Yoshi’s Crafted World is just ten days away from release, with a worldwide launch planned for 29th March. We’re eagerly awaiting the day we can finally get stuck into everything it has to offer, but until then, we might just find ourselves watching this little video over and over again.
Shared by Twitter user @supino403, this tweet shows off a charming little advertisement for the game in Japan. Rather than sticking to the usual fliers or posters you might spot in your local gaming store, it appears that Nintendo has opted to go for a clever, folded paper system, replicating the mechanics found within the game. Awh.
We can’t help but feel like this would be a perfect design for a small instruction manual included with the physical version of the game. We know it’ll never happen, but imagine having all of the controls and a little bit of background info presented to you on one of these to get you in the mood for the game. Oh manuals, how we miss you.
If you’re in the mood for picking up a Nintendo Switch-related bargain, this one-day deal from Amazon UK might be just the thing you were looking for.
The retailer is hosting an offer from now until midnight tonight (19th March) which takes £5 off qualifying orders over £25. Luckily for Nintendo fans, plenty of Switch games and consoles are included as qualifying products; we’ve gathered some of the best deals we could find for you below (prices include the £5 reduction):
Nintendo Switch Console Deals
– Nintendo Switch (Grey) – £273.00 – Nintendo Switch (Grey) with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – £304.99 – Nintendo Switch (Grey) with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – £294.99 – Nintendo Switch (Neon Red/Blue) with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – £294.99 – Nintendo Switch (Neon Red/Blue) with Super Mario Odyssey – £294.99 – Nintendo Switch Neon (Grey) with Super Mario Odyssey – £294.99
Nintendo Switch Game Deals
– Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – £36.99 – Super Mario Odyssey – £34.99 – Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze – £34.99 – New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe – £37.99 – Super Mario Party – £37.99 – Super Smash Bros. Ultimate – £39.99 – Splatoon 2 – £36.99 – Super Mario Maker 2 (Pre-Order) – £44.99 – Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker – £24.99 – LEGO Harry Potter Collection – £20.50 – Diablo Eternal Collection – £36.99 – Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy – £22.99 – Just Dance 2019 – £24.99 – The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – £32.99 – Mario Tennis Aces – £33.85 – 1-2-Switch – £27.00 – Octopath Traveler – £34.00
Are any of these prices tempting? Let us know if you plan on picking any of these up in the comments and remember that the deals are only valid today!
It’s Saturday morning and we’re relaxing on the sofa with a coffee, idly scrolling through Twitter while MTV Classics plays in the background. The 1992 video for Roy Orbison’s posthumously released track ‘I Drove All Night’ plays. Now, we’re partial to Roy, the American singer-songwriter behind such classics as ‘You Got It’ and ‘In Dreams’. He rose to fame in the ‘60s and was in the midst of a career renaissance in 1988 when a heart attack took him at the age of 52. His back catalogue enjoyed a revival shortly afterwards, thanks partly to the prominent use of his signature track in the hit film Pretty Woman. Consequently, despite hailing from an earlier generation, Orbison’s songs fire up late ‘80s, early ‘90s nostalgia for us in the same way as double denim and Hypercolor t-shirts.
Mention his name in conversation and ‘video games’ are unlikely to come up. Nintendo fans might be able to dredge up the trivia nugget that he (and his trademark glasses) inspired his namesake Koopa Kid courtesy of Nintendo of America’s English translation of Super Mario Bros. 3, but the musician was from a different generation; an analogue generation.
Owing to the fact he’d been dead for four years at the time of production, a spectral Orbison appears in the ‘I Drove All Night’ video via snippets of distorted archival footage while Jason Priestley and Jennifer Connelly cavort in moody monochrome. An impossibly attractive couple – the objects of approximately 98% of teenage crushes of the era – Priestley does his best James Dean impression behind the wheel as he drives to meet Connelly in the middle of the desert. On arrival, the two young stars then frolic on the car bonnet and other locations, generally enjoying each other’s company for the rest of the song.
As we took this nostalgia trip and cursed the ravages of Mother Time, we suddenly bolted upright at a brief shot of a van the two lovers ride past, spilling our coffee as we did a cartoon-style double-take. No, it couldn’t be. Grabbing the remote we hit rewind just to make sure and there it was, plain as day:
What the…?
Skip to 3:14 in the video to see for yourself. For some reason – for the briefest of moments – Roy Orbison was plugging Super Mario Bros. from beyond the grave. Other split-second references occur throughout the video:
This is perplexing for multiple reasons. Even if he was an avid gamer (which seems unlikely), of all the potential artists that might have prompted early ‘90s kids to race down to their nearest gaming emporium and pick up the latest release, Roy ‘Only-the-Lonely’ Orbison would have been verylow down the list – somewhere between Ringo Starr and your gran. We can’t imagine his seal of approval being the envy of consumer electronics brands in any decade, least of all the too-cool-for-school ‘90s. MC Hammer? Perhaps. Vanilla Ice? At a push, but Roy Orbison!? Too square, too operatic, and – frankly – too dead. Who on earth thought this would be a fruitful crossover for either party? We had to know, and the rest of our morning was spent in search of an explanation.
We should remember that this period was arguably ‘peak’ Mario – or perhaps more accurately, peak Nintendo. The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! was on TV, The Wizard had whipped up incredible levels of anticipation for Super Mario Bros. 3 before it landed in the US, and the summer of ’91 saw the arrival of the Super Nintendo with Super Mario World (PAL territories would have to wait until the following year). Sure, John Connor might have mocked the mainstream Nintendo kids in Terminator 2 while he skipped school and ripped off ATMs in his Public Enemy t-shirt, but he was being hunted by a liquid metal killing machine; the average kid his age was Mario mad.
Consequently, the plumber appeared in all sorts of places up until 1993 when the failure of the infamous Bob Hoskins live-action movie made Nintendo realise its brand could be damaged through hasty tie-ins. It put the brakes on such practices, and has arguably only recently begun branching out again with theme parks and animated movie deals.
This haphazard approach to licencing presumably enabled MCA Records to get its hands on the plumber’s likeness to promote a compilation album that you may or may not be familiar with.
Nintendo: White Knuckle Scorin’ is a very strange album, to say the least. Ten tracks long, it includes ‘I Drove All Night’ and it, too, gets a reference in the video (skip to 2:38). While the cover couldn’t be more ‘90s if it tried, only the opening song by Jellyfish, ‘Ignorance is Bliss’, has any lyrical ties whatsoever to Super Mario. The remainder of the compilation is apparently made up of random tracks MCA Records had lying around the place, thrown onto a Nintendo-labelled disc because, well, those idiot kids will buy anything plastered with Mario’s face, won’t they?!
Kotaku ran a short article on the album eight years back after Negative World posted some highlights, if they can be called such, of a short comic that came in the album sleeve. This comic weaves the song titles into a contrived narrative featuring Mario and friends. Each title is crowbarred awkwardly into one of the characters’ speech bubbles and, for the particularly slow reader, another character invariably drives the point home with a knowing ‘Song cue’.
Closer examination of the comic reveals the ostensive reason for the entire endeavour – it’s an ill-conceived pro-literacy project. Set in Dinosaur Land, Yoshi and the Koopa Kids learn to read courtesy of Princess Peach (or Toadstool here), while perennial loser Bowser subscribes to the mantra ‘ignorance is bliss’ (song cue).
It’s complete nonsense but fascinating all-at-once; a hodgepodge of ‘90s vernacular and a (presumably mandated) selection of hilariously inappropriate ‘big’ words. For example, Princess Toadstool, the ‘babe’ with the ‘dynamite bod’, stuffs magical spell book pages down her ‘décolletage’. Head over to Negative World for a more thorough look at the liberties taken with your favourite video game characters, but suffice it to say, it’s utter rubbish.
Mario getting turned on is not something we want to think about.
You’ve got to hand it to whoever knocked this up, though; effort has gone into this rubbish. Stringing together such woefully unrelated tracks in a Mario-branded pro-literacy wrapper was a thankless task. The result is an intriguing oddity from the height of Mario mania, for sure, but why exactly were these songs thrown together on the disc? Were there no more fitting alternatives? Sure, Dire Straits were a big deal at the time, but Mark Knopfler’s sombre reflection of a violent clash during the UK miner’s strike was even less likely to win over the target demographic than Roy’s contribution. Stranger still, Virgin Records – not MCA – held the rights to Orbison’s back catalogue, so getting this song on its Nintendo compilation involved work on MCA’s part, certainly more than simply sweeping the recording studio floor for random offcuts and B-sides.
Examination of ‘I Drove All Night’s’ single sleeve provides a vital clue. On the reverse we found the following dedication from Orbison’s wife:
Bobby Brooks was Roy’s agent and friend. I am so pleased that Roy’s song, “I Drove All Night” pays tribute to Bobby’s memory. Roy always felt that children are our future. The work of the Bobby Brooks Foundation will promote literacy in children and ensure a more promising future for us all.
The single features two ‘B-sides’, both by other artists taken from White Knuckle Scorin’. Further investigation of this Bobby Brooks character uncovered a contemporary L.A. Times article from November 1991 highlighting the release of both the single and White Knuckle Scorin’ itself (unfortunately, European readers may have trouble accessing the article due to geo-locking).
Despite a few inaccuracies (the article claims White Knuckle Scorin’ is “a soundtrack album for a new Nintendo video game”), it sheds some light on the thinking behind the project. Bobby Brooks was an agent for various artists; ‘a tremendous guy, a very funny man’ according to another of his clients, Eric Clapton. Brooks was tragically killed in the same 1990 helicopter crash that also claimed legendary guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan. According to the article, White Knuckle Scorin’ was the brainchild of MCA Chairman Al Teller – a somewhat confused attempt to fuse a tribute to the departed Brooks with a compilation album to ‘tap the Nintendo youth market’.
In addition to playing Nintendo, literacy was apparently a cause close to Brooks’ heart and provided the album’s wholesome raison d’être, with a cut of proceeds going to form a foundation in his honour. It seems that Bobby Brooks had worked (in some capacity) with the majority of the featured artists on the compilation; the tangential link between this strange selection of songs.
The peculiar dual role of ‘Nintendo-branded album for the cool kids’ and tribute to Brooks seems to have left the album in an awkward no-man’s land, satisfying neither function. None of the songs are an obvious fit for the ‘Nintendo youth’ demographic Al Teller was reportedly targeting, although it’s conceivable the two objectives were inextricable. If the Nintendo licence were contingent on the pro-literacy angle provided by the Brooks connection (therefore limiting the tracks MCA had to work with), that would provide a reasonable explanation for this conceptually odd Nintendo tie-in that features veteran folk rockers Crosby, Stills & Nash rubbing shoulders with Sheena Easton, while Roy Orbison warbles “I drove all night… to make love to you”. We all know sex sells, but really?
Which brings us back to the video. Perhaps MCA was contractually obliged to include Nintendo references in it or maybe stipulations from Virgin Records or Orbison’s widow prevented Mario from being jammed into every frame. Alternatively, perhaps Nintendo got cold feet with the ‘love-making’ references and put the brakes on the collaboration. Its licencing department vetting procedures evidently weren’t so stringent in those days, but you’d assume MCA would want more than some blink-and-you’ll-miss-them White Knuckle Scorin’ references in the final product. It’s all very odd indeed.
We encourage you to check out the eclectic mix yourself. Tracking down your very own copy is possible, although we’d recommend just having a listen to this YouTube playlist instead. Having solved the mystery of Roy Orbison’s posthumous endorsement of the House of Mario to our satisfaction, the album made for an appropriately surreal end to a surprising morning.
Join us next week when we’ll be hunting obscure Metroid references in Miami Sound Machine lyrics.
In a news story we never expected to write (but one that we’re incredibly happy to be doing nonetheless), the internet-famous 70-year-old Pokémon GO player Chen San Yuan was recently presented on stage as a brand ambassador for Taiwanese electronics giant ASUS.
If that sentence has just flown over your head faster than a soaring Pidgeot, let us explain. Chen San Yuan first rose to fame last summer, when photos of him and his bike, which could hold eleven smartphones at one time, were shared around the internet. He was using this strange contraption to play Pokémon GO across multiple accounts all at the same time. And people loved it.
Things got weirder still when he was later spotted wearing a new, full-body rig to carry all of the phones whilst walking about. His bike received modifications, too, and he soon added even more phones to his lineup.
It seems that ASUS is a fan of his work, hiring him to come out on stage to promote the new Zenfone Max Pro M2. As you can see in the images below, his bike rig has now been transformed to include 21 versions of the new smartphone. These ‘influencers’ getting all of their products for free these days…
Completely out of the blue, Nintendo has revealed that a Nindies Showcase video presentation is on the way later this week.
The show will air this Wednesday, 20th March at 9am PT / 12pm ET (so that’s 4pm GMT / 5pm CET). According to a brief press release, the show will feature “roughly 30 minutes of information on indie games coming to Nintendo Switch”.
Indie publisher Sold Out has revealed the western release date for Little Friends: Dogs & Cats, a Nintendogs-like game coming exclusively to Switch. You’ll be able to get your furry paws on it from 28th May.
The game arrived on Switch in Japan last December, with this western release being confirmed just last month. If you’ve missed our coverage of the title before now, a new press release has shared the following game description:
Developed by Imagineer, Little Friends: Dogs & Cats is the first virtual pet simulator for Nintendo Switch. Choose from a variety of puppies and kittens to pet, feed, walk and play with in an adorable pet sim that’s fun for all ages. Take your Little Friends for walks, compete in the flying disc tournament and play with their favourite toys to develop a long-lasting friendship. Or dress them up in over 600 stylish accessories to make them look their best!
If you can’t wait for that May release date, those attending PAX East later this month in the US, and anyone heading to EGX Rezzed in the UK next month, will be able to go hands-on with the English version for the very first time.
Have you been looking forward to this one? Will you be picking up a copy this May? Tell us below.
Super Real Mahjong PV has only been available on Nintendo Switch for a matter of days, but the game has already been pulled from the eShop after several scenes of nudity were spotted by players.
Super Real Mahjong is a series of arcade mahjong titles made by SETA Corporation, with many of its games being ported to the Sega Saturn (although some did make it to the Super Famicom, too). PV is a port of Super Real Mahjong P5, and it recently launched on the Japanese Switch eShop.
Nudity is featured throughout the series’ arcade releases, so the Switch port has been heavily censored with beams of light being used to hide any offending material. These lights can be seen in various scenes contained with the game.
Unfortuantely, these beams weren’t always 100% accurate in their placement, resulting in certain graphical details slipping through when they should have been fully covered. You can see an example here via Twitter user, QzakuSEGA (but be warned that the image featured may not be suitable for everyone, and is certainly NSFW).
The team behind the Switch release, Mighty Craft Co., has now issued an official statement on the matter, informing fans that the entire game is being corrected and will be once again sent to Nintendo for re-examination. Mighty Craft hopes to have the game back on the eShop next week.
Of course, the question remains: how did the game get by Nintendo’s quality assurance in the first place? We’ll leave that one for you folks to decide in the comments.
Nintendo has just released a demo for the hugely popular online shooter Splatoon 2, giving new Inklings a chance to dip their toe in the ink before they buy. That’s not the only benefit, though, as you’re about to find out.
The demo will allow players to jump into 4-on-4 Turf War battles, Salmon Run, League Battle, and Ranked Battle modes online with friends and other players who own the full game. If you’ve been wondering what all the fuss is about, this is a perfect opportunity to check out the gameplay, customisation options and more that have made the game such a success.
The demo is available to download from the Nintendo eShop as we speak and is scheduled to go live tomorrow; this means that you can download the demo ready in advance and jump into the action immediately when it fully kicks in.
Of course, you need an online subscription to play Splatoon 2 online, so Nintendo is also giving anyone who downloads the demo a seven day trial of the Switch Online service. You can use this trial even if you’ve already had a previous trial for the service – make sure to keep an eye on your email account for a code if you download the demo.
The demo will go live from 2pm GMT / 7am PT tomorrow for exactly one week (so until the same time on 25th March).
On top of all this, players who fall in love with the demo can pick up the full game from the eShop at 20% off in North America, or at 33% off in Europe – as long as you download it during the demo period. As an extra bonus, you’ll even be able to transfer your demo progress over.
Have you been putting off a Splatoon 2 purchase? Will this demo finally make you take the plunge and see what it’s all about? Let us know if you’ll be giving it a go in the comments.
Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp has been gracing our mobile screens for just over a year now, no doubt tiding over many of the series’ fans while we wait for the highly anticipated Switch game due later this year. It’s a solid experience for smartphones, and indeed for the franchise, but the game could have been something very different entirely.
During its development, Pocket Camp faced several issues. Originally, the game was planned to release in autumn of 2016, but was soon pushed back to a new expected launch date of March 2017. The month of March soon arrived without any footage or solid information, though, and it was once again delayed during an investors meeting.
Eventually, in October 2017, the game was finally revealed to be Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp and was to feature gameplay elements that were typical of the series. Had the game launched during its original schedule, however, things would have been very different, as discovered by video game researcher and archiver, Liam Robertson, in this DidYouKnowGaming? video.
Robertson explains that Nintendo was originally working on something internally known as Animal Crossing: Town Planner, which was described as a game in which players could build and manage their own towns from scratch, with other features such as light economy management elements also being included. Players would be able to visit the towns of their friends and trade items over the internet.
After being in development for a year it was reportedly falling short of Nintendo’s standards, being “too bare bones and simplistic”, and was eventually replaced with the ideas present in Pocket Camp. You can learn more about it in the full video below, which also explores how different Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, Project Hammer, Splatoon, and Tokyo Mirage Sessions FE might have been under different circumstances.
Do you enjoy playing Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp? Are you glad that this early idea was scrapped, or would you have liked the game to be as it was originally intended? Feel free to share your thoughts with us below.
If you love Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and glorious pieces of gaming hardware as much as we do, you’ll probably have a pretty hard time resisting this one. A Kickstarter crowdfunding project has recently launched offering backers a custom Switch Pro Controller featuring any character design they like from the game, and it’s proving to be mighty popular.
Initially, the project had a goal of $7,500 – controllers will be made for every character regardless of whether or not someone chooses them, all to be included in a special artbook release – but this target was smashed in just four and a half hours. At the time of writing, total funds are nearing $25,000 with 27 days still left to go.
So how exactly does it work? Well, as well as cheaper options which will give you a discount on the finished book and put your name in the credits, the main backing option (set at $85) lets you pick up a customised Pro Controller featuring whichever character you like. You can see some more mock-ups below.
The crowdfunding page notes that the base controllers are not official Nintendo Pro Controllers – although you can upgrade to one of those at extra cost. The controllers used look and function almost the same, although amiibo functionality is not supported.
You can learn more about this and get your own controller via the Kickstarter link here.
Do you like the look of these? Will you be picking up your own? Let us know in the comments.
