Category: Nintendo News

According to the latest reports, in April of this year, the Nintendo store located in New York received a bomb threat via email. The alarming news is the threat was only discovered yesterday when the store was cleaning out its infrequently used email address. 

The message allegedly came from a disgruntled individual who was not pleased about the removal of Super Smash Bros. game kiosks from the store.

A spokesperson from the New York Police Department confirmed the employees had indeed found a threatening email, originally sent to the store during the month of April. Local police have since investigated the matter and are of the belief the person who sent the message had not taken further action. 

Over the past week, Nintendo New York held a special event where the public was able to play the latest Switch games including Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and also watch multiple E3 2018 live stream events.  

Obviously, this is an isolated case and is not a reflection of the wider video game community. 

Stemming from a love of art, video games and popular culture, Californian video games merchandising company iam8bit are continually collaborating with artists and developers to produce items that are beyond just physical software releases.

Embracing both legacy titles in cartridge form – such as Mega Man and Street Fighter 2 – to more recent titles including a vinyl of the Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle soundtrack, iam8bit’s eclectic tastes and eye for detail continue to be reflected in their ideas and products.

We took the chance to have a chat with founders Amanda White and Jon Gibson at BitSummit 2018 to learn about the company and find out what’s in store for Switch owners.

Nintendo Life: How did iam8bit begin? 

Jon Gibson: I don’t remember…! it was almost 15 years ago, and started out as just an art show. I used to be a journalist and write for magazines when they were more of a thing, but I was also writing video game stories for mainstream publications and got into TV writing for cartoon studios like Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network. When I moved to Los Angeles I was 18, met a lot of artists who loved/were into old school video games and would doodle games characters and put them around the studio.

Because I was connected to the gaming industry and meeting all these artists, many things came together. I was going to warehouse parties in LA where you would literally give someone 20 dollars and take a painting off the wall and put it in your backpack. There were loads of young people into video games and especially old school video games, but they needed an outlet and nothing was being shown in proper galleries. It was all expensive. So one day I just walked into a gallery and thought ‘wouldn’t it be cool to do a themed art show around video games?’.

The venue was going out of business at the time and was a few months away from closure. Iam8bit was born and pretty much saved the gallery. It also kind of started this weird pop culture art show trend of sorts, but quickly we became known as a force that was artistic but also rooted in this video game culture, so people kept coming to me about marketing jobs such as designing a t-shirt or organising an event. Two years in, I met Amanda and I didn’t really consider it a company until I met her.

So did you steady the ship?!

Amanda: Uh, yes….! I came from film production. I had a lot of experience with budgeting and scheduling so when we met it made a lot of sense – we filled in the gaps that one another had. I had no connections or relationships the video game industry, it wasn’t my world and I came from film, but Jon knows lots of people and is known by everyone in the video game business which is really fruitful for us when it comes to collaborating on projects, but there are rules to follow – dotting the ‘I’s’ and crossing the ‘T’s’.

Jon: She doesn’t come from the nerd space, whereas I am very nerdy! We have our individual skill sets but it brings different tastes too. There’s a degree of refinement and there can be such a thing as being ‘too nerdy’ or it can turn into an obsession that can pollute what you’re doing in some respects. It’s good to get a different perspective. You can love something to the point where it’s too much. It is about understanding everything we do from vinyl to cartridges to plush toys but not just as a pure fan, it’s more about making beautiful things objectively.

Amanda: Sometimes I feel like what I bring not being from that game space is a general aesthetic sophistication, so how can we make it more beautiful? What is the objective alteration that elevates this even more? And that makes people love these things even more because it’s not insulating or hiding it away. We want to welcome the mainstream. We also don’t want a fan to say, ”well of course that’s what you did.” To an extent, we want to catch them off guard, we want to show them something new and something that they weren’t anticipating.

Jon: We ask ourselves a lot of questions. Do we want to put this out into the world? Why are we doing this? If it’s derivative then what’s the point? We want to grow the culture and mythology rather than copy it or replicate it in some way – there’s no value in that. We also found that the things we make are incredibly difficult to frame…!

The experience of unboxing things is individual for each thing and most of the time there’s not an easy way to display things because we make custom packaging for most of the products we make, such as the REZ Infinite vinyl plus book and other things. It was important for the book and the vinyl was tied in and a permanent part of the product. There’s no template for these things, but the experience of the visuals and the music had to be together. We annoyed a few people, but we wanted to engineer something that hasn’t been made before. We had to connect music and the art. They had to be together and a permanent element of the whole package. 

Although we have been criticised in the past for various things such as price, and we do keep an eye on accounts trying to resell our stuff to make more money for themselves, we are aware of the collectable nature of the product. Some will buy two, display one and use one. Elements such as the difference of a paper stock or embossing or foil adds to the price but it also makes them special. We try to deal with independent sources and sell directly to customers keep things close regarding distribution. 

Anything that you’re personally proud of?

Jon: Overall, probably the Monument Valley stuff. It is beautiful. It was the first time we realised that children are being introduced to games. We got so many requests from parents for a plush for their three to five-year-old kids which had never happened before. We were used to making vinyl and other more expensive things and then there we were, dealing with this character from a mobile game, which can be a curse word to some people. Remarkably, so many children connected to someone who does not speak and they have no attachment to her voice or facial expressions, but it’s so powerful and heroic to so many.

Do you keep an ear to the ground regarding fan art? 

Jon: It’s funny because we will see something from an artist and want to hire them for something completely different. There’s also a secret little ‘litmus test’ type place that we use to show art, but we don’t know where that is…! Each of those shows we might pull people into our stable of regular vinyl or print artists. It’s neat to give people a forum to create whatever they want and you see what they do and you know you can trust them when they play with other people’s IP, but it can be sensitive. You don’t see a lot of companies do interpretive work and it’s fun to contribute to the culture.

How did the relationship with Capcom happen?

That was a long time brewing. The very first thing was Street Fighter T-shirt that turned into a marketing relationship and then a community event for fans, which we worked with them to do, but before that it was ’red carpet’, even E3 was still closed to the public then. Then the Internet was born, and it became much easier with social media now there’s an easy through-line to communicate with people, but Capcom was one of the first companies to realise, embrace it and trust us. They were one of the first companies we worked with. Over 10 years ago, we did a press kit for Mega Man 9 where we deconstructed old NES cartridges, a put a mini CD inside and made a box in the style of the first Mega Man game, shrink wrapped it and sent it off to press.

It obviously didn’t work as a functioning thing, but it was always a dream to reproduce cartridges and do a kind of criterion collection, so there will be many more…! The idea is to pay homage to really seminal releases – the ‘Citizen Kane’ of games that really made their mark and changed things. You can name a bunch of other games and they will surely make their way into our collection. Nintendo didn’t start the cartridges, but they persisted and popularised them. Archives disappear as you move and pass through the years things get lost so we felt a strong urgency to preserve things. We felt a strong urgency, and we’ve tried really hard to keep a small quantity of everything we do which may see the light of day someday…

Is there anyone you would like to work with or are you selective?

Amanda: We are certainly in the ‘incoming call’ business, but there are also a lot of companies that we are still we are proactive about building those relationships.

Jon: We’ve been lucky enough to work with most of the companies we’ve ever wanted to work with. Every company that you would want to work with as someone who adores this industry and knows what it’s all about, we’ve done stuff for.

There is a downside to the lucrative nature of the products you make, though, whether it’s ’displayers’ like us or more cynical customers…

Amanda: The things we make do accrue value, and we do have a lot of people who buy two of everything and we have had vocal customers who have tried to get things and said to us like, ”Why aren’t you making things more available?” We’ve taken many steps because people are very creative about trying to get through the system. There’s a lack of conscience and it’s a business decision made by them but we do what we can to protect the people who want things for the right reasons. 

Jon: It’s fine if you want to keep it and cherish it but it’s another thing to take advantage. We’ve sent some strongly worded emails to people we’ve caught trying to scam the system. It is a limit of two per customer for a reason and there are always people who want to experience things as well as keep them safe or display them but it’s rough. We were getting knocked because of Mega Man 2, and the Street Fighter Legacy collection sold out really quickly but was getting resold, so we upped the quantity of these two (Mega Man) releases so people could get them at the original price straight away. It’s not cool and it’s not fair if you were working for that 10 minutes that they went up and sold out. 

Your work and relationships to make these products is really diverse, but how did the Ocarina Of Time soundtrack come about?

Jon: It’s all over the place, and that’s the beautiful thing about games. The size of the team could be one, two, hundreds but still make an equally important experience in games. It’s inconsequential how big a company you are. In terms of the OOT soundtrack, that’s a re-orchestration of something that’s over 20 years old and is a classic and we worked with Materia (our other record label) and hire an orchestra and make this beautiful, robust soundtrack that had never really been heard like that before.

If you listen to the original and the hero of time album it’s a very different thing. It’s the same music, but it’s really wonderful to hear it with an orchestra. You realize how powerful the Zelda theme is when you are sitting in a room and these players are performing it in front of you. People thought we were kind of crazy! Our first vinyl piece was a promo for Tron Evolution (the companion game to Tron Legacy) in 2010. If it wasn’t for our PR guy Chris Cramer supporting the idea, it would never have happened. Vinyl really wasn’t a thing people understood as a possibility back then, but he was a music fan, and Amanda got me into vinyl, but people in general thought we were nuts to put game soundtracks on vinyl. 

When we started there was no competition, but now there are over two dozen labels dedicated to video game soundtracks on vinyl. It’s really a testament to what this industry has become music wise and that people are beginning to respect the soundtrack of games as music standing on their own – it has evolved. Video game music It’s still a faux pas to some people, but why? 

Amanda: Maybe it’s difficult to fully grasp the breadth, depth and artistry for some outside the world of video games. A soundtrack that can stand on its own and separate from the game is absolutely part of criteria. It is essential and we will only put out soundtracks that we feel fit that bill.

Jon: We will listen to things in the office without any context, and most of our employees don’t know what we are playing half the time just to see what reactions it elicits without playing the game, and it’s pretty interesting how people react and what kind of mood it puts them in. You have to imagine the different situations or scenarios regarding the experience of listening to the music.

Anything Nintendo related you’d like to have a go at, especially more recently? Are you aware of more recent titles?

Jon: We are going to start publishing Switch games soon, as in this year, and there are several things that will come out. There are things you can probably guess based on our portfolio…!

Amanda: We (mostly Jon) keep an ear to the ground but it’s more about making an ongoing relationship with people making games so we are already deep in conversation early in development. There’s a day of the devs with double fine we have access and visibility on hundreds of games it’s a nice way to see the progression. That’s just one way of staying in touch with what’s happening and what we think is cool, interesting and beautiful.

Jon: It’s really easy to see a trailer a couple of months before a game comes out and say, “I want to do the soundtrack for that game!” but a couple of years before something comes out before anyone knows about it, you’re taking bets and that’s not an easy thing to do but if you believe in someone’s vision and you can see where it’s going, that’s more meaningful and interesting to us.

Do you keep an eye on the competition?

Jon: Of course! We spend a lot of money developing tech and investing in things to figure out how to do the next thing is kind of crazy…! It goes beyond just a collaboration, it’s a deep, long-running relationship. We do delay things but it’s with a purpose. We won’t ship something we aren’t completely happy with. We put a lot of effort into making our stuff cool. It’s not just a ‘thing’ to us, and we know how much it means to people and the details they might not discover straight away.

Amanda: Honestly, we feel that we are breaking new ground but at the same time, testing the waters. I think a lot of people follow in our footsteps and we are comfortable where we are. Our production techniques innovate, rather than focusing on speed or price. We are about the optimisation and the evolution of the production process. We don’t want to disappoint anyone, and it’s elevated with the legacy of the IP. We are responsible for taking these brands into the future, and especially working with Nintendo, and whenever I look at something Nintendo it feels perfect.

Jon: They have an identity and they’ve cultivated it for years, and it’s because they have foresight. Most companies are looking six months into the future, but Nintendo has looked at the next generation and the generation beyond that. They have a plan and they are throwing stuff away while they are planning the next thing. They don’t care about their competition. There is no competition because Nintendo is a lifestyle. They are not messing around.

Tell us a little bit more about your collaboration process.

Jon: You’re investing in people, you aren’t investing the game. You’re trusting individuals and teams to do right but the things that they are pitching you, and they are putting their own own necks on the line for. To stand by that kind of passion doesn’t happen very often. A good example is our relationship with (publisher) Annapurna Interactive, which is very deep-seated. It’s at the very foundation of what that company stands for and years before it existed we supported the team that founded the company because they are vision and creativity focused. They want to support passion and put out the best quality stuff in the world.

It’s neat to be invited in and see things in the early gestation period, see the game design documents and knowing that years from now it’s going to turn into something, but it’s a hard thing to trust and to deliver, but people trust us and we are own harshest critics. If something isn’t right, we will be the first to acknowledge that because if we didn’t, we wouldn’t be where we are. To take a game like Undertale that is so seated in Japanese culture, but then made into an English game and then taken back into Japanese, attempt to make the sense of humour work AND make sense and give it context is such a challenge.

There are all these games where people can find themselves in characters, which Nintendo has done explicitly well, like not giving Link a voice by not giving Mario dialogue. If you define a character too well, and you make this impression of them it disallows you to become that character to some degree, and I think now some developers are realising what Nintendo have achieved and are achieving to this day.

We would like to thank Jon and Amanda for their time. You can find out more about the team’s latest projects at https://store.iam8bit.com/.

Not every game has aged as gracefully as the 1995 Super Nintendo title, Yoshi’s Island. Even by modern standards, the distinctive hand-drawn aesthetics present from start to finish within this release have withstood the test of time. So, how exactly did the art style for one of Yoshi’s earliest outings come about?

During an interview with Kotaku at this year’s E3, Hisashi Nogami was asked this exact question. Having been an artist on the original Yoshi’s Island team back in the day and more recently the producer of Splatoon 2 on the Nintendo Switch, he explained how it was an arduous process, ultimately achieved one pixel at a time:

The person who was my supervisor at the time, who was leading the artwork side of things, Mr. [Shigefumi] Hino, said, ‘Why don’t we try to do this hand-drawn style this time?’

We did a number of trials where we’d think, okay, let’s do some actual hand-drawn drawings, scan those, and then figure out how we can take these scanned images and turn them into Super Nintendo graphics.

After repeating that process a number of times, we kind of hit on a way we could take these scanned-in images and use what was in our head during the process of drawing them and what we were seeing on the page to actually get them on screen and keep them looking like hand-drawn images.

What that involves is, when we made images for the Super Nintendo, we’re actually filling in spaces. In this case it was a pixel at a time, basically to match the scanned image we’d hand drawn, and carefully fill them in to make sure they still looked like that. It was kind of like I had a hand-drawing rendering engine in my head that was guiding my hand while I was filling in pixels, to make sure they looked that way. It took quite a bit of time. 

It goes to show just how much time and effort can pay off when a game such as this still looks just as impressive as it did the first day it was released. 

Do you think Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island has aged well? Tell us in the comments below.  

The latest rewards have now gone live on the North American My Nintendo site, and this time around we have a printable Switch box art cover featuring the Splatoon 2: Octo Expansion.

The reward has become available to celebrate the expansion’s recent release and can be printed out at home to replace the standard cover in your Splatoon 2 case. A brand new set of wallpapers featuring the expansion’s Octolings is also available.

– Printable – Splatoon 2 Octo Expansion box art cover: 30 Platinum Points
– Wallpaper – Splatoon 2: Octolings: 50 Platinum Points

If you’re not based in North America but still want to get your hands on the cover, fear not. Setting up a North American account on the website is easy-peasy – and you’ll get the 30 points necessary to buy the item just for signing up!

Let us know if you’ll be freshening up your copy of Splatoon 2 in the comments below.

A brand new Animal Crossing-themed New Nintendo 2DS XL has appeared on the Nintendo UK store, set to be available in Europe next month.

The console hasn’t received an official announcement from Nintendo just yet, but some details can be found on the Nintendo 3DS Family page of the website. The system is set to include a digital copy of Animal Crossing: New Leaf – Welcome amiibo (the updated version of Animal Crossing: New Leaf) which will be pre-installed onto a 4GB microSD card, and a Nintendo 3DS AC adapter will also be in the box.

This console edition will launch on 20th July this year in Europe, although no news has been provided just yet surrounding a North American release. Whether this release is designed to coincide with an upcoming Animal Crossing on Switch announcement, or simply as something to tide fans over for another few months, is unknown.

Would you like to add this new 2DS XL to your collection? Are you desperately waiting for news of an Animal Crossing game on Switch? Let us know down below.

E3 is finally over for another year, bringing to a close the biggest event yet. From surprise promotional crossovers on the Ubisoft conference to a certain game pretty much taking over Nintendo’s big summer Direct, there’s been plenty of topics to talk about now the dust is beginning to settle. So we’ve switched on the NL symbol, turned it towards the night’s sky and from the darkness, Team Nintendo Life has appeared to discuss our biggest takeaways. As always, we want to hear what you made of Nintendo’s presence at the big expo, so be sure to leave a comment below…

Glen Fox, guides editor

Honestly, I’m feeling a little deflated after Nintendo’s E3 showing because I was really hoping for at least one big new announcement for this year. It was pretty telling that most of the Direct focused on Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, because that’s all Nintendo’s really got for year two. That’s great for fans of Smash Bros., but I’ve never really had more than a passing interest in it.

So what did that leave? Let’s Go Pokémon, which is pretty much designed to plug the gap between now and the core RPG next year. I think it will also serve as a nice stepping stone for all of the new fans that Pokémon GO clawed in. There’s also Super Mario Party, which I personally could not care less about.

But it was nice to see some footage of Fire Emblem: Three Houses, which looks like it could be the best entry in the franchise yet. Also, Fortnite dropped, and that’s a MASSIVE boon for the Switch. Been hooked to it ever since. Ultimately, I feel like I was right to look to third-party developers for Switch joy as the year comes to a close. Starlink features Star Fox, Fallout 76 MIGHT come to Switch, and I’m still psyched for FIFA 19.

Dom Reseigh-Lincoln, editor

E3 2018 was an odd one for Nintendo. Much like the other big platform holders, there were no earth-shattering announcements or brand new IP that made every stop, look and listen. The announcement of the Star Fox announcement for Starlink: Battle for Atlas was a great move, mainly because it a) satisfies those of us that really want a new adventure of Fox McCloud and the crew and b) gives a title attempting to reignite the cooling embers of the toys-to-life genre a much-needed burst of heat.

But there’s no getting away from the fact the huge onus on Super Smash Bros. Ultimate left very little room for other titles to shine. It’s Nintendo’s big winter release, but the sheer glut of details felt like a poor use of ‘prime time’ broadcasting space that could have been used to showcase the next big indie hit or a Switch-exclusive title deserving of more attention.

Ryan Craddock, staff writer

For me, this year’s Nintendo highlights were all the big announcements. The Super Smash Bros. Ultimate reveal – despite going into a bit too much detail for me – was always going to be the star of the show, and the complete roster, beautiful looking updates to the graphics and lighting, and the addition of Ridley are all fantastic.

I’m also excited about Fortnite – and really wish it hadn’t been leaked beforehand so that the intended shock factor would have been as intense as planned – and can’t wait to get stuck in this weekend. I’ve played it on PS4 before (so that means a new account for me – thanks Sony!) and I suck at it. Hopefully I’ll improve with practice!

Finally, Starlink: Battle for Atlas has really shocked me. Not just because of the Star Fox inclusion (which is awesome) but because the Treehouse: Live footage looked amazing. As long as the story content is well done, flying around those gorgeous worlds looks like it could be really good fun.

Liam Doolan, Australia correspondent

When the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate director Mashiro Sakurai appeared on my monitor during this week’s Nintendo Direct, I knew the big moment had finally arrived. The details about the new Smash title were ongoing from that point, with 25 minutes of comprehensive coverage. 

One major highlight during this particular reveal was the news every character previously featured in the all-star series would be returning in the latest outing. When Young Link from Super Smash Bros. Melee then popped up, for me, it felt like an old friend had returned. I used to main the fast and agile hero of time until he was essentially replaced with the different but similar character, Toon Link. With both of these fighters now back in the series, I’m not sure which one I’ll gravitate towards. Regardless of who I opt with, I’m glad Nintendo is giving its fans this option.

Alex Olney, video producer

To be honest I think one of my favourite announcements was probably Fortnite. Now before any of you start dashing down to the comments to tell me what a sheep I am, it’s mainly because now I feel I can finally breathe a bit. So many denied all the evidence, so many claimed it would be bad for it to come to Switch for some reason unbeknownst to anyone, but now it’s finally here and there’s no going back. 

Also it’s good fun with friends, and if people are having fun in a healthy way that doesn’t negatively impact anyone else, can that really ever be a bad thing? Best thing was Smash though, let’s not try and deny that. Oh, and Super Mario Party.

Jon Cousins, Japan correspondent

As with every Nintendo Direct, most of their E3 showing (well, the third party stuff) leaked ahead of time, but aside from the smash segment being really long and ’inside baseball’, I thought it was reasonable. It was great to see Hollow Knight release during the event, and Fortnite was the worst kept secret since Mario + Rabbids, so my highlights are definitely Daemon X Machina and Super Mario Party. 

Although I’d hardly call myself a mech or anime fan, DXM had a real dynamism and vivid art style, and it’s great to see a new IP from some veteran talent. I’ve never got into the Mario Party series, but I love me a mini-game or two with mates, and with the really interesting ways to use the system, SMP has the potential to be great.

Gonçalo Lopes, contributing writer

Nintendo’s E3 presentation did not just start with a bang – it began with several dozens of them accompanied by loud heavy metal music and unbelievable mecha carnage. After recognizing several names among the staff, I am fairly certain that Daemon X Machina is the mech action game of my dreams, one already hinted by Xenoblade Chronicles X back in 2015. A very special birthday ahead for yours truly when n the 16th of October Starlink: Battle for Atlas lands with exclusive Star Fox ship, pilot and mission content. The perfect crossover and a continuation of Nintendo and Ubisoft’s discrete relationship of mutual respect.

There was nothing even slightly F-Zero related, I still don’t know who is making Metroid Prime 4 and Bayonetta 3 remains illusive as ever but the sadness of those omissions is tiny when stacked up to the amount of joy from the amazing new games (and new content for old ones) heading our way in the next six months. The Switch is quickly becoming the most important games console I ever owned in my life and I look to the future with a big childish smile slapped across my face. Mission accomplished, Mr. Iwata. I thank you “Directly!” for so, so much.

Richard Atkinson, contributing writer

The unruly and unpredictable E3 storm has passed which means it’s time to shrug off the inevitable disappointment from getting WAY too hyped, focus on the slices of goodness that we got from Nintendo this year and turn our attention to what brought a smile to our faces. For me, the instant release of the Splatoon 2: Octo Expansion was one of the most welcome surprises – the thought of having to wait even longer was too much to bear and my prayers were answered. 

But there was one title that got me even more excited than a Nintendo fan learning of ‘normal’ voice chat without the use of a silly app and that was Super Mario Party. The patent that Nintendo filed a few months back finally saw its commercial light and, boy, did it look great. The idea of tapping two Switch screens together to make a bigger playing field on a table in a pub, friend’s house or train coach excites me and I can’t wait to see what the title has to offer. Time for many friendships to be ruined all over again.

Alan Lopez, contributing writer

You’ll hear what I think about Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, but now is nowhere near its release date of 7th December. Heck, it’s not even June 22nd, henceforward ‘Mario Aces Day’. So instead of sitting on my hands, I joined with 100 million people before me and downloaded Fallout Shelter, the free-to-play sensation that’s one more toe from hit-maker Bethesda’s toe-in-the-water approach on Nintendo platforms. 

And admittedly, somewhat surprisingly, I didn’t know much about it beyond screenshots. After deciding this would be my first post-E3 experience, I booted it up, learned the ropes, and started colonising my little ant farm of people. Like an upside down Sim Tower, I nurtured my little citizens into good health and great fortune. Hours went by. I basked in the dull hum of fallout.

Sure, maybe it’s two years late, but E3 has a way of making everything exciting. My face was close to my Switch screen all weekend playing games and checking the e-shop, like a child pressed against a cooking microwave. I’m thinking, “Am I gonna get radiation from this?” But I just want a front row seat to all the changes…

Dave Frear, retro reviewer

Many games from 2018’s E3 caught my interest, but one unexpected surprise was Starlink: Battle for Atlas. I was unimpressed when it was shown off last time, but as the segment unfolded at this years Ubisoft conference I began to warm to it – and then we were hit with a burst of Cornerian radio chatter and learned Fox McCloud would be popping up in the Switch version. That raised my interest levels further and whilst it could turn out to be rubbish, it looks quite fun from what we’ve seen so far. 

Less likely to be rubbish is Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. He kept us waiting, but Snake has made his return as have all previous fighters, plus playing as Ridley is going to be a thing. Awesome. Nintendo may have dedicated too much time to it in their presentation, but I can see it being hard to put down come December.

Morgan Sleeper, E3 2018 reporter

Thinking back on my time on the show floor over this year’s E3, one thing stands out: getting to go hands-on with the Poké Ball Plus. I also had a great time playing Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, but it will be a long time before anything else in gaming knocks me out as much as catching and then hearing Pokémon in the palm of my hand.

Still as much as I enjoyed Nintendo’s line-up, the real highlight was getting to check out so many exciting third-party games. I loved banging on the Joy Con and belting out beats in the full-bodied, freeform musical adventure of Gal Metal; I loved exploring the charming world of Little Dragons Café, foraging for ingredients and cooking up meals; I loved the stunningly stylish rhythm action of Musynx; I loved beating the stuffing (and cupcakes, and glitter) out of opponents in the pastel party fighter SNK Heroines; and I loved the Etrian Odyssey-meets-Disgaea dungeon crawling of Labyrinth of Refrain: Coven of Dusk. 

These were all especially exciting for me because they prove that even among the first-party frontrunners, high-profile ports, and indie hits, the Switch has plenty of room left for what quickly became my favourite section of the 3DS’ library: colourful, quirky imports. Long may that continue!

So those are our thoughts, but what did YOU think of E3 2018? Drop a vote in our poll, and a comment below and let’s get the conversation going…

The legacy of Nintendo Power lives on with the latest episode of the podcast – named after the famous publication – now available to listen to on YouTube, Soundcloud, iTunes and Google Play Music. This time it’s a special episode about E3 2018, starring the one and only Nintendo of America president, Reggie Fils-Aimé. There’s one hour of discussion about Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Let’s Go, Eevee! and much more related to this year’s E3. 

Here’s the full description:

Host Chris Slate is joined by Kit Ellis and Krysta Yang from Nintendo Minute to discuss all things Nintendo from E3 2018, from big announcements to tournaments to the amazing new Super Smash Bros. Ultimate game for the Nintendo Switch system. The team also welcomes two special guests to the show: the winner of the Super Smash Bros. Invitational 2018, ZeRo, and the President and COO of Nintendo of America himself, Reggie Fils-Aimé!

Are you a regular listener of the Nintendo Power podcast? What did you think about this particular episode? Tell us in the comments below. 

Despite the Switch gaining sales momentum over the past year, it appears the 3DS and 2DS are still turning a profit for Nintendo in America. According to Reggie Fils-Aimé, sales for these systems had an increase of 27 percent at the end of last year when compared to the previous December.  

In the current calendar year, sales for the 3DS and 2DS have increased by 10 percent. During the same interview with Forbes, Reggie was also quick to dismiss the idea that the 3DS was beginning to clash with the Switch – explaining how the dedicated handheld device still served a purpose.

We see our dedicated handheld business with the Nintendo 2DS and 3DS as a key overall business driver here in the Americas. A couple statistics to put this in perspective. Last December, our 2DS and 3DS hardware business grew 27% versus the December the prior year. So far this calendar year, our 2DS and 3DS business is up 10% versus last year. We believe those are a result of our focus on younger consumers and their parents; essentially for 2DS and 3DS to be the first gaming device for 5, 6, 7-year-olds.

The Nintendo of America president reinforced his point about the company’s focus on younger consumers, noting how the 3DS had a large library of games and was a great way to engage audiences from an early age. 

From a parental perspective, our devices offer great value. There are over a 1,000 games, so you’re certainly going to find something that your child will be excited about and from a Nintendo business philosophy, the 5-, 6-, 7-year-olds of today are going to be the 14-, 15-, 16-year-olds of tomorrow, and having them get a great experience with a Super Mario game or a Donkey Kong game or a Smash Bros. game on our dedicated handheld business is great for our future.

Of course, this is not the first time we’ve heard about Nintendo promoting the 3DS as an entry-level video game system. An investor Q & A last month revealed as long as there was demand for the device, it would continue to be sold. Based on the above-mentioned numbers, along with the recent game announcements for the 3DS, it doesn’t seem like it will be phased out anytime soon.   

Tell us in the comments how you feel about Nintendo’s continued support of the 3DS hardware and software lines. 

Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aimé had a busy week promoting the company’s upcoming releases while meeting with multiple media outlets over the duration of E3 2018. In an interview with Forbes at the annual video game convention, Reggie was asked about Nintendo Labo.

He went on to explain how the latest IP was designed as both a title and platform that was expected to have ongoing sales over its lifetime – similar to the likes of Wii Fit and Brain Age on the DS.

So it’s absolutely met our expectations, and to put this in perspective, we see Nintendo Labo as a title and a platform that will sell for extended periods of time, much like we experienced with Brain Age on the DS or Wii Fit on the original Wii. And so for us, what we need to make sure we do is continue to drive engagement with parents and their kids.

Reggie elaborated on how exactly future engagement would be achieved, explaining how in the Americas, Labo was intended for entry-level coding purposes.

There’s a lot of activity happening this summer as parents are looking for experiences for their kids while they’re out of school. Here in the Americas, we have activity going on in the fall in the educational market, showing how Labo can be used for an entry into coding, as well as the maker community and the creation of the Labo toy-cons themselves. And so it is going to be a key product for us, and something that we’re going to continue to support, not only through the balance of this year, but well into the future.

While no specific details were revealed about the upcoming plans for Labo, based on Reggie’s insights, it sounds like Nintendo intends on supporting it over a long-term period. 

Have you jumped on Nintendo’s cardboard wagon yet? Let us know in the comments. 

Back in April of this year, Nippon Ichi and NIS America revealed the original Disgaea game would be receiving a HD makeover to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the strategy RPG series.

NIS America has now confirmed Disgaea 1 Complete will arrive on Nintendo Switch on 9th October. There’s a trailer to coincide with the announcement, providing a brief rundown about the game’s quirky characters and universe.

As previously noted, the remaster will include extra characters not found in the original release. You’ll be able to play through the main story or the Etna Mode, and get lost in the Item World for hours on end.

Preorders for the game are now open. There is a standard release and Rosen Queen’s Finest Edition for $99.99 / £89.99, including a hardcover art book, soundtrack, Prinny Cube plush and plenty of other goodies. 

So doods, will you be picking up Disgaea 1 Complete when it arrives on the Switch this October? Tell us in the comments.