Category: Nintendo News

Nintendo Switch Online has two different membership options: Individual and Family. Individual is ideal for households that only contain a single Nintendo Switch, but those that have two or more will save money by opting for a Family.

A Nintendo Switch Online Individual Membership costs $19.99 / £17.99 annually, though there are options to pay monthly or quarterly instead. The Family Membership, meanwhile, costs $34.99 / £31.49, which saves you about $5 / £3.50 on two Individual Memberships.

When you consider that up to eight Nintendo Accounts can be linked up to a Family Membership, there’s huge saving potential. In fact, if eight users sign up to just one Family Membership, you’ll each be paying less than $5 / £5 annually. That’s terrific.

Setting up a Family Membership isn’t immediately clear though, and it doesn’t help that Nintendo has been pretty coy about sharing details about Nintendo Switch Online up to this point. Not to worry though, for we’re going to explain exactly how it works in this guide.

Nintendo Switch Online – How to set up a Family Group

Step One – Set Up Your Nintendo Accounts

To invite someone to your family group, they need to have a Nintendo Account, so start there. To set up a Nintendo Account on your Nintendo Switch, perform the following steps:

1. Head to the eShop by selecting the orange icon that looks like a shopping bag.
2. Select the Switch user that you want to be the primary Nintendo Account holder.
3. Hit ‘Create Account’
4. Fill in your email address.
5. Open the email on a PC, Mac, or mobile device.
6. Choose to add an account for yourself, or on behalf of a child.
7. Fill in the form and hit submit.
8. Head back to your Switch and fill in the confirm code provided.
9. Hit continue and choose how you’d like to handle your password.
10. You’re done!

Step Two – Invite Members To Your Family Group

You don’t have to set up a family group, as the option is there for any Nintendo Account holder. Here’s how to invite members to a family group in steps:

1. Login to your Nintendo Account on a PC, Mac, or mobile device and navigate to ‘Family Group’. 
2. Click ‘Add Member’ 
3. Click ‘Invite someone to your family group’. 
4. Fill in the email address attached to the Nintendo Account that you want to add to your family group.
5. Have the Nintendo Account holder accept the invite by heading over to their emails, clicking ‘Join Family Group’, and hitting ‘Ok’.

Congratulations! You’ve successfully created a family group. Now you can choose the family membership when setting up Nintendo Switch Online.

Nintendo Switch Online Family Membership – How To Change The Administrator

If you want to setup a new administrator for any reason, you can do that quite simply: 

1. Login to your Nintendo Account on a PC, Mac, or mobile device.
2. Click on ‘Family Group’.
3. Navigate to ‘Manage Family Group’.
4. Hit ‘Change Family Group Admin’.
5. Click ‘Submit’.
6. Navigate to your email and enter the verification code sent by Nintendo.
7. Hit ‘Submit’.
8. Click ‘Select this person’ on the family group member that you want to make an administrator.
9. Hit ‘Confirm Change’.
10. The new administrator will have to accept the change via an email Nintendo sends out.

Nintendo Switch Online Family Membership – How To Remove A Nintendo Account From Your Family Group

If someone is a naughty so-and-so, you can kick them from your family group fairly easily:

1. Login to your Nintendo Account on a PC, Mac, or mobile device.
2. Click on ‘Family Group’.
3. Navigate to ‘Manage Family Group’.
4. Click on ‘Remove a Family Group Member’.
5. Hit ‘Select this person’ on the person you want to remove.
6. Click ‘Confirm’ and you’re done.

Bear in mind that only an administrator can remove a family group member.

Want to learn more about how Nintendo Switch Online works? Check out our in-depth FAQ then! How do you think Nintendo’s handled it all? Let us know in the comments section below.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is shaping up to be just that; the ultimate Super Smash Bros. game. But no matter how many characters are included as playable fighters, a colossal majority of those people beg for Sakurai to include on social media just won’t make it in.

So to take a slightly different stance, rather than talk about who will, could, or might be a fighter, we decided to take a look at who flat-out just won’t. You know, for fun. Watch the video if you want to share in the previously mentioned fun.

Curve Digital has announced that Velocity 2X will now be releasing on 20th September on Switch.

A direct successor to the 2012 PlayStation hit Velocity, Velocity 2 marks the first time a game in the series has arrived on a Nintendo console. The game follows the story of Lt. Kai Tana, a brave pilot who has found herself stranded a long way from home after getting sucked through a black hole. Discovered and experimented on by an evil alien race called the Vokh, Kai Tana has recently escaped with her ‘Quarp Jet’ and must outrun her captors.

The game has already released on other platforms, scoring highly among critics on systems such as PS4, PS Vita, and Xbox One. Its blend of “pulse-pounding 2D action platforming and fast-paced vertical-scrolling shmup action” has won over the hearts of players, too, gaining ‘very positive’ user reviews on Steam.

FuturLab Managing Director, James Marsden, has said the following:

“This is the ultimate version of Velocity 2X. On Nintendo Switch, players will get the complete, no-compromise home console/PC version with all the graphical bells and whistles, whether playing at home on their TV at 1080p and 60fps, or on the Switch screen at 720p and 60fps.”

The game will be available on Switch on 20th September, with pricing still to be confirmed. If you happen to be attending EGX in Birmingham, UK later this month, you’ll be able to go hands-on with the game to see what all the fuss is about.

Have you been waiting for this one to arrive on Switch? Feel free to share your excitement with us down below.

The most recent Niantic blog post, predominantly focused on Pokémon GO, has revealed the mobile sensation has seen a 35 percent increase in active usage since May. 

Following the introduction of the new social features in June, the game has seen a boom of sorts – with 113 million friend connections made and 2.2 billion gifts shared. More than 400,000 trainers also participated in the three global Pokémon GO events held in Dortmund, Germany, Chicago, USA, and Yokosuka, Japan. Millions more joined in on the fun in a series of global quests to unlock special rewards. 

Niantic believes these social features highlight the community’s desire to interact with each other. This has also been reinforced by the community days held by trainers around the world on a monthly basis. Below is a statement from Niantic CEO John Hanke:

While the headlines are filled with examples of technology being used to divide us, our experiences this summer deepen our conviction that technology can be harnessed to enhance our lives in a positive way and bring us all closer together and strengthen our connection with the communities where we live and play.

As for what the future holds, Niantic are working on some “surprises” for GO this Fall, with the aim to provide even more ways for trainers to play the game together. Niantic itself is coming up to its six-year anniversary. In celebration, it will be launching its upcoming game, Ingress Prime. This is a reboot of the game that started it all for the company. There’s also a Netflix anime series on the way.

Have you been playing Pokémon GO since the new social features were added to the game? Tell us below. 

11 Bit Studios has now locked in the month of November for the release of Moonlighter on Switch. As previously revealed, the title will receive both a digital and physical release.

If you haven’t heard about Moonlighter before, it’s an action RPG featuring rogue-lite elements. It’s a somewhat unique combination as you take on the role of a shopkeeper, who is also an adventurer. Your two interests go hand in hand as you go out and fight monsters and then gather items and supplies to sell at your shop. Over time you can even upgrade your shop and recruit assistants to help you develop your business. 

November is shaping up to be an exciting release period for Switch owners with a number of big-name titles on the way, along with a plethora of indie releases. Have you been anticipating Moonlighter on the Switch? Will you be grabbing this one in physical or digital form? Tell us in the comments below. 

Update: Below is what you can expect. The event starts on 13th September. 

Original article: As the wait continues for the next mainline entry in the Animal Crossing series to be announced, Nintendo remains focused on the micro-transaction mobile release, Pocket Camp. Anyone who plays this game on a regular basis will be aware of the special events encouraging players to spend their Bells and perhaps even drop some real-life money every now and then.

The latest news regarding Pocket Camp is via Isabelle’s Twitter page, with the following tweet posted: 

As can be seen above, the picture is of a gyroid from the Animal Crossing series covered in neon pink and green paint. Isabelle even says it looks familiar, so we’re guessing a Splatoon crossover event is on the way. Presumably, there’ll be special items, clothing, and accessories up for grabs. The recently shut down Miitomo for mobile also had Splatoon events where players could obtain themed items and clothing. 

Have you played Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp before? Would a potential crossover event encourage you to try it out? Tell us below. 

Given Nintendo’s recent crackdown on emulation, piracy and hacking, it comes as no surprise the company is now seeking an individual who specialises in tightening up security and identifying any vulnerabilities. Nintendo Technology Development – a known hardware division of the company – has posted a new job listing for a senior security software engineer. 

The person will need to be skilled in hacking, reverse engineering and also conducting security reviews of existing software components and subsystems. Below is a full list of responsibilities:

• Conducting security reviews of existing software components and subsystems
• Analyzing past security breaches to understand vulnerabilities
• Using tools such as IDA Pro or a disassembler to reverse engineer malicious binary images
• Hacking and also implementing formal penetration tests
• Research, design and development of security technologies such as secure boot, type-1 hypervisors

Nintendo also reportedly intends to expand this division, with more low tier positions said to be opening in the near future. If you think you’ve got what it takes, you can apply here. The position is located at Nintendo’s American headquarters in Redmond, Washington. 

Epic Games looks to be taking extreme measures to enhance the performance and stability of Fortnite on the Nintendo Switch as the latest update has disabled the video capture feature. 

Kotaku reports Fortnite’s subreddit community noticed this common feature, found in the majority of Switch games, had been removed after a recent update for the Switch version was pushed out. 

The ability to record 30 seconds of footage was an important part of this iteration as it does not offer support for full replays. Fortnite community coordinator Sean Hamilton chimed in to confirm the video capture option had been patched out due to ongoing performance issues. Here’s what he had to say:

You may have noticed we’ve disabled the Video Capture feature on Nintendo Switch as of the v5.40.2 client update. This was done for performance and stability reasons as we’ve been seeing a high rate of Out of Memory related crashes. Disabling this feature saves a significant amount of RAM while also having a positive effect on overall performance across the board.

He mentioned the studio may resurrect this feature on the Switch and make it an optional extra in the future for players who would be willing to tolerate drops in performance. 

Nintendo originally added the video capture feature to the Switch towards the end of last year. Fortnite isn’t the first game to disable the feature, with a number of titles not incorporating it for similar reasons. Epic Games also recently revealed it had been working with Nintendo to address the ongoing performance troubles. 

Do you play Fortnite? Are you disappointed the video capture feature has been removed in the Switch version, or are you glad the game’s performance is being sorted out? Tell us below. 

If you missed the news, LEGO Harry Potter Collection was recently revealed for Nintendo Switch, bringing both LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 and LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7 to the console in one juicy package. It appears that publisher Warner Bros. is rather confused about how to present the game’s front cover, however.

In the game’s official announcement trailer, and in all official artwork sent directly to us here at Nintendo Life, the case has been picture perfect, with no errors in sight. Some outlets seem to have received a slightly different piece of cover artwork for the game, however, with one rather comical – and glaring – mistake.

Did you spot it? Right at the bottom of the case, the words “2 classic games on 1 disc” can be found, despite the fact that the Switch cannot read or write discs of any kind. Nintendo’s latest console uses cartridges, of course, and it would appear that more recent images (including those that have now been officially released) have fixed the error.

But how did this happen in the first place? The image can still be spotted in various corners of the internet such as UK retailer Smyths – which should presumably be receiving official art directly from the game’s distributors. Is this a simple copy and paste job gone wrong from other versions? Or did Warner Bros. originally forget how the Switch worked for a while, before eventually realising the mistake?

Either way, part of us hopes that some copies of the game will be printed with the error – that would make for one awesome collector’s item!