Category: Nintendo News

If, for some reason, you don’t already believe that the original Pokémon theme song was made out of pure magic and dreams, then maybe this story will change your mind.

University of Iowa freshman Spencer Lee defeated Rutgers’ Nick Suriano on Saturday night, winning the 125-pound title at the 2018 NCAA Wrestling Championships in the process. While his achievement is one to be celebrated for – you know – talent-related reasons, we couldn’t help but love the fact that he chose the Pokémon theme to give himself a boost before the match.

As it turns out, Lee actually follows the competitive Pokémon scene and has entered into competitive play in the past. If he wasn’t busy being a full time student and athlete, he might actually still be competing.

Not wanting to take anything away from Lee’s hard work and success, we hope that the track somehow had some sort of mystical influence over proceedings and, with that in mind, we now plan to blast the song out on repeat for the rest of the week in hopes that all of our dreams come true.

We know that Blastoise is headed to Pokkén Tournament DX as part of the two-part Battle Pack – the first of which brought Aegislash as a new playable character with Mega Rayquaza and Mimikyu back in January – and now we’ve got the first proper footage showing the giant Pokemon’s move list.

Supported by mythical Pokémon Mew and Celebi, Blastoise has a mid-range grab, a withdraw stance for creating distance from fast-moving opponents and plenty of offensive warfare from its shell-mounted cannons. And with a meaty 660HP health bar to its name, it’s a proper beast as well.

Revealed as part of the Spring Fist broadcast on Twitch, you can check out the Japanese broadcast below. Let us know what you make of the footage and whether or not you’ll be maining Blastoise when it arrives on 23rd March…

The future of ARMS is one of uncertain mystery in some respects; we’ve already been told that there will be no more major updates, yet little tweaks and adjustments are still relatively common and support for the game’s online events is still as strong as ever. Despite this lack of future updates, though, the game’s producer has made it clear that ARMS has the potential for a very bright future indeed.

In a recent interview with Famitsu, translated by NintendoEverything, Kosuke Yabuki has revealed some of his thoughts on the game’s updates and lore, noting that the plan was always to have ARMS reach version 5.0.0 by the end of 2017. Interestingly, some updates that made the cut weren’t planned from the start, however; the addition of the character Springtron, for example, was an idea that came much later, taking the total of planned bonus fighters from four to five.

A particularly noteworthy section of the interview discusses the lore surrounding the game, with Yabuki revealing some interesting information about the game’s leading character Spring Man. 

There are still many more deeper world setting aspects in ARMS that haven’t been revealed yet. For example, the current Spring Man is the third to hold the name. Yabuki would like to reveal more of these unknown stories if there’s the chance.

Does this mean that Spring Man is similar to Link, with anyone worthy of taking on the name becoming the hero through numerous generations? Who knows?

While it’s still too early to know for sure, the interview goes on to suggest that we may be treated to new information surrounding the game – and new gameplay, of course – in a future sequel.

Finally, when asked about plans for a sequel, Yabuki says it’s still too early for that since not even a year has passed since ARMS’ release and they will still continue to update the current game. The team’s stance is that they would like to talk about this topic again when they’re finally in the right time and condition to be able to provide a big surprise to everyone.

It might not come as much of a surprise, but this certainly suggests that we’ll be seeing much more of ARMS in the future. Would you be happy to see the game get a sequel some day? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Update: Publisher Microïds has confirmed that Flashback is indeed coming in June. Here’s the info:

Microïds and Paul Cuisset are pleased to announce that Flashback, the classic action-adventure game consistently ranked among the best 100 games of all time, will be available on Nintendo Switch starting June 7^th, 2018. To celebrate the 25^th anniversary of the Super Nintendo version of game, Microïds is releasing a Collector’s Edition (in Europe and Australia), which includes the game in physical edition, a retro cartridge style metal case, an exclusive numbered metal card, a 24-page retro-style instruction booklet, the digital soundtrack (remastered version). Pre-orders are now open!

Flashback the story:

2142. After fleeing from a space ship, but stripped of all memory, the young scientist Conrad B. Hart awakens on Titan, a colonised moon of the planet Saturn. His enemies and kidnapers are snapping at his heels, and he has to find a way back to Earth while warding off the dangers that beset him and unravelling a fiendish extra-terrestrial plot that threatens the planet…

In the Nintendo Switch version of Flashback, players will be able to choose between the original 1993 gaming experience and Modern mode, which contains:

+ Post-FX graphic filters,
+ Completely remastered sound and music
+ A brand new “Rewind” function, variable according to the level of difficulty
+ Tutorials for those who need a boost!

Flashback will be available from June 7th, 2018 on the Nintendo E-shop and in retail with the 25th Anniversary Collector’s Edition. The game is entirely subtitled in English, French, Italian, German, Spanish and is rated PEGI 12.

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Original story: Last June, publisher Microïds revealed a whole host of games it plans to bring to Nintendo Switch, including a remaster of 1992 platforming classic, Flashback. 

However, if a listing on Amazon Germany is to be believed, we’re to be getting the 25th Anniversary edition instead – or perhaps as well as – the 2013 remake. This may be for the best, as the Remastered edition of the game was met with a distinctly lukewarm critical response at launch.

The Amazon listing shows a rather snazzy 25th Anniversary collector’s edition, which will retail for €39.99 (that’s about £35), and includes a soundtrack, a collector’s guide and an awesome case shaped like a cartridge. It’s also got a release date of 7th June. It looks pretty legit, and a great way to belatedly celebrate the game’s quarter-century anniversary.

We’ve reached out to publisher Microïds about this new release and Flashback: Remastered, and will update this story when we have some solid intel.

Would you like Flashback on Switch? Will this be the first time you’ve heard of it/played it? Share your take below…

Super Smash Bros. is real, it’s really coming and turned that Nintendo Direct into one of the most talked about broadcasts of the year. Now we’re wondering which fighters are going to be joining the fray come its release, especially when it comes to those surprise cameos. And in an innocent, lighthearted tweet at Nintendo, distributor Funimation thinks a certain hero from the Dragon Ball series would be a perfect fit.

Following on from the success of Dragon Ball FighterZ, there’s clearly a huge market for Goku and the gang when it comes to virtual fisticuffs, and what better place to go Super Saiyan than with Mario, Link and the rest of the Smash gang? We’re certainly game…

Would you like to see Goku in Super Smash Bros.? Is he a good fit? Who else would like to see making an appearance? Maybe Geralt of Rivia will pull double duty this year…

New Switch release Kirby Star Allies has made an robust start in the UK video game charts, dropping in at number two, just behind the remastered version of Burnout Paradise – which, it should be noted, launched on more than one system (Kirby is of course entirely exclusive to the Switch).

Elsewhere, FIFA 18 rose from 4th place to 3rd, with the Switch version no doubt contributing to that in some small way. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe rose one place to 5th, with Super Mario Odyssey close behind, rising up from 7th to 6th. Zelda: Breath of the Wild is holding steady at number ten.

1. Burnout Paraside Remastered (Multi)
2. Kirby Star Allies (Switch)
3. FIFA 18 (Multi)
4. Grand Theft Auto V (Multi)
5. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Switch)
6. Super Mario Odyssey (Switch)
7. PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (Xbox One)
8. EA Sports UFC 3 (Multi)
9. Fallout 4 (Multi)
10. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch / Wii U)

Outside of the top ten, Splatoon 2 rose from 22nd to 16th, while Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle dropped six places to 26th. At the bottom end, 1-2-Switch has now sunk to 39th – last week it was 36th in the chart.

Bearded malcontent Dom has been writing about games for so long he’s practically forgotten what reality looks like.  Over his career he’s written for just about every site and mag out there. You’ll almost always find him catching Pokémon or yelling at dragons in Skyrim.

Bearded malcontent Dom has been writing about games for so long he’s practically forgotten what reality looks like.  Over his career he’s written for just about every site and mag out there. You’ll almost always find him catching Pokémon or yelling at dragons in Skyrim.

Splatoon 2 is just one of those games that is fascinating to watch skilled players challenge each other on. Europe’s finest Inklings will soon be splatting it out for ultimate glory when they meet at the Polymanga event in Switzerland at the Splatoon European Championship. Using their own Switch consoles and copy of Splatoon 2, 16 highly-skilled teams will duke it out for the title of European champions, including winners and runners-up from the preliminary local tournaments that have been held over the past year, leading up to this climactic finale.

Here’s all the details from Nintendo UK for your edification…

The tournament kicks off with a pre-qualification round on 30th March and the morning of 31st March, where the 16 attending teams will battle it out for a coveted spot in the final four. Then, on 31st March at 13.00 CEST, the gripping semi-final and final will be broadcast live on Nintendo UK’s YouTube channel and on Twitch, with members of the winning team walking away with a special trophy and jersey, and the title of European Splatoon Champion.

The 16 teams who will be competing to make it to the live semi-final and final are:

• UK: Team Mako (Winner of UK championship) and 4D (Winner of wildcard tournament)
• GermanyAustria/Switzerland: Gucci Gang (Winner of German championship) and Hallo! (Runners up)
• France: Alliance Rogue (Winner of French championship) and EL Firmament (Runners up)
• Spain: Spanish Army (Winner of Spanish championship) and Archicosmus (Runners up)
• Italy: NinPlayers (Winner of Italian championship) and CrossInk (Winner of online Italian championship)
• Netherlands: Polderlantis (Winner of Dutch championship) and Team.Extensions (Runners up)
• Belgium: Overtime (Winner of Belgian championship)
• Portugal: Hexagone (Winner of Portuguese championship)
• Russia: Red Ink (Winner of Russian championship) and Splat Tim (Runners up)

Team Mako

Team members Sarah (Sweeglie) and Lucy (Itskaji) are identical twins. Kaji has proved herself a particularly powerful splatter: for the last three Splatfests (‘Action vs Comedy’, ‘Gherk-IN vs. Gherk-OUT’, and ‘Chicken vs. Egg’), she’s been the winning team’s #1 player globally.

Fun bonus fact: Truman, “gets very upset,” when people spell her player name ‘utopia’ with a capital “U”.

Team 4D

The moment 4D’s DUDE saw the first Splatoon game at E3 2014, he knew it had great competitive potential: he even prepared a competitive team before the game came out. DUDE has over two years’ worth of Splatoon tournament experience, and has entered over 100 tournaments, making him a formidably experienced player.

As soon as the Great British Splat Off was announced, DUDE invited his online friends to team up. However, choosing a name that would represent all of them was tough. By coincidence, their nicknames all start with the letter D, and hence they came up with the team name ‘4D’.

Follow our Nintendo Versus UK Twitter account on the 30th March for frequent updates on our local teams as they battle through pre-qualification rounds for a coveted spot in the final four.

Before the tournament’s final stages commence, Polymanga will host a special virtual concert. Pearl and Marina, of the game’s pop idol-duo Off the Hook, will appear onstage to sing along to a series of tracks and perform their slickest choreographed moves, all accompanied by a live band. The whole concert will be livestreamed on Nintendo UK’s YouTube channel and on Twitch, and will begin at 12:00 CEST.

Don’t miss the finest Splatoon 2 teams from across Europe battling it out at the Splatoon European Championship. The first rounds take place on 30th and 31st March, with the climactic semi-final and final streamed live on 31st March. The special Off the Hook concert starts at 12:00 CEST, followed by the livestreamed tournament kicking off at 13.00 CEST; both will be livestreamed on Nintendo UK’s YouTube and Twitch channels.

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It all sounds like it’s going to be a an epic battle to watch play out. Will you be tuning in to these steams at the end of the month?