Back in February, Nintendo issued a patch for Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story + Bowser Jr.’s Journey to fix a bug which had been known to essentially break players’ save files. In an odd turn of events, this patch has actually brought with it a brand new issue, breaking one of the game’s other features.
Originally, if Mario was lost from your party in the Nimble Woods area of the game, and you then went on to save your progress, the game would glitch out and Luigi would be unable to move beyond your current section. This has been resolved – Nintendo even managed to save the game files for those already affected – but it has now been discovered that the game’s jukebox has stopped working correctly.
The jukebox allows players to enjoy a number of music tracks from the new game as well as original pieces from the DS release. Since the update, players have spotted that pressing ‘play’ on any of the original tracks now presents you with nothing but silence and, once you’ve done this, the other – originally working – tracks fail to load too. You can see it happening in this video below.
The issue can be resolved by simply exiting the jukebox and restarting it, but it’s odd to see a new glitch enter the game as a result of an unrelated update. Still, at least this one doesn’t ruin your entire save file.
It’s safe to say that we’re pretty huge Legend of Zelda fans here at Nintendo Life, so much so that we’d happily go out and about wearing our favourite hoodies, backpacks, or t-shirts featuring our favourite Hyrule characters. Taking things up a notch, though, are these pair of custom trainers featuring a particularly fresh Zelda Game Boy theme throughout.
As you can see, they feature Link’s Awakening artwork on the tongues, Game Boy text on the sides, and even the console’s various buttons are dotted around the edges. To top it off, they even came in a Game Boy-themed box, as shown off by their owner, YouTube’s head of gaming, Ryan Wyatt.
“But how do we get a pair exactly like this?”, we hear you ask. Well, judging by the branding on the box, it seems that they’re from Freaker Sneaks – a “company that creates unique, one of a kind hand-painted custom sneakers”. You can order custom designs on the store’s website by discussing your ideas and applying via a form.
What do you think? Are you a fan? Would you be tempted to get your own gaming-themed shoes? Let us know how you’d design yours in the comments.
If you’re yet to experience the Mega Man cartoon from the mid-nineties and feel a sudden urge to do exactly that, you’re in luck, because the entire show is available to watch – legally – on YouTube.
Produced by Capcom and Ruby-Spears Productions, the show aired for around a year or so back in 1994-95. It was based on the Mega Man games available at the time, and two seasons were completed and aired; a third was reportedly planned but cancelled before seeing the light of day.
We wouldn’t exactly describe it as being a must-watch show, but we challenge you to make it through every episode without wanting to shout “Mega Man” along to the theme tune. Here’s the very first episode:
If you’re wanting to check out the whole thing, it’s all available here via Mega Man Retro – Official Channel. There are playlists for each season as well as special compilations. Enjoy!
Did you watch this back in the day? Will you be checking out the full show? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
Switch celebrated its second birthday recently and Nintendo deserves a lot of credit for delivering a console to suit multiple purposes and lifestyles. Its success as a portable device relies on it being a hard-wearing piece of hardware and – on the whole – it’s a solid, durable bit of kit.
That’s not to say it’s perfect, though. From launch there were Joy-Con connection issues and there are a couple of oversights in the design – why is it even possible to attach Joy-Con the wrong way up? Hairline cracks seen by some owners around the heat vents are concerning, but by far the biggest complaint we’ve got is the infamous Joy-Con ‘drift’ – a phenomenon where hair, dust or debris somehow gets into the analogue stick mechanism causing movement to register without any pressure being applied.
A quick survey of Nintendo Life staff reveals that almost all of us have had problems at one time or another over the last 24 months. Some have sent controllers back to Nintendo for repair, while others resigned themselves to buying new ones (possibly using the faulty sticks as an excuse to pick up some of the more adventurous colours released since launch). While wear-and-tear will take its toll on even the sturdiest hardware, we don’t recall any other Nintendo hardware failing so rapidly. All-in-all, a bit shoddy, no?
While some games enable you to alter dead zones and work around the problem, most titles don’t which makes most games unplayable, unless you’re a sucker for watching Link repeatedly jog off cliff edges. New Switch owners are covered by the one-year manufacturer’s warranty but sending controllers back to Nintendo is a pain in the backside, especially if you don’t have another controller to tide you over while it’s at the repair shop.
If the problem crops up outside of that guarantee period – which is more likely anyway – replacing Joy-Con is a pricey prospect and infuriating, too, when only the stick is malfunctioning. Unwilling to fork out £40 for a dull grey replacement, the more industrious amongst us got down to a little DIY and found success with a variety of solutions (plus the odd failure, but we’ll get to that).
This guide should get you back on track if drift is getting you down (or just irritatingly to the left or right). These options increase in severity and we’ve provided a list of the necessary tools and items you’ll need for each solution. Following these steps will hopefully mean you can spend that money on a new game rather than a duplicate controller.
A word of warning
Disclaimer time! We recommend opening up your Joy-Con only as a last resort. Doing so will likely invalidate your warranty (assuming you still have one) and we obviously can’t take responsibility if you snap ribbons or strip the heads off screws.
That said, it’s a lump of plastic and electrical components, not Pandora’s Box; it’s really not as scary as you may think and you’ve got nothing to lose if you’re outside the guarantee period. While there are various tiny screws and clasps to negotiate – and it’s essential to take your time and have the correct tools at hand – you shouldn’t have too many problems doing all but the last solution on our list.
Let’s get cracking!
Solution 1: Update Firmware and Recalibrate
What You’ll Need:
Your Switch
An internet connection
Okay, we hate to be Captain Obvious, but you don’t want to jump to conclusions and open up your precious controllers if you can avoid it; the first thing to try is a good old-fashioned turn-it-off-and-on-again, then make sure the firmware is up-to-date and try recalibrating the sticks.
Head into System Settings from the main menu and scroll down the left menu to Controllers and Sensors.
2. Scroll down the right menu to Update Controllers – press this to download the latest firmware, just in case.
3. Next, scroll to Calibrate Control Sticks and give that a press. Follow the onscreen instructions to click the stick you wish to calibrate. The left one causes the most problems in-game, but we’ve had drift on both.
4. If your stick is working perfectly, you should see a green cross dead centre in the crosshair. Otherwise, a green circle will be hovering to one side – press ‘X’ to recalibrate.
5. The following screens instruct you to push in the cardinal directions and release, although this can be challenging if the drift is so severe that the circle doesn’t return to the centre. Persevere and it should register – you can always cancel out with ‘B’.
6. Finally rotate the stick several times, as instructed.
If your Joy-Con is now fully-functional, well done – you’ve saved yourself a lot of bother. However, if it’s still playing up, continue to the next stage…
If you’re a fan of the rather excellent Hyper Light Drifter, and just so happen to like collecting physical games on Switch, then this is absolutely the article for you.
The game’s publisher, Abylight Studios, has revealed that a physical edition of the game may well be on the way. The news comes from an exchange on Twitter, where the studio responded to a fan’s question on the matter. Publicly stating that they’re “working on it” sounds very promising to us.
It was only a couple of days ago that we first heard about Hyper Light Drifter developer Heart Machine’s next project, Solar Ash Kingdom. With a new game on the way and the potential for this physical release, it’s definitely an exciting time for fans of the developer’s work.
Have you been hoping for a physical edition of Hyper Light Drifter? Will you pick it up if it does arrive? Let us know in the comments.
The latest batch of My Nintendo game discounts for Europe has now gone live, giving players the usual chance to grab some 3DS and Wii U games at discounted prices.
There are five games up for grabs this time around, including the likes of Xenoblade and Metroid. As always, you can take advantage of these discounts by simply using the required Gold or Platinum My Nintendo Points listed below.
Will you be taking advantage of any of these offers? Remember, your Gold Points can also be spent on Switch software directly from the eShop or a Nintendo Switch Online subscription, too.
Last weekend played host to both the Tetris 99 Grand Prix in Europe, and the Tetris 99 Maximus Cup in North America, both of which gave players the chance to earn a lovely 999 My Nintendo Gold Points. It seems that European players have started to receive their rewards, so make sure to check your inboxes.
Participants have started to share their good fortunes on social media and the like, indicating that Nintendo has already issued the Gold Points to the lucky 999 players. Reddit user Hegarol says “I just got an email from Nintendo that I won 999 gold coins. Already added to my MyNintendo Account.”
The European version of the competition is a random draw, with all those who managed to claim one victory or more being entered into a raffle. If you’ve been chosen, you should find an email waiting for you in your inbox, similar to the message above; if you haven’t been as lucky, you’ll notice a message on your My Nintendo account saying the following:
“Kudos for achieving TETRIS MAXIMUS during the TETRIS® 99 Grand Prix! Sadly, you missed out on the points this time. But don’t worry! More events and chances to win prizes are coming soon!”
It would seem that North American players might have to wait a little longer, perhaps thanks to the different format for that region’s competition. Either way, good luck if you took part – we hope you have some delicious Gold Points waiting for you.
‘Gather Around’ everyone, Google commands. Unless you’ve been actively avoiding it, you’ve probably heard about the company’s plans to reveal long-rumoured hardware at this year’s Game Developers Conference taking place in San Francisco next week. The latest teaser for the keynote – the company’s first at GDC since it began attending – seems to suggest a serious attempt to court console gamers, with highly detailed environments that nod towards a wide range of genres shown as the camera slowly approaches a grand, light-filled entrance…
As teasers go, it’s a good one, casting viewers themselves as ‘the future of gaming’. That phrase carries the caustic odour of PR, but we’d assume the web giant has better instincts than to prime an audience with hyperbole before unveiling some sort of Android-based box that streams mobile games to the telly. All evidence points to something more substantial, and that ‘Gather Around’ tagline implies some sort of social angle, too.
The exact form the hardware will take is still unknown, and while it could well be a big box of tech along the lines of the Xbox One X, that would feel out of step with the direction the industry is headed. The success of PS4 proves there’s still a huge appetite for a big console running hot under the TV, but Switch has shown that people are also eager for convenient devices that integrate better with their mobile habits.
With that in mind, it’s arguable that Google’s hardware may resemble a souped-up Home box (the company’s smart speaker and digital assistant), incorporating elements of its Chromecast dongles; a hub that pairs with a controller (of which a patent surfaced last week) designed to stream games running remotely to the TV or to Chrome-enabled devices around the house via its imaginatively titled Project Stream tech.
Naysayers may point to Apple’s rumoured subscription-based service for App Store games or Amazon Game Studios’ disappointing output despite grand overtures for several years and conclude that this announcement is simply marketing fluff. It’s hard to argue that those giant corporations talk the talk when it comes to games, but have largely failed to deliver on their promises; for the most part, PC and console-level experiences remain in those domains. That being the case, should Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft be worried about Google blowing its own trumpet, heralding the future of the medium?
Well, third place Microsoft should probably be most concerned. The company has long been touting the virtues of streaming via its xCloud service and whispers of proposed partnerships with Nintendo, in whatever capacity, suggest it’s on the back foot already – the last thing they need is another rival platform to consider when underlining the Xbox brand’s Unique Selling Points in its internal PowerPoint presentations.
Conversely, Sony has done very well this generation by selling a loud and proud ‘traditional’ console. This no doubt gives the company confidence going forward with plans for PS5, whatever form that will take, safe in the knowledge that it’s got an excellent foundation to build upon if it can only avoid the hubris that characterised the PS3 launch.
Nintendo, we’d argue, is somewhere in the middle. On the face of it, a strong catalogue of IP helps insulate the company to an extent. The success of both 3DS and now Switch provides a tremendous financial cushion, too – Switch’s inevitable successor could fail horrifically and there’d still be plenty of juice in the tank to rejoin the race.
Perhaps the biggest threat to the Kyoto company is the social, family angle Google seems to be playing, and the fact that the Blue Ocean strategy that served Nintendo well with Wii and Switch won’t be effective against such an omnipresent corporation. As family-friendly as the Switch is, Nintendo could face direct competition from a company whose name has become a verb, the world’s homepage, the first port of call for millions of us across the internet. Microsoft can only dream that you’d ‘Bing’ train times or closing time at the nearest pub. Google, and its parent company Alphabet, has access to every family member across their favourite devices.
Nintendo simply can’t compete with that. Google’s online ubiquity leaves fingerprints on nearly every digital media device that isn’t a video game console, with access to an enormous potential audience. Worldwide figures indicate there’s a good chance (over 60%) you’re reading these very words on Google’s browser, with the next most popular option being Apple’s Safari with approximately a quarter of Chrome’s user share; millions of people are already intimately familiar with Chrome. As boundaries blur between rival tech, there’s little need for an in-house developed device if Google has Trojan-horsed its content delivery system onto competitors’ products; there are already millions of people who own an iPhone but rely on Google’s amazing iOS-based ecosystem of apps.
Nintendo itself has contributed to the merging of game spaces, with the success of Switch’s core hybrid concept proving the appetite for full-blooded video games on-the-go. Nintendo, though, has only a minuscule fraction of Google’s presence across all devices – a handful of successful mobile games can hardly be compared to something as far-reaching as Chrome. Nintendo’s initially salty relationship with Apple arguably blossomed thanks to the very different spheres those companies operate in (and Nintendo’s need to tap into the audience on mobile devices); Google looks to be encroaching on traditional video game turf, potentially offering something the big companies have thus far failed to.
The ability to stream full-sized AAA games without noticeable lag seemed like pure fiction until very recently, despite streaming being trumpeted as the ‘next big thing’ for what feels like years. Sony acquired Gaikai in 2012 and channelled its know-how into Remote Play, Share Play and PlayStation Now. By all accounts, Sony’s streaming solution is far from the best way to play those games, with plenty of latency kinks left to iron out. Almost everything we’ve seen to date, including Switch’s streaming-only Resident Evil 7 and Assassin’s Creed Odyssey editions in Japan, points to the technology not being ‘there’ just yet.
However, the general consensus on Project Stream’s invite-only beta of Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed Odysseyseems to be that it works surprisingly well, as long as you’ve got decent internet. That’s an unavoidable caveat for streamed content, but reports have been broadly positive, with the game playing solidly across a range of devices through a browser. With so many tendrils spilling out onto online-connected devices across the world, Google is in a position to truly make good on the prospect of the all-encompassing ‘X box’ that Microsoft has tried, and arguably failed, to create ever since joining the industry.
While that may sound ominous, the big three video game companies might take solace in the fact that Google has a history of internal projects failing over time. Most of its big successes – Drive, Docs, YouTube – have come about through acquisitions. Internal developments such as Buzz, Plus, Hangouts, Wave and YouTube Gaming have a far patchier hit rate. Despite its incredible resources and buying power, the company’s history is littered with failed projects. Is this gaming push going to be any different?
The crucial thing, though, is that Google has the capital to fail repeatedly and keep on trying; it only needs one hit to land and the gaming landscape could change very quickly. And it can hire the best people; just yesterday Jade Raymond, famed producer of EA’s The Sims Online and Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed and Watch Dogs, tweeted that she’d joined Google:
Of course, Amazon hired (and subsequently lost) some top game developers, too, so Raymond’s appointment hardly ensures success, but it’s an indication of how seriously Google is taking its entrance into the gaming arena proper. Despite a history of failed projects, it’s a tenacious company with the resources to brute force its way in.
Perhaps – just perhaps – the technology has caught up and Google is poised to make a big splash at GDC. Rumours that Sega is joining Ubisoft in partnering with Google don’t tell us much – the ability to buy Sonic the Hedgehog for the umpteenth time on this new hardware would surprise precisely no-one. The teaser’s got our attention, though, and you can be sure all the big players in the industry will be keeping a close eye on what Google has to say on 19th March. We’ll see next Tuesday.
Have you have good experiences with streaming games? Do you think this potential hardware from Google will make Nintendo nervous? Share your thoughts below.
French developer Dotemu, the team behind the excellent Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap remake and the upcoming Streets of Rage 4 (we still can’t quite believe that’s a real ‘thing’), has released the first alpha-state footage of Windjammers 2, the sequel to Data East’s original Neo Geo game from 1994.
As you can see from the above footage, it retains the perspective of the original and looks to preserve the gameplay, but it’s been given a fresh lick of paint. Old favourites Mita and Wessel are joined by newcomers Max and Grace, and there are new abilities on show, too. According to the developer:
Competitors can incorporate all-new jumps, smashes, and slapshots into the all-out performances they put up on the court, making Windjammers 2 a true elevation of the series’ style of action so revered it’s found a home among the fighting game esports community.
For those unfamiliar with Windjammers, it’s an arcade-style sports game that involves throwing a flying disc at an opponent’s goal zone in a top-down court. A player can only hold a disc for a few seconds during which they are unable to move. The resulting air hockey-esque experience wasn’t overly well received back in the day, but has steadily gained popularity over the years, especially in France where it’s become a true cult classic thanks to a thriving competitive scene.
This updated version seems to be receiving a lot of care and attention, looking lovely already despite being in an unfinished state. We’ve grabbed a few screens from the trailer for your perusal below:
DotEmu published the original game on Switch, so there’s plenty of time to check that out before this drops at an unspecified date in 2019.
Are you a fan of the disc-slinging original? Like the look of this sequel? Give us a shout in the comments.
Rebellion has today announced a small avalanche of games in its Sniper Elite series, and at least two of them are headed to Switch.
The news comes from a Sniper Elite Development Update video, where Rebellion’s CEO and co-founder Jason Kingsley confirmed that four games are currently in development for the tactical shooter franchise: Sniper Elite V2 Remastered (the original, of which, actually appeared on Wii U back in the day), Sniper Elite 3 Ultimate Edition especially for Switch, a new, standalone Sniper Elite game for VR devices, and the next major title in the series as a follow-up to Sniper Elite 4.
The first two in that list have been confirmed to be headed to Nintendo’s machine and we’ve got the lowdown on both of them for you below (we should note that talk of 4K resolution and HDR support is, of course, not relating to the Switch version):
Sniper Elite V2 Remastered: As announced in a stunning gameplay trailer, Sniper Elite V2 Remastered launches on PS4, Xbox One, PC and Nintendo Switch in 2019. Fans can return to Berlin and revisit an epic campaign set in the final moments of World War 2. Offering stunningly enhanced graphics, 4K resolution and HDR display, this is the visually definitive version of Sniper Elite V2. It will introduce new playable characters, a brand new photo mode, expanded online multiplayer for up to 16 combatants, as well as all the content ever released for the game. Sniper Elite V2 Remastered will be released both digitally and at retail later this year.
Some Sniper Elite V2 Remastered screenshots for your enjoyment:
And now on to Sniper Elite 3 (trailer at top of article):
Sniper Elite 3 Ultimate Edition: Sniper Elite 3 Ultimate Edition is also coming to the Switch in 2019, offering intense sniping in soaring temperatures, all on the go. This feature-complete experience includes all the additional content ever released for the game, and Switch-exclusive local wireless multiplayer and motion controls. Fans can look out for more details soon.
Platforms have not yet been announced for the upcoming mainline entry mentioned above, and new details aren’t expected to be shared on that project until 2020, so it’s unclear whether or not that one also stands a chance of launching on Switch. Still, we’ll happily take the announcements we have.
Are you a Sniper Elite fan? Are you excited to experience the franchise on Switch for the first time? Make sure to let us know down below in the comments.
