The biggest surprise this week belongs to Xbox, with the Starfield Premium Edition Upgrade entering the charts at number seven. The product – which contains a digital unlock code – allows for early access in addition to the eventual digital expansion, and its strong presence in the charts perhaps indicates that we may see more of this practice in the future (we definitely will).
The chart also has a new leader this week, with Hogwarts Legacy climbing to the top of the pile, demonstrating a particularly strong showing on PS5 with 48% of the platform split. As a reminder, Avalanche Software’s open-world wizard title is still coming to the Switch and is now scheduled to release on November 14th.
Here’s this week’s UK top forty in full:
Last Week
This Week
Game
5
1
Hogwarts Legacy
6
2
Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga
2
3
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
3
4
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
1
5
Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon
7
6
Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate
NEW
7
Starfield Premium Edition Upgrade
10
8
Grand Theft Auto V
8
9
Minecraft
4
10
FIFA 23
12
11
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor
13
12
Red Dead Redemption 2
22
13
Street Fighter 6
24
14
Diablo IV
16
15
Animal Crossing: New Horizons
14
16
Pikmin 4
15
17
Nintendo Switch Sports
20
18
Pokémon Violet
29
19
Resident Evil 4
34
20
It Takes Two
–
21
Forspoken
–
22
Final Fantasy XVI
17
23
The Witcher III: Wild Hunt Complete Edition
23
24
Lego Harry Potter Collection
39
25
Sonic Origins Plus
11
26
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II
28
27
Super Mario Odyssey
25
28
New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe
–
29
Saints Row
30
30
Mario Party Superstars
32
31
Crash Bandicoot N.Sane Trilogy
19
32
Mafia Trilogy
33
33
F1 23
27
34
Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle
26
35
Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury
–
36
Gran Turismo 7
9
37
The Witcher III: Wild Hunt GOTY Edition
38
38
Pokémon Scarlet
18
39
Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition
Nintendo’s official Switch-compatible wireless controller Nintendo 64 was announced nearly two years ago but has been elusive to many. Supply seems to have finally caught up with demand, with the pad currently still available to Nintendo Switch Online subscribers via Nintendo’s website following a recent restock, but the coveted peripheral — essentially a modern version of the classic three-pronged gamepad with quality-of-life improvements like USB-C charging and built-in rumble — has been notoriously difficult to come by.
Intended for use with N64 games included in the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack, the controller can only be officially purchased online directly from Nintendo for $49.99. For gamers like me who are outside of North America, Europe, Australia, or Japan, shipping simply isn’t offered.
But I was not going to let that stop me from playing classic N64 games on my Switch using the controller they were intended for. Though its unconventional design has long divided opinion, the original controller is for me the only way to play these games. That preference is informed both by ’90s kid nostalgia and how unnatural it feels playing these titles on any other controller.
Despite being an expansion-tier NSO subscriber, I was forced to turn to eBay to snag an official NSO controller for a pretty penny because Nintendo won’t ship them to Singapore, where I live. But now, 8BitDo, the Hong Kong-based manufacturer of wireless controllers and other retro gaming peripherals, has a highly functional and potentially more cost-effective option on offer.
A cheaper alternative to Nintendo’s option?
I recently picked up an 8BitDo Mod Kit for Original N64 Controller, which turns an original retro N64 controller into a wireless Switch-compatible Bluetooth controller complete with a rechargeable battery, rumble effects, and an optional ultra-precise Hall Effect joystick. The kit requires no soldering and is pitched as being relatively easy to set up, transforming your original controller into a wireless Bluetooth pad compatible with Switch and Android devices. The results have genuinely exceeded my expectations.
As someone without the slightest bit of modding experience, the notion of cracking open a piece of tech and tooling with its innards is a tall order. But after seeing tutorial videos of 8BitDo’s DIY solution, it looked simple enough and a cheaper way of getting myself a second N64 controller for multiplayer use, with eBay options still going well higher than MSRP before shipping.
For those who, for whatever reason, aren’t willing or able to splash out on Nintendo’s official option, the 8BitDo kit is really a no-brainer. This is particularly true if you already own an old or faulty N64 controller. Modding is the perfect way to give defunct hardware a new lease on life, and doing so is honestly very gratifying.
Whether it is cost-effective or not is up for debate. 8BitDo’s Mod Kit goes for goes for $29.99 with just the replacement board and rumble pack, or $39.99 with the Hall Effect joystick included, which is what I opted for, plus shipping. If you don’t already own an old N64 controller, you may end up spending more in total than you would on the official pad, particularly if you opt for an exotic colour.
But the controller used for the mod doesn’t need to be functional, meaning you’re better off buying a broken one on the cheap and restoring it. What you’ll need intact from the original controller are the shell, buttons, and soft-pad membranes within – and potentially the joystick if you opt to keep the original one for the most authentic feel possible, which is all down to personal preference.
Restoring a classic
I managed to find a yellowing old N64 controller locally, which cost me around $15. The first thing I did was disassemble the controller with the magnetic screwdriver that conveniently comes included in 8BitDo’s mod kit so you won’t need to source one. I took out the original board and wiring, then washed and soaked the shell, buttons, and membranes in soapy warm water.
Reversing the yellowing on the shell was very straightforward. Exposing the plastic to hydrogen peroxide and UV light gets the job done. I literally rigged a pants hanger with plastic sandwich bags to soak the shell in peroxide and hung it out my high-rise window. All it took was about three hours in the Southeast Asian sun, though this will vary depending on how much sunlight you get.
Once the shell, buttons and membranes are rinsed and dried, the assembly process takes as little as 15 minutes, and 8BitDo has a video tutorial online (below) in addition to an Ikea-style instruction sheet. Once you drop the new main board in, the trickiest bit is positioning the boards for the shoulder buttons as the stiffness of the connector ribbons made them continually pop out.
A look at online reviews for the kit suggested that others seemed to find it difficult to reposition the board for the ‘Z’ trigger, though I had no trouble doing so. The kit includes a rubber stopper that plugs the hole where the wire had been, which neatly lights up in red while charging.
Once everything is where it should be, it’s as simple screwing it back together and plugging in the rumble pack.
8BitDo’s wireless transmitter is contained within the rumble pack and must be attached at all times. The attachment includes home and screenshot buttons, a pairing button, and a ‘ZR’ trigger to open up in the menu in the NSO app, as well as a toggle that enables the controller to be used on PC and other devices via Bluetooth, which is a major functionality plus if you intend to use emulators.
Image: 8BitDo
How does it compare to the official NSO pad during gameplay?
For those who aren’t willing or able to splash out on Nintendo’s official option, the 8BitDo kit is really a no-brainer
Holding the end product in hand simply felt wonderful. The controller synched to my Switch seamlessly and is actually recognised as an N64 controller, as if it were an official NSO one. All the UI quirks and button configurations work as they should. Latency and battery life are on par with the official pad — around 8 hours — with the only downside being that buttons can’t be remapped on Switch (unless you do so at a system level).
To test it out, I fired up F-Zero X and was blown away by how great it felt to control using the Hall Effect joystick. Whereas traditional joysticks use a potentiometer to detect friction and deduce movement inputs, Hall Effect sensors use magnets to deliver more precise controls and are purportedly more durable than potentiometers, which can wear out over time and lead to controller drift.
Compared to the official N64 wireless controller, the Hall Effect joystick is stubbier, more akin to the Gamecube controller’s stick, and is far more manoeuvrable. I recall having a minor thumb sore after a marathon session of Mario Tennis owing to the resistance of the official joystick. The Hall Effect option is indeed more comfortable to play with for long stretches.
Manoeuvrability also felt more precise in Mario Kart 64, Pilotwings 64, and Super Mario 64, particularly when the stick must be delicately pushed forward so as not to wake sleeping Piranha Plants. I switched between the official wireless and modded N64 controllers while playing Rare’s masterpiece Banjo-Kazooie to test the overall feel, which was basically indistinguishable, apart from the different joysticks.
If you opt for the Hall Effect stick, your thumb placement will be slightly lower compared to the taller and stiffer stick on the official pad. If you’re a purist, you can opt to retain the original stick, but I find the 8BitDo’s Hall Effect stick to be better overall. The only other difference is that the official controller’s rumble feels ever so slightly more robust than the modded one.
Is the 8BitDo DIY Mod Kit worth it, then?
All in all, 8BitDo’s DIY Mod Kit for the N64 controller is a superb alternative if you are unable to get your hands on the official product or if you already have a faulty N64 controller within reach. The sheer satisfaction of dissembling and restoring an old piece of tech is also not be underestimated. Doing so made me appreciate how a controller is truly greater than the sum of its parts.
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Soapbox features enable our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they’ve been chewing over. Today, Francisco shares his love of Rayman Legends as it celebrates its 10th anniversary — but also laments that it may have been a victim of its own success…
I’ve always had a soft spot for Rayman. While Nintendo and Rare duked it out for the N64’s platformer crown, I had no regrets about ignoring Super Mario 64, Donkey Kong 64, and Banjo-Kazooie to helicopter my way through The Glade of Dreams’ robot pirate dystopia in Rayman 2: The Great Escape.
In the years that followed, I was crestfallen to see Rayman’s undeserved fall from grace — not once, but twice. The first time was after the slightly disappointing Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc, after which he was abandoned as Ubisoft’s family-friendly mascot, and was then brutally replaced by the Wii’s Rayman Raving Rabbids. But then as a brave new world of platforming — both HD and 2D — was ushered in by indie darling Braid and puzzle platformer Trine, Rayman was welcomed back to the world.
2011’s Rayman Origins was a glorious return to form, as well as a beautiful throwback to the series’ 2D roots. Michel Ancel and his experienced Ubisoft Montpellier team — the same developers now working on Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown — schooled the indie upstarts with their bustling levels and lush, painterly backdrops.
Two years later in August 2013 came Rayman Legends, the Wii U follow-up so good it simply blew my mind. Everything Origins did superbly, Legends did better.
Don’t Call It A Comeback
Rayman, Globox, the Teensies and crew were deservedly back in the limelight, and they’d never looked better. Rayman Legends has simply sensational visuals across its six worlds, and each level feels like French surrealist cartoons brought to life. Accessing each level through a portrait gallery, that Mario 64 nod was also a testament to the expert craft and imagination that made each and every level a work of art.
I’m too big an Asterix and Obelix fan to say Rayman and Globox are my favourite French duo, but they aren’t far behind! — Image: Ubisoft
Players of the Switch version are well aware that Rayman Legends: Definitive Edition fully deserves its spot on our list of the most beautiful Switch games as well as being one of the best 2D platformers on the console. You could frame any moment from this game, with its watercolour backgrounds and comic book environmental details, and hang it on a wall to prove that two-dimensional doesn’t have to mean flat.
Even today, the game’s shapeshifting environments remain a rollercoaster of spectacle and cunning surprises. Nathan Drake would die for its virtuoso setpieces, Ubisoft applying Naughty Dog’s flair for the dramatic sequences to the 2D platformer with exhilarating panache.
All the set dressing in the world wouldn’t matter a jot if the game never imbued Rayman, Globox, Barbara or the Teensies with a sense of springing movement, delicate weight and precise momentum. Rayman tears through levels, his scurrying steps raise puffs of dust, and he pleasingly arches into a somersault at the peak of each bounding leap. At times he reaches a pace almost matching Sonic’s rocket-speed before those clunky yellow sneakers come to an elegant halt.
And it’s all tied together with a rollicking soundtrack that never fails to surprise with its never-ending stream of eclectic instruments. Add in a sense of physical comedy Charlie Chaplin would be proud of, and it combines into a hectic good-time party atmosphere the Rabbids simply can’t match.
Keep On Running
Ubisoft borrowed more than a few ideas from pared-back autorunners of the time like Bit.Trip Runner with Rayman Legends’ music levels. In these, all you do is jump and punch to lusciously rearranged covers of popular songs as you tear through elaborately staged obstacles at breakneck speed.
Can you hum along to a kazoo’s high notes? — Image: Ubisoft
Just like in Cadence of Hyrule, you’re encouraged to lose yourself to the beat and tap along to the rhythm; the moment when you become one with the music and are sucked into your surroundings is simply spellbinding. It was an unimaginably satisfying thrill, and I still get a shiver reliving the melodious tinkling while scooping up rising scales of Lums, or the way a guitar solo anticipates you smashing through a precarious tower of enemies. These songs and their spectacular surroundings get better and better as you sprint through a heavy metal castle siege in Castle Rock, or through dungeons and volcanic chambers away from soaring dragons in Dragon Slayer.
If you asked me what Rayman has in common with Sylvester Stallone before 2013, other than a penchant for solving their troubles with a punch, I’d draw a blank. But now they have one thing in common: Survivor’s ‘Eye of the Tiger’.
Rayman Legend’s version was the soundtrack to one of my top 10 gaming moments, with Mariachi Madness’s version of the iconic track as you race through a desert’s escalating hazards and away from a fiery inferno. You clatter through skeletons donning top hats across fields of flowers to the strums of a Spanish guitar and the rasp of kazoos (who came up with that kazoo solo?). It’s joyful, ludicrous nonsense that captures the game’s wild, uninhibited spirit at its very best.
Ex-exclusive
Rayman Legends wasn’t intended to be a multiplatform title – it was destined to be a Wii U exclusive until Ubisoft got spooked over concerns that the game wouldn’t sell well enough on Nintendo’s console. Even though it did come to other platforms, the Wii U was designed with a fifth local multiplayer slot and the full suite of GamePad features with the grinning bug Murphy and his touch-control assistance.
Whatever platform the game came to, Rayman Legends was a simply delightful gem that wowed the critics — including Nintendo Life, of course — and should have fully rehabilitated the ’90s “least cool” platforming hero. If you ask me, the game’s the joyous peak of a branch of pure 2D platforming before it all went just a bit Metroid-y.
But it was as good as it ever got for Rayman, Ubisoft foolishly decided that because their big-nosed limbless hero didn’t sell as much as the grizzled Assassins Creeds and frat-house Far Crys of this world, his peculiar fantasy world full of charming oddballs wasn’t worth a new entry. Ten years later, I’m still heartbroken about it. His appearance in the third Mario + Rabbids DLC should have given fans a spark of hope for the character’s return ahead of his 30th birthday in 2025, but instead, he still feels like an afterthought.
Nothing this robot can do to Rayman beats the indignities Ubisoft put him through since. — Image: Ubisoft
The same capable team is now entrusted with reviving another beloved property in Prince of Persia. Ubisoft Montpellier have already proven their talent for reinvention, I’m sure what they’re working on is set to blow my mind yet again. Just spare a thought for us disappointed Rayman fans. We enjoyed our Rayman-issance while it lasted; enjoy the Prince of Persurgence while you can.
Do you love Rayman Legends? Do you want to see a direct sequel to it? Join us in The Glade of Dreams in the comments.
Pinch yourselves — it’s eShop Selects time again! Autumn (or fall, depending on where you are in the world) is just around the corner. The leaves will start going brown, and the temperature will start cooling off — or maybe it’s getting warmer if you’re on the other side of the hemisphere. This seasonal intro is not working out, is it? Let’s just get on with it and look back at August…
So… last month was ridiculously good for video games, right? Sure, there weren’t any big AAA Nintendo games for Switch, but the eShop exploded with hidden delights and highly-anticipated games that actually lived up to the hype.
Let’s not wait around then, shall we?
Honourable Mentions
You can’t go wrong with any of these, so take your pick from all the lovely 8s, 9s, and even a Nintendo Life 10! Red Dead Redemption is included this month despite it getting a physical release later on in the year — but you can’t get that at the time of writing this, hence its inclusion.
Publisher: Team17 / Developer: The Game Kitchen
Release Date: 24th Aug 2023 (USA) / 24th Aug 2023 (UK/EU)
Let’s kick off the top three with a highly anticipated sequel — Blasphemous 2 takes everything that made the first game fabulous and polishes it to a fine sheen. New weapons, new enemies, and new locations lie in wait for The Penitent One at Cvstodia, and it’s just as brutal and beautiful as ever.
Blasphemous 2 is one of the best-looking pixel art games on the Switch, with stunning, grotesque enemy and boss designs and fantastic animations, The Game Kitchen’s passion and craft are near flawless. It helps that the gameplay is so good, too, with a fantastic difficulty balance that ramps it up just enough.
This ungodly sequel is anything but a blasphemer, as we scored Blasphemous 2 a 9/10 in our review.
Please note that some external links on this page are affiliate links, which means if you click them and make a purchase we may receive a small percentage of the sale. Please read our FTC Disclosure for more information.
Publisher: Poncle / Developer: Poncle
Release Date: 17th Aug 2023 (USA) / 17th Aug 2023 (UK/EU)
Next in our top three is another highly anticipated title — a port of one of the most addictive games ever made. Vampire Survivors will suck all of the time out of your day by throwing you into hordes of enemies. And when we say hordes, we’re not exaggerating.
Vampire Survivors has such a simple gameplay loop, but the dopamine hit when you make it just a little bit further through a run, or manage to clear a 30-minute run, is unparalleled. You can never have too much of this game as it constantly feeds you with new challenges, characters, weapons, items, and upgrades. Oh, and it’s not even a fiver. And there’s DLC? Oh no…
We scored Vampire Survivors a fiendish 9/10, and we now totally see why this game won Game of the Year at the BAFTAs.
Publisher: Sabotage / Developer: Sabotage
Release Date: 29th Aug 2023 (USA) / 29th Aug 2023 (UK/EU)
Sea of Stars has been a long time coming, and we’re thrilled to say that it lives up to the hype. Rounding out August’s top three eShop titles, this retro-inspired turn-based RPG manages to capture the magic of the SNES and 16-bit days of the genre perfectly, filling us with glee.
Sabotage has really understood the brief with this one — the combat is simple yet engaging; the characters are fun; the world is stunning; and the exploration is sublime. Even if Valere and Zale’s tale is pretty simple, the twists, turns, and gorgeous environments had us feeling like kids again. More of this, please.
Sea of Stars is yet another highly-anticipated title that lived up to our expectations, and we gave this one a 9/10 too!
What was your favourite eShop game of August 2023? (299 votes)
Blasphemous 2 (Switch eShop)10%
Quake II (Switch eShop)10%
Red Dead Redemption (Switch)5%
Sea of Stars (Switch eShop)53%
Shotgun King: The Final Checkmate (Switch eShop)1%
The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood (Switch eShop)1%
Tiny Thor (Switch eShop)2%
Vampire Survivors (Switch eShop)14%
Something else (comment below)4%
How we decide our eShop Selects top three: As we reach the end of every month, the Nintendo Life staff vote on their favourite titles from a list of games selected by the editorial team. To qualify for this list, these games must have been released as a digital-only Nintendo Switch eShop title in that particular month, and must have been reviewed on Nintendo Life; we select the qualifying games based on their review scores.
Staff are then asked to vote for three games that they think deserve to sit right at the very top of that list; first choice gets 3 points, second choice gets 2 points, and third choice gets 1 point. These votes are then tallied to create a top-three list, with the overall winner taking that month’s top prize.
Hello folks, and welcome to another edition of Box Art Brawl!
Before we get cracking with this week’s brawl, let’s take a look at how we got on last time.
With the launch of Excitebike 64 on Nintendo Switch Online, we looked at the original release on N64, pitting the Western design against Japan. In the end, Japan took the prize with an impressive 64% of the vote, though the North American / European design certainly had its fair share of fans.
This time, we’ll be checking out Sea of Stars on the Nintendo Switch. The game, developed by Sabotage Studio, launched digitally on the eShop at the end of August, but with physical editions coming in 2024 from iam8bit and Kakehashi Games, we thought it would give us the perfect opportunity to scroll our peepers over the gorgeous box art.
It’s worth keeping in mind, however, that the artwork for both regional options here may be subject to change ahead of launch. Heck, if nothing else, it’ll give us the opportunity to do this again at a later date!
It’s another duel this week, so get your votes and let your voice be heard, Solstice Warriors!
Be sure to cast your votes in the poll below; but first, let’s check out the box art designs themselves.
Europe / North America
Image: Sabotage Studio/iam8bit
The Western design for Sea of Stars uses the standard key art that we’re all likely familiar with at this point. It showcases our Solstice Warriors Valere and Zale (poor Garl) looking suitably grand and imposing against an impressive blue moon in the background.
It’s a great composition, with the moon drawing the viewers’ eyes down toward the characters and the logo at the bottom. It’s neat, it’s clean, and we love it.
Japan
Image: Sabotage Studio/Kakehashi Games
Japan’s approach, meanwhile, goes for something a touch busier and features a whole bunch of additional playable characters that you’ll be meeting on your journey. Valere and Zale are front and centre again, but Garl has joined them this time, and the overall colour palette is a lot softer and brighter than its Western counterpart.
This is going to be a tough one, for sure. Who will take the crown this week?
Which region will get the best Sea of Stars box art? (1,770 votes)
North Amerca / Europe48%
Japan52%
Thanks for voting! We’ll see you next time for another round of the Box Art Brawl.
Super Mario Bros. Wonder has already been praised in early hands-on previews for being one of the most refreshing takes on the 2D series in a very long time and it seems part of the reason behind this is tied to the fact there was no deadline in the early phases of its design.
Speaking to Wired, the game’s producer Takashi Tezuka mentioned how during the prototyping stage, there was no due date, which seemingly encouraged more creativity and ideas. Here’s exactly what he had to say:
Takashi Tezuka: “I wanted to prevent people from saying, ‘We won’t make that deadline, so that’s why we didn’t do it—we can’t do it,’”
Mario Wonder’s director Shiro Mouri added to Tezuka’s comment, mentioning how the number of ideas generated for Wonder effects was apparently in the thousands, and from there, the best ones were refined:
Shiro Mouri: “The number of ideas we got was probably over a thousand, 2,000 ideas.”
Wonder effects have the ability to completely transform courses in all sorts of unique and unexpected ways. This upcoming Switch release also has a lot of other immediately noticeable differences compared to the average 2D Mario game – such as elephant power-ups and talking flowers.
If you were hoping to see a hard copy release of the retro-style FPS Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun, today is your lucky day.
Boxed versions are now appearing online. According to a listing on Amazon, the game will be priced at $39.99 USD and is expected to be released on 5th September 2023. Here’s a look at the boxart:
When this game arrived on the Nintendo Switch back in May of this year, we thought it was a fun game to tear through and highly recommended it to anyone looking for a retro-inspired FPS fix. The game also got a quality-of-life update in July.
Will you be adding this game to your Switch library? Tell us below.
Final Fantasy Switch fans are in for a treat this November, with Square Enix announcing it will be adding 11 songs from the new entry Final Fantasy XVI to the rhythm game Theatrhythm Final Bar Line.
These 11 songs will arrive on 1st November as part of the Season Pass Vol. 3. The good news is the pack will also be available to purchase separately. Here’s the full list of tracks, along with an official graphic:
1. My Star – 2. Hide, Hieaway – 3. To Sail Forbidden Seas – 4. Away – 5. Control – 6. Titan Lost – 7. Ascension – 8. The Riddle – 9. Logos – 10. Find the Flame – 11. No Risk, No Reward
If you’ve not tried out Theatrhythm Final Bar Line, you can always download the game’s demo via the Switch eShop. There’s also our Nintendo Life review to check out, if you want to learn more:
Will you be returning to Theatrhythm Final Bar Line to try out these tracks? Leave a comment below.
Nintendo’s amiibo line might not be quite as busy as it once was, but there are still new figurines arriving on a regular basis.
With this in mind, there are reports of updated packaging for Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros. Ultimate amiibo series. A recent post from a Famiboards forum member shared some photos of the new look.
It’s got quite a lot of attention online because there’s supposedly “no mention” of the Switch or other compatible platforms on the back of the box:
Famiboards user Ajimi: “I work at retail in France, and today we received “new” Smash amiibos (Link, Luigi and DK so far). They are the same as before, but the back of the box is different, a lot more neutral (no pictures and no mention of a specific game or console).”
As noted by amiibo Alerts in the social media post above, the new box on the left now just mentions how amiibo can be used with “compatible software”, whereas the old one actually showed all compatible platforms as well as some information about the game.
There’s already been some speculation Nintendo could be “future proofing” its amiibo line. There could also be many other reasons behind a possible update, and it’s worth noting Nintendo no longer sells or really supports the 3DS and Wii U – so there’s that to consider as well.
This same design has been spotted in other regions as well as previously highlighted by Amiibo News on social media:
If we hear anything else, we’ll let you know. Have you come across this new amiibo packaging? Tell us in the comments.
Being able to work with some of the biggest IPs in the world like Mario and Zelda is probably a dream for many aspiring game developers, but how many people actually stick with a career at the video game giant Nintendo?
According to new data from Biz Journal (via a translation by Tokyo Game Life), Nintendo has a 98.8% employee retention rate in Japan. That’s almost a perfect score, and when you compare it to Japan’s average employee retention rate of 70% it’s even more impressive!
As further stated by the source, some of the factors behind this retention rate include brand strength, the small number of new hires and a strong employee welfare program. A translation courtesy of GoNintendo also notes how “Nintendo’s approach to same-sex relationships and diversity are also positive” and “for every 100 employees the company brings on, just one decides to quit”.
Unfortunately, we don’t have any new data on Nintendo’s employee retention rate at its other branches around the world, but we do know there are many key figures who have enjoyed long and successful careers at the company throughout its history.
Would you work at a place like Nintendo? How about another video game studio? Leave a comment below.
