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Posted on September 27, 2023 by sick skills — Leave a comment

The best city builder games 2023

Who doesn’t want to play the best city builder games on Switch and mobile, right? There’s something so inherently satisfying about building a city. Like some sort of mega-Tetris, the idea of slotting together buildings and maintaining the day-to-day challenges of a city is both fascinating and fun. Honestly, I could have been an architect I reckon, if it wasn’t for all the studying, and being smart, and the cost. So instead let’s dive into some games you can afford, and play today, no degree required.

Just before we don our hard hats and start assembling the rest of our article, be sure to check out the suburbs of Pocket Tactics for some real hidden gems. Much like an out-of-town restaurant, we’ve had fantastic Yelp reviews for our guides covering the best Switch racing games, the best horror games on Switch and mobile, the best Switch RPGs, the best Switch tactics games, and, if just like our mate Bob you love a bit of building, have a look at our guide on the best games like Minecraft for Switch and mobile.

It’s time to get on with our guide to the best city builder games on Switch and mobile.

Cities: Skyline – Switch

Well, this one is a bit on the nose, isn’t it? Cities: Skyline is a deep and incredibly addictive city builder where you can make the marvelous metropolis of your dreams. This granular simulation game gives you so much control, allowing you to optimize and manipulate the education systems, healthcare, and many other elements to better balance your city’s economy.

The Switch port sacrifices a bit of visual clarity, but being able to play this incredibly rich sim on the go is well worth it. Developer Colossal Order has optimized the UI incredibly well for Switch, and there’s even Pro Controller support so you can feel the rumble of machinery as you erect your latest skyscrapers. Cities: Skyline on Switch also includes both the After Dark and Snowfall DLC packs. so that’s plenty of building bang for your buck.

Steamworld Build – Switch

Alright, this is a slightly pre-emptive pick, but we have actually played and absolutely loved this entry in our Steamworld Build preview. Plus, the Steamworld Build release date isn’t far away at all, so you’d better get saving. Developer Thunderful (previously Image & Form) is well recognized for taking concepts and adding a layer of quirky personality to them, and then delivering a stellar game along the way. Steamworld Dig 1&2, Steamworld Heist, Steamworld Quest… all bangers. Well, they are if you ask us.

Steamworld Build brings across all of the depth, charm, and smart optimization that the Steamworld franchise is famous for. You balance your city-building abilities above ground with a surprisingly deep (sorry) mining side of the game, as you send units to explore the depths and earn the very elements you need to continue building above ground. It looks great, feels very addictive, and we can’t wait to relax over the holidays with another charming Steamworld entry.

Dragon Quest Builders 2 – Switch

Don’t judge a book by its cover, and don’t look at Dragon Quest Builders 2 and assume it’s Minecraft with silly JRPG outfits. I mean, it is that, but it’s also so much more. DQB2 takes the mining formula and adds so many smart quality-of-life upgrades that it makes going back to Minecraft feel like a chore. Plus, a lovely storyline propels the narrative and slowly introduces more tasks, building tools, and areas for you to explore.

On top of just being able to build your basic blocky barrack, as you explore the narrative and visit multiple islands, you befriend the people you meet along the way and bring them back to your home, building a cute community as you progress. You get farm animals, plenty of different building types, some really funny Dragon Quest-themed furniture, and the wholesome feeling of providing refuge for some waifs and strays. There’s a lengthy demo for Dragon Quest Builders 2, so give it a tickle and see if it’s for you. Forgive the sluggish intro, we promise it opens up fairly quickly!

Civilisation VI – Switch and mobile

The king, the legend, the G.O.A.T. of city-building sim games. As the French band Justice once sang… “Civilization.” That’s right Justice, what else is there to say? Well, Civ 6 is the latest iteration of the long-running franchise, and it brings along years of smart upgrades, challenges, and attention to detail that many other sim games can never hope to match.

Build your own personal empire and try to fend off the forces of encroaching countries. Develop tools and resources quickly, and soon you can overpower your foes with the smartest weapons this side of Tyrion using green flames on some pirate boats. What’s more, the extensive Switch port includes scenario packs based on Vikings, Poland (dobry, dobry!), Australia, and Persia. If you’re planning on conquering soon, be sure to check out our Civ 6 tier list first.

Townscaper – Switch and mobile

Let’s bring things down a notch, with a minimalist city-builder that’s more about vibes than vigorous architectural action. In Townscaper there are no goals, no tasks, no time limit, and definitely no enemies. Your job is just to build. Either use a controller or tap the screen to plop some buildings into an empty water-based void, and before long you’re making the adorable city of your dreams.

It’s not quite as granular as you might expect, but you can still create towns with a varying degree of tiers, you can swap colors, and even make cute little awnings and balconies. Whether you play on Switch or mobile, this is a cheap and cheerful way to spend a few hours, and it’s especially a lovely and very peaceful way to gain some calm and exert some control when the world feels a little bit too much. Check out our Townscaper review for more information.

Minecraft – Switch and mobile

Yeah, I know, this isn’t quite a city-builder, but technically you can build a city if you want to – as long as you have a month to spare. In Minecraft, your ability is only as big as your ambition, and you can create cities, countries, or even the entire world of Westeros (second Game of Thrones mention klaxon). You can choose survival if you want to brave the elements and tackle those dreaded creepers, and there’s something so thrilling about cobbling together your very first tiny little home.

However, if you just want to build me up, buttercup, then slap that bad boy onto creative and start building like God that one week. Enjoy unlimited resources, the insane depth of Redstone and other interactive elements, and plenty of real estate. Plus, you can watch the mountain of Minecraft YouTube videos to get some tips and even set up a server to share a game world with your pals. Yes, it’s a meme at this point, but there’s a reason Minecraft became the biggest game in the world. If this weary 34-year-old man can still unwind with a pickaxe, then you can give it a go as well.

The Simpsons: Tapped Out – mobile

I refuse to even entertain the idea that there’s anything in the world that isn’t improved by adding The Simpsons. My childhood skateboard? It had Bart on it, and it ruled. My t-shirt? You’d better believe it, The Simpsons are there making me look rad. GTA? Nah, The Simpsons Hit & Run shows Homer and the crew can make everything better. My parents divorce? Cheers Homer, we got through it together.

Anyway, uuhhh, The Simpsons: Tapped Out is a free-to-start city-builder, where you create your own approximation of Springfield. Use currency known as donuts to build Moe’s Tavern, Springfield School, the famous tyre fire, and much more. We will say, be careful, as while it’s addictive and very fun, The Simpsons: Tapped Out often feels designed to frustrate you into spending money, and purchase options go as high as the hundreds in an obvious attempt to harpoon those elusive mobile gaming whales. Still, if you can resist the urge, there’s so much to love here.

There you go, folks! That’s all we have for our guide to the best city builder games on Switch and mobile. If you just can’t get enough of that wonderful Duff (or video games), you can also read our argument for The Simpsons: Hit and Run remake now.

Posted on September 27, 2023 by sick skills — Leave a comment

Retro-Inspired Horror RPG ‘Sunshine Manor’ Gets Spooky On Switch Next Month

Initially announced back in 2021, developer Fossil Games and publisher Hound Picked Games have today revealed that the spooky 8-bit RPG Sunshine Manor will be creeping onto Switch on 6th October.

This one is said to be inspired by ’80s horror movies and promises “thrills, chills & blood spills” — is there really anything else that you can ask for to kick off spooky season? You will play as Ada McReady, who agrees to spend the night in a famed haunted house (bad idea, by the way) with the ultimate goal of uncovering the mansion’s mysteries and banishing the ghosts therein. Ah yes, there’s also someone called ‘The Shadow Man’ who will be watching your every move — which isn’t anything to worry about at all, right..?

You can find a little more information about some of the game’s features and get a look at a handful of screenshots below.

– An original 1hr 22m atmospheric soundtrack written exclusively for the game
– Sinister outrageously weird story that builds to the events of the infamous Camp Sunshine massacre!
– Beautiful hand-drawn 8-bit-esque pixel art in the retro mould
– Inspired by classic horror movies of the 1980s and beyond
– 6 to 8 hours of gameplay
– Deviously devised linear story to constantly uncover secrets and build understanding of the Sunshine Universe and Sunshine Manor
– French, German, Spanish, Russian & Japanese language localization

There are only 10 days to go before this one haunts its way onto the eShop on 6th October and we’re imagining that a few more spooky titles will be heading our way around the same time.

Does this one take your fancy? Let us know in the comments.

Posted on September 27, 2023 by sick skills — Leave a comment

Microsoft and Mercy collaborate to empower clinicians to transform patient care with generative AI

Multiyear alliance creates foundation for innovation and deeper insights with data

REDMOND, Wash., and ST. LOUIS — Sept. 27, 2023 — Microsoft Corp. and Mercy are forging a long-term collaboration using generative AI and other digital technologies to give physicians, advance practice providers and nurses more time to care for patients and improve the patient experience. This work represents what’s next in healthcare for applying advanced digital technologies to the delivery of care to consumers.

“With the latest advances in generative AI, this moment marks a true phase change where emerging capabilities can help health care organizations address some of their most pressing challenges, create needed efficiency and transform care,” said Peter Lee, corporate vice president of research and incubations at Microsoft. “Mercy has a reputation for ongoing innovation and — through our years working together — has been a leader in the industry in creating an intelligent data platform on which to launch this kind of transformation. This is just the beginning, and it’s inspiring to see Mercy’s leadership adopting these tools to empower physicians, providers, nurses and all clinicians to improve patient care.”

Mercy plans to use Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service to improve care in several immediate new ways:

Patients will have the information to better understand their lab results and engage in more informed discussions about their health with their provider through the help of generative AI-assisted communication. Patients will be empowered to get answers in simple, conversational language.
Mercy will apply generative AI when taking patient calls for actions like scheduling appointments. Beyond the initial call, the AI solution will provide recommendations for additional follow-up actions to make sure all the patient’s needs are met during a single interaction, limiting the need for follow-up calls.
A chatbot for Mercy co-workers will help quickly find important information about Mercy policies and procedures, and locate HR-related answers such as information on benefits or leave requirements. By helping nurses and co-workers find the information they need more quickly, they can spend more time on patient care.

“Because of all the investments we have made together with Microsoft in the past few years, including the use of Microsoft’s secure cloud, we are better positioned to perform real-time clinical decision-making that ultimately improves patient care,” said Joe Kelly, Mercy’s executive vice president of transformation and business development officer. “With Microsoft, we are exploring more than four dozen uses of AI and will launch multiple new AI use cases by the middle of next year to transform care and experiences for patients and co-workers. This is predictive, proactive and personalized care at its best.”

As Mercy’s preferred platform for ongoing innovation, the Microsoft Cloud provides the health system with a trusted and comprehensive platform to improve efficiency, connect and govern data, impact patient and co-worker experience, reach new communities, and build a foundation for ongoing innovation. By securely centralizing and organizing data in an AI-powered intelligent data platform built on Azure, Mercy is uniquely positioned to deliver on evolving clinician and patient expectations more quickly. For example, Mercy can tap into secure data insights to reduce many unnecessary patient days in the hospital by giving care teams smart dashboards and better visibility into the factors that impact how soon patients can return home. Additionally, Microsoft’s modern work solutions will help Mercy co-workers improve productivity and communication so they can spend more time improving patient care and experience.

“Mercy and Microsoft are creating a new path for health systems in which we are working shoulder to shoulder to combine our 200-year heritage in health care and Microsoft’s extensive expertise in cloud and AI to enhance care for the patients we serve and improve the working experience for our physicians, advanced providers, nurses and all co-workers,” said Steve Mackin, Mercy’s president and CEO. “By using technology in new and secure ways, we innovate better health care for all.”

The organizations recently brought together Mercy’s engineering teams and senior leaders with Microsoft leaders, engineers and industry experts for a hackathon to co-imagine and begin to co-innovate around the generative AI use cases in development. Additionally, Microsoft and Mercy are working together to showcase Mercy’s solutions in the Microsoft Technology Center (MTC) in Chicago in 2024. The showcase will highlight transformational clinical experiences and demonstrate what the future of health care could look like using Microsoft technology.

About Mercy

Mercy, one of the 20 largest U.S. health systems and named the top large system in the U.S. for excellent patient experience by NRC Health, serves millions annually with nationally recognized quality care and one of the nation’s largest Accountable Care Organizations. Mercy is a highly integrated, multi-state health care system including more than 40 acute care, managed and specialty (heart, children’s, orthopedic and rehab) hospitals, convenient and urgent care locations, imaging centers and pharmacies. Mercy has 900 physician practices and outpatient facilities, more than 4,000 physicians and advanced practitioners and more than 45,000 co-workers serving patients and families across Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma. Mercy also has clinics, outpatient services and outreach ministries in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.

About Microsoft

Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @Microsoft) enables digital transformation for the era of an intelligent cloud and an intelligent edge. Its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.

For more information, press only:

Microsoft Media Relations, WE Communications for Microsoft, (425) 638-7777, [email protected]

Bethany Pope, Mercy, (314) 251-4472 office, [email protected]

Joe Poelker, Mercy, (314) 525-4005 office, (314) 724-6095 mobile, [email protected]

Note to editors: For more information, news and perspectives from Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft News Center at http://news.microsoft.com. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication but may have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at https://news.microsoft.com/microsoft-public-relations-contacts.

Posted on September 27, 2023 by sick skills — Leave a comment

‘Hatch Tales’ Release Date Finally Revealed Six Years On

Hatch Tales Release Date Reveal — *Image: Atooi*

A whopping six years on from its successful Kickstarter campaign, developer Atooi has announced a release date for Hatch Tales: it’s finally coming on 28th March 2024.

The cute platformer — an enhanced HD port of 3DS title Chicken Wiggle and formerly known Chicken Wiggle Workshop — was successfully crowdfunded back in early 2018, surpassing its $30,000 goal with a total of $35,634 from 1,553 backers.

With an initial estimated delivery of December 2018 and sporadic updates via the campaign page, discontent amongst Kickstarter backers has led to significant criticism over communication from the Austin, TX-based studio throughout development.

Despite its prolonged incubation time — described as an “adventurous development journey” in Atooi’s press release — it seems Hatch Tales is finally preparing to emerge on the sixth anniversary of the initial Kickstarter campaign.

A post to backers of the project informed them of the news earlier today. Here’s some text from the press release:

Hatch Tales – formerly known as Chicken Wiggle Workshop – has had an adventurous development journey since its successful Kickstarter campaign in March, 2018. On the sixth anniversary of the campaign, the wait will finally be over.

Hatch Tales is a stylish 2D platformer with climbing mechanics featuring Hatch, a flightless hawk mountaineer, who uses his trusty grappling hook to climb up mountains, stun enemies, and zip across chasms!

We are planning a special Atooi media event that will be announced in the future, where viewers will be taken on a deep dive into the egg-citing features of Hatch Tales. Follow us to stay up to date with announcements.

[embedded content]

A 2020 trailer for the game

For backers, this one has been a very long time coming and some may be understandably sceptical at this date announcement until the game is sitting on their Switch and they can see how it compares to the initial vision outlined in the campaign.

We’re in the process of speaking to Atooi founder Jools Watsham about this game’s long gestation (among other things) for an upcoming interview, so keep an eye out for that in the coming days.

Are you a Hatch Tales backer? Did you think this one had been scrambled? Let us know your thoughts below.

Posted on September 27, 2023 by sick skills — Leave a comment

Review: Wargroove 2 – A Must-Play Tactical RPG And A Worthy Successor To Advance Wars

Wargroove 2 Review - Screenshot 1 of — Captured on Nintendo Switch (Docked)

2023 has been a good year for tactics games on the Switch. Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot marked the return of two classic GBA games while Fire Emblem Engage brought the series’s focus to its strategic roots. Chucklefish and Robotality’s Wargroove 2 is the next SRPG joining the fray, and while its adorable pixel-art graphics might trick you into thinking it is a watered-down, kid-friendly version of the genre, it provides loads of depth to keep even the most battle-worn combatants engaged. It just manages to look cute as heck while doing it.

If you played 2019’s Wargroove — which was inspired by the original Advance Wars — then you’ll know exactly what to expect from the sequel. The world is the same, but new factions are battling it out for control of the strange relics leftover from a long-destroyed civilisation. There isn’t a recap of the events of the first game for new players, but Wargroove 2 does a good job of getting you up to speed without dragging things out too long. The campaign provides exactly the information you need from the first game, but if you want to get fully up to speed, there is a robust codex that you can read as a primer to help fill the gaps.

This time around there are three campaigns to play through, each with unique characters and a plot that joins up with the other two in the final act of the game. The pixel art and the cozy soundtrack help breathe life into a charming cast of characters, which will make you want to keep playing through the game’s story mode. Visually, the developers do a good job of maintaining the pixel art in docked mode to keep it from looking distorted, meaning that the game looks just as good no matter how big or small the screen is.

The gameplay of Wargroove 2 is also remarkably similar to its predecessor, though that is largely because there was very little room for improvement. Each faction has a similar range of troop types, including swordsmen, archers, and cavalry. These units have the sort of rock-paper-scissors relationship with each other that you’d expect – cavalry can tear through swordsmen but not spearmen, for example. Terrain also plays an important part in your strategy, with forests, mountains, and rivers either giving bonuses or penalties to defence.

It is all fairly standard for the genre, though the return of the Critical Hit system adds an extra layer of strategy to each map. Every unit can deal massive damage if you position them in the right way; Swordsmen do their best work when adjacent to a Commander unit, Spearmen benefit from being next to other spearmen, and Archers crit when you don’t move them before they attack. This system makes the combat just complex enough that you’ll agonise over the particular placement of each member of your army, either to ensure their survival or to make sure their inevitable death leads to a greater victory.

With that complexity comes difficulty and there are some very tough missions in Wargroove 2. The default difficulty setting is Hard, which limits the number of redos you get per map and increases the amount of damage you take from enemy units. We’re not ashamed to admit we lowered the difficulty setting to Medium after the prologue and found that the maps were still challenging but far more manageable at this level, but even on this setting, the enemy troops’ AI is surprisingly competent and makes some clever decisions to keep you on your toes.

Another returning feature from the first game is Commander units, which have powerful Groove abilities that can either deal massive damage or shift both friendly and enemy units around the battlefield. There is a small new wrinkle to the Grooves in Wargroove which allows you to supercharge them to increase their range or strength. Some of these skills are too situational to feel useful, like the one that rotates units around the Commander, making certain units feel less balanced than others, but overall it remains a fun feature in an already fun game.

Our favourite part of the combat in Wargroove 2 is the healthy variety of objectives that each map offers during the campaigns. Sometimes you need to protect your base for a certain number of turns while other missions require you to navigate through a heavy fog of war. Most maps have optional objectives that you can complete if you’re after an even bigger challenge, so each of the maps has at least some replayability to them.

If the core campaigns aren’t enough for you, there is also the Conquest mode, which drops you into a gauntlet of procedurally generated maps, where you’ll rarely get the chance to respawn units as your health slowly dwindles. The further you get into each run, the more Shards you’ll earn, which can be redeemed for new units and stronger abilities, making successive runs easier. If roguelikes are your thing, you could conceivably spend as much time here as you do in the main story.

Unfortunately, we didn’t get a chance to test the online features of the game, including multiplayer, due to playing the game pre-release and there not being any fan-made maps to try or other players online. Similarly, we couldn’t try out the campaign editor feature due to a bug that caused our Switch to crash every time we tried to load the feature. Once these features are fixed in the inevitable future patch, Wargroove 2 will be positively bursting with content.

Even without the online features, Wargroove 2 can stand proud among the other excellent tactics games we’ve seen this year on Switch. The pixel art aesthetic and lovely soundtrack add plenty of charm to the characters and the writing has the right balance of tongue-in-cheek humour and drama to make it memorable. There are tactics games out there with bigger budgets or more impressive cutscenes, but Wargroove 2 is still a must-play for fans of the genre.

Conclusion

It isn’t often that war is a cozy affair, but Wargroove 2 manages to pull it off. We loved the game’s colourful, vibrant art and playful writing, and there is enough depth and variety in the main campaign to satisfy most tactics fans while the Conquest mode will offer an even greater challenge for those seeking it. It doesn’t change much from the previous game; it just tightens up some of the existing mechanics and adds a couple of extra wrinkles to an already great formula. It’s a brilliant sequel, and yet another worthy successor to Advance Wars.

Posted on September 27, 2023 by sick skills — Leave a comment

Python Int to String with Trailing Zeros

5/5 – (1 vote)

To add trailing zeros to a string up to a certain length in Python, convert the number to a string and use the ljust(width, '0') method. Call this method on the string, specifying the total desired width and the padding character '0'. This will append zeros to the right of the string until the specified width is achieved.

Challenge: Given an integer number. How to convert it to a string by adding trailing zeros so that the string has a fixed number of positions.

Example: For integer 42, you want to fill it up with trailing zeros to the following string with 5 characters: '42000'.

In all methods, we assume that the integer has less than 5 characters.

Method 1: string.ljust()

In Python, you can use the str.ljust() method to pad zeros (or any other character) to the right of a string. The ljust() method returns the string left-justified in a field of a given width, padded with a specified character (default is space).

Below is an example of how to use ljust() to add trailing zeros to a number:

# Integer value to be converted
i = 42 # Convert the integer to a string
s = str(i) # Use ljust to add trailing zeros, specifying the total width and the padding character ('0')
s_padded = s.ljust(5, '0') print(s_padded)
# Output: '42000'

In this example:

str(i) converts the integer i to a string.
s.ljust(5, '0') pads the string s with zeros to the right to make the total width 5 characters.

This is the most Pythonic way to accomplish this challenge.

Method 2: Format String

The second method uses the format string feature in Python 3+ called f-strings or replacement fields.

Info: In Python, f-strings allow for the embedding of expressions within strings by prefixing a string with the letter "f" or "F" and enclosing expressions within curly braces {}. The expressions within the curly braces in the f-string are evaluated, and their values are inserted into the resulting string. This allows for a concise and readable way to include variable values or complex expressions within string literals.

The following f-string converts an integer i to a string while adding trailing zeros to a given integer:

# Integer value to be converted
i = 42 # Convert the integer to a string and then use format to add trailing zeros
s1 = f'{str(i):<5}'
s1 = s1.replace(" ", "0") # replace spaces with zeros print(s1)
# 42000

The code f'{str(i):<5}' first converts the integer i to a string. The :<5 format specifier aligns the string to the left and pads with spaces to make the total width 5. Then we replace the padded spaces with zeros using the string.replace() function.

Method 3: List Comprehension

Many Python coders don’t quite get the f-strings and the ljust() method shown in Methods 1 and 2. If you don’t have time to learn them, you can also use a more standard way based on string concatenation and list comprehension.

# Method 3: List Comprehension
s3 = str(42)
n = len(s3)
s3 = s3 + '0' * (5-len(s3))
print(s3)
# 42000

You first convert the integer to a basic string. Then, you concatenate the integer’s string representation to the string of 0s, filled up to n=5 characters. The asterisk operator creates a string of 5-len(s3) zeros here.

Programmer Humor

*“Real programmers set the universal constants at the start such that the universe evolves to contain the disk with the data they want.”* — xkcd

Recommended: Python Int to String with Leading Zeros

The post Python Int to String with Trailing Zeros appeared first on Be on the Right Side of Change.

Posted on September 27, 2023 by sick skills — Leave a comment

Switch Online N64 Controllers Have Been Restocked In North America

Nintendo 64 controller — *Image: Damien McFerran / Nintendo Life*

If you’re looking to enhance your Switch Online experience, you might be interested in an N64 wireless controller. Nintendo has restocked supplies on the My Nintendo Store in both the US and Canada.

Keep in mind, that this is an exclusive offer to Switch Online members. If you are eligible to purchase it, it will set you back $49.99 USD / $64.99 CAD. There’s a limit of four controllers per account. Each one includes rumble functionality and a rechargeable battery.

With this controller, you’ll be able to play the entire N64 library. You can even use the controller with other games on the Switch.

Please note that some external links on this page are affiliate links, which means if you click them and make a purchase we may receive a small percentage of the sale. Please read our FTC Disclosure for more information.

Have you secured the N64 controller for Switch Online’s retro service yet? Let us know in the comments.

Posted on September 27, 2023 by sick skills — Leave a comment

EA Sports FC 24 Switch Frame Rate & Resolution Revealed

It’s already been mentioned how EA Sports FC 24 is “running great” on the Nintendo Switch, and now we’ve got a confirmation of the game’s performance and resolution on the hybrid platform.

EA Sports confirmed with IGN that the Switch version will run at 30fps. While the FIFA games have “always run at 60fps across platforms, including Switch”, this new entry on Nintendo’s platform is now running on the Frostbite Engine and is considered a new starting point for the series.

Here’s exactly what FC 24 line producer Doru Logigan had to say about this:

“Getting to this point of having Frostbite running on Switch I think is already a huge achievement for the team and we were really excited to get our players’ feedback and reactions”

As for the game’s resolution, players can expect the game to run at 720p in handheld mode and 1080p in docked.

Logigan went on to mention how it will be “full parity” – meaning Switch players will be offered the same level of live service support as other platforms. Patches should also be easier to deliver – offering the usual bug fixes, QoL improvements, Ultimate Team updates, and more throughout the season.

As for whether or not FC 24 will show up on a future Nintendo system, Logigan couldn’t say:

“In terms of how we look ahead for the next versions of the game, I cannot say unfortunately. I cannot speak to that, but in terms of FC 24 itself, it’s going to benefit from the same live service post-launch as the other platforms.”

Will you be checking out EA Sports FC 24 when it launches on Switch later this week? Tell us below.

Posted on September 27, 2023 by sick skills — Leave a comment

Nintendo Updates Pikmin 4 To Version 1.0.2, Here’s What’s Included

A progress bar for loading screens & more

by Liam Doolan 6 hours ago

Following on from some minor updates to Pikmin 1+2 last week, Nintendo has now released a sizable patch for the latest entry in the series Pikmin 4.

Version 1.0.2 includes a bunch of bug fixes which will be applied to your own copy of the game once you’ve reloaded the save data. In addition to this, there’s now a progress bar during loading screens. Nintendo will also be distributing this latest update to the Pikmin 4 demo, where certain save data carries over.

Here’s the full rundown, courtesy of the Nintendo support page:

Ver. 1.0.2 (Released September 26, 2023)

Bug Fixes (Applied after Reloading Save Data)
If you experience any of the following issues, please download this update, then reload your save data from the file-selection screen.
- Fixed an issue where some treasures would disappear when the player rewound time.
- Fixed an issue where dialogue would fail to proceed when the player talked to castaways with side missions.
- Fixed an issue where all characters would disappear from the Rescue Command Post.
- Fixed an issue where the player would not have enough glow sap needed for treatment. (If the player doesn’t have enough glow sap as a result of this bug, their stock will be replenished with that amount at the end of the day.)
Other Bug Fixes
- Fixed an issue where the player could significantly increase the number of Pikmin.
- Fixed an issue where the player’s screen would remain dark after they skipped a cutscene.
- Fixed an issue where some treasures would stop being transportable. (If the treasure was already in a state where it couldn’t be transported, it’ll return to its original position after three in-game days—then the player will be able to transport it.)
- Fixed other issues to improve gameplay experience.
Regarding Loading Times
- A progress bar has been added to loading screens so players can see progress on loading times. (For players who’ve purchased the digital version, loading times can be shortened by moving the software data to internal storage.)

Note: A patch with the above content will also be distributed for the Pikmin 4 demo (Ver. 1.0.2).

Have you downloaded this update yet? Notice anything else? Leave a comment below.

[source en-americas-support.nintendo.com]

Posted on September 27, 2023 by sick skills — Leave a comment

Koei Tecmo Releases Streaming & Content Creation Guidelines For Fate/Samurai Remnant

Following in the footsteps of Atlus, Koei Tecmo has shared the Japanese streaming and content creation guidelines for the action-RPG Fate/Samurai Remnant, due out later this week on Switch.

It doesn’t want fans spoiling the experience for others when streaming, uploading videos or posting about the game. This applies to not only content creators but also the general public. Here’s the full rundown, courtesy of Siliconera:

“Fate/Samurai Remnant: when posting content related to a Servant’s true name or any event scene that gets to the heart of the story, please include a “spoiler alert” in both the thumbnail and title. This goes especially for the following:”

– After the start of the final chapter.
– Quests and events that occur for the first time in the second and subsequent playthroughs of the game.

While there’s no mention of any serious penalities, anyone who breaches these guidelines could potentially be in Koei Tecmo’s naughty books for some time. You can learn more about this upcoming release in our previous coverage here on Nintendo Life. There’s also a physical “Treasure Box” version of the game available to purchase.

What are your thoughts about the above streaming and content creation guidelines? Comment below.