Category: Nintendo News

As we find ourselves slap bang in the middle of Wimbledon fever, and because the super Mario Tennis Aces has recently launched on Nintendo Switch, we’re hosting a community livestream to play the game, get you lovely lot involved, and even give away some prizes. Sound good?

Now that you’ve hopefully had a bit of time with the game, we’ll be testing your skills by putting you up against our very own video megastar Alex Olney. If you want to get involved, simply watch the livestream from 3pm BST – viewers will be chosen at random to join in the fun.

Winning a match will enter you in with a chance of winning a range of awesome prizes thanks to the lovely folks at the Nintendo Official UK Store. Prizes consist of a Nintendo Switch, a copy of the game, and more. Anyone can participate in the stream but you must be a resident of the United Kingdom to be eligible to enter the competition. Winners will be announced at a later date after the stream.

If you want even more chances to win, make sure to stick around for a second stream from friend of Nintendo Life, Arrekz. Arrekz will be hosting his stream from 5pm BST on his Twitch channel here, so make sure to get involved there, too.

Good luck, have fun, and enjoy the show!

Trailblazers, the upcoming co-op shooter that combines the speed of WipEout with the paint-madness of Splatoon 2, is heading to Nintendo Switch this September. It’s also making the jump to retail as well, so all you physical collectors will have one more case to add to your shelves.

The Nintendo Switch version will pack in extra content, including brand new racer ‘Boo’s Dad’ as well as increased single-player content available straight out of the gate. Sounds like the hybrid console version will be the place to enjoy this colourful racer.

Will you be picking up Trailblazers, in digital or physical form, this September? Share your thoughts with us below…

In 2018, it can be rather difficult for a JRPG to set itself apart from the crowd, even more so if it attempts to emulate the style or look of the grand adventures of the 8-bit and 16-bit eras. Still, if there were ever a company that could pull it off, it would be Square Enix. With Octopath Traveler, the company is aiming to go back to its roots, offering an experience that manages to mix the best parts of the great JRPGs of yore with new gameplay standards that keep things from feeling too archaic.

One of the immediately striking things about Octopath Traveler, and something that doesn’t seem to be talked about enough, is the non-linear and unconventional approach to storytelling. The bizarre name of the game stems from how there are eight characters you can play as, each with distinct storylines, motivations, and supporting characters. Though you have to pick one of the characters to start with, each of the others can be obtained in time and you can experience their origin stories, too, in a flashback sequence.

The interesting thing about all of this is that there’s no contrived plotline like many JRPGs tend to do. You simply wander the land, exploring dungeons and leveling characters, until you eventually stumble upon a town with the next party character and you choose to help them with whatever their immediate goal is. There’s no central protagonist here, no dark lord or other big bad that you’re directly working to resist, just a group of unique people with varying goals who happen upon each other by chance. This episodic and laidback approach to storytelling is quite refreshing, and we can’t wait to see how things further develop as storylines begin to crossover.

Similarly, the combat is a delight to experience, keeping things simple and straightforward, while sprinkling in elements of deeper strategy that’ll keep you from going on autopilot too easily. Combat is handled in a standard turn-based affair, but things are deepened by each enemy being weak to certain attacks, be it knives, swords, bows, lightning, etc. Once the enemy has been hit enough times by their weakness, they’re ‘broken’, which removes their ability to act in the current or next turn and allows you to do double damage. Choosing which enemies to break, and when to break them, quickly becomes an important aspect to consider in battle, and keeps things feeling dynamic and exciting.

We’d be remiss not to mention the incredible presentation, too; Square has absolutely knocked it out of the park with this one. The visual style has been dubbed by the developers as ‘HD-2D’, which is quite a fitting term for what’s on display. Detailed 16-bit sprites that look straight of the mid-’90s are utilised, but combined with a 3D world and a lighting and effects engine that instills the retro visuals with a crisp modern flair. Seeing the simple sprites juxtaposed against the realistic sunbeams filtering through trees or reflecting off the rushing water of a river makes for many striking and picturesque moments that rarely fail to astound; that capture button has been getting a lot of use lately.

To match the looks, Square has also produced one of the most emotional and excellent soundtracks that we’ve heard in a JRPG yet. Just about every track on here manages to capture an exhilarating feeling of splendor and adventure, and the usage of a full orchestra lends the music that extra bit of gravitas to really drive the emotion of it all home. What’s more impressive is how this excellence is consistent, appearing even in the tracks that dabble in other genres, like jazz or rock.

Octopath Traveler isn’t just shaping up to be the game that you hoped it would be, it’s quickly proving itself to be even more. Even in its first few hours, this game has proven that it’s more than capable of carrying on the dream of the ’90s JRPG, while still doing enough new things with it to keep the experience fresh. This is a game that’s all killer, no filler, and proves that Square Enix still has the talent to remain the highest authority on RPG production. Although the official Final Fantasy XVI may still be quite a few years off, we firmly believe that it’s already arrived under a different name.

Are you excited for Octopath Traveler? Share your thoughts with the Nintendo Life community below…

NIS America has officially announced three upcoming titles that are scheduled to land on Nintendo Switch in 2019: The Princess Guide, The Caligula Effect: Overdose, and RPG Maker MV. 

Without further ado, here’s all the info we have on each of the three titles so far including official game descriptions, feature lists, and trailers:

The Princess Guide

In a land torn by chaos and war, a new evil rises. Now, four princesses from four different kingdoms must learn how to lead their people to victory. Commence the Princess Knight training regimen! As an experienced knight, you will choose a princess to become your apprentice. Teach her the art of war, and push back the evil that threatens to take over the land! With your choices directly impacting the way your Princess Knight fights, The Princess Guide gives military training a whole new meaning!

Key Features:
– A Unique Tale Times Four! – Each Princess Knight has a unique story to tell, and your choice affects how the tale unfolds! Will you train the vengeful Veronica, the gluttonous Liliartie, the chivalrous Monomaria, or the dragon princess Alpana?
– Fast-Paced Strategic Battles – The battlefield can get intense! Issue orders to your princess directly on the battlefield, and watch them clash with the enemy forces! Their performance is directly affected by your tutelage!
– To Praise or To Scold? – Your princess’s growth depends on you! During conversations and battles, “Praise” or “Scold” your princess to enhance their abilities on the battlefield!

The Caligula Effect: Overdose

Mobius. An idyllic world that exists for the sake of letting people forget about the pain and problems of reality. In this world created by a sentient vocaloid program, μ (Mu), reality and fantasy has become blurred, allowing people to relive their high school years in bliss. Yet in this seemingly beautiful and perfect world, something is amiss. Escape from this false paradise with your fellow students and return to reality in The Caligula Effect: Overdose!

Key Features:
– An Overdose of New Features –  The Caligula Effect: Overdose boasts enhanced visuals and gameplay! Explore new scenarios, endings, and the “Forbidden Musician Route” while escaping the virtual world of Mobius.
– The New Faces of Kishimai High – Play as the newly added female protagonist! Plus, meet two new members of the Go-Home Club, who each have their own new Ostinato Musician to face.
– Use the Imaginary Chain! – Turn-based battle meets exhilarating action in this refined JRPG battle system! Develop a flawless strategy after using the Imaginary Chain to predict what your enemies will do next!
– Unite and Escape – Sometimes, it’s hard to go it alone. Befriend over 500 other students in this imaginary paradise to improve your skills in battle and ultimately return to reality.

RPG Maker MV

An epic journey begins… with YOU! Become a master game developer with RPG Maker MV. With an assortment of tools at your fingertips, create elaborate, exciting, and memorable video games straight from your console! Then, share your adventures online with other players, who can enjoy your epic chronicles! The possibilities are endless with the latest and greatest RPG Maker software. With hundreds of assets and an infinite number of ways to create your game, turn your dream tale into the next greatest video game!

Key Features:
– Your Next Adventure Begins Here – A high fantasy tale of knights and dragons? A modern story of high school romance? A chronicle of gods and demons? If you can dream it, you can make it!
– Game Development Made Easy – Say goodbye to complicated coding! This software provides ease of navigating and development with straightforward world and character creation, overworld customization, and more!
– Make, Upload, Play! – Enjoy games made by fellow gamers with the RPG Maker MV Player, free for download and play, even without the RPG Maker MV game!
– An Endless Fountain of Customization – With hundreds of graphical assets and an infinite number of possibilities to create your very own world and story, the sky’s the limit!

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Do any of these games stand out to you? Let us know if you’ll be keeping an eye out for any of these when they release next year.

You may remember that, back in 2015, Nintendo asked fans of Super Smash Bros. to vote for characters that they’d like to see appear in-game in a ballot; lasting for six whole months, this gave players the chance to get their personal favourites added as DLC to Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS. As it turns out, recent datamine efforts indicate that the results of these ballots might not have actually been used to choose which characters were selected.

Smash dataminer @Ruben_dal has been sharing some findings on Twitter, revealing that character slots for Cloud and Bayonetta were effectively added via patch 1.0.6 – a patch that launched just two weeks into the ballot on 15th April 2015. Originally, these character slots were copies of Ike and Zero Suit Samus, eventually transforming into Cloud and Bayonetta over time.

It’s likely that these copied characters served as a development basis for Cloud and Bayonetta, allowing the developers to have a starting point for characters that would have similar movements and body types. This suggests that the development team may have already had an idea of which characters would be filling those slots, despite the fact that the ballot had another five and a half months to go. 

At the time, Smash creator Masahiro Sakurai said that Bayonetta was the number one Fighter Ballot choice in Europe, top five in North America, and worldwide winner, although these results were only for ‘realisable’ characters, suggesting that others likely had more votes overall. Some arguments online are now theorising that highly voted for third-party characters may have been off the table from the start due to licensing issues, and other first-party characters like the Inklings may have already been chosen as a newcomer for the sequel – Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

If you’re concerned that your votes may have had no or very little impact, though, don’t worry. The Japanese site for the ballot did mention that votes could be used for future games in the series. Even if the votes weren’t used for Smash 4, it’s possible that they helped form the idea of every character being in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, or may even have an influence on unannounced characters.

As ever, let us know your thoughts on this whole debacle in the comments below.

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• by Ryan Craddock
• 1 day ago

Lab Zero Games has revealed that Skullgirls 2nd Encore is Switch-bound. The news was announced at the Anime Expo 2018, although a solid release date wasn’t forthcoming.

Previously available on PlayStation 4, PS Vita, and PC, Skullgirls 2nd Encore showcases 14 fighters, a story mode, online play and a soundtrack by the legendary Michiru Yamane. It’s also famous for its rather racy character designs and inventive special moves.

The original Skullgirls was in contention for a release on Wii U but the developer said the low sales of the machine made it hard to justify the release. Thankfully the Switch doesn’t suffer from that problem.

Our pals over at Push Square gave the PS4 version of the game 7/10, saying:

Skullgirls remains a fine fighter with finesse and an interesting solution to excessive imbalance. The game boasts a brilliant implementation of GGPO netplay, and a sublime tutorial. However, 2nd Encore misfires with a lack of winner-stays-on lobbies at launch, quite a small roster, perfunctory story mode, and the game’s art style – superb in places – feels needlessly cheapened at times. While offering a solid counter to infinite combos, the rest of the game’s mechanics are possibly too derivative of its peers’.

Let us know if you’ll be taking this for a spin on Switch by posting a comment below.

First, let us kick off this article by saying happy birthday to the Family Computer! Released in July 1983, (July 15th, to be exact) the 8-bit warhorse is turning 35 years old this year. That’s quite a milestone for even long forgotten hardware, but Famicom/NES games still live on today, either as part of the Classic Mini line or as enhanced updates on Nintendo’s forthcoming Switch Online service. Congratulations are in order!

But hold up a second. Why do we all call the machine ‘Famicom’ yet, Nintendo still sticks with the clunky name ‘Family Computer?’ The terms are pretty much interchangeable, yet for the 8-bit line, you rarely see it used. True, it does appear in a few games now and then, most recently Famicom Remix. 

A few years ago, the inventor of the Famicom Masayuki Uemura spoke out about how the machine got its name. He coined the term “Family Computer” to imitate the IBM Personal Computer. When he told his wife, she suggested it be shortened to “Famicom”. Despite this, the hardware casing, manuals and all advertising used the longer Family Computer moniker.

Kind of strange, don’t you think? Well, there’s a specific reason behind it. Nintendo didn’t hold the trademark to the word Famicom for a few years until after the machine was already released and in homes. How did that happen, you may ask? The truth is that a different Famicom was trademarked before Nintendo even released its console.

In 1979, Sharp Corporation had released a grill oven range called the Family Convection Oven or “Famicon” for short. In Japanese that’s written as ファミコン which is exactly how Famicom with an “M” at the end is written, as well. 

In Japanese, these two would be pronounced the same, despite English spelling differences. The trademark law in Japan does allow for the same term to be trademarked more than once, but the products must fall under separate classifications. By the time 1983 rolled around, everything should have been fine. Except the Sharp Famicon was classified as a “consumer electronic device” – a term which broadly covering practically anything used in homes. Nintendo was locked out, and was forced to go with the term “Family Computer” instead – although fans called it Famicom from day one.

Thankfully, the dispute ended amicably. There wasn’t any court case, likely because Nintendo didn’t have much standing at the time. According to a Japanese book called “Strange Trademarks”, the trademark was officially transferred on 17th October 1985. Because Sharp already had the rights to the term Famicom, Nintendo licensed out the use of Family Computer hardware to Sharp, which resulted in a few products, such as the Famicom Titler, Famicom TV and Twin Famicom – all of which are branded by Sharp and use the word Famicom prominently. While Nintendo now owns the right to use the word Famicom, later hardware models still say Family Computer, keeping things uniform. The machine’s successor, the Super Famicom, didn’t suffer from this headache.

To learn more about this quirk in Nintendo’s history and see some images of the Sharp Famicon, check out the video below.

Publisher Sometimes You has announced that The Mooseman will be arriving on Nintendo Switch later this month.

The game is an atmospheric 2D puzzle adventure where players take on the role of the Mooseman, a character that has the ability to see all that is hidden to the mortal eye. As the Mooseman, players must embark on a journey through all the worlds of ancient myth, find artefacts of Chud’ tribes, and solve all the mysteries of finno-ugric tales.

Here’s a full list of features that you can expect to find in the game.

FEATURES:
– Explore the worlds inspired by Perm animal style
– Dive into the deep atmosphere of folk Komi music
– Meet long forgotten gods and spirits
– Learn the ancient myths of finno-ugric tribes
– Don’t expect an easy journey, there are riddles in the dark
– Unlock new abilities and use them to get to the Upper World
– Find all the artefacts that are hidden from the mortal eye

The game is scheduled to launch on Switch on 18th July, available directly from the Nintendo eShop, and can already be pre-loaded on the North American store for $6.99.

Do you like the look of this one?

Nintendo 64 games have now been successfully emulated on Switch, teasing those who would love to see the classic console’s stellar library come to the new system for real.

We’ve been hearing of multiple stories surrounding hacking on Switch over the last few months, with players forcing adult-themed imagery into Super Mario Odyssey, and Nintendo reportedly banning all online services for certain hackers’ consoles. Thanks to this, these N64 emulations hardly come as a surprise, but it’s still interesting and equally concerning to see them up and running regardless.

Short videos of the emulations have been shared on Twitter by @_Mizumi, showing how several fan-favourite titles could look if Nintendo decides to re-publish them in the future. First up we have Super Mario 64 and a modded version of Mario Kart 64 that features Dragon Ball characters.

Followed by Pokémon Stadium 2 and Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards.

With Nintendo’s upcoming online service seemingly replacing the Virtual Console setup as we know it, it does seem unlikely that we’ll see N64 games on Switch any time soon. We’re also yet to see any truly convincing hints that might suggest an N64 Classic Edition could be on the way, so you might just have to keep firing up the real deal for now.

Would you like to see N64 games on Switch? Let us know which games you’d love to see ported to Nintendo’s shiny new console in the comments below.