Dragalia Lost has been a tremendous success for Nintendo and Cygames since its limited launch in September. Within the first two weeks, it outperformed Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp and went on to become Nintendo’s second largest mobile launch in the US and Japan.
According to the latest data from Sensor Tower, the game has now grossed $50 million in player spending across the App Store and Google Play in its first 70 days. More than half of this (60 percent, to be precise) is tied to the iOS player base. In contrast, Fire Emblem Heroes – the most successful Nintendo mobile game so far – made $75.8 million in the same amount of time. However, Dragalia Lost is ahead in terms of revenue per download – with an average of $22 spent on the game per install compared to Fire Emblem players who have spent roughly $9.
Once again, the top two countries spending money on Dragalia Lost are Japan and the US. Japan makes up around 66 percent of total revenue (per install this equates to roughly $35) and the US represents about 18 percent of player spending, with the average of each transaction at the $10 mark. Currently, the title is ranked the 28th game on the Japanese App Store in terms of revenue, and in the US it’s 116 on the charts.
Have you made a transaction in Dragalia Lost? Are you still waiting for it to be released in your region? Tell us below.
If you’re willing to take a break from Super Smash Bros. Ultimate later next week, you might be able to allocate some time to the next Splatfest in Splatoon 2. The worldwide event will be a Super Smash Bros. special, asking players to side with heroes or villains.
The event starts on 14th December in the US and will take place in Japan on 15th December. Europe’s start date will be announced shortly. Here’s the official tweet from the Nintendo Versus Twitter account:
Will you take some time out from Smash Ultimate to participate in this upcoming Splatfest? Which side will you be choosing? Tell us in the comments.
Celebrate The Game Awards with winning deals on select digital titles for Nintendo Switch
The Game Awards highlights some of the biggest games of the year, and Nintendo is inviting fans to join in on the celebrations with big discounts on some fan-favorite games. From now until Dec. 10 at 8:59 a.m. PT, Nintendo is offering up to 50 percent off select Nintendo Switch digital titles, including games that have been nominated for awards and more.
Fans can visit Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch or Nintendo.com/tga now for discounts on digital versions of the Super Mario Odyssey game, which won “Best Family Game” at The Game Awards 2017; Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, which won “Best Action Game” at The Game Awards 2017; Diablo III: Eternal Collection, which recently launched for the Nintendo Switch system in November; and the critically acclaimed role-playing game Xenoblade Chronicles 2. Other digital games featured in the sale that are nominated for awards at tonight’s The Game Awards include CELESTE (nominated for “Game of the Year” and “Best Independent Game,” among others), Dead Cells (nominated for “Best Action Game,” among others), Starlink: Battle for Atlas Digital Edition (nominated for “Best Family Game”) and Mega Man 11 (nominated for “Best Action Game”).
“Nintendo is joining The Game Awards today in celebrating creative and technical excellence in the video game industry,” said Doug Bowser, Nintendo of America’s Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing. “With discounts on several digital games in Nintendo eShop from Nintendo and our publishing partners around the world, many of which are nominated for awards in this year’s show, we are excited to be giving fans the opportunity to enjoy these celebrated games at a great value.”
All games included in the sale will be available for purchase in Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch or directly at https://www.nintendo.com/tga. My Nintendo members will also earn Gold Points on qualifying purchases. Visit https://www.youtube.com/thegameawards to tune into The Game Awards, which streams live tonight beginning at 5:30 p.m. PT.
If you’re heading to stores this holiday, you can also pick up some additional deals on physical products. Nintendo’s holiday deals include a yellow-and-red Nintendo 2DS system with the Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS game pre-installed at a suggested retail price of only $79.99. Nintendo also recently launched a set of two Joy-Con Wheel accessories. To check out Nintendo’s interactive holiday gift guide, visit https://happyholidays.nintendo.com/.
Remember that Nintendo Switch and Nintendo 3DS family of systems feature parental controls that let adults manage the content their children can access. For more information about other features, visit https://www.nintendo.com/switch/.
Season 7 has arrived with the smash of a mysterious iceberg! Winter has brought many changes to the Fortnite map for you to explore. Ziplines are a new way to help you travel to and from high terrain. For you chill and thrill seekers, the new Frosty Flights location and Expedition outposts are outfitted with the new Stormwing planes so you can take to the skies. There are tons of new areas to venture to and secrets to uncover, so stay frosty.
Battle Pass
A new season also means a brand-new Battle Pass:
Over 100 new exclusive rewards are ready for you to unlock, and it still costs the same 950 V-bucks.
This season, you get the Zenith and Lynx progressive outfits instantly when you purchase the Battle Pass, both of which can level-up to unlock new styles.
A new item type was also added: Wraps! These allow you to customize your weapons and vehicles with all new looks to match and complement your favorite outfits.
Battle Pass owners will also get early access to their own island in Creative: a brand-new place for you to build your dream Fortnite with your friends.
Please note that due to the holiday break this winter, Season 7 will be extended by two weeks and end on February 28. There will still be new updates coming out during that break period bringing new items and challenges. You can plan on more holiday cheer to hit before the New Year as well!
Nintendo and Marvel unite for Nintendo Switch Exclusive
The Nintendo Switch video game system is about to get a lot more heroic. MARVEL ULTIMATE ALLIANCE 3: The Black Order is heading exclusively to the Nintendo Switch system for Super Hero gaming action at home or on the go. The new game, which arrives nearly 10 years after the previous installment in the series, is being developed by KOEI TECMO GAMES/Team NINJA and published by Nintendo. Nintendo made the announcement with a trailer shown during The Game Awards in Los Angeles.
MARVEL ULTIMATE ALLIANCE 3: The Black Order brings together Super Heroes and Super Villains from across the Marvel Universe to battle for the limitless power of the Infinity Gauntlet, one Stone at a time. This unprecedented team of characters must use their unique superpowers to defeat the mad cosmic tyrant Thanos and his ruthless warmasters, The Black Order. The game will feature an original story and a playable cast of dozens of Marvel Super Heroes, including the Avengers, the X-Men, and—for the first time in series history—the Guardians of the Galaxy.
The new game features the same kind of action-RPG gameplay that made the franchise such a hit over a decade ago. In MARVEL ULTIMATE ALLIANCE 3: The Black Order, up to four players can drop in for co-op battles in a variety of ways: They can play online*, link up offline via local wireless or pass a Joy-Con controller to a friend to join the team. With another pair of Joy-Con (sold separately), four players can team up on one system. In addition to the series’ traditional perspective, the new entry will let players select a dynamic, zoomed-in heroic view, allowing for a more immersive play style for single-player or multiplayer when using multiple systems.
“As longtime fans of the franchise, we could not be prouder and more excited to bring back ULTIMATE ALLIANCE with its biggest game yet,” said Mike Jones, Vice President & Executive Producer, Marvel Games. “MARVEL ULTIMATE ALLIANCE is all about teaming up with your friends and creating your own ‘dream team’ of Super Heroes to go on adventures across the Marvel Universe, and Nintendo Switch is perfect for delivering on that promise of cooperative gameplay and shared experiences.”
“The MARVEL ULTIMATE ALLIANCE games have been beloved by fans for more than a decade, and this new installment on Nintendo Switch will deliver even more of the thrills and heroics that the franchise is known for,” said Doug Bowser, Nintendo of America’s Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing. “Thanks to our partnership with Marvel, the fate of the Marvel Universe will literally be in the hands of Nintendo Switch players, whether they’re at home or on the go.”
Additional details about the game will be announced in the future. Remember that Nintendo Switch features parental controls that let adults manage the content their children can access. For more information about other features, visit https://www.nintendo.com/switch/.
*Nintendo Switch Online membership (sold separately) and Nintendo Account required for online play. Not available in all countries. Internet access required for online features. Terms apply. nintendo.com/switch-online
Joker from Persona 5 joins Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as a playable DLC fighter
In a video that aired during The Game Awards, Nintendo revealed that Joker from the critically acclaimed Persona 5 game will be coming to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate for Nintendo Switch as a playable DLC fighter. Joker is included in the first of five planned DLC packs, each containing one playable fighter, one new stage and a handful of music tracks. Each pack can be purchased for $5.99 each, but players can also purchase the Fighter’s Pass for $24.99, giving them access to all five DLC packs as they release.
The Persona games are a spinoff of the popular Shin Megami Tensei franchise, which has a long and storied history in the world of video games – with many of the games appearing on Nintendo systems. Sporting an iconic mask and a variety of weapons, Joker is the main character of Persona 5, a beloved game that won Best Role-Playing Game and was nominated for Game of the Year at last year’s The Game Awards.
The digital version of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate launches in Nintendo eShop at 9 p.m. PT tonight (Dec. 6), with the physical version hitting stores on Dec. 7. In this massive video game crossover event, every fighter in Super Smash Bros. history is back, and they’re joined by newcomers like Daisy from the Super Mario series, Chrom from Fire Emblem, Inkling from Splatoon, Ridley and Dark Samus from Metroid, Ken from Street Fighter, Simon and Richter Belmont from Castlevania, King K. Rool from the Donkey Kong series, Isabelle from Animal Crossing, Incineroar from Pokémon, and, soon, Joker from Persona 5. Anyone who purchases and registers a Super Smash Bros. Ultimate game with My Nintendo by Jan. 31, 2019, will receive Piranha Plant as a free playable fighter. With a smashing amount of content, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is the biggest Super Smash Bros. game ever. For more information about Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, visit https://www.smashbros.com/.
“The Game Awards coupled with the launch of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate marks one of the video game industry’s biggest nights, so it’s the ideal place to share news about one of the most anticipated games of the year,” said Nintendo of America President and COO Reggie Fils-Aime, who announced the Joker news to The Game Awards audience. “Even as we celebrate the best that our industry has to offer, we’re looking ahead to more excitement and surprises in 2019.”
Additional Nintendo Switch announcements made during The Game Awards include:
MARVEL ULTIMATE ALLIANCE 3: The Black Order is heading exclusively to the Nintendo Switch system in 2019 for Super Hero gaming action at home or on the go. The new game, which arrives nearly 10 years after the previous installment in the series, is being developed by KOEI TECMO GAMES/Team NINJA and published by Nintendo.
Fortnite Creative is coming to the Nintendo Switch version of Fortnite, and it’s a brand new way to play the hit free-to-play game. This all-new mode lets players create their own private island near Battle Royal Island and invite up to 15 friends to visit. Anything edited, moved or deleted in the world is saved from session to session, giving players total control. For all current Battle Pass owners, players can jump into Creative Mode right now via Early Access. Fortnite Creative will leave Early Access and be available to everyone at no charge on Dec. 13. Debuted tonight, Epic has added a new Point of Interest to the Battle Royale map – ‘The Block’ – that is in game now. On an ongoing basis, Epic will update The Block to highlight amazing content made by the community in Creative Mode by featuring it to all Battle Royale players for a limited time.
Mortal Kombat 11, the next game in the award-winning franchise, is launching on Nintendo Switch on April 23.
Sayonara Wild Hearts, developed by Simogo and published by Annapurna Interactive, is a euphoric music video dream about being awesome, riding motorcycles, skateboarding, dance battling, shooting lasers, wielding swords and breaking hearts at 200 mph. Every stage in the game is set to a song on a custom-written pop album. Sayonara Wild Hearts launches for Nintendo Switch in 2019.
A handful of games that are playable on Nintendo Switch won awards at the show, including Overcooked! 2 for Best Family Game, CELESTE for Best Independent Game, Dead Cells for Best Action Game, The Messenger for Best Debut Indie Game and Fortnite for Best Ongoing Game. For a full list of The Game Awards winners, visit https://thegameawards.com/.
Remember that Nintendo Switch features parental controls that let adults manage the content their children can access. For more information about other features, visit https://www.nintendo.com/switch/.
It would appear that Fortnite is about to receive a Minecraft-like sandbox mode called ‘Creative’, allowing players to take a break from earning Victory Royales to build their own Fortnite-themed worlds.
This Creative mode is said to become the game’s third main menu option alongside Battle Royale and Save the World (the second of which still isn’t available on Switch). Naturally, there’s no knowing just yet whether or not this third option will arrive on Nintendo’s platform either, but it seems like Creative is the expanded version of Playground mode that Epic has been promising. If Playground is available on Switch, hopefully Creative will be, too.
The news comes from YouTuber Lachlan, who was invited to try the mode out ahead of its official release. Signs suggest that an official announcement was set to be revealed at the upcoming Game Awards, with Lachlan seemingly thanking Epic Games for its hospitality by leaking the entire thing ahead of time. The video which confirmed the news and showed off some of its features has since been taken down.
Of course, this is the internet we’re talking about, however, and all of the details have since been spread around like wildfire. Players can essentially fly around, place pre-made scenery wherever they like, and save their creations to revisit later. You can use chests and llamas, and even use the mode to create your own minigames with interactive objects. If you enjoy messing around in Playground mode, this sounds like it will definitely be your thing.
We expect Epic Games to officially announce the mode soon – possibly at the Game Awards as noted above – potentially coinciding with the launch of the game’s seventh season this week.
Do you like the sound of this mode? Are you hopeful that it’ll arrive on Switch? Tell us below.
The hand-drawn 2D platformer has become such a common occurrence over the past couple of years that it might as well be a genre of its own. Since its launch, the Switch has seen its fair share of these, from Hollow Knight to Toki (the latter of which was released this week).
One of the most notable examples of this was last year’s Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap, an utterly gorgeous remake of the 1989 Master System game. While fans and newcomers alike loved it, it would’ve been nice to have had an entirely new adventure rather than one that was nearly three decades old. Step forward Monster Boy, a spiritual successor developed by French studio Game Atelier in collaboration with Wonder Boy’s creator, Ryuichi Nishizawa.
While it may not be an official Wonder Boy title, it’s clear right away that Monster Boy is a modern day sequel in all but name since its premise – a Metroidvania game starring a lad who can transform into different creatures – is taken straight from The Dragon’s Trap and should be immediately familiar to fans of the series.
To be clear though, this isn’t a remake like the Dragon’s Trap was. With a completely new developer comes a completely new game, and a completely new plot to boot: you play as Jin, a young chap who lives in Monster World. One day his Uncle Nabu suddenly goes mad and starts flying around, turning everyone in the kingdom into animals. It’s up to Jin to find out why his uncle has suddenly flipped his lid by collecting special sacred orbs that allow him to transform into different creatures.
The first transformation, which appears around 15 minutes into the game, turns you into an eyepatch-wearing pig (a character who will be instantly familiar to Wonder Boy fans). He has a jumping ground-pound move and the ability to use magic, but he can also use his snout to sniff away ‘scents’ and reveal hidden secrets. These mechanics alone would be enough for most games, especially since each new type of magic you find – fire, lightning, tornadoes and the like – is used in different scenarios, too.
As you continue to progress through the game’s enormous world map, though, and collect the various sacred orbs, you’ll add new creature transformations and be able to switch between them at will, giving you a whole host of new abilities. The snake, for example, can fit into smaller gaps, stick to walls and spit a green acid that can trigger certain types of switch. Meanwhile, the frog can use his tongue to grab grapple points, swinging and catapulting his way around the environment. By the time you’ve added the lion (who can charge into barriers) and the dragon (who can fly), you’ve got more tricks than a Las Vegas conjurer.
It isn’t really until you unlock the frog ability that the game starts to come into its own, though. While the pig and snake make for some basic yet entertaining puzzles, the frog (and other transformations you get after that) can equip different weapons, boots, shields and the like, giving the game a light RPG element. It also gives you yet another set of abilities to make use of: the different types of boot alone let you sink to the bottom of water, perform double jumps, melt ice under your feet and so on.
With so many different abilities and sub-abilities this could very easily become overwhelming, but Monster Boy does a good job of making sure you’re gradually introduced to them one at a time and given a few puzzles that make use of them before you find the next upgrade. That’s not to say it doesn’t eventually get a little perplexing, mind you: by the time you’re near the end of the game and armed with more moves than a chess master, you’ll sometimes find yourself stopping in your tracks and going over your huge list of abilities in your head, trying to think of the right one for certain situations.
That’s the end of the game, but the beginning’s no cakewalk, either. Monster Boy may be a brand new adventure but it’s still very much a homage to its Master System predecessor and it makes no bones about offering a game with a 1980s difficulty level. There are plenty of platforming sections that will potentially have you pulling out clumps of hair, but somehow it always manages to find that delicate “one more go” balance. You may find yourself spending 15 minutes trying to clear a single section with a couple of jumps, and yet the checkpointing is so generous you’ll never feel aggrieved.
All this old-school gaming goodness is wrapped up in one of the most beautiful-looking packages we’ve seen in a 2D platformer. The hand-drawn locations and characters are fantastically animated (especially the pig) and everything feels like you’re conducting an episode of your favourite anime series – something which is helped by the superb animated introduction sequence, complete with its own theme music (which comes with both English and Japanese vocals, selectable in the Options screen).
Speaking of the music, the soundtrack on offer here is sumptuous. With an all-star line-up of composers including Yuzo Koshiro (Streets Of Rage), Motoi Sakuraba (Golden Sun) and Michiru Yamane (Castlevania: Symphony Of The Night), Monster Boy sounds every bit as immaculate as it looks. It’s safe to say the presentation levels are off the charts here.
As a retro-inspired platformer, it’s close to perfect, but not quite. Inexperienced gamers may get frustrated at the steep difficulty curve; although the game takes its time to gradually increase your list of abilities it isn’t so delicate when it comes to ramping up the pressure. As such, you can expect some fiddly jumping sections and tricky enemies fairly early on (especially given that your first form, the pig, is unarmed, making combat pretty hairy).
It can also be annoying switching between characters, especially once you’ve got a full roster. Pressing the switch button freezes the action and brings up a selection wheel each time, which can really interrupt your flow. When things get particularly complex later on and you require a bunch of different animals to solve complex puzzles, we would’ve really welcomed the ability to just flip between transformations on the fly instead of having to manually select them on the wheel each time.
These are really the only quibbles in what’s an otherwise outstanding game, though. When Lizardcube remade Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap that was one thing, but when a relatively small studio decided to create an entirely new game based on the series – especially one that was originally designed to be something completely unrelated and only became a Wonder Boy homage later in development – it’s fair to say many were dubious. The reality, though, is that Game Atelier has knocked it out of the park and delivered potentially the best Wonder Boy game ever, spiritual or not.
Conclusion
Monster Boy is a tremendous accomplishment. It’s a gorgeous looking game with a fantastic soundtrack and does its spiritual predecessors proud by nailing the Wonder Boy mechanics while still offering something that will appeal to modern audiences. As long as you can appreciate that it’s still very much an old-school game at heart and you’re going to get some 8-bit era platforming trickiness as a result, you’re going to thoroughly enjoy playing through this adventure for the 12-15 hours it’ll take you to beat it. It may not be Wonder Boy by name, but it’s definitely wonderful by nature.
Indie developer Atomicom has today announced that its futuristic survival sandbox game JCB Pioneer: Mars will be launching on Switch later this month.
Previously released on Steam Early Access, the game is described as “a hardcore blend of survival and construction”, with meteor strikes, dust clouds, and electrical storms all threatening the player’s chance of survival. Equipped with the futuristic, heavy-duty construction and mining vehicles specifically designed by JCB Engineers, your job is to survive and thrive in the face of extreme planetary challenges.
Atomicom tells us that the new Switch version builds on the original, with the team addressing user feedback, adding new updates and improvements – including a “huge increase in performance”, new and improved UI, new tools, and “refined” gameplay – and much more. We have a few screenshots for you to check out below.
The game launches on Nintendo Switch on 24th December in Europe and Australia, with a 3rd January 2019 release scheduled for North America. It’ll cost £19.99 / €22.19 / $24.99.
What do you think? Feel free to share your thoughts on this one with a comment below.
It may well have been around 25 years ago that SNES classic King Arthur’s World invaded our screens for the first time, but a brand new remaster for modern platforms is currently in the works.
If you need a quick refresher, or if you’re simply too young to have been around, the game has you playing as the titular King Arthur, essentially aiming to work your way from your tent at the start of a level to the end goal. Various enemies and traps are present to hinder your progress, however, and you need to command the King and his troops to move or fight. You can see the game in action in the video below.
The news of this remaster comes from a blog post written by Nick Halstead, formerly of the game’s original developer Argonaut Software (which you might recognise as being the developer for a little game called Star Fox on the SNES). Halstead is planning to share various memories of his time working on the original over the coming months, and reveals that he has been working alongside the studio’s founder Jez San once again to recreate the game.
At present, the project has only been confirmed for iOS and Android devices. You can see a mock-up, side-by-side comparison of the original and the new build below.
As noted above, more details surrounding the project are planned to be released on Halstead’s blog so make sure to check that out if you’re interested.
Do you have any memories of playing this one back in the ’90s? Would you happily play this upcoming remaster? Let us know in the comments.
