Category: Nintendo News

Dragalia Lost has been a rather successful little endeavour for Nintendo and developer Cygames; we praised it for being a “remarkably well-executed ARPG” in our review earlier this month, and the game managed to generate $16 million in its first two weeks on sale, outperforming Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp.

So what’s on the horizon for this new Nintendo-owned IP? Well, the game’s director Hiroki Matsuura has shared a new blog post to outline just some of the things planned for the game over the coming months. These plans include the new ‘Winds of Hope’ summon showcase and the new ‘A Wish to the Winds’ facility event – both of which actually kicked off yesterday – currency and weapon updates, and the latest information about upcoming quests and chapter seven of the main story coming later this year.

“On November 14th (Wednesday) at 23:00 (PT), the summon showcase Winds of Hope, as well as the facility event, A Wish to the Winds, will start. The summon showcase will introduce wind-element adventurers, dragons, and wyrmprints; some of those wyrmprints will be of particular use in the upcoming facility event.

Building the Wind Shrine, this event’s special facility, will increase the damage you deal to enemies within quests related to this event, so leveling it up will prove very helpful. Additionally, the Extra Quests this time around have been updated to allow for co-op play.”

The blog goes into a fair amount of detail on the other changes to come, so we’d urge you to give it a read, but highlights include the mention of “increasing the amount of mana, crystals, and eldwater you can get from Daily Endeavors and log-in bonuses” to prevent players from getting stuck, and a nod to the aforementioned chapter seven:

“We also plan on delivering chapter seven of the main story at the end of this year. Phares, the second heir, appears in this new chapter, and some light is shed upon a certain character’s backstory… I hope you’re all looking forward to it!”

If it’s available in your region, have you been getting stuck into Dragalia Lost? Would you like to see Nintendo embrace smartphone games in new ways going forward? Let us know with a comment.

Today sees the release of three – yes, three – new DLC packs for The Escapists 2 on Nintendo Switch.

All three pieces of DLC have been previously released on Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC, but arrive on Switch for the first time today. You can expect to be breaking out from a variety of unique prisons all over again including a circus, a medieval castle, and an abandoned hospital. We’ve got screenshots, release info, and blurbs directly from publisher Team17 for you down below.

Big Top Breakout

Release Date: 15th November | Price: £2.79 / $3.99 / €3,99

Expect to find new items to find, craft and use inside this “wacky” prison setting. There’s talk of fire, custard pies, and vicious guard poodles in this one – just your typical prison escape, then.

You wake up to suddenly find yourself trapped as a clown in a travelling circus, the ringmaster warden and strongmen guards rule the circus grounds with an iron fist. Forced to perform for the circus visitors’ entertainment, can you perform a vanishing act instead and leave behind the caged animals and dreaded daily circus show for good?

Dungeons and Duct Tape

Release Date: 15th November | Price: £2.79 / $3.99 / €3,99

Once again, this DLC package comes with brand new items to find and use, all in a setting surrounded by a stagnant moat and thick stone walls. Here’s the official description:

Welcome to Locke Castle! After keeping armies out for hundreds of years, this repurposed castle now keeps todays serial escapists in. Avoid the heavily armoured guards like the plague and watch out for inmates looking for any excuse to get medieval on you!

Wicked Ward

Release Date: 15th November | Price: £2.79 / $3.99 / €3,99

With all the gameplay elements you’ve come to expect, this one takes a slightly creepy turn as you explore an abandoned hospital. Read on to find out more:

Things have taken an odd turn in the locked off wings of an abandoned hospital. A mad scientist and his hoard of undead guard their terror-tory within the gothic halls. Outside an ominous sky of thunder, rain and lightning blankets the surrounding woods. Once again, you’ll have to craft, fight and scheme your way to freedom from this spooky supernatural slammer. Your ghoul is to escape at all costs!

All three packs go live on the eShop today (if you can’t see them yourself yet, keep checking back), all for the same price points mentioned above.

Will you be taking on some new prison escapes today? Let us know if you’re a fan of The Escapists 2 in the comments.

Nintendo’s Russian branch is seemingly rife with mismanagement. Following yesterday’s news Pokémon: Let’s Go, Eevee! would only be available in limited supplies – leaving many locals scratching their heads – a video has now emerged online of the Nintendo Russia CEO Yasha Haddaji losing his temper on an official live stream featuring Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.

In the video replay – which features some bad language – the CEO can be seen in the background of the ‘Level Up Days’ live stream losing his temper at staff. For unknown reasons, staff are confused about whether or not the stream is actually live and before you know it, Haddaji appears in the background to give everyone a mouthful. Much like the surrounding employees off-cam, he seems to have no idea if the stream is actually live – all while the two active players sit there awkwardly and endure the unpleasant experience.

While a lot of the dialogue is inaudible, the CEO throws down a number of f-bombs and threatens to fire anyone he can. The entire scene ends with him briefly returning to the background of the stream and demanding it is turned off. It’s admittedly a side of Nintendo we’ve never seen before, and likely isolated to this particular branch.

If it wasn’t already clear by now, the guy steering the ship in Russia doesn’t seem to have many friends within his branch. Haddaji is apparently responsible for limited Let’s Go, Eevee! stock due to the belief it would not sell, but he also allegedly decided to not stock the new Pokémon Trading Card Game expansions.

Local fans of the company are now hoping Nintendo Europe can step in and find a “passionate” individual to replace him – and now this video is live, that day might come sooner rather than later.

Despite the fact 2018 is nearly over, there are plenty of publishers and developers in recent months who are still announcing their games will be arriving before the end of the year. It’s arguably crazy, as this period is best known nowadays to be dominated by AAA industry releases.

The developer and publisher QUByte doesn’t appear to be concerned about this, as it will finally release 99Vidas at the end of this month on 27th November. As we’ve noted on previous occasions, this is a 16-bit game created in conjunction with 99Vidas – Brazil’s most popular video game podcast. The overall aim is to capture and recreate the magic of beat ’em up greats like Final Fight, Double Dragon, Battletoads, Golden Axe and Streets of Rage.

The Switch version will feature “exclusive” content, including an all-new arcade mode and all-new remix mode – along with new stages and enemies. It also caters to four players (local and online) and features multiple other options such as a story and survival mode. The trailer above is a good indication of what you can expect.

Do you have time for another beat ’em up title on the Switch? Tell us below.

During a recent Twitch live stream, UK-based video game publisher PQube revealed it would be dropping support for the PS Vita to focus on Nintendo Switch development. The team apparently joked Sony didn’t “like PS Vita games” anymore and said the handheld device was comparable to a bird that was unable to fly.

Nintendo Switch is standing up with a sniper rifle while the PS Vita is a gentle bird that can’t fly.

It’s a rather odd announcement to make when it could have easily been avoided. After all, Sony revealed not long ago it was ending production of the Vita in Japan and said it currently had no plans for a successor. At this stage, it’s a given most developers and publishers will be moving away from the system. According to our colleagues over at PushSquare, Sony’s decision to cease production of physical cartridges may have also played a significant part in this decision.

Fortunately, none of this bad news in the land of Nintendo as it now means PQube can put all of its time, energy and resources into the Switch. The publisher is previously known for distributing games across Europe such as Blazblue: Cross Tag Battle and will also handle the upcoming release, Nippon Marathon.

We know Nintendo of America President and COO Reggie Fils-Aimé is excited about Metroid Prime 4. He’s been recently spotted wearing appropriately-themed t-shirts and right now he’s even training up with the new Super Smash Bros. Ultimate fighter Ridley. So, what’s the current status on Metroid Prime 4?

During a recent chat with Mashable, Reggie remained tight-lipped about a possible release date but provided some hints by discussing Nintendo’s approach to its release schedule. If it wasn’t already evident, it’s all about selling big games during key seasons of the year as well as spacing out these releases in a timely manner to sustain interest.

We certainly think about launching key games during key selling seasons. So it was well thought-through to have, for example, Zelda as a key launch title when the Switch first came out. It was well thought-of to have Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Splatoon 2 to maintain momentum in that early launch window… It was thought-out to have a game like Super Mario Party to kick off our October selling season. It was well thought-of to have Pokémon and Smash Bros. as key anchors.

Directly acknowledging Metroid Prime 4, Reggie provided a small update by confirming development was well underway:

Internally, we have expectations about when [Metroid Prime 4] is going to be released… We haven’t announced it, but yeah, the game is well in development.

He went onto explain how Nintendo always considers how its fans will react to certain game reveals and delivers key messages to consumers when necessary. Reggie also said how the company likes to keep the time between an announcement and release as short as possible, but it doesn’t always work out like this.

Typically six months to maybe a year out is what we like to do, but there are times for strategic reasons that we believe it’s important to message that a game is coming… We did that years and years ago with Zelda. We were messaging a new Zelda experience back during the days of the Wii U… It really depends on the game, it depends on the type of development that it’s going through, and it depends on how we feel the consumer is going to respond to the particular message.

Obviously, Metroid Prime 4’s reveal was not much different, with Nintendo simply flashing the game’s logo up on screen during E3 2017, alongside the confirmation the title was in development. The Animal Crossing Switch reveal was similar – with the game simply confirmed for 2019 during a recent Direct. At the very least, we now know the new Metroid game is well into development. It’s certainly a step up from his previous comments.

Taking all of Reggie’s comments into consideration, when exactly do you think Metroid Prime 4 will arrive on Switch?

The former Xbox Live Arcade exclusive Ms. Splosion Man is seemingly making the Switch on 22nd November. Originally published by Microsoft in 2011, Twisted Pixel – the developer behind this critically-praised platformer – has since become independent, allowing its once limited release to roam free. This news stems from European and Australian eShop listings.

Ms. Splosion Man is the sequel to ‘Splosion Man, which was first released on the XBLA in 2009. The second game takes place right after a freak accident in a lab. You take control of Ms. Splosion Man as the character ventures outside for the first time.

Like the original ‘Splosion Man, your character is made up of explosive material – with the aim to “splode” through a series of levels made up of enemies, puzzles and traps. In total there are 50 single player levels and 50 unique multiplayer levels which can be played locally or online. Of course, if you want to play online, a paid membership will be required. The name Ms. Splosion man is a homage to Namco’s Ms. Pac Man.

When Twisted Pixel was acquired by Microsoft, its efforts were focused on releasing a bunch of exclusives for the platform until the close partnership came to an end in 2015. This version of Ms. Splosion Man will set you back £11.99 (roughly $15.00). Right now, there’s no news about whether or not the first game will make its way to the Switch in the near future.

Take a look at the original launch trailer and tell us if this is a game you would be interested in checking out on release.

Last year, Niantic – the development team behind Pokémon Go – announced it would be partnering with Warner Bros. to create a brand new augmented reality mobile game – Harry Potter: Wizards Unite.

Since then, it’s been deathly quiet, with virtually no news around the upcoming mobile title. However, a (brief) new teaser trailer was finally released today, showing a hint of what we can expect to see next year.

The trailer largely focuses on the player, depicting how the game itself will be played using AR functionality. Unfortunately, any real gameplay footage has been left out, possibly hinting at how far along it may (or may not) be in development.

At the beginning, a Ministry of Magic logo is revealed, above the words “Repello Muggletum” – a reference to the Muggle-Repelling Charm from the series. Subsequently, a flash of the “Statute of Secrecy Task Force” logo can be seen as well. Later in the video, what appears to be security camera footage of an alleyway shows a poster stating:

“THE WIZARDING WORLD IS AT RISK OF EXPOSURE – WE NEED YOUR HELP – WIZARDS UNITE”.

After visiting the website, it’s made clear that these images are in reference to the “Calamity” – a phenomenon where “traces of magic” are “appearing across the Muggle world without warning and in a rather chaotic manner”. It is clearly very Sirius.

In the video, a young witch can be seen capturing a rogue Golden Snitch. It would appear that the basis of the game will be similar to Pokémon Go – where players will use AR to find and capture magical items out in the real world. The website states:

“…You will hone lighting fast wand reflexes, an ability to sniff out the faintest whiff of magical disorder from afar, and proficiency in advanced casting of multiple spells”.

The final call to action is for users to “Enlist Now!” and join the Statue of Secrecy Task Force. Upon entering your birth date and email address, you become a member, and are told that you will be kept posted “on the unfolding calamity” via email.

The game is set to Apparate onto mobile devices in 2019.

Will you be playing Wizards Unite upon release next year? Would you enjoy gameplay similar to Pokémon Go’s mechanics, or should it be a different style of game? Let us know in the comments below…