Category: Nintendo News

It’s another big week in the Nintendo Download Update for North America, which could be described as the Thanksgiving line-up for US gamers. The Switch has a lot of new titles, including some high profile releases alongside some less expensive yet diverse options. The 3DS and Wii U don’t entirely miss out, while the eShop Cyber Deals are also worth a look. Let’s get to it.

Nintendo Mobile

Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp (Nintendo, free-to-start) – The global roll-out of this app started earlier this week, albeit there have been some server issues due to early demand. It’ll be well worth a look once the issues clear up, however; we explain why in our Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp review.

Switch Retail Download

Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle Gold Edition (Ubisoft, $79.99) – This includes the full game and the Season Pass, with the final and biggest part of the DLC due in early 2018; it’ll include a new world and ‘new hero’. We loved this game in our Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle review, and the season pass content so far isn’t too bad either.

Switch eShop

Resident Evil Revelations (Capcom, $19.99USD) – Originally a game that showcased the 3DS and its Circle Pad Pro, this solid spin-off entry in the series then made its way to Wii U and other assorted HD platforms. The arrival on Switch offers motion controls that bring back good memories of Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition. We’ll confront the horror and bring you a fresh review. Available from 28th November.

Resident Evil Revelations 2 (Capcom, $19.99USD) – It’s the first time that this sequel will be playable on Nintendo hardware; it was an episodic release originally, but now comes as one complete package. It has the same control options as the first Revelations, and we’ll see whether it’s worth the leap in a review. Available from 28th November.

Worms W.M.D. (Team17, $29.99USD) – Worms is certainly a classic franchise, and this entry blends some modern touches with the original formula. On Switch there’s plenty of content included along with some exclusive goodies, and overall it earned a solid recommendation in our Worms W.M.D. review.

Mantis Burn Racing (VooFoo Studios, $19.99USD) – This top-down racer has various single- and multiplayer options, including cross-platform online play; the Switch version also includes some previous DLC that’s been integrated into the campaign. We’ll get stuck into a review, but in the meantime you can learn more from our interview with the developer.

Portal Knights (505 Games, $29.99USD) – Long on some wishlists, this combines Minecraft-inspired world creation with different character classes and battles. On Switch it has touchscreen support, while you can team up with others locally or online.

Aces of the Luftwaffe – Squadron (HandyGames, $14.99USD) – Somewhat different from the non ‘Squadron’ release previously seen on smart devices, this is a vertically scrolling shooter with an emphasis on local co-op play (though you can tackle it solo). Our review will be with you later today.

Uurnog Uurnlimited (Raw Fury, $14.99USD) – This has a quirky description – “Enter the wacky & whimsical world of Uurnog Uurnlimited! Explore a silly, puzzle-filled land full of cubes, bombs, weird people & adorable animals — then steal them all!”. It features both single player and co-op, and in an interesting touch stages created in a level editor in the Steam version will be available to play on the Switch.

Crimsonland (10tons, $12.59USD) – With art that riffs on DOOM, this is a top-down shoot-everything-in-sight game, with a big focus on being able to blast away the hordes in various ways. It promises 60 levels in the Quest Mode and multiple survival modes for up to four players in local co-op.

Kid Tripp (Four Horses, $3.99USD) – This auto-running platformer offers some enjoyable and challenging action, with different difficulty settings to cater to various players. We enjoyed the 3DS version in our review, and also interviewed the developer a little while back.

Stick It to The Man (Zoink, $11.99USD) – This is a game that fuses point-and-click sensibilities with elements of platforming, all with an absurd (and funny) script to tie it all together. Previously a thoroughly entertaining game on Wii U, it’s still well worth a look on Switch as we suggest in our review.

Letter Quest Remastered (Digerati, $14.99USD) – A rather charming word game / puzzler / RPG that arrived in mid-2016; it was rather good on Wii U. The campaign has 40 stages and there’s an ‘endless’ Challenge mode, so this should keep wordy gamers busy.

Transcripted (Plug In Digital, $7.99USD) – This is a rather unique match three puzzler / shoot ‘em up hybrid that looks a bit like the love child of Nano Assault and Zuma. We’ll check it out for a review.

Soccer Brawl (HAMSTER, $7.99USD) – The consistent roll-out of ACA titles continues in this futuristic footy game. Sure, it is soccer, but with cyborgs and a bit of arcade violence.

Switch eShop Demo

Nine Parchments (Frozenbyte, free)

Slime-san (Headup Games, free)

3DS eShop

Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney (Capcom, $19.99USD) – We’ve seen plenty of Ace Attorney titles on the 3DS, including ‘remasters’ with improved visuals and assorted tweaks; this rounds out the series collection (aside from Japan-only titles) on the portable. This has the nice option of switching to the Japanese version of the game, if you want to go that way – we’ll investigate and let you know if we have any objections in a review.

New Nintendo 3DS eShop

Breakout Defense 2 (nuGAME, $6.99USD) – This is a versus Breakout game in which you try to beat the AI across 20 stages.

Physical Contact: Picture Place (Collavier Corporation, $4.58USD) – Another in this series of relatively simplistic games that encourages local multiplayer.

Wii U eShop

Breakout Defense 2 – (nuGAME, $7.00USD) – Like the New 3DS version, but you pay an extra cent for shinier graphics.

Wii U Virtual Console

Bomberman Panic Bomber (Konami, $5.99USD) – The run of retro titles on the Wii U via Konami continues with this spin-off, which basically seems to be a hybrid of Tetris and Columns.

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Don’t forget that the eShop Cyber Deals are live – you can see the full line-up here.

There are a lot of choices this week – let us know what you’ll be downloading in the poll and comments below.

While Tamagotchi isn’t directly related to Nintendo, the series – which began life in the ’90s as a virtual pet keyring – has branched out onto systems like the DS and Wii in recent years.

To mark the 20th anniversary of the toy Bandai Namco has produced a streamlined version which we covered not so long ago, but it would appear that it only one part of a wider campaign to resurrect the franchise.

Next year, My Tamagotchi Forever will launch on iOS and Android, taking the series in a new direction. The trailer hints at the usual virtual pet activities – such as feeding and playing with your Tamagotchi – as well as augmented reality functions. Oh, and turds.

Here are some more details from the PR:

Since Tamagotchi’s first instalment a lot of elements have evolved to take advantage of new technology. My Tamagotchi Forever will feature some of the classic as well as brand new game modes. The first introduction is Tamatown, a joyful town where all your Tamagotchi characters will live. This colourful place is where you can customise and collect new elements to have even more fun with your teeny tiny characters.

Along with the addition of Tamatown, there will be a lot more to experience in My Tamagotchi Forever:

+ Raise your Tamagotchi characters making sure you feed, wash, clean up and turn the lights out for a good night sleep keeping them happy and healthy.
+ Have fun with your Tamagotchi characters playing mini games and explore Tamatown together. Make friends with other Tamagotchi characters along the way.
+ Evolve your Tamagotchi characters from one type to another depending on how you care for them. You never know who they might become next!
+ Collect memorable moments shared with your Tamagotchi characters and the friendly town citizens.
+ Share your favorite moments with your friends.
+ Tickle your Tamagotchi characters. They love it!
+ Earn coins by playing mini games and levelling up!
+Unlock delicious food, cute costumes and colourful items to decorate Tamatown.
+ Compare your progression and Tamagotchi raising skills with your friends!

Will you be checking this out in 2018, or is Tamagotchi a thing best left in the past as far as you’re concerned? Let us know by posting a comment.

The hugely successful Symphony of the Goddesses orchestral tour is entering the final stretch of its 2017 run, so regular attendee Arjun Joshi went along to check out the amended version with Breath of the Wild content.

As you may know by now, The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses (SotG) events utilise extremely talented orchestras, touring the globe and entertaining fans by the thousands. It’s a great show –  I’ve been twice in London before attending a third time just yesterday (Tuesday 21st) – and I’ve even reviewed it by comparing it to another orchestrated event, Pokémon: Symphonic Evolutions.

However, eager fans will know that the SotG team announced earlier this year that the 2017 tour includes pieces from the franchise’s latest instalment, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Naturally, this excited many. It surely is – on paper at least – a reason to attend again, or go for the first time if you haven’t already. Having been and experienced this for myself, I’ll address the key question – is it worth a revisit with the new Breath of the Wild pieces? Naturally, while I’ll refrain from going into direct spoiler territory, there may be some potential indirect ones, so you’ve been warned.

As soon as I booked my tickets to the show back in March, I wondered to myself what the team could possibly include from Breath of the Wild, and which songs and pieces they would “sacrifice” for said game during its two-hour show. The former question was due to – in my opinion – BotW containing an arguably lacklustre conventional soundtrack due to it being more concerned with subtle environmental sounds, along with elegant and short bursts of instrumental chimes to compliment its free-roam, open-world setting. In fact, I touch on this subject in further detail in this soapbox piece. 

With all of the above said, I’d like to start by saying, quite simply, yes – whether you’ve been already or it’s your first time, I would recommend seeing SotG with its new Breath of the Wild content. For those who’ve attended previously, the show does feel slightly different right off the bat. It’s nothing huge, but the rearrangement of certain assortments to compensate for BotW’s inclusion freshens up the show. In all honesty, actually, due to the year-plus gap of the SotG team performing in the same city, even the recognisable and memorable parts are just as enjoyable as witnessing them for the first time and feel new again – at least for me due to not remembering absolutely everything I’ve seen before, despite it being my third time in attendance! But if you’re someone who still requires more change, there’s also a couple of new pieces from other Zelda games – which was a nice surprise.

As for the Breath of the Wild content my earlier inklings came to be, in my opinion. I’ll avoid major spoilers here, but while overall enjoyable I just don’t feel that some of the songs chosen were the best additions to the show – especially when you consider the fact that some existing pieces had to be axed to make room for them. And that’s both the faults of the SotG team and the game itself, at least in my opinion. As stated earlier, the soapbox piece I’ve linked to above explains why in greater detail. I won’t mention which BotW songs made the cut and which parts of the ensemble were removed, however, so if you’re someone who’s been already and planning to go again you can see for yourself whether you like the changes or not.

Regardless, I do feel the show was definitely worth attending. Firstly, I think it’s still worth going again even if nothing did change – but that’s just me being a Zelda music enthusiast. But with the inclusion of this year’s stellar entry to Miyamoto’s almighty franchise, and thus resulting in the rest of the assortment being shaken up as well as a few new additions, I recommend it to both returning and newcomer audience members alike.

As always, there are goosebumps all throughout. And if it’s any consolation at all, the SotG merch has all been updated to include Breath of the Wild imagery in its t-shirts and posters. If you’ve not been before and would like a slightly more in-depth look into Symphony of the Goddesses, have a click of my comparison review via the first link in this article.

Let us know if you’ve been to see the tour this year, or if you’re planning to go along to one of the upcoming concerts.

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• by Thomas Whitehead
• 7 hours ago

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Nope, it doesn’t look quite like that, although we kinda wish it did. It looks more like this:

We still don’t have a release date for WWE 2K18 on Switch, but YouTube user Gruby Nerd has apparently managed to get his hands on a copy “from one of the small shops” and has uploaded footage from it for your viewing pleasure.

He notes that the game doesn’t have the massive download applied, so performance and content will almost certainly vary in the “final” version of the game. We’ve had reports from retail staff that stores are getting shipments of the game any day now, so perhaps official confirmation from 2K isn’t far off.

All things considered it looks pretty decent (not sure what’s happened to the shadows, though) – let us know what you think by power-bombing the comments section below.

It’s the middle of the week, which means it’s time for the Media Create chart results out of Japan. It was a big week all told and one that certainly boosted Nintendo’s coffers.

The results bring us the launch sales of Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, though the combination of it being a mid-gen series release and a late-gen 3DS title has seemingly affected the numbers. Between them the games sold 915,221 copies, which is impressive on its own merits – however that’s well down on equivalent launch sales for previous releases. Pokémon Sun and Moon shifted 1,742,008 units at launch, Pokémon X & Y managed 1,866,580 sales in its opening week, while Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire managed 1,327,621 units at launch. As mentioned above, mid-gen iterations typically sell less that new-gen ‘main’ entries, so that should be taken into account.

There are some interesting results elsewhere, not least being the Wii U version of Dragon Quest X: 5,000 Year Journey to a Faraway Hometown Online outselling equivalents on Switch and PS4. Crikey.

Below is the top 20 with lifetime sales in brackets.

1. [3DS] Pokemon Ultra Sun / Ultra Moon (Nintendo, 11/17/17) – 667,439 (New)
2. [3DS] Pokemon Ultra Sun / Ultra Moon Double Pack (Nintendo, 11/17/17) – 247,782 (New)
3. [NSW] Super Mario Odyssey (Nintendo, 10/27/17) – 62,024 (714,308)
4. [PS4] Star Wars Battlefront II (Deluxe Edition Included) (EA, 11/17/17) – 38,769 (New)
5. [PS4] Call of Duty: WWII (SIE, 11/03/17) – 34,116 (269,483)
6. [NSW] Splatoon 2 (Nintendo, 07/21/17) – 25,118 (1,343,255)
7. [Wii U] Dragon Quest X: 5,000 Year Journey to a Faraway Hometown Online (Square Enix, 11/16/17) – 24,836 (New)
8. [NSW] Dragon Quest X: 5,000 Year Journey to a Faraway Hometown Online (Square Enix, 11/16/17) – 18,444 (New)
9. [NSW] Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (Nintendo, 04,28,17) – 16,532 (819,004)
10. [PS4] Dragon Quest X: 5,000 Year Journey to a Faraway Hometown Online (Square Enix, 11/16/17) – 13,657 (New)
11. [NSW] The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Limited Edition Included) (Nintendo, 03/03/17) – 7,004 (641,853)
12. [NSW] Pokken Tournament DX (Nintendo, 09/22/17) – 6,642 (122,333)
13. [3DS] Style Savvy: Styling Star (Nintendo, 11/03/17) – 6,523 (48,349)
14. [PS4] Need for Speed: Payback (EA, 11/10/17) – 6,440 (27,404)
15. [PS4] ARK: Survival Evolved (Spike Chunsoft, 10/26/17) – 6,178 (109,978)
16. [PS4] Assassin’s Creed Origins (Ubisoft, 10/27/17) – 5,593 (88,336)
17. [PS4] Gran Turismo Sport (Limited Edition Included) (SIE, 10/19/17) – 5,063 (187,503)
18. [PS4] .hack//G.U. Last Recode (Limited Edition Included) (Bandai Namco, 11/02/17) – 3,738 (72,214)
19. [3DS] Animal Crossing: New Leaf Amiibo+ (Nintendo, 11/23/16) – 3,444 (270,765)
20. [PS4] The Sims 4 (Bundle Editions Included) (EA, 11/14/17) – 3,428 (New)

The hardware results also tell an interesting story. The Switch continues to dominate and outsell all other systems combined, even without a big-hitting new release. The New 2DS LL (XL) benefitted the most from the Pokémon releases to take second place, with smaller increases for the other members of the 3DS family. Results are below with last week’s sales in brackets.

1. Switch – 86,999 (79,958)
2. New 2DS LL – 29,013 (10,323)
3. PlayStation 4 – 18,126 (20,021)
4. New 3DS LL – 11,074 (7,296)
5. PlayStation 4 Pro – 8,176 (6,037)
6. 2DS – 3,113 (1,484)
7. PlayStation Vita – 3,090 (3,210)
8. New 3DS – 280 (266)
9. Xbox One X – 143 (1,344)
10. Xbox One – 104 (121)
11. PlayStation 3 – 46 (41)
12. Wii U – 43 (36)

So there you have it, a lucrative week for Nintendo and The Pokémon Company.

Though we need to wait for Pinball FX3 to arrive on Switch in December, having originally been expected on 14th November, it should hopefully be worth the extra development time.

Zen Studios outlined one reason for the short delay back in mid-November, stating that it had implemented a smart new way to ensure the system is well balanced in its ‘vertical’ setup. Basically, the game has been programmed to output the HD Rumble through just one Joy-Con, so by sliding the other off that ensures there’s better weight distribution and balance when holding the portable vertically.

It was apparently an idea from a Nintendo employee, and you can see it in action below (as the previous Twitch live stream has now been posted to YouTube).

It looks like a neat feature, and with release due in December we’ll get to try it out soon.

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Wow this was way off the radar for me and it actually looks really good. It kind of looks like a mix between Lost Vikings, Metal Slug, and New Super Mario U. On top of how cool it looks, it looks to have a fair price as well. If I don’t buy a game this weekend, I may just hold off until this gets released.

Back in 2015 it was officially confirmed that Nintendo would have attractions at Universal resorts / theme parks, and from late 2016 it started to get more official attention. Though not due until 2020, Nintendo even attended a ceremony and released a trailer (above) for the Tokyo attraction.

Super Nintendo World is also coming to Universal Orlando, of course, and according to WFTV (Hat-tip to GameXplain) recently released planning documents show that the Nintendo areas will be bigger than previously expected. A large area seems to be set aside for the project, including a Super Mario Land, along with Donkey Kong and Mario Kart areas.

It’s all a good while away, of course, but it’ll be interesting to see how these resorts turn out. Along with recent reports that Nintendo is close to a deal with Universal and Illumination to produce a CGI Mario movie, we could be looking ahead to a major multimedia push from the company.

Let us know whether you’re excited about the prospect of Super Nintendo Land at Universal resorts.