gain access to Dual Attack and Dual Guard. Not only that, but a unit’s stats will also increase so long as they’re paired-up together. Of course, there are some downsides to using the pair-up system. If two units are paired with one another, then you lose map coverage as they always have to be within close vicinity of one another. Therefore, players will need to assess whether they want to sacrifice a unit’s combat prowess in exchange for having greater potential control of the map and vice-versa. Support Bonuses were also confirmed by the announcers, but it remains unclear what gameplay benefits these provide.

As is always the case in Fire Emblem, leveling up is also in FE Warriors though the intricacies behind it remain unclear. For example, the characters seen in the demonstration can gain points in Magic, but there doesn’t appear any way for them to make use of that particular stat. Additionally, individual level ups appear entirely random, but each character might have unique maximum stats easily attainable by the maximum level. There’s also the possibility there will be items which permanently boost your stats. It’s all conjecture at this point.

Lastly, there’s an arena mode where players can select a character of their choosing and fight against six characters chosen at random. They go through a few waves of generic opponents before fighting a single enemy, they then move on and fight another enemy who’ll call for help when (s)he at 50 percent health and that process will repeat two more times when players go on to fight the third foe. Just like in the original Fire Emblem games, this looks like a good way to level up outside of the story mode.

Of course, there are still many mechanics from previous Warriors games that are present in Fire Emblem Warriors, such as Storm Rush and Rage Mode/Attack.

The game looks great so far and the demonstration really did a good job showcasing much of what the game has to offer. All I’m waiting on at this point is for a wider variety of characters, both in their weapons and the titles they represent. Here’s to hoping those expectations will be fulfilled when the game arrives this fall.

Check out the gameplay video below (0:40 – 26:20):

New footage of Splatoon 2 for Nintendo Switch  was recently revealed by Nintendo and it offers players a glimpse at single player portion of the game.  One of the Squid Sisters, Callie, has gone missing in the game and you must find her.  You’ll team up with Marie to battle against the Octarian army using a variety of different weapons while battling through slew of big bosses.

Just a couple of weapons that Nintendo mentioned will be heading to Splatoon 2 Single Player are the Roller, Slosher, Splatling, and new Dualies.

The original Splatoon released for the Wii U just a couple of years ago and was an ambitious debut project for Nintendo.  The company which rarely veers from their tried and true series like The Legend of Zelda, Mario, Kirby and others took a chance on a different type of game.

We reviewed Splatoon back in 2015 and gave it a 4.5/5, calling it “another great new IP from Nintendo and a fresh take on the shooter genre.” From what we’ve seen thus far, Splatoon 2 is shaping up to be of the same level of quality.

This time around, Nintendo will have a lot of momentum as Splatoon 2 goes to launch.  The Nintendo Switch has been the top selling console for its first two months on the market, and Nintendo is still having trouble keeping the hardware in stock at retailers.  Both of Nintendo’s big launch window titles for the Switch have sold well, with Breath of the Wild and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe both topping the charts.

We’ll have to wait and see if Nintendo can keep it up into the summer months and onto the holiday season.

Splatoon 2 is heading to the Nintendo Switch on July 21st.

Splatoon 2 Single Player Details & Gameplay

According to NPD Data, the Nintendo Switch stays at the top of the hardware sales ladder for April.  The second month in a row for Nintendo’s new console.  According to the data that tracks North American hardware and software sales, Nintendo sold 280,000 Switch consoles and another 70,000 3DS handhelds.  Nintendo themselves accounted for about half of all hardware sales across the industry.

Despite being hard to find, the Nintendo Switch is obviously being purchased at rapid clip compared to the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 offerings.  A big part of that probably has to do with the software being released for the console.  So far, Nintendo has unleashed two big titles for the system.  First in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild — which topped NPD charts last month.  Now in April, they released Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, which was the top seller for this month.  This is quite impressive for a game that was out all of a couple of days before the reporting period ended.

Nintendo will look to continue the momentum through the summer, but they’ll need to really focus on getting supply in stores.  The console is still sold out when trying to purchase at online retailers, and we’ve yet to actually see one on a physical store shelf.  Nintendo has played this game to perfection before.  The Nintendo Wii was incredibly hard to find for many, many months following its release.  That console was one of Nintendo’s most popular ever.  Even then consumers wondered if Nintendo was tapering off supply of the console to keep demand for the hardware high.

Regardless, games and the ability to purchase the console will be the top things moving the needle this summer.  They have a couple more big ones on the way with Splatoon 2 on the way, and some attention will be paid to ARMS, with a presentation dedicated to game slated for May 17th. 

NBA Playgrounds just came out this past week and released across not only the usual PS4, Xbox One, and PC platforms, but also the Nintendo Switch. With the Nintendo Switch, the system is still very young and development of third parties on the system is still a question mark. According to one former developer that worked on NBA Playgrounds initially though, the Nintendo Switch is easier to develop for than one of its competitors.

Originally being developed by Virtual Toys, NBA Playgrounds was completed by Saber Interactive that was founded by a former member of Virtual Toys after it got shut down during the development of the game. With the game’s recent release, a member of the team when the game was at Virtual Toys named SaffronCR on Reddit held an AMA, after being verified as being legitimate by the Nintendo Switch subreddit moderation team.

SaffronCR discussed how the Nintendo Switch version of the game was rushed a bit, but that the team that completed the game is working on optimizing it through patches. At one point the topic of if they came across any trouble with development on the Switch came up, in which they responded by saying:

“From what I know, the switch version was even less problematic than the xbox one! great news for developers and gamers :D”

They went on further to say that while certain engines like Unreal Engine 4 help with the Technical Certification Requirements on Xbox One that are tough to deal with, Unreal Engine 4 itself is more difficult to deal with on Xbox One than PS4, though Epic is working on that.

Considering the number of games we see release on Xbox One that also release on other platforms, the fact that the Switch is even easier will hopefully mean stronger third party support this generation for Nintendo. That has been one of the biggest struggles for years for Nintendo, so having that turn around could be huge for the Nintendo Switch, especially with the portable nature of the system.

Pokemon Sun and Moon were some of the most anticipated games of last fall and they certainly did not disappoint critically and financially, leading to it being incredibly hard to even find Nintendo 3DS systems for the holiday season. Throughout 2016 for the 20th anniversary, we got monthly Pokemon distributions and while they haven’t been quite as frequent this year, GameStop is readying up to have yet another starting this week.

As revealed by the official Pokemon website, the latest free event distribution for Pokemon Sun and Moon is starting up this Monday, May 15 via GameStop and it will be for Lycanroc (Midnight Form). While this Pokemon is actually able to be gotten rather easily in Pokemon Moon, Lycanroc (Midnight Form) is only available in Pokemon Sun through trade.

Even so, this is a rather strong version of Lycanroc (Midnight Form) that starts off at Level 50 and comes with the special ability No Guard. It comes with the moves Stone Edge, Fire Fang, Sucker Punch, and Swords Dance, so it should be very strong. Mixing these moves with No Guard, which makes them never miss is a strong combination. Making it even better is the Life Orb it holds that strengthens those moves at the cost of some HP on each hit.

Lycanroc follows the setup that GameStop has moved towards where you can get it through a special card with a code given out at GameStop from May 15 through June 5. You do not have to purchase anything to get one in store, so make sure to ask for one if you stop by.

To redeem the code on the code, fire up your copy of Pokemon Sun or Moon and select Mystery Gift. Then select Receive Gift and choose Get With Code/Password. Enter the code and then you will get your Lycanroc, which can be picked up from the deliveryman in any Pokemon Center after that point.

The Nintendo Switch is still a very young system, but the number of major releases have been pretty few and far between, even if they have been great. To help fill those release gaps, a number of indie titles have come out for the system and now one developer is set to announce very soon two more games that are coming to the Nintendo Switch.

Inti Creates has been around since the mid ’90s and has developed a long list of games, many of which were related to Capcom in the past. They recently teased that two new games would be announced at an upcoming event and now it has been revealed that they will be coming to Nintendo Switch.

According to Famitsu, which has been provided by Nintendo Everything, Inti Creates CEO Takuya Aizu reaffirmed at Tokyo Sandbox 2017 that they would be revealing two new games at the upcoming BitSummit. However, the new piece of news was the confirmation that these games would be for the Nintendo Switch.

We do not know if this means they will be exclusive to the Switch or possibly even re-releases of existing games for the Switch instead. The wait to find out that information will not be too long though, as BitSummit is being held very soon.

BitSummit will be taking place in Kyoto, Japan on May 20 and 21, where a number of other indie games will also be shown off. Inti Creates had already said we would learn about upcoming DLC for Blaster Master Zero at this event, so they should have a decent presence at the show.

What types of games are you hoping to see announced at the event for the Nintendo Switch from Inti Creates? Considering the Nintendo 3DS got two Azure Striker Gunvolt games, it would make sense to see that series continue on the Switch, but we’ll have to wait and see what they have up their sleeve.

Pokemon celebrated its 20th anniversary last year in major fashion with the massive successes that were Pokemon Sun and Moon and Pokemon Go among other releases. The series has been known for its variety of songs over the years that typically tied into the anime, but there have been a few songs specific to Pokemon and the latest has received the dubbed treatment.

Back in 2014, we were graced with the trippy Slowpoke song in its Japanese from before being translated to English with its release in 2015. Following up on this came a song based on Magikarp last summer and now it has gotten the dub treatment in its Western release.

Posted to the official Pokemon Company YouTube channel, this song talks about how this singer loves Magikarp even though it basically sucks. Starting off with the lyrics “totally pathetic, unreliable” and “known throughout the world for being super weak,” this song really beats down on Magikarp.

However, the person singing absolutely loves their Magikarp with lines like “but though you are the weakest, still you’ve won my heart” and “oh, weak Pokémon, my love for you is strong.”

The choice of voice for the song here is almost grating, but it definitely fits the very young demographic this video is trying to aim for more than likely. Regardless, you may find yourself turning this one off pretty quickly due to the voice in it.

Funnily enough, the video continues a trend that has lasted over the years where Pidgeot is misidentified as Pidgeotto. This is hardly able to be seen though in the video, but it’s still interesting.

If you want to see another very strange song based off of a random Pokemon, this may be the video for you. You can check it out for yourself below if you can make it all the way through.