Category: Nintendo News

Can you believe it? Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Let’s Go, Eevee! arrives on the Nintendo Switch next week. Alongside this is the release of a new accessory called the Poké Ball Plus which is also compatible with the mobile sensation, Pokémon GO.

According to Nintendo Soup, The Pokémon Company and Nintendo have recently revealed one last secret about the new accessory. This hidden feature will be unlocked when you transfer Pokémon from the main games directly to the ball and then use it with the mobile game.

If you do all of this, the Poké Ball Plus will automatically collect items from any PokéStops you encounter on your journey. If you walk past a stop with no Pokémon, the accessory will instead vibrate and you will have to press the button on it to collect the items at the stop. It’s not exactly a big feature, but it definitely sounds like a handy one that could help speed up the overall process of collecting items and catching pocket monsters.

What do you think about this secret? Will you be purchasing this accessory alongside the new games? Tell us in the comments.

Not long ago, Bethesda held a panel at PAX Australia 2018 discussing its games and even speaking about relations with certain other companies. At the time, Bethesda’s Marketing Executive Pete Hines said Fallout 76 wouldn’t be coming to the Switch and it was also briefly mentioned how the MMO Elder Scrolls Online could not fit on the system.

During the same panel, Hines explained Bethesda always liked Nintendo – including its systems like the Wii – but the main barrier was the hardware specs. Fortunately, when the Switch was released Bethesda found a great partner in Panic Button:

So the idea of being able to take something like what we did, looking at the tech specs, and going, ‘That’s actually really close to like what we kind of do now.’ That was always the big barrier for us with Nintendo stuff. It wasn’t that we didn’t like the Wii or we don’t like this, it was just this is the stuff that we make, and as many things as will run that, we’ll do it. So as we looked at the specs, we started looking at games like Skyrim and Doom and Wolfenstein, and we were fortunate enough to either have really talented devs who were also very keen on making it which I think is important or finding a great partner in Panic Button who had the ability to take what we were doing and say, ‘Yeah we can make that happen on a Switch.’

Later in the panel, Hines said during the time the 2016 version of Doom was being developed, the team already knew about the Switch. As a result, they designed the game to be scalable. This paid off in the long-run, with the company able to easily bring Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus across to the hybrid system. He went on to note how the next Wolfenstein would be on Switch and made a nod to Doom Eternal coming to the platform as well:

The benefit for us was that id Tech 6 was really built and we knew about the Switch during the development of Doom 2016, so they were able to make some choices to make sure that it was scalable so that it would sort of not be too far out of line with what the Switch was doing. The benefit there was that it allowed both Doom 2016 to happen on the Switch as well as Wolfenstein: The New Colossus, because that was built off of the tech that ran Doom 2016 so that was sort of a two for one there, and that’s also why the next Wolfenstein is gonna be out on Switch as well and that’s why Doom Eternal was announced. In that case not just as a port, but as something that for the first time we’re building a game from scratch that really has the Switch in mind. That was honestly… that tech allowed us to do a lot of things across two different franchises. I don’t know how the hell they made Skyrim run on the Switch, but they did it. It looks great, it’s fun. I have played more Skyrim than a lot of people, but I still play it on my Switch because it turns out it’s pretty cool to be sitting on a plane and fighting a dragon.

Hines also clarified older games like Fallout 3 are unlikely to be ported across to the Switch because it takes a lot of work to get such titles running on new platforms. As stated above, it’s easier to create new games with certain platforms in mind.

While we’re used to seeing the latest video game charts, it’s easy to forget how they looked roughly twenty years ago. NPD Video Game Industry Analyst Mat Piscatella recently shared the best-selling game charts from the mid to late nineties.

In terms of Nintendo charts, he featured the big systems of the time including the Nintendo 64 and Game Boy Color. Back then, Super Mario 64 and Pokémon Gold and Silver reigned supreme. Take a look below:

To put it in perspective, the original Crash Bandicoot was also the number one game on the first PlayStation and Sonic Adventure was third on the Sega Dreamcast chart.

Did you play any of these chart-toppers back in the day? Tell us in the comments.

While most Bayonetta fans are waiting on the third entry to arrive at some point in the near future, the American singer, songwriter and actress Lady Gaga is busy playing through the first game.

According to one of her tweets, she’s a bit of a “secret gamer girl” having recently completed Chapter IV in the first Bayonetta. Her interest surprised fans and gamers alike. Even Nintendo of America chimed in to show support:

In saying this, there’s no guarantee she’s actually playing the original game on a Nintendo platform. We would definitely like to think so, though. As usual, the Twitter responses were wild with some calling for her to be added to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and others hoping she could perhaps do the theme song for Bayonetta 3.

While we’re on the topic of celebrity-game news, Captain Marvel actress Brie Larson recently dressed up as Samus for Halloween. She even said in her own tweet that she would love to play the famous bounty-hunter from Metroid series. Take a look at her outfit below:

Whether you are a fan of these stars or not, it goes to show gaming is becoming more and more culturally accepted every day.

Thanks to LordRichyRich for the tip.

Mr. Grizz will soon have a new location to send Salmon Run players in Splatoon 2. In a few days time, version 4.2.0 will add the Ruins of Ark Polaris – a new Salmon Run map – to the game. Below is the official word via the Nintendo VS Twitter account, which promises the clean-up operation will begin on 7th November:

If that’s not exciting enough, the new update will also add the Ultra Stamp and Torpedo Sub, as previously reported. Both weapons will be hard to avoid – with the first covering a large amount of space whenever it’s used and the second weapon being able to track down enemies on the battlefield.

Are you looking forward to the next Splatoon 2 update? Do you still put in a shift or two in Salmon Run mode from time to time? Tell us in the comments.

SNK Heroines: Tag Team Frenzy is a competent fighter but its “busty and over-sexualized characters might not be to everyone’s taste in 2018” – as we noted in our September review of the game. SNK Producer Yasuyuki Oda even admit the fanbase was divided – with some delving deep into the game’s fighting systems and others not wanting to consider it at all due to the concept.

What really amazed Oda-san was how audiences reacted to Terry Bogard being transformed into a “fatal cutie” in the spiritual successor to SNK Gals’ Fighters on Neo Geo Pocket. Apparently, it was the first thing the development team decided about the game, so the element of surprise was never there on their own end. Oda went onto explain how Terry from the Fatal Fury series was always planned to become a female, due to his style, design, and identity being easy to recognise.

In regards to plot twists in the game, Oda-san said reactions were mostly positive in Japan, though not everyone necessarily agreed. Apparently, the aim was to create a game world based on a “dreamlike pocket dimension” filled with jokes and fun. The producer said some might judge the game based on its visuals alone and think it looks odd, but if you actually play it, you’ll see how the story works out with its “silly” flavour.

As for whether the female version of Terry will make an appearance in more games, it’s unlikely according to the SNK producer, as the surprise factor is now gone. There’s also Terry’s number one female fan Alice Nakata to fill the void. On a more promising note, the developers reportedly have plans for a second wave of DLC to support the game. SNK Heroines will also be joining the Japanese company’s eSports program.

What did you think of the fatal cutie Terry Bogard when the fighter joined the SNK Heroines roster? Did you purchase this title on release? Tell us in the comments.

For anyone who wasn’t confident the talent behind the Castlevania animated series on Netflix was respecting the source material, this should put any concerns to rest once and for all. An eagle-eyed viewer of season two has spotted a cartoon chicken bone poking out from one of the walls within Dracula’s castle during a key fight scene. The assistant director of the animated series even confirmed it himself.

While we won’t go into the details about the battle to avoid spoilers, what we can point out is that this is a direct reference to the original 1986 Famicom game, Castlevania. If you haven’t played a Castlevania game previously, the series is known for hiding different varieties of meat – including chicken – behind certain walls around the castle. In the first game, you could often use your whip to destroy a wall and access a hidden chunk of meat, which would in return replenish your character’s health.

This was dubbed ‘wall chicken’ by fans and has led to theories and even jokes about it over the years. Preserved dungeon meat also tends to be a common video game trope. Below is a look at the scene from the Netflix animation as tweeted by @Nick_Waplington and an enlarged screen capture courtesy of Kotaku:

And here’s a screenshot from the game:

It is a bit odd when you start to think about it. A man finding preserved chicken meat behind a wall and then proceeding to eat it. At the very least, it’s a hilarious and faithful reference to the iconic game series.

Have you watched the latest season of Castlevania? Did you spot this yourself? Tell us in the comments.

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• by Liam Doolan
• 5 hours ago

In the same interview with DualShockers where SNK Producer Yasuyuki Oda spoke about the possibility of bringing the newest entry in the King of Fighters series across to the Nintendo Switch, he also mentioned how the release of Nintendo’s miniature line of systems made it “perfect timing” for the Japanese company to release the Neo Geo Mini.

Although the system was planned and released after the arrival of NES and SNES Classic Mini systems, it was apparently an idea SNK had been considering for many years. Nintendo’s miniature systems showed the team at SNK there was a high demand for these types of products, making it easier for a similar project to be approved on SNK’s end.

Oda-san also discussed how the upcoming Switch release SNK 40th Anniversary Collection presented many challenges for the developers. Fortunately, SNK was able to partner with Digital Eclipse who specialise in restoration and ROM hacking. As the original source did not exist for most of the games, the team had to borrow original boards from famous collectors and then forward them to Digital Eclipse in the United States. If it wasn’t for these original boards provided by these fans, the collection may not have seen the light of day.

Have you been tempted to pick up any other miniature retro systems since Nintendo released its own? Are you looking forward to the release of SNK 40th Anniversary Collection? Tell us in the comments.