Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has sold three million copies in the US after just eleven days on sale, breaking multiple records in the process.

According to Nintendo’s internal sales data, the game has become both the fastest-selling Nintendo Switch game of all time in the region, and also the fastest-selling game in the Super Smash Bros. series. We recently reported on the fact that the very same milestone was also hit in the UK market, with early sales in Japan seeing similarly impressive levels of success, too. These statistics are expected to cement the fact that Nintendo is currently the top-selling US software publisher of 2018.

In celebration of the news, Nintendo has also shared some additional statistics. Bear in mind that the following data comes from Nintendo of America and is specific to the US only:

– Nintendo hardware unit and dollar sales for 2018 are at their highest annual totals since 2011.

– Nintendo eShop sales have grown 105 percent over 2017.

– Evergreen Nintendo Switch games have set new milestones, with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe selling over 4 million and 5 million units, respectively. Super Mario Odyssey has sold over 4.7 million units.

– In addition to the fast-selling Super Smash Bros. Ultimate game, other recently released games that continue to make a splash include Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Pokémon: Let’s Go, Eevee!, which together total 2 million units, and Super Mario Party at 1.4 million.

Are you one of the many who have already picked up a copy of the game? Are you surprised by any of the statistics shared above? Tell us below in the comments.

Today, we are happy to share that the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) has announced its 23^rd Hall of Fame recipient: Bonnie Ross, Microsoft Corporate Vice President and Head of 343 Industries. Ross has been integral in the vision and expansion of the Halo franchise that has continued to excite generations of fans, generating nearly $6 billion in worldwide sales to date and has transcended video games to grow into a global entertainment phenomenon. Ross is also a key voice in promoting STEM and diversity efforts across the gaming industry amongst women, under-represented minorities and children.

“It is thanks to Bonnie’s vision and drive for combining art and technology that has allowed the Halo universe to flourish within so many different mediums and platforms,” said Meggan Scavio, President, Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. “That along with her deep passion to expand diversity in gaming and encourage STEM education amongst women as well as all young people is truly inspirational. Her positive legacy and leadership have helped advance interactive entertainment and will impact game makers and aspiring game makers for generations to come.”

The 2019 Hall of Fame Award will be presented to Ross during the 22^nd Annual D.I.C.E. Awards ceremony on Wednesday, February 13, 2019, at the Aria Convention Center in Las Vegas by her long-time colleague and friend, Phil Spencer, Executive Vice President and Head of Gaming at Microsoft.

“It’s been a privilege to work alongside Bonnie for more than two decades, and I have continually been impressed not only by her passion for merging art and storytelling, but also her equal passion for creating teams and technical breakthroughs; solid foundations that will set the direction of Halo and Xbox for years to come,” said Spencer. “Bonnie’s tenure at Microsoft is more than just a model for aspiring game makers, it’s a proof of concept that bringing together talented and diverse voices around a shared, passionate vision, can unleash worlds, wonders, and legends that define entertainment for generations.”

Ross’ interest in technology and gaming began at an early age, where her pursuit of advanced math and science classes led to a degree in Technical Communication and a concentration in Physics and Computer Science. Following college, she landed an internship at IBM before beginning her profession at Microsoft, first working on operating systems.

Ross began her career in the games industry in 1994, when Microsoft created a PC sports gaming division, leading to her first game release of NBA Full Court Press for Windows. She progressed her career in gaming in a variety of roles, including producer, lead producer, executive producer, and general manager overseeing production for all titles within the Microsoft Game Studios portfolio. In these roles, Ross worked with several leading development studios in the co-development or publishing of many well-known titles, including Counter-Strike (Xbox), Dungeon Siege, Fuzion Frenzy, Gears of War, Jade Empire, Mass Effect, NBA: Inside Drive, Pandora’s Box, Psychonauts, and Zoo Tycoon.

In 2007, when Halo creators Bungie parted ways with Microsoft as a first-party developer, Ross founded 343 Industries, an entertainment studio committed to fostering the growth and expansion of the Halo franchise, as well as driving innovation across Microsoft platforms. That commitment to building diverse stories and characters has helped 343 Industries create immersive, blockbuster sci-fi entertainment experiences within the Halo universe. At Microsoft Game Studios and 343 Industries, she has worked with or directly overseen many well-loved Halo games: Halo 3: ODST, Halo: Reach, Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, Halo: Spartan Assault, Halo: Spartan Strike, Halo 4, Halo: The Master Chief Collection, Halo 5: Guardians, Halo Wars 2, Halo: Fireteam Raven, and the upcoming Halo Infinite.

Ross is passionate about bringing together art and technology to transform how people experience entertainment. Over the last nine years, she pushed to broaden franchise reach and define Halo as a leader in transmedia across the entire entertainment industry, including the Halo series of video games, the upcoming Halo television series by SHOWTIME, and live-action series, such as Halo: Forward Unto Dawn and Halo: Nightfall. In addition, 12 of 17 Halo novels have been named to the New York Times Best Sellers list and Halo consumer products have generated over $1.5 billion in consumer spend.

Ross is also deeply involved in promoting efforts to drive diversity across the games industry and generating interest amongst women, minorities, and children in the pursuit of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) careers. In 1997, she co-founded the Microsoft Women in Gaming community as a way for women in the industry to network and support each other. Beginning as a small cocktail event with roughly 20 attendees, it has since then grown to become an annual lunch at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) that counts more than 1,500 in attendance.

Ross was named one of Fortune’s most powerful women in gaming and is a key part of The Ad Council’s “She Can STEM” campaign.

The AIAS Hall of Fame honor is bestowed on game creators who have been instrumental in the development of highly influential games and moving a particular genre forward. These individuals demonstrate the highest level of creativity and innovation, resulting in significant product influence on a scale that expands the scope of the industry. Past AIAS Hall of Fame recipients include: Hideo Kojima (2016), Leslie Benzies (2014), Dan and Sam Houser (2014), and Todd Howard (2017),

Publisher Team17 has today launched the post-apocalyptic disaster management game Sheltered on Nintendo Switch.

After a global apocalypse, you’re tasked with protecting four family members living in a deserted underground shelter. You’ll need to combat hunger, radiation, and mental exhaustion as you cling desperately to life in the cramped, cold, underground shelter. Of course, you’ll also need to brave the dangerous wasteland outside for vital supplies, leaving the protection your new home offers to provide for your family.

The game actually launched on other platforms just a couple of years ago; the Switch version will include the base game and the ‘Surrounded’ and ‘Stasis’ additional content packs. Surrounded offers a new chunk of gameplay in which the family is forced to split up (the father goes out in search of transport, whilst the mother and son barricade themselves inside and set traps to try and protect the supplies), while Stasis has you leaving your hostile home planet behind by building and launching a rocket.

You’ll find the game available from today on the Nintendo Switch eShop for £9.99 / $14.99 / €14.99. A 20% discount will be applied to purchases made during launch week.

Do you like the look of this one? Think you might give it a go? Let us know if you’ll be treating yourself to the game in the comments below.

As 4 million players have been writing their own survival story in State of Decay 2, they’ve been enjoying BAFTA award-winning and Billboard / MTV VMA nominated Danish composer’s Jesper Kyd soundtrack, which is available on iTunes, Spotify and Amazon. Starting today, for fans who want to experience Jesper’s soundtrack full of hope for survival and a better tomorrow in full, they can purchase the State of Decay 2 Special Edition – Double Vinyl for $39.99. In addition to the atmospheric guitar and analog synth score as heard in the game, the double vinyl also includes ten previously unreleased tracks.

To celebrate today’s release, we caught up with Jesper to ask him some questions gathered from the State of Decay 2 player community for a deeper look at the soundtrack.

Xbox Wire: Did you play a lot of State of Decay: YOSE?

Jesper Kyd: Yes, I did play a lot of State of Decay and YOSE and it really influenced the way I wrote the score for SOD2. It reaffirmed that exploration music is very important to setting the atmosphere of the game, especially between missions.

Xbox Wire: Do you plan to play State of Decay 2?

Jesper Kyd: Yes, when I can find the time I plan to play through the game to the end.

Xbox Wire: Did you record any live musicians for the score?

Jesper Kyd: We recorded a ton of live instruments for the score such as dobro guitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitars, live percussion of all sorts, solo violin, solo cello. The live instruments are an important part of making the world of State of Decay breathe and come alive. The broken down post-apocalyptic world we play through needs to be reinforced with the feel of rural Americana, we’re in the American heartland and live instruments is critical to accomplishing an authentic vibe.

Xbox Wire: What instruments did you use?  -What is your favorite?

Jesper Kyd: My favorite instrument is probably the dobro or steel guitar. It adds such a warm and atmospheric feel to the score, especially on tracks such as “Hills of my Hometown”. I also really like the fiddle, especially when it’s playing chords across the neck. Gives it a folky feel set on a country hillside vista.

Xbox Wire: How long does it take you to write a piece of music?

Jesper Kyd: It really depends on the length of the track and purpose of the music. Exploration tracks are usually the most challenging since you don’t have a clear idea of what the music needs to do at all times. Gameplay specific music is easier since the purpose is clear and established: tension moments often need tension music, suspenseful moments needs suspense, and so on. For these tracks the challenge then becomes to write something that feels fresh and surprising.

Xbox Wire: What was different about this score compared to the first game?

Jesper Kyd: Firstly, there’s a lot more music! I worked on the project for about 2 years, writing over 3 hours of music, some 105 cues in all. Also, I tried to bring out more of the human emotion of the situation you are experiencing. We wanted the music to help make the experience feel hopeful as you try to rebuild and expand your community.

Xbox Wire: What inspired you? 

Jesper Kyd: I was inspired by the game’s setting, themes of survival and hope for the community.

Xbox Wire: Did you have any influences?

Jesper Kyd: I rarely listen to other music when writing scores and I was careful not to listen to any relevant music. You don’t want a theme you are writing to sound similar to something you might be listening to. So my main influence was the game’s rural environment and post-apocalyptic story setting. The score is infused with rustic elements from the landscape in decay and so a lot of the recordings were processed with vintage gear.

Xbox Wire: If you weren’t doing this what would you be doing?

Jesper Kyd: I always wanted to become a film maker. If I wasn’t writing music I still think I would be creating stories and experiences in different ways, perhaps as a film maker.

The American dream has driven millions upon millions of people to come to a country filled with possibility and opportunity. Sometimes, you get caught up in the gears of enterprise and learn that the machinations of big business tend to run counter to that dream. But, sometimes, you start a company on an ideal and cling to that initial spark no matter what.

That’s what Carl Richell did when he created System76. That was more than a decade ago, when the company’s goal was to sell computer hardware running open source operating systems. System76 has been a bastion of hope for Linux and open source fans, as they’ve proved, year after year, that the dream can be fulfilled, that Linux can be sold on the desktop and laptop space.

The launch of the game-changing System76 Thelio only solidifies this open source dream. CEO Carl Richell oozes the open source ethos, and that ideology comes through, to perfection, in their latest offering, the Thelio desktop, a machine as beautiful in design as it is in execution. The Thelio was created, from the ground up, to offer as much open hardware as possible, while delivering a beast of a computer, housed in a chassis that is equal parts form and  function. Every detail (from the planetary alignment, marking the date System76 was formed, to the design of the fan output grill, and the ease with which the machine can be upgraded) has been executed to perfection. The Thelio is a hand-crafted computer that any user would be thrilled to own.

What Makes the Thelio So Special?

The easy answer to that question is “everything,” but that serves no purpose, especially for those considering dropping the coin for this desktop beauty. So wherein lies the answer? There are so many ways this new machine exceeds all other desktop computers I’ve seen (which is impressive, considering my daily driver for the last five years has been the—no longer available—System76 Leopard Extreme, which has been truly amazing).

While getting the grand tour of the new System76 headquarters, I was privy to the official Thelio “dog and pony show,” which solidified my assumptions about the company and what they have been and are doing. I was able to watch engineer Ian Santopietro demonstrate how they’ve designed the Thelio in such a way as to optimize air flow through the chassis, so the CPU is capable of running at its listed speed (see video).

Video 1: Air flow has been optimized for the Thelio.

With so many other desktop computers, the listed speed of a CPU is often negated by poorly designed cooling systems and airflows, rendering them incapable of running to spec. The Thelio blows this issue out of the water (or, better yet, out of the back cooling vent). Watching smoke flow through the device was impressive, especially considering how hush-quiet the machine was (with all cores being pushed to the max).

The ease at which the machine can be upgraded is equally impressive. With a hot-swappable drive-bay that is easily accessible, the Thelio is an upgraders dream come true. And with highly refined tolerances, you can trust that chassis will come apart and slip back together with ease. System76 has added a number of touches most other companies wouldn’t even consider. Take, for instance, the spare drive bolts housed conveniently inside the case (Figure 1). No more will you have to scramble to find that small bag of screws you tossed aside when you unboxed the computer. When you go to add a new drive, you have plenty of screws waiting to be used. A nice touch, for sure.

Those curious about the System76 open source claims for the Thelio can download the files for the chassis, as well as the Thelio Io Daughterboard (Figure 2, from GitHub).

The Io daughterboard offloads control of the cooling, the passing of data from the motherboard to the storage drives, the power switch, the USB system, and more. This means System76 is able to better control how these systems function (it also means users can benefit from the open source nature of that particular piece of hardware).

The Operating System

As with all of the System76 machines, you can purchase the Thelio with one of the following options:

• Ubuntu 18.10

• Ubuntu 18.04 LTS

• POP!_OS

I would suggest, however, purchasing the hardware with System76’s own POP!_OS, as it offers more control over, and has been optimized for, the Thelio. Although POP!_OS is designed with creators in mind (i.e. developers), one does not have to be a developer to use the OS. In fact, System76’s version of Linux is a general-purpose operating system, only with a few tweaks and inclusions for creators. No matter which operating system you choose, you can be sure to enjoy an unrivaled experience with the Thelio.

Conclusion

To say the Thelio is impressive is an understatement. This is a machine that could easily be mistaken for something produced by a much, much larger company. But make no mistake about it, few large companies put this level of care and heart into the design and execution of a computer desktop. If you’re looking to purchase one of the most impressive pieces of desktop hardware to date, look no further than System76’s new Thelio.

The trend of Gunman Clive games being affordably priced looks set to continue on the Switch, with Swedish indie developer Bertil Hörberg revealing the previously announced HD Collection (containing the first and second game) will arrive on Nintendo’s hybrid platform on 17th January for $3.99 / €3.99.

Hörberg made the announcement via Twitter, while joking how people should buy it, as the release date happens to be his Birthday. Here are the tweets:

As we previously noted, the collection was originally released on the Wii U in 2015. The first game and sequel were also made available on 3DS in 2012 and 2015. Both titles have drawn comparisons to the Mega Man series.

Will you be picking up this collection on release? Have you played it before? Let us know in the comments.