Reggie appears to have received a rather impressive gift from his good friend Geoff Keighley – the host and creator of the Video Game Awards. Geoff worked with the wonderful artist Sam Spratt on the above painting to commemorate Reggie’s retirement.
This was what Reggie had to say about the special painting:
One of the best retirement gifts so far. From my good friend @geoffkeighley Commissioned from wonderful artist Sam Spratt. Thanks Geoff!
And Geoff replied with the following comment:
What an amazing legacy and career, thanks for your ongoing friendship and support through everything @reggie!
So, what do you think of this masterpiece? Would you like to hang it on your own wall? Tell us below.
Update: It’s now been confirmed Joker and version 3.0 of Ultimate will be released on 17th April. Click here to find out more.
Remember when a Super Smash Bros. Ultimate render of Joker appeared on the Best Buy website at the end of last month? Well, it looks like it was the real deal after all, as it matches up with an official render spotted within the source code on Nintendo Europe’s website.
Once again, the Persona 5 character is expected to arrive in Ultimate before the end of this month as part of the first DLC Challenger Pack. At this point, he’ll likely become available when version 3.0 goes live – similar to how Piranha Plant was released alongside version 2.0.
Are you happy with how Joker looks? Have you purchased the DLC yet? Tell us down in the comments.
In case you forgot, a live-action Minecraft movie is on the way. It was actually confirmed by the game’s creator Markus “Notch” Persson back in 2014 and has since experienced multiple delays. In an official update on the Minecraft website, it’s now been revealed the movie will arrive on 4th March 2022. To be precise, that’s 34 months or 150 weeks away.
So, what will this movie be about? According to the synopsis, it stars “a teenage girl and her unlikely group of adventurers” who set out to “save their beautiful, block overworld” from a “malevolent Ender Dragon” on a path of destruction. The post also mentions Peter Sollett (Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist) will direct the film and reconfirmed Warner Bros. involvement.
The post finished up with a statement on behalf of Mojang, mentioning how “exciting” it was to be making a movie and then summarising everything:
Since we’re a game developer first, making a movie will be new and very exciting. And while the movie has to be different from the game (otherwise, you’d be in for an infinite movie in very low resolution) one thing will definitely be the same. We want to make the movie — just as we make the game — for you. We’re inspired by countless things, but none as much as the incredible stuff our community creates in Minecraft every day. So keep it coming!
In summary: the movie has a date. It has a director. It has an official storyline…
Are you looking forward to this live-action Minecraft movie due out in 2022? Tell us down below.
It’s a new era at Nintendo of America. Reggie has left the building and the appropriately-named Doug Bowser is now officially at the helm as the president. To celebrate his first day in this role, @thetruebowser shared a photo of his new office on Twitter.
We’re not entirely sure what’s going on, though, as it appears someone else has already taken charge:
In all seriousness, Doug Bowser has been shadowing Reggie since 2015, so we’re sure he’ll do a fantastic job. If you would like to find out more about the new president, be sure to check out our extensive feature about him.
And while you’re here, feel free to welcome Bowser to his new role in the comments below.
Shadow Blade: Reload has no time for the weak or the slow. It’s an action-platformer that demands you move at lightning speed, leaping from platforms, collecting items and dealing out ninja-themed death like a cracked whip. There’s a clock ticking away at the top of the screen, urging you to run faster, bounce off walls with lighter feet and reach the end of the level like a whisper moving at lightspeed.
Originally developed for mobile devices (and Ouya – remember Ouya?) back in 2014, this little indie gem might love its sense of speed and momentum, but is a game all about ninjas, so stealth still has a part to play. Pulling off the best score and clocking the best time often requires you to kill enemies from behind before they see you or launch a well-timed shuriken to take out a ranged enemy ready to shoot you down. It only takes one hit to knock you back to a checkpoint, so knowing when to strike and when to move are the keys to success.
As a 2.5D platformer in a similar vein to the likes of Assassin’s Creed Chronicles or Ori and the Blind Forest, Shadow Blade isn’t strictly a Metroidvania game – there is very much an optimum route to take across its 50 levels, but there are plenty of secrets to find for those that want to pull off the best score over the fastest time. There are orbs to collect, often leading you in right direction, while each level has three glowing symbols to collect – most of which will require you to use your acrobatic skills to collect without dying. Checkpoints are usually well placed, so even if you mess up, a quick restart is usually a few seconds away.
You have a basic attack that changes depending on whether you’re behind in front of an enemy, while shurikens can be used to deal with enemies at range. You can land on enemies and deliver a deadly blow, but linger too long in front of them and you’ll likely be flung back or into a nearby spike pit. As you push through its story mode, you’ll eventually come across increasingly more challenging enemies. Some will fire homing rockets that require you to outrun them before attacking their origin, while others will call in extra foes if they’re alerted to your presence. On their own, each of these goons can be taken down swiftly, but when Shadow Blade starts mixing them together, things get very tasty.
For anyone who’s played the likes of Strider, Guacamelee or Dead Cells, Shadow Blade’s sense of movement will be comfortably familiar. You can double-jump, dash (both along the ground to pass enemies and in mid-air) and slide down walls so you have all the basic movement skills you need to leap between walls and dash across gaps to access seemingly hard to reach secrets. That dash is invaluable, both as a means of evading enemy ranged fire and as a way of shaving seconds off your best times.
There are a handful of bosses to take on, and while they’re not particularly memorable, they do present a way to mix up the speed and precision of the game’s normal levels by challenging you in new and unexpected ways. Much like its 50 levels, these boss battles are a ton of fun to play and will provide a serious and engaging challenge for those obsessed with speedrunning for the best possible times. However, all that speed and acrobatic movement does ultimately resign its stealth options to nothing more than timing your landings so you take out enemies from behind or above.
Alongside the story mode, there are 10 challenges to complete, each with their own unique combination of hazards and traps and a timer so speedrunners can push their ninja skills to the limit. You can also unlock new comic book panels every time you progress to a new set of levels, so there’s an extra collectable aspect if you really want to rinse this offering for all it’s worth. However, the Nintendo Switch version does not include the level editor introduced in the PC/PS4 version, despite having some of the gameplay features also introduced with these incarnations. It’s an odd feature to remove, especially as creating your own set of challenges and sharing them with friends would give this fast-paced platformer a far greater degree of replay value.
Conclusion
The gap in quality between mobile games and console/PC releases is almost non-existent now, as is proved by the likes of Shadow Blade: Reload. As such it fits the portable nature of Nintendo Switch like a glove, with its short-yet-challenging levels offering a platforming experience that’s ideal for both short bursts of play and longer speedrunning sessions. The sound design helps create a rhythm to your progression through each level, and there’s plenty of secrets to find in each level, but the absence of the level editor included in the PC/PS4 port makes this version feel a little hollow by comparison.
Natsume, the publisher behind franchises such as Harvest Moon and Reel Fishing, has today announced the creation of the ‘Natsume Indie Program’, an initiative which “partners the company with independent developers around the world to introduce creative, innovative games to a wider audience”.
Further details – such as how many developers are already on board – are yet to be revealed, but Natsume President & CEO, Hiro Maekawa, has shared the following statement:
“Natsume has been dedicated to its mission to ‘Make Everyone Happy’ through exciting interactive entertainment software for the entire family for the past 23 years and we are excited to work with new developers who represent this likeminded mission. We are proud to support and collaborate with dedicated, artistic, and inspiring developers who are building the future of video games.”
What we do know, is that Cosmic Defenders will be the first title under this new brand. The game is a 2D fast-paced revolving shooter about a group of unconventional heroes using the power of nature to stop chaotic aliens from taking over the universe. It’s currently being developed by Tokyo-based developer, Fiery Squirrel, a one-man team which focuses on “enjoyable experiences for all players”.
The game will be released on Nintendo Switch later this year, with more details set to revealed leading up to E3 in June. You can see an early trailer for the project below, when the game was seemingly called ‘Cosmos Defenders’.
An interesting development, for sure. What sort of games would you like to see from the Harvest Moon publisher? Share your desires with us in the comments below.
Beyond Enemy Lines: Covert Operations is firing onto Nintendo Switch on 23rd April, it has been confirmed. That means we have just one week to go to check it out for ourselves.
We first mentioned this one just a couple of months ago, with its tactical twist on the shooter genre leaving us feeling rather intrigued. The game is a port of 2017’s Beyond Enemy Lines which released on PC, and is a single-player shooter developed in Unreal Engine 4 by a one-man team.
The Switch version offers eight missions in what is said to be a “challenging” single-player campaign. The gameplay has been adapted with Switch in mind, and each mission is open-ended with “countless varieties of solutions for every situation”. We shared this with you last time, but here’s another look at the game’s feature list:
– 8 Mission long Story Campaign with ~10h playtime – Adapted gameplay especially for Nintendo Switch – 100% Freedom – You chose the tactics – 100% Hardcore – Challenge your skill -Ported inhouse by Polygon Art
Beyond Enemy Lines: Covert Operations will launch on Switch on 23rd for $13.99 / 13,99€.
Make sure to let us know what you think of this one in the comments below.
If you’re working on a healthy collection of amiibo figures, or even if you’re just a super Legend of Zelda fan, you’ll be pleased to know that both Wolf Link and the Champions amiibo set are now back in stock at the Nintendo Official UK store (at the time of writing, at least).
These particular figures aren’t the easiest to find out there in the wild (a quick search on Amazon UK shows the Champions set listed for over £445) so this is a great opportunity to pick them up. You can find links to both products below.
Wolf Link is expected to despatch from 3rd May, while the Champions set is due a little later on the 31st. Remember that the Nintendo UK Store only offers free delivery on orders over £20.
Do you have these amiibo in your collection? Let us know if you’ll be picking them up with a comment below.
We can only imagine what Mancunians such as Liam Gallagher or Professor Brian Cox might have thought after the mayhem caused in Manchester, UK the other day by Mario and friends. These mischievous cosplayers renamed many of the city centre’s tram stops with a video game twist.
Commuters were left in shock at Shudehill when greeted by the gory Nurse from Silent Hill getting off the tram.
Of course, this mischief was all in aid of promoting something. In this case, it was to draw attention to the upcoming Play Expo event which takes place at Manchester Central on 4th May – 5th May.
To celebrate the imminent arrival of the expo, the entire Metrolink network was renamed by the costumed mischief makers. Other stops given the video game treatment included Market Street which became Hyrule Castle from The Legend of Zelda and Exchange Square which was renamed Raccoon City from Resident Evil.
It’s a fun little publicity stunt for sure, no doubt Manchester residents had a good chuckle. Play Expo will feature almost 1000 free to play gaming screens with a huge range of games to play from retro favourites like Pac-Man and Mario right the way up to current blockbusters like Fortnite and Minecraft.
If you’d like to find out more or buy tickets you can do so by visiting https://www.playexpomanchester.com. Let us know what you think of all this malarky with a comment below.
Nintendo has rolled out a new system update and for once it’s not just stability improvements to enhance the overall user experience.
Version 8.0.0 allows you to sort the order of your software in the All Software menu, transfer your save data for individual games from one system to another and restrict VR Mode in the Parental Controls. In addition to this, there’s now a zoom feature, new regions, new icons for Splatoon 2 and Yoshi’s Crafted World and an option to prevent the system from waking up in Sleep Mode when an AC adapter is disconnected. Take a look at the full patch notes for this update below:
Added the following system functionality:
A Sort Software feature is available after selecting to view All Software from the HOME Menu
Software can be sorted by time last played, total play time, software title, and software publisher
The All Software option displays when there are 13 or more software icons on the HOME Menu
A View All Available News option is available within News, allowing you to view all news items currently being distributed
Go to News > Channel List > View More
Select from 15 new icons from the Splatoon™ 2 and Yoshi’s Crafted World™ games for your user
To edit your user icon, head to your My Page on the top left of the HOME Menu > Profile
A feature to Transfer Your Save Data is now available, allowing you to transfer your save data for individual games between your Nintendo Switch systems
Go to System Settings > Data Management > Transfer Your Save Data
Save data will not remain on your source system after the transfer process completes
A Zoom feature can be enabled from within System Settings
Go to System Settings > System to turn Zoom ON
Once enabled, you can use the Zoom feature by pressing the HOME Button twice
An option is available to prevent the system from waking from Sleep Mode when an AC adapter is disconnected
Go to System Settings > Sleep Mode > Wake When AC Adapter is Disconnected
This also applies when undocking your console
A VR Mode (3D Visuals) restriction is available within Parental Controls
This will also be available in the Nintendo Switch Parental Controls app through a later update
Go to System Settings > Parental Controls
These settings can also be changed from within Nintendo Labo Toy-Con 04: VR Kit
Hong Kong / Taiwan / South Korea is available for selection in Region
Go to System Settings > System > Region
The following names have been changed (functionality remains the same)
Save Data Cloud Backup > Save Data Cloud
Transfer Your User and Save Data > Transfer Your User Data
General system stability improvements to enhance the user’s experience.
An update for the Joy-Con controllers has also been released
To manually perform a system update, open the system settings menu, select system and then select update. To update the controllers, open the controllers and sensors menu and then select the option to update controllers.
Have you installed this update yet? Discovered anything else? Tell us in the comments.
