Category: Nintendo News

The latest Nintendo Download update is here, bringing with it a fresh haul of new games, discounts, demos and content updates. There’s bound to be something here that takes your fancy, so check out all the latest updates direct from Nintendo. Feel free to leave a vote in our poll, and a comment or two below with your potential buying choices…

Switch eShop

Jotun: Valhalla Edition (Thunder Lotus Games, $14.99) –  Jotun: Valhalla Edition is a hand-drawn, action-exploration game set in Norse mythology. You play as Thora, a Viking warrior who died an inglorious death and must prove herself to the Gods to enter Valhalla. Explore vast regions of Norse Purgatory to find runes to unleash the jotun, giant Norse elementals. Fight them using only your massive two-handed axe, the blessings of the Gods and your skills. Jotun: Valhalla Edition launches April 27.

A Robot Named Fight (Hitcents, $12.99) – A Robot Named Fight is a 2D action adventure roguelite focused on exploration and item collection. Take on the role of a lone robot tasked with stopping the entity known as Megabeast. Explore procedurally-generated labyrinths, uncover randomized power-ups and artifacts, find secrets, and blast meaty creatures in this deliciously gory adventure.

ACA NEOGEO GHOST PILOTS (HAMSTER, $7.99) – “GHOST PILOTS” is a shooting game released by SNK in 1991. The hero flies an old-fashioned seaplane in order to fight the two powerful nations invading their own country. Alongside giant military weapons, a mysterious combat unit arrives and makes for an intense battle.

Agatha Knife (Mango Protocol, $9.99) – Embark on this twisted adventure with Agatha, a child torn between her love for eating meat and her friendships with animals. Join her as she discovers religion and creates her own, Carnivorism, to convince the animals that the sacrifice of their flesh is the secret to their eternal happiness. Read our review.

Another Lost Phone: Laura’s Story (Plug In Digital, $5.99) – Another Lost Phone is a game about exploring the social life of a young woman whose phone you have just found. This game is designed as a narrative investigation where you must piece together elements from the different applications, messages and pictures to progress. Scrolling through the phone’s content, you will find out everything about Laura: her friendships, her professional life and the events that led to her mysterious disappearance and the loss of this phone.

Glaive: Brick Breaker  (Blue Sunset Games, $9.99) – Glaive: Brick Breaker is a classic and popular arkanoid-type game with beautiful 3D graphics. Many power-ups, tons of different stages and dynamic gameplay.

Goetia (Forever Entertainment, $9.99) – The ruins of any village are the silent testament to its final moments. The ruins of Oakmarsh are no different. Their telling silence, the dust blanketing what was once a quiet village near Coventry. The name of a manor and the family that lived within.

KORG Gadget for Nintendo Switch (DETUNE Ltd, $48.00) – Award-winning music creation software KORG Gadget is now available for the Nintendo Switch. Plentiful instrumental gadgets combined with a simple and intuitive graphical interface enable speedy music creation. With this new music creation studio, one can create and perform music by actively twisting and turning the Joy-Con.

Late Shift (Wales Interactive, $12.99) – Late Shift is a high stakes FMV crime thriller. After being forced into the robbery of a lucrative auction house, mathematics student Matt is left proving his innocence in the brutal London heist. Your choices will have consequences from the very start, right through to the very end. One small decision could change the entire outcome in a choose-your-own-adventure style gameplay that can lead to one of seven conclusions.

Light Fall (Bishop Games, $14.99) – In this land of eternal night, you will rely on your Shadow Core to brave the many challenges and foes standing in your way. Do you have what it takes to survive in perilous Numbra?

Saturday Morning RPG (Limited Run Games, $9.99) – Saturday Morning RPG is a Japanese style turn-based RPG set in world heavily inspired by 1980s Saturday morning cartoons and pop culture. Players take the role of Martin ‘Marty’ Michael Hall, an average high-school student who has just been granted an incredible power – a power that ultimately leads him to attract the ire of the world’s most notorious villain, Commander Hood! 

Sky Rogue (Fractal Phase, $19.99) – Blow things up over land, sea, and air, on an infinite number of procedurally-generated islands. Choose one of a diverse set of aeros and kit it out with a dizzying array of weaponry. Go toe-to-toe with enemy aces or assault giant flying aircraft carriers and battleships, but watch out for volleys of missiles; when you die, you’re dead. Read our review.

Sparkle ZERO (Forever Entertainment, $4.99) – The blue whale is the largest living organism on Earth today and can reach a length of 33 meters. Evolution comes a long way to develop such large and powerful organisms and that evolutionary journey always starts from much smaller creatures, like those the Blue Whale now eats; which can be up to 4 tons a day.

12 orbits (Roman Uhlig, $1.99) – 12 orbits doesn’t require any prior knowledge, preparation time or additional controllers. Your left and right Joy-Con, or even the touch screen alone, are all you need for any number of players. The only limit is how close you’d like to be together. Available April 27

ACA NEOGEO STAKES WINNER (HAMSTER, $7.99) – “STAKES WINNER” is a realistic jockey action game released in 1995 by SNK. Use skills such as showing the whip, formation split and hyper dash, collect items on the course, and power-up your beloved horse in this multifaceted game. Ride with your horse through a variety of races as you aim to conquer the GI. Available May 2

Aqua Moto Racing Utopia (Bigben Interactive. $39.99) – Fun, exotic and for up to 8 players, Aqua Moto Racing Utopia brings all the intensity of jet skiing right to you! Available April 27

Arcade Archives 10-Yard Fight (HAMSTER, $7.99) – Run with the ball or make a pass – you decide how to gain those 10 yards! Go, go, go for the touchdown! Available May 2

Bouncy Bob (SONKA, $3.99) – Defeat hordes of zombies and seal your fate with the push of one button! Beat your own score in Single Mode or invite your friends to play together in Multiplayer Mode. Available April 27

DragoDino (Plug In Digital, $9.99) – Fight your way to the top in DragoDino, an epic adventure set in an ever changing world! Available April 27

Hello Kitty Kruisers (Rising Star Games, $29.95) – Join Hello Kitty and her Sanrio friends as they race on land, through air and over water. Race by yourself or with up to three of your friends. Unlock new outfits and vehicles for Hello Kitty and her Sanrio Friends, or challenge your racing skills in the all-new Adventure Mode!

Ninja Striker! (Flyhigh Works, $3.99) – Ninja Striker takes visuals and music inspired by the 8-bit era and fires them up with modern touches. Heavily stylized around Japanese themes, your goal is to advance forward with as much speed, flair and combo power as possible. You have double jumps, homing attacks and a special ‘Shinobi Action’ at your disposal; only by mastering each with sharp reflexes will you make it through your quest.

Save the Ninja Clan (Sometimes You. $3.99) – An evil ninja kidnapped your friends. You must collect scrolls in order to find your friends and save them. You will play as different ninjas as the journey progresses. Each ninja has a different ability: Green Ninja has a double jump, Purple Ninja has a sprint, and the Grey Ninja has a dash (with temporary invincibility). Available April 27

Snow Moto Racing Freedom (Bigben Interactive, $39.99) – Snowy races, spectacular stunts, split-screen and online multiplayer: experience all the intensity of extreme sports on your own or with friends. Fun and competitive, Snow Moto Racing Freedom is a blast in 40 races, where you do awesome stunts and play against up to 7 opponents. Available April 27

Super Saurio Fly (FraxelGames, $15.95) Players will move along the stages crossing different parts of the world by using Super Saurio’s ability to fly, dodge traps and defeat other dinosaurs. The storyline puts the player on the role of Saurio, a cute and clumsy tiny pterodactyl whose eggs were stolen. Saurio will have to look for his eggs around the world and defeat the evil kidnappers . Available April 28

Switch DLC

Splatoon 2 Update Now Available – Nintendo has dropped some fresh (and free!) new content for the Splatoon 2 game on the Nintendo Switch system this week! After downloading a major new update (Version 3.0) to the Splatoon 2 game, players will have access to a huge amount of new content. This includes the addition of more than 100 pieces of new and returning gear, new songs, the introduction of a challenging new X Rank for the top-performing players in Ranked Battle, weapon balance adjustments and the return of Callie of the famous Squid Sisters. For more information about this free update, please visit the official Nintendo customer support site.

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Version 1.4.0 Update – The Version 1.4.0 free update, which will be available later today, includes the ability to recruit and resonate the Rare Blade T-elos from the Xenosaga series after clearing the main game story. Get full update notes at the official Nintendo customer support site.

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Expansion Pass: Rare Blade Pack – Expansion Pass owners can now receive the first additional Rare Blade from the Expansion Pass, Poppibuster! Learn more about the Expansion Pass here.

Switch activities

My Nintendo – Nintendo Labo Creators Contest – Make, Play and Discover with Nintendo Labo! Create your masterpiece using a Nintendo Labo kit and a Nintendo Switch system, then post a video or image of your creation to the My Nintendo – Nintendo Labo Creators Contest official site. The winning My Nintendo members will each receive:

• a Nintendo Labo Variety Kit or Nintendo Labo Robot Kit
• a Nintendo Labo Creators jacket
• a framed award certificate signed by Nintendo Labo developers

My Nintendo members can submit entries in three categories:

• Best Decorated Toy-Con – Enter by 10:59 a.m. PT on May 11
• Best Toy-Con Mod using Toy-Con Garage – Enter by 10:59 a.m. PT on May 25
• Best Original Invention Using Toy-Con Garage – Enter by 10:59 a.m. PT on June 15

You can also look at My Nintendo members’ contest submissions here. To learn more about the contest and submit your creation, please visit the My Nintendo – Nintendo Labo Creators Contest site.

Switch demos

The Bridge – Demo Version (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch)
Tumblestone – Demo Version (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch)

Wii U eShop

Unalive (RandomSpin, $1.99) – Unalive is an action adventure roguelike game. Randomly generated laboratory rooms. Collect unique items to improve your abilities. Kill bosses and stay alive. You have only one chance!

Sales and discounts

Sonic Forces (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Join the uprising! Save 40 percent on Sonic Forces until 8:59 a.m. PT on May 7.

So that’s your lot for this week’s North American Nintendo Download update. Be sure to drop a vote in the poll above and a comment below, sharing your potential buying choices…

Nicalis has confirmed that its upcoming fighting game Blade Strangers is on track for a summer 2018 release on Nintendo Switch (with a physical edition and suggested retail price of $39.99), and will also be hitting arcade game centres in Japan.

The game embraces a traditional and streamlined four-button control scheme that offers accessible controls for new fighting fans, while also including intricate combos, counters, and special moves to provide tournament-caliber competitors with endless opportunities to hone their skills. There will be a story mode, missions, arcade and versus modes, as well as a highly competitive online mode for you to sink your teeth into.

The game’s roster includes newly-created fighters in addition to characters from previous Studio Saizensen games, Nicalis games (like Cave Story+) and four surprise guest stars yet to be announced. The current confirmed roster of playable characters includes:

• Curly Brace (Cave Story+)
• Solange (Code of Princess EX)
• Ali (Code of Princess EX)
• Liongate (Code of Princess EX)
• Master T (Code of Princess EX)
• Kawase (Umihara Kawase series)
• Noko (Umihara Kawase series)
• Emiko (Umihara Kawase series)
• Lina (all-new character)
• Helen (all-new character)

So, what are your thoughts on this one? Will you be giving it a go?

The Midlands might not be the most exciting area in the UK but it has a rich video gaming history; not only is it the birthplace of Rare, one of the most iconic NES, SNES, Game Boy and N64 developers of all time, but it is also home to the likes of Codemasters, US Gold, Core Design, Playtonic, Playground Games and many more besides. Also, in more recent news, Midlands city Birmingham served as the backdrop for many of the live-action sequences in Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One, a movie which is literally drowning in video game references.

To celebrate this proud yet often overlooked history, Birmingham City University is holding a public lecture called Level Up: A History of Computer Games in the Midlands. The event takes place on Wednesday 9th May from 6.15pm until 8pm at the The Parkside Building on the university campus.

It promises to be “a lively audio-visual trip across the last four decades, focusing on the iconic characters, developers and companies that helped create a regional industry that is still growing today.” There will even the the chance to play several retro games before and after the talk, thanks to the participation of Birmingham’s own 8bit Lounge.

The panel of experts will include Rare Executive Producer Louise O’Connor, veteran games developer and Senior Lecturer Zuby Ahmed and University Senior Research Fellow Dr Alex Wade, who has written extensively on the history of computer games and will be unveiling his latest book, The Pac-Man Principle: A User’s Guide to Capitalism, at the event.

The final member of the panel is none other than bespectacled Hobbit understudy Damien McFerran, our very own Editorial Director. As anyone who has spent any time in the Nintendo Life office will attest, Damien is boringly passionate about the Midlands games industry and, when permitted to speak, will no doubt bore attendees with his affection for all things Rare-related.

If, despite hearing that Damien is attending, you still somehow fancy coming along, then you can order a ticket here.

Don’t Die Mr Robot! DX, an arcade-inspired bullet hell indie that previously appeared on mobile, PS4 and PS Vita, is making the explosive leap to Nintendo Switch. With new and improved visuals for Ninty’s handheld, you’re getting the same single-screen action where you’ll guide the titular bot as he triggers chains of explosive fruit to rack up huge scores. You know, as you do.

With an acid-esque soundtrack from artist C303PO, plenty of modes to choose from (including Time Attack, Arcade mode, Remix mode and an all import Chill Out one) you’re unlikely to get bored with this much chaos kicking off on screen. No word on a release date yet, but we’ll keep you posted once we learn more.

Check out the trailer above and let us know what you make of its over-the-top action in the comments section below…

Easter eggs are, in our view, a lovely way for developers to make little nods to other games, franchises, or any other subject that might otherwise pass a player by. We’ve discovered one such reference to the divisive Donkey Kong Country TV show in the Switch version of Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze.

As you can see in the video above, very occasionally when you leave Funky’s Fly ‘n Buy whilst playing as Funky Kong, Tawks will instruct Funky to “Give ’em the old banana slamma, dude!”. The phrase ‘banana slamma’ was DK’s catchphrase in the short-lived TV series.

It’s great to see the developers reaching back into the Kong’s history, even if this particular aspect hasn’t aged particularly well.

Sega’s Sonic Mania has now sold over a million units globally, according to Famitsu.

The 2D platformer launched last year on Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Playstation 4, and PC, and made up for the fact that the mainline 2017 Sonic title – Sonic Forces – wasn’t very good.

Sega’s having a second slice of the pie with Sonic Mania Plus, an updated version of the game which launches this summer. It includes two new playable characters in the form of Ray the Flying Squirrel and Mighty the Armadillo, and will be released both digitally and physically. A DLC pack will be made available for those who already own the original game, and will cost $4.99 / £3.99 to download.

Sega has also revealed the release date for Sonic Mania Plus. The game will launch on July 17th, and there’s a new trailer to go along with this announcement.

Are you impressed by Sonic Mania’s commercial performance? Do you think we could see more “classic” games of this type in the future, perhaps even as mainline Sonic instalments? Let us know with a comment. 

The Guardian recently interviewed Nintendo’s own Shinya Takahashi, and the general manager of the Entertainment Planning & Development Division revealed some of the interesting ways the firm is innovating without consciously trying to do so.

“People always ask us whether we take risks on purpose,” he reveals. “But to us, we don’t really take risks – we just keep trying new things. The thinking that guides us is: what can we do to pleasantly surprise players? It’s not that we’re consciously trying to innovate; we’re trying to find ways to make people happy. The result is that we come up with things other people have not done.”

Takahashi-san also says much of Nintendo’s success over the years has come from the all-inclusive structure of its business, where every part of the development and publishing process for hardware and games is taken care of in-house.

“This is the advantage we have at Nintendo as a software/hardware integrated organisation – when we do research for our new hardware systems, our software developers, our artists, our programmers and our hardware engineers all get together and decide what we should aim for. We’ve been doing that for many years,” he adds.

Part of that success is down to the company’s specific recruitment process, with a focus on nurturing and supporting young development talent with dedication and a willingness to commit to a single idea of a long stretch of time. “The bottom line is, the quality of the end product that those students created doesn’t really matter to me,” comments Takahashi-san. “How they kept their focus, what they thought throughout those years … that’s what important to me. We like our staff members to be as creative as possible – and creative people should not just listen to their bosses saying ‘Yes sir’, or ‘Yes ma’am’. I want them to always ask themselves, ‘Is this direction correct?’”

What do you make of his thoughts on Nintendo’s success and approach to development? This is the company that came up with Labo after all. Share your opinions with us below…