NieR:Automata continues to be a big sales success for Square Enix, and in a celebratory video for the game’s 9th anniversary, we now know the game — a sequel to 2010’s NieR — has sold over 10 million units. Plus we have a tease for the series’ future
Last we heard, the 2017 action RPG, which came to Switch in 2022 via an excellent port, had sold 9 million units back in December 2024. Another million copies sold in just over a year for a near-decade-old game isn’t bad at all.
But the big news is the teaser at the end of the trailer. As the screen fades to black, text appears to be typed onto the screen: NieR:Automata to be continued…
So, what does this mean? Are we getting a direct sequel? A brand new NieR game? A port of NieR Replicant, the remake of the original NieR, from 2021?
Image: Square Enix
Well, if you’re a long-time fan, though you might be inclined to get excited, you also know this could mean literally anything but a new game. NieR:Automata has spawned stage plays, novels, manga, anime, merchandise, cross-overs, collaborations, and more.
The last time we got a new game was Nier Reincarnation, a mobile gacha game in 2021 that has since ended global service. Of course, something fans want is a console version of that game akin to Octopath Traveler 0 (re: Champions of the Continent), but that could be a pipe dream.
Oh, and this also isn’t the first time Square Enix has teased the future of the series and delivered very little either. But Square Enix did single out the series late last year, stating that the company was “preparing ‘just a little something'”. So who knows.
What do you want to see next in the NieR series? Do you think we’ll get a new game announcement soon? Let us know in the comments.
Last week’s PlayStation State of Play brought us the welcome news that Rayman is back, thanks to the Digital Eclipse-developed Rayman: 30th Anniversary Edition. And for the once-iconic platforming legends, it seems this is just the beginning.
Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot has told Variety that Rayman, who debuted back in 1995, “is a landmark franchise for Ubisoft and holds a special place in my heart”.
The recent Anniversary Edition is apparently just “the first step in the brand’s comeback”. And Guillemot says that, with this rerelease, it’s “inspiring to see players continue to embrace Rayman’s unique charm and enduring appeal”.
The future seems bright for the character, then, as Guillemot states that “we’re always exploring how our iconic franchises can evolve and reinvent themselves” and, with Rayman in particular, “We can’t share details today, but we’re looking forward to talking more about Rayman soon.”
So, expect some kind of news in the future. What that will be, we have no idea, but we’re glad to see the icon return, especially after going so quiet after the numerous ports of the outstanding Rayman: Legends and his appearance in Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope DLC.
As for the now, Rayman: 30th Anniversary Edition is centre stage, and this digital museum includes playable versions of the PlayStation, Atari Jaguar, MS-DOS, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance releases of the original, extra levels from Rayman Designer, Rayman 60 Levels, and Rayman By His Fans, and a playable prototype of the cancelled SNES release.
The full Variety interview (linked up top and below) also covers some of the recent controversies surrounding the French video game publisher and developer, including the cancellation of six major projects and strike action across the company in the wake of mass company layoffs and restructuring.
While the Assassin’s Creed franchise apparently “overperformed” last quarter, Ubisoft is very much under the microscope in the industry after a tumultuous few years. Whether Rayman can weather the storm remains to be seen.
What do you want to see next for Rayman? Do you want more remasters or would you like a brand new game? Punch down in the comments and let us know.
Last week’s PlayStation State of Play brought us the welcome news that Rayman is back, thanks to the Digital Eclipse-developed Rayman: 30th Anniversary Edition. And for the once-iconic platforming legends, it seems this is just the beginning.
Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot has told Variety that Rayman, who debuted back in 1995, “is a landmark franchise for Ubisoft and holds a special place in my heart”.
The recent Anniversary Edition is apparently just “the first step in the brand’s comeback”. And Guillemot says that, with this rerelease, it’s “inspiring to see players continue to embrace Rayman’s unique charm and enduring appeal”.
The future seems bright for the character, then, as Guillemot states that “we’re always exploring how our iconic franchises can evolve and reinvent themselves” and, with Rayman in particular, “We can’t share details today, but we’re looking forward to talking more about Rayman soon.”
So, expect some kind of news in the future. What that will be, we have no idea, but we’re glad to see the icon return, especially after going so quiet after the numerous ports of the outstanding Rayman: Legends and his appearance in Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope DLC.
As for the now, Rayman: 30th Anniversary Edition is centre stage, and this digital museum includes playable versions of the PlayStation, Atari Jaguar, MS-DOS, Game Boy Color, and Game Boy Advance releases of the original, extra levels from Rayman Designer, Rayman 60 Levels, and Rayman By His Fans, and a playable prototype of the cancelled SNES release.
The full Variety interview (linked up top and below) also covers some of the recent controversies surrounding the French video game publisher and developer, including the cancellation of six major projects and strike action across the company in the wake of mass company layoffs and restructuring.
While the Assassin’s Creed franchise apparently “overperformed” last quarter, Ubisoft is very much under the microscope in the industry after a tumultuous few years. Whether Rayman can weather the storm remains to be seen.
What do you want to see next for Rayman? Do you want more remasters or would you like a brand new game? Punch down in the comments and let us know.
Updated with Mario Tennis Fever. And if you’re wondering how Mario’s latest racket romp measures up to his other sporting achievements, do we have a ranked list for you!
Coming in second behind his mightily successful karting exploits, Tennis is Mario’s next most prolific pastime – that is if you don’t count partying (which we don’t). He’s not bad with a golf club in his hand, either, but it’s centre court where the plumber has the most sporting titles to his name.
But what’s the best Mario tennis game? We’re serving this list of every Mario Tennis game, ranked for your pleasure, to peruse at your leisure and get the measure of every treasure. Yessir.
Ahem. Spanning Game Boy Color to Switch 2, let’s begin at the bottom and work our way up to the top seed. Quiet, please.
There are positives with Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash, like the strong basic gameplay and neat visuals, but we cannot emphasise enough how phoned-in and thin the content offering was, nor how throwaway Mega Battle was as a tentpole feature.
Given the severe lack of content at release, it’s a difficult game to recommend to even the most passionate Mario Tennis fans. Still, if you’re after local multiplayer fun in which you simply mess around with the various court types, you can’t really go wrong. It’s just a shame the rest of it felt like a rush job.
The small character roster makes the tournaments laughably short, and the lack of a link cable or any form of multiplayer feels wrong somehow, but this is a solid, if simple, tennis game.
Good music and graphics combined with the excellent 3D effect of the court ensure that Mario’s Tennis is an excellent introduction to the Virtual Boy that’s fairly cheap and easy to find secondhand these days. A shame that the system itself isn’t, but it’ll be available on Switch via Nintendo Classics sometime in 2026.
Mario Tennis Open was a strong and accessible entry in the beloved series, and a group of friends gathered around could lose themselves in it for a long time. Solo players could still have a good time perfecting their skills, and playing online was a nice way to keep things interesting, but the missing RPG mode left a pretty big hole that this 3DS entry struggled to fill.
Unless you’re part of a cabal of 3DS-owning pals, you’ll miss out on the real heart of the game: punching your wily opponent in the arm after a hard-fought match.
Mario Tennis Fever serves up one of our favourite games in the series thus far by finding an addictive balance between Mario’s madcap antics and real-world tennis fun. Streamlining superpowers into Fever rackets makes everything easier to parse, and keeping player movement relatively restrained makes for tennis matches that retain an exciting flow without constant slo-mo interruptions.
The adventure mode is a letdown, and solo players don’t have a ton of options, but there’s depth and strategy at the core here that should see this one ace things online.
We’re used to seeing Wii U games transfer to Switch, but for Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash to have moved across without a substantial makeover would have been disastrous. Mario Tennis Aces, wonderfully, is anything but that – it’s a superb arcade sports game that’s generous with its suite of player options and only occasionally guilty of being a little cheap in its Adventure Mode.
The presentation is spot on, and the core tennis action is absorbing whether you’re trading simple strokes or firing off special shots. Some animations and voiceovers are identical to Ultra Smash’s, but everything around them has been overhauled and rebuilt to reach quite splendid heights.
This is something of a Switch Port Plus, then – not quite a whole new experience, but so improved as to be near unrecognisable.
If you loved Wii Sports Tennis and couldn’t get enough of it, New Play Control! Mario Power Tennis was a great investment. There are a lot of modes to get through, the controls work fairly well, and it’s a bash with your mates around.
The only trouble is that it doesn’t feel like the mechanics have been properly refined; precision is somewhat lacking and we can’t help but wonder why Nintendo didn’t wait until the Motion Plus attachment was out. (The answer is likely so that anyone with a Wiimote — not just the upgraded version — could buy the game and get out on the court.)
Worthwhile for a fun whackaround, but not a top seed.
Veteran developer Camelot proved it still belonged on Centre Court with this one.
With a comprehensive story mode, tight and entertaining tennis gameplay mechanics and a surprising amount of depth, Mario Tennis: Power Tour (or Mario Power Tennis as it’s known in Europe) is a winning return for the plumber and his pals.
It’s pretty dialogue-heavy, but there’s a deep, rewarding experience to be found underneath all the waffle, with the story mode serving up a satisfying sense of progression from the very beginning to this Game-Set-Match.
What’s a Mario sports game without iconic characters such as *checks notes*… Alex, Kate, and Harry, eh?
Camelot’s handheld Mario sports entries were bizarre; not only is Mario absent from this game until you unlock him in the story mode… but there’s a story mode.
Mario Tennis may not have swords, magic, or random encounters, but each Tennis match is tied together in a charming overworld that feels like it’s ripped straight out of a traditional RPG. Just imagine rounds of Tennis replacing battles and it becomes much clearer why many consider these more than simple sports games – and some of the best games in Mario’s sporty lineup.
Mario Power Tennis was packed with cool courts, items, and effects that had forms or simpler equivalents on N64 but this entry nevertheless stepped it up a notch. It really was the core experience from the 64-bit entry once again, but powered up.
In addition to Mario Kart-esque items and quirky court types there were also plenty of modes, with various tournaments that were straight-up tennis or ‘gimmick’ focused. There were also eight minigames, some of which were fun diversions, but like with its home console predecessor, many fond memories revolve around local multiplayer.
The first in the Mario Tennis series (second, if you count Mario’s Tennis for the Virtual Boy) was one half of a winning doubles team in the Mushroom Kingdom sports department from Camelot — the studio also released the brilliant Mario Golf for N64, as well as Game Boy Color versions of each game that linked up with their home console cousins via the Transfer Pak.
Mario’s played a lot of tennis over the years, but this remains one of his finest on-court displays.
Game, set, and match! Well done for making it through to the final.
Best Mario Tennis Games FAQ
Before we head into the dressing rooms, let’s grab a fresh shirt and have a quick post-match ceremony followed by an awkward chat with a royal and getting our pictures snapped with a big shiny plate.
Oh, and let’s answer some common Mario Tennis questions during the press conference.
What was the first Mario Tennis game?
Mario’s Tennis for Virtual Boy was the first game in the series. It launched in Japan on 21st July 1995, and in North America on 14th August. The Virtual Boy was never released in Europe.
Camelot’s Mario Tennis for the Nintendo 64 was the first game in the series to be released in all three major territories. It launched in Japan on 21st July 2000.
Mario did appear in the excellent Tennis for Famicom / NES / Game Boy as a referee (as he did in several other early Nintendo sports games), but he wasn’t a playable character.
Hang on, what about Mario Sports Superstars? That’s got Tennis!
That’s true, Mario Sports Superstars for 3DS does feature Tennis as one of the five sports, although it’s not exclusively a Tennis game, so we didn’t include it in this list.
If you’re interested to see how it ranks with the games above, check out our Mario sports games list which ranks all the plumber’s sporty escapades.
Which Mario Tennis games are on Nintendo Switch Online?
Here’s a list of all the Mario Tennis games currently playable on Switch with an NSO subscription (you’ll need to be on the Expansion Pack tier to access the N64 games).
Game Boy (Color)
Mario Tennis
N64
Mario Tennis
Note. Mario’s Tennis for Virtual Boy is coming to the Expansion Pack, too, sometime in 2026.
How can I change the ranking in this article?
Disagree with this ranking? Feel free to search for your favourite Mario Tennis game below, give them the score they deserve, and potentially influence the order above. Just for the game and the set and the match of it.
Updated with Mario Tennis Fever. And if you’re wondering how Mario’s latest racket romp measures up to his other sporting achievements, do we have a ranked list for you!
Coming in second behind his mightily successful karting exploits, Tennis is Mario’s next most prolific pastime – that is if you don’t count partying (which we don’t). He’s not bad with a golf club in his hand, either, but it’s centre court where the plumber has the most sporting titles to his name.
But what’s the best Mario tennis game? We’re serving this list of every Mario Tennis game, ranked for your pleasure, to peruse at your leisure and get the measure of every treasure. Yessir.
Ahem. Spanning Game Boy Color to Switch 2, let’s begin at the bottom and work our way up to the top seed. Quiet, please.
There are positives with Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash, like the strong basic gameplay and neat visuals, but we cannot emphasise enough how phoned-in and thin the content offering was, nor how throwaway Mega Battle was as a tentpole feature.
Given the severe lack of content at release, it’s a difficult game to recommend to even the most passionate Mario Tennis fans. Still, if you’re after local multiplayer fun in which you simply mess around with the various court types, you can’t really go wrong. It’s just a shame the rest of it felt like a rush job.
The small character roster makes the tournaments laughably short, and the lack of a link cable or any form of multiplayer feels wrong somehow, but this is a solid, if simple, tennis game.
Good music and graphics combined with the excellent 3D effect of the court ensure that Mario’s Tennis is an excellent introduction to the Virtual Boy that’s fairly cheap and easy to find secondhand these days. A shame that the system itself isn’t, but it’ll be available on Switch via Nintendo Classics sometime in 2026.
Mario Tennis Open was a strong and accessible entry in the beloved series, and a group of friends gathered around could lose themselves in it for a long time. Solo players could still have a good time perfecting their skills, and playing online was a nice way to keep things interesting, but the missing RPG mode left a pretty big hole that this 3DS entry struggled to fill.
Unless you’re part of a cabal of 3DS-owning pals, you’ll miss out on the real heart of the game: punching your wily opponent in the arm after a hard-fought match.
Mario Tennis Fever serves up one of our favourite games in the series thus far by finding an addictive balance between Mario’s madcap antics and real-world tennis fun. Streamlining superpowers into Fever rackets makes everything easier to parse, and keeping player movement relatively restrained makes for tennis matches that retain an exciting flow without constant slo-mo interruptions.
The adventure mode is a letdown, and solo players don’t have a ton of options, but there’s depth and strategy at the core here that should see this one ace things online.
We’re used to seeing Wii U games transfer to Switch, but for Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash to have moved across without a substantial makeover would have been disastrous. Mario Tennis Aces, wonderfully, is anything but that – it’s a superb arcade sports game that’s generous with its suite of player options and only occasionally guilty of being a little cheap in its Adventure Mode.
The presentation is spot on, and the core tennis action is absorbing whether you’re trading simple strokes or firing off special shots. Some animations and voiceovers are identical to Ultra Smash’s, but everything around them has been overhauled and rebuilt to reach quite splendid heights.
This is something of a Switch Port Plus, then – not quite a whole new experience, but so improved as to be near unrecognisable.
If you loved Wii Sports Tennis and couldn’t get enough of it, New Play Control! Mario Power Tennis was a great investment. There are a lot of modes to get through, the controls work fairly well, and it’s a bash with your mates around.
The only trouble is that it doesn’t feel like the mechanics have been properly refined; precision is somewhat lacking and we can’t help but wonder why Nintendo didn’t wait until the Motion Plus attachment was out. (The answer is likely so that anyone with a Wiimote — not just the upgraded version — could buy the game and get out on the court.)
Worthwhile for a fun whackaround, but not a top seed.
Veteran developer Camelot proved it still belonged on Centre Court with this one.
With a comprehensive story mode, tight and entertaining tennis gameplay mechanics and a surprising amount of depth, Mario Tennis: Power Tour (or Mario Power Tennis as it’s known in Europe) is a winning return for the plumber and his pals.
It’s pretty dialogue-heavy, but there’s a deep, rewarding experience to be found underneath all the waffle, with the story mode serving up a satisfying sense of progression from the very beginning to this Game-Set-Match.
What’s a Mario sports game without iconic characters such as *checks notes*… Alex, Kate, and Harry, eh?
Camelot’s handheld Mario sports entries were bizarre; not only is Mario absent from this game until you unlock him in the story mode… but there’s a story mode.
Mario Tennis may not have swords, magic, or random encounters, but each Tennis match is tied together in a charming overworld that feels like it’s ripped straight out of a traditional RPG. Just imagine rounds of Tennis replacing battles and it becomes much clearer why many consider these more than simple sports games – and some of the best games in Mario’s sporty lineup.
Mario Power Tennis was packed with cool courts, items, and effects that had forms or simpler equivalents on N64 but this entry nevertheless stepped it up a notch. It really was the core experience from the 64-bit entry once again, but powered up.
In addition to Mario Kart-esque items and quirky court types there were also plenty of modes, with various tournaments that were straight-up tennis or ‘gimmick’ focused. There were also eight minigames, some of which were fun diversions, but like with its home console predecessor, many fond memories revolve around local multiplayer.
The first in the Mario Tennis series (second, if you count Mario’s Tennis for the Virtual Boy) was one half of a winning doubles team in the Mushroom Kingdom sports department from Camelot — the studio also released the brilliant Mario Golf for N64, as well as Game Boy Color versions of each game that linked up with their home console cousins via the Transfer Pak.
Mario’s played a lot of tennis over the years, but this remains one of his finest on-court displays.
Game, set, and match! Well done for making it through to the final.
Best Mario Tennis Games FAQ
Before we head into the dressing rooms, let’s grab a fresh shirt and have a quick post-match ceremony followed by an awkward chat with a royal and getting our pictures snapped with a big shiny plate.
Oh, and let’s answer some common Mario Tennis questions during the press conference.
What was the first Mario Tennis game?
Mario’s Tennis for Virtual Boy was the first game in the series. It launched in Japan on 21st July 1995, and in North America on 14th August. The Virtual Boy was never released in Europe.
Camelot’s Mario Tennis for the Nintendo 64 was the first game in the series to be released in all three major territories. It launched in Japan on 21st July 2000.
Mario did appear in the excellent Tennis for Famicom / NES / Game Boy as a referee (as he did in several other early Nintendo sports games), but he wasn’t a playable character.
Hang on, what about Mario Sports Superstars? That’s got Tennis!
That’s true, Mario Sports Superstars for 3DS does feature Tennis as one of the five sports, although it’s not exclusively a Tennis game, so we didn’t include it in this list.
If you’re interested to see how it ranks with the games above, check out our Mario sports games list which ranks all the plumber’s sporty escapades.
Which Mario Tennis games are on Nintendo Switch Online?
Here’s a list of all the Mario Tennis games currently playable on Switch with an NSO subscription (you’ll need to be on the Expansion Pack tier to access the N64 games).
Game Boy (Color)
Mario Tennis
N64
Mario Tennis
Note. Mario’s Tennis for Virtual Boy is coming to the Expansion Pack, too, sometime in 2026.
How can I change the ranking in this article?
Disagree with this ranking? Feel free to search for your favourite Mario Tennis game below, give them the score they deserve, and potentially influence the order above. Just for the game and the set and the match of it.
A Pokémon Presents showcase on Pokémon Day? Whatever will they think of next!
Yes, TPC is back with its yearly showcase on 27th February 2026, but this is a big one, because it marks 30 years since Red and Blue first burst onto the scene in Japan back in 1996.
Now, these presentations have been known to be a little on the app-heavy side of things, if we’re being generous, but the promise of a big birthday celebration has us feeling optimistic that there might be something surprising in store, too. Heck, we’ve already had a big surprise in the form of Pokémon FireRed & LeafGreen on the eShop.
We’ve got 25 minutes of Pocket Monster news ahead of us next week, so, stocked up on this glass-half-full attitude, we’ve each shared some of the predictions for the coming showcase below. Will any of them come true? We’ll just have to wait and see.
Gen 10
Will the next Gen be a Switch 2 exclusive? — Image: Nintendo Life
Jim: Oh yes, it’s definitely getting revealed this time. I can totally imagine it being nothing more than a brief teaser and name drop, potentially even with a ‘2027’ release window attached to it (can we really get Pokopia, Champions, and a new Gen all in one year?), but either way, this is the time to make the announcement.
Gavin: I always approach Pokémon Presents with extreme caution, but they’ve done a fair job recently of speeding through the updates I’m less interested in and getting to the ‘big’ stuff. At the very least, I expect a 10th-Gen tease with your token “Please look forward to more information later in the year”, especially now they’ve got the Red/Green re-release announcement out of the way.
Alana: Like everyone else here, I too think we’ll get a Gen 10 teaser. Part of me thinks it’d be weird to have such a big anniversary year go by without the games releasing in 2026, but I can’t see it happening right now, even if it has been four years since Gen 9. We might see one new Pokémon, too — can’t have everyone left on tenterhooks for over a year now, can we?
Remakes
A remake still isn’t black and white… — Image: Gemma Smith / Nintendo Life
Alana: No more mainline remakes, please. I fear for what’ll happen to my favourite gen. Instead, I think TPC should remake one of the weird spin-offs. Pokémon Ranger? Art Academy? Hey You, Pikachu! There’s a microphone on the Switch 2 right there. You could make it, I don’t know, work!
Jim: Looking at the Pokémon release cycle, we are due a remake sometime soon. Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl were a long time ago, and I swear those darn Black & White remakes have been rumoured every single year since. Honestly, though, it’s HeartGold / SoulSilver that I’m praying for the most — we need a way to play those on modern hardware.
Gavin: Could they redo Kanto again? Of course they could, even after the FireRed and LeafGreen news, but that might stretch nostalgia to breaking point. Like Jim, expect some Black/White or Gold/Silver action.
Apps
No, we’re awake during this segment. — Image: The Pokémon Company
Alana: I mean, this’ll be the bulk of the presentation, right? We’ll get a new app or two, for sure. I kinda want a Tamagotchi-style app with Pokémon on my phone. Let me have a little Growlithe with me 24/7. But more than likely, it’ll be an app that reminds you to drink water or something.
Jim: Yeah, this is the coolest take of the lot. Far too much of the presentation will be dedicated to Café ReMix, Pokémon Masters EX, and Sleep, but I will be excited to hear any TCG Pocket news.
Non-Gaming News
Yeah, same, Wooloo — Image: Aardman Animations
Gavin: A tease for further Lego sets. A little Mew/Mewtwo diorama? A Legendary Bird aviary? A second mortgage?
Jim: We’ve seen far too little of Aardman’s Pokémon Tales: The Misadventures of Sirfetch’d & Pichu, and it’s supposed to be coming our way next year. Come on, chuck, give me more than a brief teaser!
Alana: Pokémon Day Out and Pokémon Night Out — what are they? We’ll probably find out here.
An NSO Drop?
Where are they??? — Image: Nintendo
Jim: As much as I’d love to see Gens I-III crop up on the GB/GBA libraries (ignoring FRLG, of course), something tells me that ain’t going to happen (not when so many of us would gladly cough up and pay for a collection). Let’s go for Pokémon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire instead, then.
Gavin:I don’t see them coming to NSO, but if Game Freak had the excuse that a standalone release lets them implement Home transfer support, that just might get the pitchforks lowered. Well, that did that.
Alana:Pokémon Colosseum and XD: Gale of Darkness are still missing, and they’re part of the confirmed lineup. Can we actually get them on NSO this time around???
Wildcard
Blue-sky thinking? — Image: The Pokémon Company
Alana: A new Pokémon Mystery Dungeon. Not a remake, not an NSO drop, a brand new one. If it happens, thank me later. (If it doesn’t, please don’t hate me.)
Gavin: New peripheral time: Pokéwalker 2.
Jim: I say it every year, and I’ll say it again: Detective Pikachu 2. Ryan Reynolds hasn’t starred in a blockbuster for a solid two days at the time of writing, so it must be about time.
That’s it for our predictions, but what are you hoping to see? You can pull your dream picks out of the poll below, but then take to the comments to let us know about any others.
What do you think we’ll see in the February 2026 Pokémon Presents? (1,480 votes)
Pokémon Pokopia trailer11%
Pokémon Champions release date / trailer12%
A teaser for Generation 1031%
A mainline remake or remaster11%
A spin-off remake or remaster3%
More Pokémon TCG Pocket4%
Even more Pokémon Unite newcomers1%
Pokémon Café ReMix additions1%
The usual Pokémon MastersEX additions2%
Big Pokémon GO 30th anniversary news2%
A brand new app2%
PokéPark Kanto Expansion0.5%
More Pokémon LEGO sets3%
Aardman Animations appearance1%
Pokémon Colosseum / XD: Gale of Darkness NSO dates10%
A Pokémon Presents showcase on Pokémon Day? Whatever will they think of next!
Yes, TPC is back with its yearly showcase on 27th February 2026, but this is a big one, because it marks 30 years since Red and Blue first burst onto the scene in Japan back in 1996.
Now, these presentations have been known to be a little on the app-heavy side of things, if we’re being generous, but the promise of a big birthday celebration has us feeling optimistic that there might be something surprising in store, too. Heck, we’ve already had a big surprise in the form of Pokémon FireRed & LeafGreen on the eShop.
We’ve got 25 minutes of Pocket Monster news ahead of us next week, so, stocked up on this glass-half-full attitude, we’ve each shared some of the predictions for the coming showcase below. Will any of them come true? We’ll just have to wait and see.
Gen 10
Will the next Gen be a Switch 2 exclusive? — Image: Nintendo Life
Jim: Oh yes, it’s definitely getting revealed this time. I can totally imagine it being nothing more than a brief teaser and name drop, potentially even with a ‘2027’ release window attached to it (can we really get Pokopia, Champions, and a new Gen all in one year?), but either way, this is the time to make the announcement.
Gavin: I always approach Pokémon Presents with extreme caution, but they’ve done a fair job recently of speeding through the updates I’m less interested in and getting to the ‘big’ stuff. At the very least, I expect a 10th-Gen tease with your token “Please look forward to more information later in the year”, especially now they’ve got the Red/Green re-release announcement out of the way.
Alana: Like everyone else here, I too think we’ll get a Gen 10 teaser. Part of me thinks it’d be weird to have such a big anniversary year go by without the games releasing in 2026, but I can’t see it happening right now, even if it has been four years since Gen 9. We might see one new Pokémon, too — can’t have everyone left on tenterhooks for over a year now, can we?
Remakes
A remake still isn’t black and white… — Image: Gemma Smith / Nintendo Life
Alana: No more mainline remakes, please. I fear for what’ll happen to my favourite gen. Instead, I think TPC should remake one of the weird spin-offs. Pokémon Ranger? Art Academy? Hey You, Pikachu! There’s a microphone on the Switch 2 right there. You could make it, I don’t know, work!
Jim: Looking at the Pokémon release cycle, we are due a remake sometime soon. Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl were a long time ago, and I swear those darn Black & White remakes have been rumoured every single year since. Honestly, though, it’s HeartGold / SoulSilver that I’m praying for the most — we need a way to play those on modern hardware.
Gavin: Could they redo Kanto again? Of course they could, even after the FireRed and LeafGreen news, but that might stretch nostalgia to breaking point. Like Jim, expect some Black/White or Gold/Silver action.
Apps
No, we’re awake during this segment. — Image: The Pokémon Company
Alana: I mean, this’ll be the bulk of the presentation, right? We’ll get a new app or two, for sure. I kinda want a Tamagotchi-style app with Pokémon on my phone. Let me have a little Growlithe with me 24/7. But more than likely, it’ll be an app that reminds you to drink water or something.
Jim: Yeah, this is the coolest take of the lot. Far too much of the presentation will be dedicated to Café ReMix, Pokémon Masters EX, and Sleep, but I will be excited to hear any TCG Pocket news.
Non-Gaming News
Yeah, same, Wooloo — Image: Aardman Animations
Gavin: A tease for further Lego sets. A little Mew/Mewtwo diorama? A Legendary Bird aviary? A second mortgage?
Jim: We’ve seen far too little of Aardman’s Pokémon Tales: The Misadventures of Sirfetch’d & Pichu, and it’s supposed to be coming our way next year. Come on, chuck, give me more than a brief teaser!
Alana: Pokémon Day Out and Pokémon Night Out — what are they? We’ll probably find out here.
An NSO Drop?
Where are they??? — Image: Nintendo
Jim: As much as I’d love to see Gens I-III crop up on the GB/GBA libraries (ignoring FRLG, of course), something tells me that ain’t going to happen (not when so many of us would gladly cough up and pay for a collection). Let’s go for Pokémon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire instead, then.
Gavin:I don’t see them coming to NSO, but if Game Freak had the excuse that a standalone release lets them implement Home transfer support, that just might get the pitchforks lowered. Well, that did that.
Alana:Pokémon Colosseum and XD: Gale of Darkness are still missing, and they’re part of the confirmed lineup. Can we actually get them on NSO this time around???
Wildcard
Blue-sky thinking? — Image: The Pokémon Company
Alana: A new Pokémon Mystery Dungeon. Not a remake, not an NSO drop, a brand new one. If it happens, thank me later. (If it doesn’t, please don’t hate me.)
Gavin: New peripheral time: Pokéwalker 2.
Jim: I say it every year, and I’ll say it again: Detective Pikachu 2. Ryan Reynolds hasn’t starred in a blockbuster for a solid two days at the time of writing, so it must be about time.
That’s it for our predictions, but what are you hoping to see? You can pull your dream picks out of the poll below, but then take to the comments to let us know about any others.
What do you think we’ll see in the February 2026 Pokémon Presents? (1,480 votes)
Pokémon Pokopia trailer11%
Pokémon Champions release date / trailer12%
A teaser for Generation 1031%
A mainline remake or remaster11%
A spin-off remake or remaster3%
More Pokémon TCG Pocket4%
Even more Pokémon Unite newcomers1%
Pokémon Café ReMix additions1%
The usual Pokémon MastersEX additions2%
Big Pokémon GO 30th anniversary news2%
A brand new app2%
PokéPark Kanto Expansion0.5%
More Pokémon LEGO sets3%
Aardman Animations appearance1%
Pokémon Colosseum / XD: Gale of Darkness NSO dates10%
Pokémon turns 30 on 27th February, and in honour of this momentous anniversary, we’re running a series of polls leading up to the big day, asking you to vote for your favourite Pokémon from each generation. The nine winners will then go head-to-head in a final poll at the end of the month.
We’re covering a generation a day until we’ve ticked off all nine, leading up to the ultimate showdown. Each poll will be open for five days.
And on the seventh day, Arceus created Gen VI and the new monsters that arrived in Pokémon (Ultra) Sun & (Ultra) Moon. Before you pick your favourites, let’s get Team NL’s take on Alola’s forgotten ‘mons.
So, let’s see who’s a lucky 7. Below you’ll find 88 fresh Pokémon, listed in National Dex order (use the search bar to quickly find a specific one). And as always, you can only choose one!
Which is your favourite Alola Pokémon (Gen 7)? (1,121 votes)
Rowlet10%
Dartrix0.4%
Decidueye10%
Litten3%
Torracat0.3%
Incineroar4%
Popplio2%
Brionne0.3%
Primarina4%
Pikipek0%
Trumbeak0%
Toucannon1%
Yungoos0.1%
Gumshoos0.2%
Grubbin0.4%
Charjabug1%
Vikavolt2%
Crabrawler0.3%
Crabominable0.3%
Oricorio0.6%
Cutiefly0.6%
Ribombee1%
Rockruff2%
Lycanroc4%
Wishiwashi0.4%
Mareanie0.4%
Toxapex1%
Mudbray0.3%
Mudsdale1%
Dewpider0.2%
Araquanid1%
Fomantis0%
Lurantis0.7%
Morelull0%
Shiinotic0.2%
Salandit0.4%
Salazzle1%
Stufful0.4%
Bewear1%
Bounsweet0.2%
Steenee0.5%
Tsareena1%
Comfey0.3%
Oranguru0.3%
Passimian0.3%
Wimpod0%
Golisopod2%
Sandygast0.5%
Palossand2%
Pyukumuku0.6%
Type: Null0.6%
Silvally0.7%
Minior1%
Komala0.2%
Turtonator0.6%
Togedemaru0.6%
Mimikyu12%
Bruxish0.3%
Drampa1%
Dhelmise1%
Jangmo-o0.2%
Hakamo-o0.1%
Kommo-o2%
Tapu Koko0.7%
Tapu Lele0.3%
Tapu Bulu0%
Tapu Fini0.1%
Cosmog0.5%
Cosmoem0.1%
Solgaleo2%
Lunala2%
Nihilego0.5%
Buzzwole0.7%
Pheromosa0.1%
Xurkitree0.7%
Celesteela0.1%
Kartana0.2%
Guzzlord0.6%
Necrozma1%
Magearna0.4%
Marshadow2%
Poipole0.2%
Naganadel0.3%
Stakataka0.5%
Blacephalon0.5%
Zeraora2%
Meltan0.6%
Melmetal1%
Image: Mai Ladyman / Nintendo Life
Thanks for voting! Keep an eye out for the final two generations as we cruise ever closer to Pokémon’s 30th anniversary.
And if you missed Gens 3, 4, 5, or 6, those polls are still live:
Pokémon turns 30 on 27th February, and in honour of this momentous anniversary, we’re running a series of polls leading up to the big day, asking you to vote for your favourite Pokémon from each generation. The nine winners will then go head-to-head in a final poll at the end of the month.
We’re covering a generation a day until we’ve ticked off all nine, leading up to the ultimate showdown. Each poll will be open for five days.
And on the seventh day, Arceus created Gen VI and the new monsters that arrived in Pokémon (Ultra) Sun & (Ultra) Moon. Before you pick your favourites, let’s get Team NL’s take on Alola’s forgotten ‘mons.
So, let’s see who’s a lucky 7. Below you’ll find 88 fresh Pokémon, listed in National Dex order (use the search bar to quickly find a specific one). And as always, you can only choose one!
Which is your favourite Alola Pokémon (Gen 7)? (1,121 votes)
Rowlet10%
Dartrix0.4%
Decidueye10%
Litten3%
Torracat0.3%
Incineroar4%
Popplio2%
Brionne0.3%
Primarina4%
Pikipek0%
Trumbeak0%
Toucannon1%
Yungoos0.1%
Gumshoos0.2%
Grubbin0.4%
Charjabug1%
Vikavolt2%
Crabrawler0.3%
Crabominable0.3%
Oricorio0.6%
Cutiefly0.6%
Ribombee1%
Rockruff2%
Lycanroc4%
Wishiwashi0.4%
Mareanie0.4%
Toxapex1%
Mudbray0.3%
Mudsdale1%
Dewpider0.2%
Araquanid1%
Fomantis0%
Lurantis0.7%
Morelull0%
Shiinotic0.2%
Salandit0.4%
Salazzle1%
Stufful0.4%
Bewear1%
Bounsweet0.2%
Steenee0.5%
Tsareena1%
Comfey0.3%
Oranguru0.3%
Passimian0.3%
Wimpod0%
Golisopod2%
Sandygast0.5%
Palossand2%
Pyukumuku0.6%
Type: Null0.6%
Silvally0.7%
Minior1%
Komala0.2%
Turtonator0.6%
Togedemaru0.6%
Mimikyu12%
Bruxish0.3%
Drampa1%
Dhelmise1%
Jangmo-o0.2%
Hakamo-o0.1%
Kommo-o2%
Tapu Koko0.7%
Tapu Lele0.3%
Tapu Bulu0%
Tapu Fini0.1%
Cosmog0.5%
Cosmoem0.1%
Solgaleo2%
Lunala2%
Nihilego0.5%
Buzzwole0.7%
Pheromosa0.1%
Xurkitree0.7%
Celesteela0.1%
Kartana0.2%
Guzzlord0.6%
Necrozma1%
Magearna0.4%
Marshadow2%
Poipole0.2%
Naganadel0.3%
Stakataka0.5%
Blacephalon0.5%
Zeraora2%
Meltan0.6%
Melmetal1%
Image: Mai Ladyman / Nintendo Life
Thanks for voting! Keep an eye out for the final two generations as we cruise ever closer to Pokémon’s 30th anniversary.
And if you missed Gens 3, 4, 5, or 6, those polls are still live:
Only Nintendo could get its fans excited about a re-release of one of its most dramatic commercial flops, and, as somebody who is old and grey enough to recall the disaster that was the Virtual Boy the first time around, I find it endlessly amusing that its resurrection as a Switch accessory has caused such interest.
But then again, this is a platform that arguably deserves a second look, despite its well-documented shortcomings.
The brainchild of the late, great Gunpei Yokoi, the Virtual Boy was supposed to be another Game Boy-sized smash hit, but its undercooked tech (Yokoi reportedly wanted to work on it longer than Nintendo would allow), uncomfortable setup, and lack of convincing software support saw it dropped from stores less than a year after its release in 1995.
Yet, there’s nothing quite like the Virtual Boy – outside of those battery-powered Tomytronic 3D handhelds from the 1980s. perhaps. Even when compared to modern-day Virtual Reality headsets, Nintendo’s stab at the technology has a charm all its own – and it’s now possible to experience it without having to shell out for an original unit (I’ll get to why that’s important shortly).
In case you weren’t aware, there’s no actual working tech inside the modern-day Virtual Boy – it’s essentially a caddy into which you place your Switch 1 or 2 (I’d advise you do this gingerly, by the way, as it feels like there’s potential for scratches and scrapes on your console’s screen, despite the presence of some rubber pads – it’s quite an awkward fit).
The image on the Switch’s screen is displayed in the famous ‘Virtual Boy red’, an effect which is reinforced by a pair of red-coloured lenses (these are needed because the main Virtual Boy NSO menu, where box art is displayed, is in colour). The stereoscopic effect comes courtesy of the same lens section that originally shipped with the Labo VR headset – you can even remove the red lens section to reveal it.
While the old and new Virtual Boys look almost identical when placed side-by-side, there are several subtle differences.
The controller port, volume dial, and 3.5mm headphone socket aren’t present on the new version, although Nintendo has been cute enough to mould them into the casing regardless. Likewise, the IPD / interpupillary distance and focus controls are purely for show – you can adjust the latter in-app, however.
The stand is also slightly higher on the new model, to allow the Switch console to poke out of the bottom of the main unit.
As for the stand itself, it’s possible to use it with the original Virtual Boy, which is good news for those of you who have cracked stands – this is a very common problem on older units, with the failure point being where the two legs ‘click’ outwards.
Being able to replace the original stand with this new one is great, but it sadly doesn’t work in the opposite direction; because it has two prongs that lock into the body of the original 1995 Virtual Boy, the old stand cannot be used with the resurrected model.
It also seems that replacing the ‘eye shade’ on the 2026 version isn’t as straightforward as it was on the 1995 edition. Back in the day, you could easily pop off the existing eye shade and clean or replace it, but with the new variant, it doesn’t appear to come away as easily – and I’m not brave enough to force it to find out. However, Nintendo does list it as a separate component on the box, so I’d assume it can be removed when the time comes. (Ollie has done it, although it took “a little bit of force.”)
The visual experience is recreated almost flawlessly; I constantly switched between an original Virtual Boy and the new offering to gauge the difference, and while the pixels on the Switch 2’s screen are more noticeable than those on the legit VB, the effect is still pretty faithful.
The way audio is handled is similar, too, with the Switch speakers serving as a pretty competent replacement for the Virtual Boy’s built-in offerings. The ‘fake’ 3.5mm headphone jack means you can’t connect a pair of wired headphones like you could in 1995, however. You’ll have to opt for wireless alternatives in 2026.
On the downside, the biggest drawback of using a Virtual Boy — the fact that you’re hunched over, gazing into a table-mounted headset — is also present and correct in this version.
While many people complain about eye strain and headaches when using the machine, my biggest gripe was always the fact that my neck would hurt after even a short period of time. The same is absolutely true here, and, unless you get your seating position totally perfect, you can expect to feel some discomfort after just a few minutes of play.
It’s little wonder, then, that Nintendo felt compelled to put an ‘Automatic Pause’ option into each Virtual Boy game back in the day; when enabled, this encouraged you to take a short break after around 20 minutes – essential not just to avoid eye strain, but also to allow you to stretch your back and move your neck around a bit. The feature is present in all of the games available for this new version.
Nintendo hasn’t gone as far as to replicate the Virtual Boy’s unique controller, which is a shame but not the end of the world. The dual-pad setup is reproduced well on the Switch Joy-Con’s analogue sticks, with the ‘A’ and ‘B’ buttons taking the place of the (you’ve guessed it) ‘A’ and ‘B’ buttons of the original pad.
I’m actually of the opinion that the Virtual Boy controller isn’t one of Nintendo’s finest hours, so I prefer the setup Nintendo has offered here – plus, I dread to think of how much more expensive this thing would be had the company chosen to recreate the pad, as well.
While you can adjust the angle of the headset, there’s no escaping the fact that it’s not a comfortable device to use for prolonged periods — Image: Damien McFerran / Nintendo Life
The price of this new Virtual Boy really does need mentioning, because, at almost £70 / $100, it’s not what I would call an impulse purchase.
I’ve already seen people online lamenting how easily they were suckered by Nintendo-related FOMO when it was first announced, and I absolutely get it. The original Virtual Boy is a standard-issue piece of furniture in the gaming room of any self-respecting fan (if it’s good enough for George Costanza, it’s good enough for me!), so this is a cheaper way of improving your decor, if nothing else.
As I hinted earlier, it’s also a hassle-free way of experiencing the Virtual Boy’s meagre library, as owning an original unit is fraught with challenges.
It’s possible to repair this fault, but it’s not a cheap exercise. During my review period, I was dismayed to notice that my own Virtual Boy had developed this very same issue, so in one way, this new accessory couldn’t have come at a better time for me personally.
Ultimately, there’s no escaping the fact that, as a concept, the Virtual Boy is utterly flawed.
It would work better as a headset you could attach to your face (something Nintendo actually promised at one point in the ’90s, before it became clear the product was a dud), and, while titles like Virtual Boy Wario Land, Red Alarm, and Vertical Force are decent, the system suffers from a dire lack of must-have games, rendering it more of a curiosity than a must-have purchase.
Still, while the Virtual Boy certainly has its problems and isn’t something I’d recommend unreservedly, if you’re already a Nintendo Switch Online subscriber and have in any way felt curious about Nintendo’s most infamous hardware flop, then it’s certainly worth a look – even more so when you consider that the company is commited to opening up the system’s library with unreleased titles.
Just expect it to achieve ornamental status in your gaming room sooner rather than later.
Image: Damien McFerran / Nintendo Life
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