Author: sick skills

Just recently we shared a reminder about the OJO, a portable projector being plugged as an ideal solution for the Nintendo Switch. It’s setup to function as a Switch dock, though it can work with other devices too, and the idea is sure to be tempting to some.

Well, the Indiegogo campaign is now live – it has a limited run ‘Super Early Bird’ option (200 units) at $269USD for shipping before the end of the year, and then an ‘Early Bird’ option (500 units) at $299USD for early 2018; both are still available at the time of publication. It seems the recommended price outside of the campaign will be $369USD.

You can see the pitch video below.

Also, here’s the spec sheet put forward by the company.

Of course this isn’t the only option out there and opinion is divided on the technology on offer (and even the veracity of all the images on the campaign page); this one primarily pitches itself as a dock and designed with the Switch in mind.

Naturally everyone backs crowdfunding campaigns at their own risk, as there’s little guarantee that the product will meet expectations. There have been success stories, but recent controversies such as those with SFANS remind us that they can also go wrong.

It’ll be interesting to see how this one turns out – does the idea tempt you?

As we’ve mentioned previously, eShop release dates are getting a little bit more dynamic than they used to be. This is a good thing, as it reflects the positive third-party support coming the Switch’s way, and with crowded weekly schedules and occasional multi-platform launches publishers are more than happy to break the ‘release on a Thursday’ eShop download model.

As a result today (24th October) brings us four new games, though it’s three in Europe. For those of you that have lost track, below is a reminder of what’s coming – they should go live at some point today (likely morning in the US, early afternoon in Europe).

Sure to be tempting with Halloween around the corner. Forget the questionable movie, this promises “a 16-bit-inspired battle against the undead in a 2D, nonlinear, action-packed adventure”. WayForward has earned plenty of credibility over the years and this looks enticing; our review will be with you later today.

A strategy and adventure game set in the crime-ridden city of Freeburg. You assume the role of Police Chief Jack Boyd – voiced by Jon St. John (Duke Nukem) – and have to tackle a wide range of crimes, assigning officers to certain jobs and facing numerous moral dilemmas along the way. The ultimate aim is to raise $500,000 in 180 days, but you can choose to do that in any way you wish.

Knight Terrors (Nicalis) – £2.69 / $2.99USD

This budget title offers simple controls but arcade-style challenge; you have to dodge dangers and also destroy any creatures that come your way. It could be a bit of fun for Halloween, but we’ll brave the horror and let you know what we think in a review.

Just Dance 2018 (Ubisoft) – $59.99USD (NA-only)

The popular series (we assume) continues with this latest entry, including over 40 tracks at launch on the cartridge and over 300 more through ‘Just Dance Unlimited’. It even has a ‘Mario dance’, above, which is both humorous and slightly worrying.

[Update: we should mention that prior to these titles Nights of Azure 2: Bride of the New Moon also arrived in North America this week for $59.99USD] Also of note, Violett will be another early arrival this week in Europe, due on 25th October.

So, are you tempted by any of these titles?

Finnish indie game developer 10tons has been on a roll lately with the recent releases of Sparkle 2, Neon Chrome and JYDGE on the Switch eShop. Next up is Time Recoil, a twin-stick shooter that will launch on Switch this Thursday for $13.99. Euro pricing is to be confirmed.

In this one killing the baddies triggers time slowdown, and additional kills extend the slowdown period and charge a special move. The more the player is able to kill the more powerful the special move becomes, all the way to full time freeze.

In this tale of rebellion and revenge, the player is a member of a rebel organisation fighting against a mad scientist dictator, Mr. Time. The rebels use a time machine to travel through time to locate and eventually kill this foe before he finds the rebels and destroys them.

If you are a fan of twin-stick shooters this might be worth investigating later this week. Let us know if you are ready to take on the dreaded Mr. Time with a comment below.

With just days to go until Super Mario Odyssey hits the shelves, there’s a lot of excitement and buzz in the air. While most of the game will be kept under lock and key until 27 October, Nintendo has made a few things public. One of the bigger revelations made earlier this year, when Odyssey was unveiled, was that Pauline would be making a return. Not only would she be featured in the game, but will fill the role of mayor of New Donk City. Many gamers were surprised at the news. Pauline had stayed in the Donkey Kong series of games, but had never been seen in the Super Mario series, where Princess Peach is the main lady in need of rescue.

Pauline has been featured prominently in marketing for Super Mario Odyssey. Most notably, as the vocalist for the theme song to the game, “Jump Up Super Star” which has even been released on the iTunes Store. It’s funny to think about, but really, Pauline has been around just as long as Mario. They were first both featured in Donkey Kong – all the way back in 1981. Donkey Kong has served as a cornerstone for Nintendo with so much history and lore packed into one game. It was the start for Mario, Nintendo’s first true hit and even resulted in a lawsuit over whether or not the concept of the game was public domain or not. 

There is, though, even more history that has been overlooked, at least in my opinion. While the history and development of Donkey Kong, Mario and other characters have been well known and documented in interviews and publications, very little was ever mentioned about Pauline. There is a theory though that she was inspired by a series of films in the early 20th Century.

“The Perils of Pauline” were a set of serial films from the mid-1910s that featured a young woman, named Pauline, falling into all sorts of danger. The dramatic ending of each instalment would always result in her rescue. Though the film looks simplistic today, 100 years ago they proved to be extremely popular. The actress who played Pauline, Pearl White, soon became the most famous silent film star of the day, save for maybe, Lillian Gish. The “Pauline” series was so popular it was remade over and over again, using the same “Perils of Pauline” title. Some of those films made their way over to Japan, where the road to all things Nintendo eventually go. Could these films have influenced the naming of Pauline? It all could be a crazy coincidence, but if that’s all it is, its a rather noticeable one. 

To see some of the different “Perils of Pauline” films and determine for yourself if that’s how Nintendo named the character, check out the video below. It’s also filled with some other trivia you may or may not know. 

For more things Nintendo, retro or Japan, be sure to check out GTV.

The Nintendo Switch v4.00 system update is the gift that keeps on giving; aside from adding the ability to capture video gameplay clips and enabling the use of wireless headphones with a USB adaptor, it seems there was a rather fun secret addition that wasn’t in Nintendo’s patch notes. It turns out you can now use the Wii U GameCube controller adapter with the system, so you can use the best gaming controller ever made (well, according to some) on your Switch.

If you have one of these adapters simply plug it into your Switch dock, go over to the controller settings page from the main menu and press L+R. Hopefully this is paving the way for an updated version of Super Smash Bros. for Switch, or if we’re really optimistic it could be an early hint at GameCube games getting lined up to launch the hybrid’s Virtual Console.

We’ve had some reports from readers that third-party GameCube controller adapters aren’t working, however; let us know if you have given this a try yet with a comment below.

It was only a few days ago that we were talking about the slow demise of LEGO Dimensions and how the game’s expansion packs seemed to be coming to an end much earlier than first planned. Now, thanks to a statement from all parties involved in the creation of the game, this has been confirmed to be the case.

The confirmation came in the form of a tweet from the official LEGO Dimensions account.

As you can see in the statement, support for the game’s online servers, as well as its customer service, will remain intact and packs that have already been released will still be available to purchase. Of course, the continued support of the game’s servers is welcome (and quite frankly to be expected) but it is a huge shame nonetheless that we’ll never see the title’s third year and the expansions it would have presented.

The tweet has already received numerous replies from fans of the series and, pleasingly, the majority of these are thanking the developers for their creation and talking about great memories they have of the game. If you have any thoughts you wish to share, feel free to leave them in the comments below.

The DS and 3DS have benefitted for a number of fantastic titles in the Shin Megami Tensei series, while the Wii U also got the rather quirky Tokyo Mirage Sessions #FE. Now that we’re into a new generation of hardware, however, the good news is that Atlus is continuing to back Nintendo systems with the franchise.

During a livestream to celebrate the series a trailer revealed that Shin Megami Tensei V is coming to the Switch, seemingly – at this stage – as an exclusive. Check it out below.

An upcoming issue of Famitsu is expected to have more details, so that’ll be well worth a look. In the meantime it’s pleasing to see another notable IP on the way to Nintendo’s latest system.

Are you excited about this announcement? Tell us all about it in the comments below.

Hat-tip to tabris95 for the heads up.

Plenty of developers have spoken about seeing the Nintendo Switch – and its integrated Joy-Con controllers – and being inspired with gaming ideas. That seems to have happened to Sonic Team designer and producer Shun Nakamura, which could be good news for Dreamcast fans.

The cult hit on SEGA’s last console – which had a Wii re-release – was Samba de Amigo, a music rhythm game famous for its add-on maraca controllers that you would shake to the beat. On Wii it naturally made use of the Wii Remote, though ideally it would have been played with two of the controllers (rather than with a wired Nunchuk). Asked by Eurogamer whether the series could make a comeback with the Switch, Nakamura-san made clear that he’d love to do it; naturally getting the money-men to approve such a project will need more than enthusiasm, but it’s a good start.

I really, really want to make it! This is coming from someone who had to make physical items you had to buy and plug into your console in order to play Samba de Amigo at home. When the Wii came out, there was only one Wii Remote, and you had to buy another one. You could still do it, but it’s a bit of a hurdle to get over. The first time I saw the Switch, I thought oh my god – this is it! You don’t have to buy another peripheral, you don’t need to buy another controller. I’m really, really interested in that.

Elsewhere in the interview Nakamura-san is positive but a little non-committal on how the success and critical acclaim of Sonic Mania could influence future Sonic Team projects. Acknowledging that it’s 30fps on Switch and 60fps on PS4 / Xbox One, he spoke about Sonic Forces as a project in the works for a number of years, and that development on the Nintendo system’s version was initially tricky due to the hardware being rather surprising.

When we were doing concepts for the game, we really wanted to make it multiplatform. Regardless of what hardware you have, how you’re playing the game – the base idea is for that experience to be the same on the machine. And this was back before anyone knew what the Nintendo Switch would be. Even when we were drawing the lines of having Xbox One, PS4, we were going to have Nintendo’s new hardware – even though we didn’t know anything about it, we got the budget and schedule sorted before we even knew what existed. It was a bit of a panic when we first got the Switch – it was a little bit different to what we were expecting, so it was a case of seeing how we could make that work. There were some challenges – but because we have our own engine, we were able to customise it very quickly in a way that could work for the Switch, and in a way that it could really be the same experience on the Switch without it having to feel or look different.

We’ll see how Sonic Forces turns out very soon. In the meantime we can fantasize about Samba de Amigo on Switch – come on SEGA, make it happen!