Category: Nintendo News

A free demo for Taiko no Tatsujin: Drum ‘n’ Fun!, the crazy, colourful rhythm game, has now appeared on the European eShop.

This demo has been available for some time now on the Japanese eShop – as has the full game, in fact – but this is the first time that European players can get in on the action from their home store. The Japanese version is playable on Switch consoles around the world, provided you have a Japanese account to access it, but it doesn’t have an English language option.

The demo features two songs – a Namco original called ‘FURIFURI♪NORINORI♪’, and an entry from the game’s ‘classic music’ section called “Overture from ‘Orpheus in the Underworld'”, composed by Jacques Offenbach. You can go ahead and download the demo right now directly from the Nintendo Switch eShop.

If you’re wanting the full experience, European fans can also pre-order the game along with its drum set as a bundle, directly from Bandai Namco’s official store; the drum is, without a doubt, the best way to play this title, so we’d urge you to grab one for yourself if your budget allows. The game releases in Europe and North America on 2nd November.

Are you excited for this one? Let us know if you’ll be giving the demo a go in the comments.

The latest entry into Nintendo’s giant, multi-franchise, fighting extravaganza, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is now tantalisingly close to release. If you’re finding it hard to wait for that magical 7th December release date, these videos may well be just enough to tide you over.

A competitive Super Smash Bros. event called The Big House 8 recently took place in Detroit, Michigan, and YouTube channel Most Valuable Gaming has shared a selection of videos featuring the heated gameplay. The videos are off-screen, with the camera simply positioned behind the players’ backs, but you can still get a great sense of what the future competitive scene for the game will be like.

The videos will be of particular interest to those wishing to enter competitions and the like in the future, as the no-item rules in play here (which come with a 1.2x damage multiplier to offset the lack of item damage in matches) will likely be a tournament standard mode over the years to come. If you’re serious about your Smash, you might be able to pick up some early tips and damage values for your favourite characters.

There are eleven different videos on the channel in total, but we’ve included just a small selection of them down below which feature new characters and interesting match-ups.

If you want to see the rest of the videos, make sure to check them out right here.

Will you be picking up Super Smash Bros. Ultimate when it releases in December? Are you hoping to play competitively? Tell us below.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild may well have captured the hearts of a small legion of Nintendo fans when it launched last year, but its near-perfect gaming world is still home to a number of strange glitches and bugs that can cause absolute mayhem.

One such glitch, which has recently been discovered and shared online by ドリルカラマリ* ゲーム動画ch * on YouTube, shows that you can actually warp gravity and make the floor around you essentially break. After spotting several Lizalfos lurking in the Gerudo Wasteland, the player manages to push them off their resting pillar, leaving them simply hanging in midair. This seems to mess around with Link’s gravity, too, and eventually causes him to fall through the floor, walking around with great difficulty.

It gets even weirder later on, too, as a large group of enemies can’t seem to quite figure out where Link is standing – presumably because his feet are now below the game world – and some later attempts at defeating enemies and riding a Sand Seal are similarly strange. You can take a look below.

As we mentioned above, this isn’t the first time we’ve seen strange glitches in the game. We’ve had one which discovered an unseen area where water turns to lava, one which allows you to play the game without the Sheikah Slate, and even one where you can fly through the sky on a Guardian. Crazy stuff.

Have you spotted anything strange in Hyrule? Are you still adventuring through its large open world? Let us know in the comments below.

Data measurement specialist Nielsen has released rankings for 2018’s most anticipated holiday games. The US survey was conducted with the assistance of nearly 6,000 people. In terms of games that have not yet launched, Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros. Ultimate placed second, right behind Activision’s Call of Duty: Black Ops IIII which is due out early next month.

When taking into consideration games that are already out, but are still likely to gain additional sales during this period, Marvel’s Spider-Man on PlayStation 4 was technically at the top. The recently released Super Mario Party on Switch also tied with Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

As for Nintendo’s other upcoming releases, it turns out Pikachu is still the favourite – with Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! achieving a rating of 88 and Pokémon: Let’s Go, Eevee! at 86. Other games like FIFA 19 and NBA 2K19 scored 87 and 84, while Ubisoft’s Assasin’s Creed Odyssey was at 91.

The survey featured 82 different games released between 1st September and 31st December of this year. It covered metrics like awareness, purchase interest and consumer ratings. Below is the official graphic, courtesy of gamesindustry.biz:

Is Smash Bros. Ultimate your most anticipated release of the holiday season or perhaps even this year? Tell us below.

Capcom’s Mega Man 11 arrived on the Nintendo Switch last week. Being a multi-platform release, Digital Foundry has taken a chance to examine each version of the game and also investigate how the design of Mega Man 11 mimics the classic releases. As is noted, the team “clearly understands” what makes the series so great. The video briefly addresses how Mighty No. 9 falls short of what it is trying to accomplish as well.

In terms of the technical side of the game, Mega Man 11 offers “responsive controls” that are a “perfect fit” for the series. Tests conducted confirmed the eleventh entry has low input latency – especially on the Xbox and Switch. In terms of the performance, Mega Man 11 in docked mode on the Switch comes in at 1080p – like other platforms, but does not have anti-aliasing. It makes this version of the game a lot more jagged around the edges. In handheld mode, the results are more pleasing, running at the native resolution of 1280 x 720. As for frame rate, the game is locked at 60fps in modes and remains stable throughout.

Have you been playing the new Mega Man game since it was released? What do you think of the latest entry? Tell us below.

Cross-platform play is becoming more common in multiplayer-orientated video games. Minecraft, Fortnite and Rocket League are using this new technology to unite and sustain their communities. Blizzard happens to be one of the many companies open to the idea of cross-platform play – having already made Hearthstone playable online across multiple devices. What about Diablo III Eternal Collection, though?

Next month’s Nintendo Switch arrival is the seventh time Diablo III will have been released, following existing launches on PC, Mac, Xbox 360, PS3, PS4 and Xbox One. When Business Insider asked why the latest Diablo release didn’t feature cross-play, a Blizzard Entertainment representative confirmed it would be happening at some point:

It’s a question of when, not if

Although there’s nothing official to announce just yet and similar statements have also been made in the past, Blizzard is now reportedly working with both Sony and Microsoft to enable cross-console play with the Switch version of Diablo III.

Are you glad to hear Blizzard is working on cross-platform play for Diablo III? Will you be buying the game when it arrives on the Switch next month? Tell us in the comments.

Pokémon GO appears to be an unstoppable force, with Sensor Tower reporting Niantic’s mobile hit just had its best month since November 2017. The title grossed close to $85 million ($84.8 million, to be exact) during the month of September. This is a 15 percent month-over-month increase and compared to last September it’s an 89 percent improvement. As a result of this, it’s the fourth best app in terms of revenue.

In terms of downloads, the game had its strongest month of 2018 so far – reaching 8.86 million additional installs. Compared to last September, this is reportedly a 100 percent year-over-year increase. Taking into account September’s sales figures, this means Pokémon GO has had its highest earnings for the third quarter since its launch year.

As we reported towards the end of last month, GO players have now spent a whopping $2 billion dollars on the game (via in-app purchases) since it was originally released in July 2016.

Did you play or spend money on Pokémon GO during the month of September? Tell us below.

Last week, Sensor Tower released data revealing the latest Nintendo-published game Dragalia Lost had grossed an estimated $3.5 million in the first five days. Its limited-size launch placed it behind every existing Nintendo mobile game including Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp.

New data now shows a more promising future for the Cygames developed title. In the first two weeks, the game grossed an estimated $16 million. $13.5 million of spending was predominantly linked to Japan and the US. This places it ahead of Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp over the same two week period, as can be seen below:

According to Sensor Tower, Japanese players are still the primary market for the game, totalling 69 percent of in-game spending. 16 percent of spending comes from the US, and Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau cover the remaining 15 percent. iOS users also make up 60 percent of the game’s player base.

Compared to the first week, Cygames’ release is the 10th ranked iPhone game in terms of revenue in Japan. It’s moved up one place since last week. In the US it’s dropped from the 55th to the 62nd place. In terms of Google Play revenue, it’s dropped from 3rd to 5th place in Japan and in the US it’s gone from 35th to 32nd place.

Have you played Dragalia Lost yet? Have you spent money in the game? Do you play other Nintendo mobile titles? Tell us below.