Special footage of Meltan in the wild and method to catch this new Mythical Pokémon revealed
Following the recent discovery of Meltan, The Pokémon Company International, Niantic, Inc., and Nintendo are now able to reveal more information on this new Mythical Pokémon and how it can be captured in Pokémon GO and transferred to Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! or Pokémon: Let’s Go, Eevee!
Since the discovery of the new Pokémon, Professor Oak and Professor Willow have been hard at work conducting research into Meltan, and they have shared their latest findings in a brand-new video:https://youtu.be/YOJuzTBIQfE.
Pokémon GO players will be able to assist Professor Willow’s ongoing investigation into Meltan with the introduction of new Special Research tasks coming to the app this winter.
Players hoping to capture Meltan will be able to view its behavior in an all-new video:https://youtu.be/YVbH3pNuipc. It looks like Meltan is very curious and loves metal objects.
Generally, sending Pokémon from Pokémon GO to Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! or Pokémon: Let’s Go, Eevee! will result in players receiving certain items in the app, such as Candies for the species of Pokémon sent. However, the first time players send a Pokémon from Pokémon GO to Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! or Pokémon: Let’s Go, Eevee!, they can receive a very special item—a Mystery Box.
Once the Mystery Box is opened in Pokémon GO, Meltan will begin to appear in the game, and players can attempt to catch it in the same way as any other Pokémon. When Meltan has been caught, it can then be transferred to a GO Park in Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! or Pokémon: Let’s Go, Eevee! Players can also get a Mystery Box for sending Pokémon to a friend’s Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! or Pokémon: Let’s Go, Eevee! game. After it has been used, the Mystery Box will close and can only reopen again after a set time, at which point the player will need to send a Pokémon to their own or a friend’s Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! or Pokémon: Let’s Go, Eevee! game.
Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Pokémon: Let’s Go, Eevee! will be available exclusively on Nintendo Switch on November 16, 2018. For more information, please visit Pokemon.com/pokemonletsgo.
Golf, keys and dodge ball! New games arrive for Nintendo Entertainment System – Nintendo Switch Online
Fans all across the country have signed up for Nintendo Switch Online to enjoy what the paid service has to offer, including online play in popular multiplayer games; Save Data Cloud backup; a smartphone app for voice chat and other features for supported games; exclusive special offers; and the ability to experience classic NES™ games with added online play. As promised when the first set of 20 NES games was announced, more retro games are coming to Nintendo Switch™, starting today!
NES Open Tournament Golf – Challenge another player in Stroke, Match and Tournament modes on three fantasy courses in the USA, the UK and Japan. Make sure you keep an eye on the wind and distance to the hole before selecting your club, or else you’ll be racking up some high scores … which is exactly what you don’t want to do in this game.
Solomon’s Key – As Dana, a skilled and talented hero, you must strategically maneuver through over 40 stages using mysterious block-creation skills and other magical powers. Free the captive Fairy in each stage by finding the Bell, and escape by grabbing the Magic Key. Use quick thinking and magical firepower to discover hidden items and evade numerous enemies as you race against the clock.
Super Dodge Ball – In Super Dodge Ball, you take control of the USA Dodge Ball team and travel the world in an effort to become the best dodge ballers around. Step onto playing fields in countries all over the globe and use a combination of normal and super shots to help take down your opponents. But be careful, as some destinations have surfaces that can affect your footing.
In addition to these NES games, Nintendo Switch Online users will also notice the arrival of special save data for the Legend of Zelda™ game. Now, players can choose to start their adventure with a ton of rupees and items, including the White Sword, Magical Shield, Blue Ring and Power Bracelet. Special save data for other NES titles will become available in the future, offering fun new entry points into fan-favorite games.
As previously announced, new additions to the NES – Nintendo Switch Online library in November will include Metroid™, Mighty Bomb Jack and TwinBee, while December will see the release of ADVENTURES OF LOLO, Ninja Gaiden and Wario’s Woods™.
British game developer Rare has announced that it is “making plans” for its very own online store which looks set to feature merchandise based on its popular creations.
The news comes from the tweet below, with the company also taking the opportunity to show off an adorable Banjo-Kazooie plush that has us instantly itching to boot up the good ol’ N64 once more.
Just last week, Totaku Collection figures for both Banjo-Kazooie and Conker from Conker’s Bad Fur Day were revealed, set to be available exclusively from Forbidden Planet and GAME stores in the UK (although Rare has since stated that it also expects to see them appear in the US). It looks like we’re about to see a whole lot more in the near future, too; we’re not sure how well a Pierce Brosnan GoldenEye 007 plush would turn out, but we suddenly (kind of) want one.
What sort of stuff would you like to see in a Rare online store? Perhaps some Donkey Kong Country goodies? Feel free to share your most-wanted toy ideas down below.
Soapbox features enable our individual writers to voice their own opinions on hot topics, opinions that may not necessarily be the voice of the site. In this piece, Nintendo Life Editor Damien McFerran laments the fact that Nintendo still doesn’t seem to know how to exploit its amazing retro library, despite blazing a trail with the Virtual Console over a decade ago…
Believe it or not, this is a tough soapbox for me to write. Keen followers of this site will know that over the years, I’ve been a big supporter of things such as flash carts and emulation-based devices, and have often ruffled a few feathers by giving these products coverage. Even so, I’ve balanced this love of salubrious hardware by making sure I continue to purchase legitimate consoles and software; I have a cupboard packed with everything from Japanese Super Famicom games to multiple Game Boy consoles and love nothing more than to see shelves filled with colourful boxes, and have voiced my concerns previously that a digital-only future is a scary one. I’m a ‘physical’ guy at heart.
Throughout the years, maintaining this balancing act has been easy enough, especially as a Nintendo fan. The arrival of the Virtual Console during the early part of the Wii era gave both myself and millions of others a legal means of reconnecting with hundreds of classic games without having to resort to sifting through questionable sites in search of ROM files. Nintendo really made an effort back then; as well as working with a wide range of publishers to bring NES, SNES, Mega Drive and PC Engine games to the system, it also gave companies like Konami a platform on which to release super-exclusive (and super-rare) titles such as Dracula X: Rondo of Blood, a PC Engine CD game that never saw the light of day in the west and costs a bomb in its original physical format.
Since those retro gaming salad days, Nintendo has been slightly less enthusiastic about the Virtual Console. During the Wii U and 3DS eras, it sluggishly released the very same games that we’d known and loved on the original Wii, but it was nowhere near as wide a selection. There seemed to be some kind of disconnect as companies which had thrown their full weight behind the Virtual Console on Wii decided either to not bother or to go their own way; Sega failed to bring any Mega Drive games to the Wii U, and on 3DS chose to create its own ‘3D Classics’ series alongside a few Game Gear Virtual Console offerings.
Moving to the present, and the death of the Virtual Console appears to be all but complete. Nintendo has repeatedly said that Nintendo Switch Online will serve as a replacement for the retro gaming portal, and despite evidence that the Virtual Console still exists in some form, there seems to be little chance that it will return to its former glories even if it is resurrected; companies like Hamster, Flying Tiger and Sega have apparently become bored of waiting and have instead released retro games directly onto the eShop, without any all-encompassing ‘Virtual Console’ banner to sit them under.
Speaking of Nintendo Switch Online, it’s hard to feel anything but crushing disappointment when faced with the prospect of three new NES games being added each month. As we’ve already discussed, the NES was a classic console and certainly deserves respect, but we’ve played these games so many times in the past its truly difficult to muster much excitement for them in 2018 – even if they do come with some excellent benefits such as save states and online play.
While Nintendo never said it outright, there were many who hoped that Nintendo Switch Online could become the ‘Netflix of Gaming’ – or the ‘Netflix of Nintendo’, at least. There’s a good chance that over time, it may well achieve that potential – assuming that Nintendo intends to add SNES, Game Boy, N64, GameCube and more to the roster in a timely fashion. But this is Nintendo we’re talking about here. Given that the company is sitting on an embarrassment of amazing content that Sony and Microsoft could only dream of, the decision to release games in fits and starts seems almost farcical; imagine if tomorrow, Disney launched its much-hyped Netflix rival but only included the black-and-white Mickey Mouse short films on day one? Would you sign up?
It might sound like a pipedream, but there was nothing stopping Nintendo kicking off the Nintendo Switch Online service with a massive roster of 8, 16 and even 64-bit classics from day one. Given that the average Android smartphone is now capable of accurately emulating everything up to the Wii era, I refuse to believe that it would take much in the way of effort for Nintendo to get a wide proportion of the first-party games that were available on the Wii Virtual Console up and running on the Switch, and add Wii and GameCube titles to that line-up, too. After all, there are already Wii games running on the Nvidia Shield system in China, which has the same basic internals as the Switch itself.
For third-party content, it would admittedly be a little more work and would require renewed agreements with licence holders and publishers, but these are businesses we’re talking about, and businesses usually like to make money. The more attractive Nintendo Switch Online is as a service, the more subscribers it would get, and then Nintendo’s bargaining posture with the publishers who make their games available on the service would increase; flat-fees could be paid for content, or Nintendo could assure each publisher a percent of the yearly sub fee based on how much their software is played. I don’t pretend to be an expert in this kind of thing, but given that many of these games aren’t generating any form of revenue for their owners, I’m sure deals could be struck; it works for Spotify and Apple Music, after all.
Imagine if you’d had all of this from day one on your Switch. All of Nintendo’s classic retro titles there, just a click away. A true Netflix of Nintendo; a wealth of games all emulated perfectly, all accessible in a perfectly legal manner. Not only would that be a much more convincing proposition when it comes to tempting people to pay a yearly sub for what – at least at the time of writing – is a pretty bare-bones online experience, but it would tie them in for years; who would want to allow their sub to expire and lose access to decades of amazing games, all in portable form?
Again, I realise that what I’m proposing might sound – on paper, at least – like pure fantasy, but the fact that services such as Spotify, Netflix and Amazon Prime Video exist proves that isn’t the case. Furthermore, these are all services that, despite producing their own content, rely heavily on content created by third-parties. Nintendo can, in the short term, at least, rely solely on its home-grown library to generate a sizeable subscriber base, because it has a game library spanning the past four decades to call upon right now. Nintendo fans buy Nintendo consoles for Nintendo games after all, so even if Nintendo was only capable of securing games it owned the rights to, it would still represent an amazing offer.
Instead, we’re getting a slow, agonising drip-feed which seems to serve no real purpose. Three NES games a month. It’s almost as if Nintendo is doing this to see how far it can push its fanbase, to see how much they’ll put up with before the ‘real deal’ arrives. The end result, however, is something a little less appealing – it’s pushing people towards ROMs and emulation, rather than away from it.
Nintendo, like any right-minded IP owner, hates piracy – hence its recent move to shut down notable ROM-sharing sites, a move which could, in the long run, have negative consequences for video game preservation. This desire to protect its property is commendable, but also short-sighted in the light of its current piecemeal efforts to share its back catalogue with its consumer base. It sounds almost stupidly simplistic, but if you make content readily available, then people won’t resort to piracy. Shutting down ROM-sharing sites but then failing to offer any viable means of playing those games outside of sourcing the original hardware and software – both of which might be extortionately expensive options these days – shows that Nintendo doesn’t really comprehend the nature of this side of its business.
Would recent developments in hacking Switch consoles to play retro games have gained quite as much attention and momentum if Nintendo had launched a proper successor to the Virtual Console as part of its Nintendo Switch Online service? It may not have wiped it out totally – hackers gonna hack, after all – but it might have dissuaded some ‘casual’ modders from tinkering with their consoles; what’s the point in risking a bricked system if Nintendo already offers a legitimate alternative straight out of the box?
As for where I stand in this situation, I’m tremendously conflicted. Having playing Sonic and Thunder Force IV on my Switch lately – and having supported Hamster’s Neo Geo releases since launch – I love the fact that my Switch is becoming a portable time capsule, offering me the best games from both the past and the present. As I mentioned before, I also love collecting old games and hardware, a fact that the ever-shrinking storage space in my house attests to. However, as the owner of an Android smartphone and 8BitDo Bluetooth controller, I’m never more than a few clicks away from a complete history of gaming. I can fire up any NES, SNES, Mega Drive, N64, Dreamcast, GBA, Nintendo DS or PlayStation game I like and play it with just as much ease as I would if it were on my Switch. That’s what Nintendo is fighting against here; the sheer effortlessness with which modern portable technology can connect us with gaming’s past, by legal means or (as is more often the case) otherwise.
You can’t fight that by taking down ROM-sharing sites, because even at the time of writing, there are several that still operate and are still sharing Nintendo games. You fight it by out-classing the pirates; by making it easier to play these games officially than downloading them off the internet to your phone or flash cart. Until Nintendo realises this, then its fight against piracy is doomed to failure.
Do you agree with Damien’s stance on this, or do you think Nintendo has the right idea when it comes to retro? Have you ever resorted to piracy to play games? Would you like to see the Virtual Console make a return? Vote the polls below, and share your thoughts with a comment.
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The Pokémon Company has shared the tiniest of teases confirming that Generation 4 Pokémon are headed to the ever-popular Pokémon GO.
Fans have been asking for the next generation of monsters – which originally appeared in Pokémon Diamond & Pearl – for quite a while now, and the most observant players have also noticed that we should be receiving the new collection soon (if previous trends and generations gaps are anything to go buy). Sure enough, they were right.
On top of this, several tweaks to game balance will also be introduced. Here are all the changes you can expect to notice:
– Moving forward, the weather feature will have a reduced effect on the rate at which Pokémon appear. – As you explore a given area, you will notice that a greater variety of Pokémon species will appear over time and at different rates. – Certain areas, such as parks and nature reserves, will now contain more varied Pokémon species.
– CP values will be adjusted going forward to improve game balance. – HP values will be adjusted to close the gap between Pokémon with high and low HP. – Pokémon Defense and Stamina values will be rebalanced, allowing Pokémon with high defensive stats to be valuable by outlasting opponents in battle rather than these Pokémon merely taking too long to defeat. – Defense values have also been slightly reduced for most Pokémon. Changes like these will help narrow the gap between Pokémon with the highest defensive stats and other Pokémon.
No extra details surrounding the exact release date for the next generation has been confirmed just yet, so make sure to keep checking back for more information. We’ll make sure to update you when we know more.
Fortnite is getting its very own physical, retail edition thanks to a partnership between developer Epic Games and Warner Bros. Interactive. The bundle will be available on Switch and other consoles later this year.
Called Fortnite: Deep Freeze Bundle, this new retail edition will include the standard, free-to-play Fortnite Battle Royale game, as well as premium content including the Frostbite Outfit, Cold Front Glider, Chill-Axe Pickaxe, Freezing Point Back Bling, and 1,000 V-Bucks which can be used to purchase in-game items.
The game itself will naturally be the very same game available for free directly from the eShop, with the cost covering the extra items that are supplied alongside the game. This new bundle isn’t exclusive to retail stores, however, as players will also be able to purchase and download the content digitally from the eShop or Nintendo’s websites.
The bundle launches for Switch, Xbox One, and PS4 on 16th November and will be available for £24.99 / $29.99, securing the extra shelf space and visibility in stores that it (definitely doesn’t) need.
Are you thinking about joining in with the Fortnite craze? Will you be grabbing a copy of this bundle to get stuck in? Let us know with a comment.
Nintendo has finally lifted the lid on the mystery surrounding Fitness Boxing, a Switch exclusive title that was teased a little while back.
We first heard about this one several months ago, although details were extremely few and far between back then. Now, though, Nintendo tells us that the game will have players taking part in boxing-based workouts, all while bopping along to instrumental versions popular music hits. Holding one Joy-Con in each hand, you’ll be punching, weaving, and squatting your way to calorie-burning victory, making use of the console’s motion control functionalities.
A daily training feature in Fitness Boxing offers both low and high-intensity options, with customisable trainers available to personalise your experience. The game estimates your approximate body mass index and daily calories burned so you can track your progress and, as you move toward reaching your goals, you can earn more songs and will also have the opportunity to engage with more challenging training circuits. There’s also a two-player mode where you can team up with a friend or family member to play in tandem or face off in a virtual boxing ring.
The full soundtrack hasn’t been revealed just yet, but we do know that instrumental versions of “Party Rock Anthem” by LMFAO, “Call Me Maybe” by Carly Rae Jepsen, “Shut Up and Dance” by Walk The Moon, and “Sugar” by Maroon 5 will appear, alongside songs from Lady Gaga, Pitbull and Kesha. You can find some more details in the feature list below.
FEATURES: – Work up a sweat with boxing-based motion-controlled moves set to rhythm-based workouts – Bop along to the instrumental versions of popular songs – Personalise workouts by selecting your fitness goals – Choose from short to long workouts to fit a variety of lifestyles – Play cooperatively with or competitively against friends and family in 2-player local play with two sets of Joy-Con controllers or by sharing a pair. – Play at home on the TV or on-the-go in Tabletop mode – Tracks your progress by estimating BMI and calories burned to help encourage healthy habits
The game will arrive both digitally and physically, exclusively on Switch on 21st December in Europe and 4th January in North America.
Will you be bopping and boxing to the beat? Let us know your thoughts on this one in the comments.
A computer enthusiast known as “Dodoid” posted a video on his YouTube channel in August about Silicon Graphics’ Onyx RealityEngine² – a $250,000 graphics supercomputer from 1993. What’s interesting about SGI machines is how Nintendo, at the time, developed N64 games on the hardware; the console’s internals were jointly developed by SGI.
As noted by Polygon, the creator of the video points out the similarities between ‘buttonfly’ – a 3D graphics menu used to launch 3D graphics demos – and the main menu in Super Mario 64. It’s a likely scenario that one of the developers behind the 1996 Nintendo 64 launch title had at some point played around with buttonfly on their SGI workstation, and that’s how the menu in the game was created.
Did you know about this already? Are you familiar with the Onyx? Do you miss Super Mario 64? Tell us below.
Dead Cells doesn’t just look and play great, it also sounds great. The Bordeaux-based composer Yoann Laulan is responsible for the game’s entire soundtrack. In celebration of his efforts, the title’s developer Motion Twin has partnered with Laced Records to release the Dead Cells original soundtrack on deluxe double vinyl.
The vinyl can be pre-ordered from Amazon now for $38.46 and will be released on 19th October. Alternatively, you can pick the standalone MP3 soundtrack for $5.99. Here’s the official description:
Limited double 180gm transparent orange and violet vinyl LP pressing packaged in a deluxe gatefold sleeve. Laced Records, in partnership with Motion Twin, bring you the Dead Cells (Original Soundtrack) on deluxe double vinyl. The release includes 15 tracks from the game’s composer Yoann Laulan.
In August, The Heart of Dead Cells: A Visual Making-Of book was announced – offering illustrations from the game and exclusive behind the scenes information about the universe, story and gameplay through exclusive interviews.
Would you be interested in the Dead Cells vinyl soundtrack? Have you even played this game yet? Tell us in the comments.
Nintendo’s advertising in the US has decreased in the month of September. Having spent an estimated amount of $6.2 million in August, it’s since dropped to roughly $4.45 million.
According to GamesBeat and its partner iSpot.tv (a real-time television ad measurement company), Nintendo has gone to third place. Its ten ad spots in September aired 2,700 times and resulted in 335.4 million impressions. The biggest spend was on the “Make, Play and Discover” Nintendo Labo: Vehicle Kit commercial costing $1.6 million in total.
PlayStation took out the top spot on the charts with an estimated spend of $24.2 million. This was for 9 commercials airing more than 2,900 times and resulting in 1.1 billion impressions. Unsurprisingly, the biggest budget was for Marvel’s Spider-Man “Be Greater” commercial, estimated to have cost $9.2 million.
Microsoft’s Xbox placed second, with the company spending around $8.2 million – with four ads airing 3,000 times and generating 569.5 million impressions. It focused its advertising efforts on Shadow of the Tomb Raider and NBA 2K19. The largest ad “Become the Tomb Raider” was estimated to be around $3.9 million.
In fourth place was Ubisoft, with three ads for Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and an estimated spend of $3.8 million. EA Sports followed in fifth, spending $2.1 million on a single commercial for Madden NFL 19. Overall, the industry went from a total spend of $24.9 million in August, to $53.5 million in September. It’s expected advertising will steadily increase leading into the holiday period.
