Category: Nintendo News

Continuing today’s Nindies celebrations – as part of the Indie Highlights presentation that was just shared by Nintendo of Europe – it has been revealed that a select number of indie titles will soon be available to buy from physical stores in the region.

The following games will all receive physical download codes at retail, enabling store browsers to check out the latest and greatest indie titles alongside their blockbuster counterparts. A “first wave” (listed below) will be available to purchase in this way starting from today, with others set to follow in the coming months.

– Celeste from Matt Makes Games
– Darkest Dungeon from Red Hook Studios
– Dead Cells from Motion Twin
– FAST RMX from Shin’en Multimedia
– Golf Story from Sidebar Games
– Gorogoa from Annapurna Games
– Hollow Knight from Team Cherry
– Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove from Yacht Club Games
– Stardew Valley from Chucklefish
– Night in the Woods from Finji

These codes can be redeemed at Nintendo’s redemption website, or simply via the eShop itself.

While these games are much more easily accessible directly from the eShop, having a presence in a real brick-and-mortar store should give them much more visibility, especially considering the eShop’s current state which doesn’t allow for easy game filtering.

Do you think this is a good idea? Which indie titles do you think deserve to make it to physical stores? Let us know below.

The Senior Director of Engineering at Niantic, Niniane Wang, recently made a blog post about the new parental update coming to Pokémon GO soon.

The Niantic Kids Parent Portal is a new way for parents to manage the gaming experiences of their children. This is achieved by securing personal information whenever a child accesses Pokémon GO. It also acts as a tool – allowing parents to review and approve a child’s permissions before playing the game, and limiting the amount of personal data and information shared when playing to ensure a safer experience.

In order to implement this feature, Niantic partnered with the kid-focused technology company SuperAwesome. The services produced by this company are kidSAFE Seal and ESRB Privacy Certified – meeting digital privacy guidelines for children within and also outside of the US. Parents can still also continue to use their Pokémon Trainer Club account to connect and supervise access to Pokémon GO.

What do you think about Niantic implementing parental controls in Pokémon GO? Do you think more modern games should include features like this? Tell us below.  

A recent PEGI rating for Graveyard Keeper suggests the morbid game could be making its way across to the Nintendo Switch in the near future. Described as a medieval cemetery management sim, it’s developed by Lazy Bear Games and published by tinyBuild.

Given the fact Lazy Bear has already released Punch Club on the Switch, an eShop release for Graveyard Keeper wouldn’t be a complete shock. In the title, the player must build and manage their own graveyard while taking advantage of all the resources at their disposal to expand into other ventures.

The game raises ethical dilemmas and includes plenty of gathering, crafting and questing. Like all respectable medieval-themed games, there is also the chance to explore mysterious dungeons and discover new alchemy ingredients to poison the entire village. 

Take a look at the game’s launch trailer above, and tell us if you would be interested in a game like this appearing on the Switch.

One less favourable aspect of Nintendo’s mini line of retro systems is the fixed library of games. As fantastic as the collection is on the SNES Classic Mini, some fans are admittedly disappointed by the closed state of the console – with no ability to update the device or download more nostalgic hits.  

The Classic 2 Magic is a simple SNES Classic Mini attachment that enables users to play and add more games to Nintendo’s small-sized hardware. Due out this September for $59.95, the device will allow you to dig out your old SNES cartridges, install and then play them directly on your SNES Mini. There’s no region lock, either. 

There’s also the ability to play backup ROMs and copy ROMs thanks to the inclusion of a USB Drive. The accessory also allows various other video game emulators to be played on the SNES Mini and is even compatible with the NES Classic Mini. Overlooking the current piracy debate, these functions are somewhat similar to the Retrode 2.

Here are the videos going through the basics: 

Do you like the look of the Classic 2 Magic accessory? Would you consider picking one up? Tell us below. 

The success of the Switch has been brought back down to earth by a number of publishers and developers who do not intend to release popular video game franchises on the system. One of the most common reasons cited other than the associated financial risk is how Nintendo’s latest system is simply not packing the required technical power to handle current generation titles. Of course, there have been plenty of arguments for and against this – with developers like Panic Button demonstrating what can be achieved.

According to a transcript by Nintendo Everything, the head of Abstraction Games, John Day, recently touched on the subject during a talk show appearance focusing on Ark: Survival Evolved. He provided a rather blunt statement about the overall power of the Switch, and then suggested smart developers could overcome its limitations by making the necessary compromises:

The Switch does not have the horsepower of a high-end [PC]… or even a PS4. It’s not actually particularly close to that. But as I said before, we are an engineering company. We have extraordinarily smart people who do very technical things very, very well and so by doing things like procedurally reducing meshes on assets and dynamically scaling the resolution in intelligent ways and things like that, we can manage some of that performance.

The head of Abstraction Games went on to explain how the Switch port of Ark: Survival Evolved would not have any significant features or content removed to compensate for the system’s lack of power and was instead attempting to ease demand on the system without compromising the quality on the player’s end. In terms of resolution and frame rate, he noted how The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild even had performance dips:

You have to understand, even Breath of the Wild dipped below 20 frames at certain points in the game. It’s just that you don’t notice because of the way that they’ve handled it. So I think that we’re trying to rather than be like, ‘Okay, here’s a frame rate benchmark – hit this or else,’ I think it’s more like, ‘We’re looking at this thing holistically from a qualitative standpoint.’ I guess there’s a range of parameters within there that seem to work depending on what the context is.

With certain companies demonstrating how current generation games can, in fact, be released on the Nintendo Switch, it’s evident big-name third-party developers and publishers will remain under fire despite the provided reasoning. 

What are your thoughts on the matter? Do you think the head of Abstraction makes some good points about the current third-party troubles on the Switch? Do you sense particular companies have a lack of faith in Nintendo hardware? Tell us below.

Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot has previously said the French-based company is a big fan of Nintendo and its new system. It has already released Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle on the platform and will soon launch Starlink: Battle for Atlas – with the Switch version featuring Star Fox.

As rosy as the current relations between Ubisoft and Nintendo are, one recurring question is if the Switch will ever receive games like Assassin’s Creed and Rainbow Six. During a chat with Metro GameCentral, Rainbow Six Siege brand director Alexandre Remy was asked if the team-based first-person shooter would ever come to the Nintendo Switch. This was his reply:  

[It’s] not possible with the technical constraint and especially the frame rate of the game; 60 frames per second plus destruction is a bit CPU heavy and Switch is not yet the Nintendo console where it’ll be.

This follows on from last week when the Assassin’s Creed Odyssey game director Scott Phillips revealed he would port the game to the Switch if he had the programming skills to do so.

Earlier this month, Ubisoft revealed it had halted development on the Switch version of Steep, and before then announced it was releasing two hand-drawn titles from 2014 on the device. 

Do you think Ubisoft will ever release any of its bigger game series on the Switch? Are you happy with its current offerings on the system? Tell us below. 

In preparation for the launch of Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Let’s Go, Eevee! this November, The Pokémon Company and Nintendo have been releasing new trailers on a regular basis highlighting different aspects of the game. 

With Mega Evolutions confirmed earlier this month in a video featuring Venusaur, Charizard, and Blastoise, a new trailer has now been released showing the powerful mega versions of Kangaskhan and Gyarados. 

Take a look at the brief clip above and let us know in the comments if you’re excited about returning to the Kanto region. 

Being able to place the Switch in a vertical position is very handy considering how many shoot ’em up games continue to get released on the Nintendo eShop on a regular basis. According to a PR from Ratalaika Games, the next one due out sometime in September is FullBlast by UFO Crash Games. If the name sounds familiar, it’s because it was published by EnjoyUp Games on the Wii U eShop back in 2015, and before then was available on Android and iOS. 

FullBlast is a retro-style vertical shooter which promises to delight anyone who grew up playing the genre. Its visuals are inspired by games from the ’80s and ’90s, but take full advantage of current technology. Interestingly, the developer prefers not to class it as a bullet hell game, but rather a fast-paced title similar to more classic releases. Much like all good shmups, your job is to save humanity from an alien threat. 

Here’s a brief description of the game: 

FullBlast features a story campaign of 12 random levels and, as usual in every game of this genre, mankind is at the verge of extinction due to an alien invasion and you’re the last hope to save the world. With no other choice but to take the control of your powerful fighter and upgrade your weapons to kill thousands of alien ships and creatures, humanity’s retaliation against the alien invaders, starts now!

FullBlast will also include a two-player local co-op mode, power-ups and power-downs, four mini and four mega bosses, a heavy metal soundtrack and a mission system and leaderboards. There will be Pro Controller support as well. 

Take a look at the trailer above and tell us if you’re ready for the arrival of another shmup on the Switch next month.

Chucklefish has revealed it will be publishing the 2D puzzle platformer Inmost. The title has been developed by the two-person Lithuania-based developer Hidden Layer Games and is currently due out on the PC in 2019. When asked about a potential Switch version, Chucklefish said it would love to bring it to consoles, but couldn’t guarantee anything right now:

Inmost is described as an atmospheric, story-driven puzzle platformer where you take control of three playable characters who are united by an interconnecting story. The narrative takes place across two worlds, with part of it set in an old abandoned castle, and includes themes of suffering and sacrifice – with a family apparently in the middle of the chaos. 

There’ll be plenty of slicing and dicing as you work your way through enemies and spring deadly traps to escape the forces of evil. There are also secret passages and the atmosphere is enhanced by beautiful pixel art design.

Chucklefish are responsible for the development of Wargroove, due out on the Switch in the near future, and have previously handled the publishing of Stardew Valley and Pocket Rumble on the eShop. Hopefully, Inmost makes the transition across to the Switch at some stage. 

Take a look at the trailer above, and tell us if you would like to see this game released on the Switch in the future.