Category: Nintendo News

One of the most heavily requested features for Pokémon GO looks set to finally arrive in the game, as developer Niantic teases the feature on social media.

Ever since the app first launched back in 2016, fans have been hoping to see player trades and battles find their way to the game for that authentic Pokémon experience. Trading was introduced earlier this summer, securing one of the two nicely, and battling was then promised to arrive at a later date.

As you can see for yourself below, it certainly seems like that magical day is just around the corner. Things started with this first tweet earlier today.

From there, new tweets have followed to reveal the mystery. Each tweet has arrived on the hour every hour, so we might get treated to some more information as the day goes on.

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Update: Since this article went live, another tweet was posted to confirm that our suspicions were true.

Are you ready to battle your friends in Pokémon GO?

As the launch fo Super Smash Bros. Ultimate on Switch looms – like a wonderful, long-awaited birthday – ever closer, a great many fans of the series will have one burning question on their minds: Can I play it with my trusty and dependable GameCube controller?

As we’ve known for a while, the answer to this question is, of course, an enthusiastic affirmative, as Nintendo is releasing a special adapter alongside the game (in the US at least) which will allow four GameCube pads to be used – the caveat being that said adapter connects to the Switch dock via USB and therefore cannot be used in tabletop mode. It also means that you’re tethered to the console via a cable, which – for those of you with especially cavernous living rooms – could be an issue.

Thankfully, the wonders of technology have supplied a solution: the 8BitDo GBros. Adapter. This purple-coloured wonder is a small capsule-shaped device which allows you to wirelessly connect your GameCube pad (as well as others) to your Switch (or PC, if you’re that way inclined). It’s powered by two AA batteries which deliver around 30 hours of use and comes with its own built-in Home and Screenshot buttons, as the GameCube pad naturally lacks these features.

Pairing the GBros. with your Switch couldn’t be easier; just set it to ‘Switch’ mode (XInput is for when you’re using it on a PC), drop to the Controller menu and hold down the yellow ‘Pair’ button for two seconds. The pad will appear as a Pro Controller and all of the buttons are mapped accordingly without you having to do anything.

In short, the GBros. Works like a charm and provides silky-smooth lag-free input. There’s a Micro USB port on the top of the unit which, via the bundled lead, can be connected to the Switch dock, but this causes the console to crash. It’s not a massive issue as there’s no noticeable latency when playing wirelessly, so we can’t imagine you’d want to use a wired connection anyway. We suspect the lead is instead intended to deliver firmware updates to the unit, and, should we get confirmation from 8BitDo, we’ll update this review.

The GBros. also comes with a Wii controller port which means you can use any pad which was designed for that particular console; while we imagine that most people will purchase this adapter solely for use with their beloved GameCube pads, it’s a nice bonus to be able to use your Wii SNES pad or battered Classic Controller.

While being able to play wirelessly is a boon, we suspect there will be some players who find the fact that their pad is still connected by a wire to an external piece of equipment to be mildly annoying. Nintendo’s own wireless option – the Wavebird – could have been the solution here, but sadly it’s not physically possible to insert the Wavebird wireless adapter into the GBros., which means you’ll just have to get used to that wire, we’re afraid. For us, it was never a problem, but we thought we’d mention it all the same.

Where the GBros. really loses out to Nintendo’s wired GameCube adapter is that it can only be used with a single pad; if you want four people involved and you all want to use your vintage controllers, then you’ll need four (count ’em) GBros. Adapters.

This relatively minor oversight aside, this is yet another must-have product from 8BitDo. It’s well made, reasonably priced and works like a dream, giving Smash players the chance to use their preferred controller in a wireless fashion.

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Nintendo and Intelligent Systems have announced a Fire Emblem Expo event, scheduled to take place in Japan next year.

Exact details surrounding this mysterious new Expo are rather few and far between at the moment, but we do know that the live event is set to take place on 4th May 2019 at the Zepp Tokyo venue. Tickets will go on sale to the public on 28th December 2018 at 6pm JST, and these can be found at the Expo’s shiny new website.

The website also states that more information will be shared during the next TCG Fire Emblem 0 (Cipher) broadcast – set to take place on 8th December at 8pm JST on YouTube and NicoNico Live (that’s 3am PST / 6am EST / 11am GMT / midday CET).

Of course, the upcoming Fire Emblem: Three Houses is still scheduled to launch on Nintendo Switch in spring 2019, so it’s possible that this Expo will tie into that game’s release in some way – we’ll have to wait for more details on this to be sure, though.

Will you be tuning in on the 8th December? What delights do you think this Fire Emblem Expo will hold in 2019? Feel free to speculate with us in the comments below.

Things have gotten relatively quiet on the 3DS front as of late, but a welcome trickle of first-party titles has been giving us more than enough reason to keep our portable machines close by in recent months. One 3DS title still on the horizon is Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story + Bowser Jr.’s Journey, which was actually first revealed back in March; we haven’t heard a great deal about it since then, but a new batch of gameplay videos have now found their way online.

The videos come courtesy of a new Japanese website for the game which features information, screenshots and more about what you can expect to enjoy when playing as your favourite Mario stars. It launches in Japan first, on 27th December, so it makes sense that Nintendo’s home region is making more fuss about it than elsewhere at present. The new videos are pretty short, but all show off various tricks you can pull off in battles. Check them out below.

In case you need reminding, Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story + Bowser Jr.’s Journey will launch exclusively on 3DS in North America on 11th January 2019, and in Europe on 25th January.

Have you been looking forward to this one? Do you still enjoy playing games on your 3DS regularly? Let us know with a comment.

Adding to the Pokémon GO Community Day celebrations taking place this weekend, Niantic has revealed that a whole bunch of returning Legendary Pokémon will be obtainable once again throughout December.

If you feel like braving the cold and keeping on top of your Field Research tasks, you’ll be able to earn the chance to catch Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres, Raikou, Entei, or Suicune – perfect if you missed any of these when they first appeared in months gone by.

An encounter will appear with one of the six Legendary Pokémon mentioned every time you reach a Research Breakthrough (achieved by completing seven Field Research tasks and claiming their stamp rewards on different days). If you manage to earn a stamp in every day of December, you should be able to trigger four Legendary encounters in total.

Earlier this week, Brock and Misty outfits for your avatar were also released in the app’s store. Check them out here if you haven’t seen them yet.

Will you be using this opportunity to snag some Legendary Pokémon? Which are you hoping to encounter? Let us know below.

Kirby Star Allies developer HAL Laboratory has confirmed that today’s newly-introduced Dream Friends will be the final new additions to the game.

Today sees the recently-revealed Wave 3 update arrive in the super-cute platformer, adding more content for the low price of nothing. If you’ve missed the news recently, we’ve been treated to glimpses of the latest Dream Friends Magolor, Taranza and Susie, the moves made available thanks to the Three-Mage Sisters, and the creepy-looking challenge mode in individual trailers, all of which is included in this free update.

It’s been a great run for Kirby Star Allies, with new, free content being added regularly ever since the game launched back in March, but a new blog post from HAL Laboratory confirms that this is the end for new material – as well as thanking players for their continued support. The game’s director, Shinya Kumazaki, shared this image of the team celebrating the completion of its development.

Have you been regularly playing Kirby Star Allies since launch? Will you miss the inclusion of regular updates going forward? Feel free to share your thoughts down below in the comments.

Indie developer It’s Anecdotal has revealed that its PC puzzle-adventure title 39 Days to Mars is heading on a voyage to Nintendo Switch.

Players will be joining lead characters Sir Albert Wickes and The Right Honourable Clarence Baxter for a trip through an alternate reality set 150 years in the past. Your job is to pilot the HMS Fearful – a masterpiece of unreliable engineering – as it embarks on its maiden voyage to Mars.

Unfortunately, the steam engine will run out of coal, the ship’s cat will shred your navigation charts to pieces, and – heaven forbid – the tea will go cold; steering this ship to glory isn’t quite the walk in the park you may have expected. To succeed, both characters must work together in a mix of puzzle and action sequence gameplay – the trailer above gives off a wonderfully charming and comedic vibe.

The game is expected to arrive on Switch in “early 2019” and will support 1-2 players. The ‘Additional Victorian Adventures’ content update released earlier this year on PC will be included in the Switch version at launch.

What do you think? Have you already tried this one on PC? Does the trailer grab you enough to put it on your wishlist? Tell us below.

Want to catch the legendary Pokémon Articuno in Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Let’s Go, Eevee!? We can help with that! This Ice / Flying type is just one of three legendary Pokémon in Let’s Go, alongside Zapdos and Moltres.

In this guide, we’re going to detail exactly how to catch Articuno, including how to get to (and through) Seafoam Islands where the legendary bird dwells.

How to get to Seafoam Islands in Pokémon: Let’s Go

Seafoam Islands is a location just off Route 20 east that houses one of the most devilishly difficult dungeons in Pokémon: Let’s Go. It’s a dungeon well worth conquering though, as you can get your grubby little mitts on an Articuno at the end of it.

We’d recommend that you have a solid few Rock, Fighting, Steel, or Fire Pokémon at level 50 so you stand the best chance of walking away with that Articuno.

Seafoam Islands block puzzle solution

To get through the Seafoam Islands cave and reach Articuno at the end, you need to complete a relatively tricky block puzzle. To get you through it ASAP, we’ll give you the solution below. We also recommend that you bring a bunch of repels to limit your contact with Pokémon to speed this up.

• Enter the cave and push the stone to the right down the adjacent hole.
• Drop down the hole and push the rock down yet another adjacent hole.
• Drop down once again and push the rock down yet another hole.
• Now head left and climb up the ladder to go back up a floor. Take another nearby ladder on this floor to get back to the entrance.
• Go to the northeast section of the entrance and push another rock down a nearby hole, then backtrack to the ladder and take it down another floor.
• Find this new stone and drop it down another hole. Drop down after it and do so again.
• If you’ve followed these steps correctly, you should land in water, with two rocks just to the north blocking off the flow of the water.
• Use your Sea Skim ability to head left to dry land, then head southwest until you find yet more rocks and holes.
• Push the far left stone into the adjacent hole, move the middle stone a few spaces left, then push the northeast stone north till it hits the wall.
• Get behind the north side of the left stone now and push it two places south. Now, get to the east side and push it left until it’s near the hole on the right side.
• Now, simply push the stone nearest to the left hole into it and drop down after it. Once again, the stones will block off the flow of water, allowing you to Sea Skim to the northwest, where you’ll find the island that Articuno dwells on.

How to catch Articuno

Save before encountering Articuno just in case, then get your Rock, Fighting, Steel, and Fire Pokémon ready to face him. We recommend also bringing as many Ultra Balls and Razz Berries too, so you maximise your chances.

Congratulations! You’ve caught yourself a lovely Articuno.

Did this guide help you locate Articuno? Are you happy with your new catch? Let us know all about it in the comments section below.

Nintendo has just announced that another worldwide Splatfest is on the way to Splatoon 2, and this time your choice of team has the potential to cause more friction than ever before.

Taking place on 4th – 6th January, this next global affair will see players choosing between their family and friends. Specifically, the question is asking who you’d rather spend the holiday season with; would you like to sit around the dinner table with your loving Grandma, sharing some quality family time together, or would you ditch her entirely to spend the day chilling with your BFFs 4 Lyfe? The choice is yours.

In addition to the Splat-tastic gameplay you can expect to enjoy during the event, the Splatfest also brings with it a seasonal aesthetic makeover. You can check out the revamped Inkopolis and event stages below.

Will you be taking part in this global Splatfest? Which side will you choose? Let us know in the comments.

A couple of weeks ago, ARMS came flying back into the ring with a brand new ‘Party Crash Bash’ tournament, giving players more reason to jump back into its punchy action. Round 1 went down pretty well, with Min-Min beating Lola Pop to move on to the next round, and now the second face-off has been revealed.

Yes, Round 2 will see Spring Man take on Springtron in a contest that will finally confirm who is the best of the springy-haired fighters. The event’s theme is called ‘Double Vision’ and it’ll be taking place between 7th and 10th December.

As you may be aware, this just so happens to be the launch day of another Nintendo fighting game that’s just around the corner. While we’d be more than happy to plonk ourselves in for a few rounds of ARMS over the weekend, we can’t help but feel that the event might take a bit of a hit as fighting fans delve into their shiny new Super Smash Bros. Ultimate-shaped toy.

Assuming this wasn’t planned to happen at the same time on purpose, it certainly seems like an unfortunate coincidence. Hopefully enough players will stick around to keep the event alive; if you’re not getting a copy of Smash yourself, perhaps this is a good way to scratch that fighting itch?

Do we have any dedicated ARMS fans in the room who’ll be taking part in the event? Are you more likely to do nothing but play Smash Bros. all day instead? Let us know in the comments below.