Tag: Nintendo Page 3 of 4

I’m not dead! I promise! Here’s today’s news.

Pokemon Go Trading
Nintendo TV Show
Beyond Good and Evil 2 Playable Beta?

Pokemon Go Trading

In a recent announcement by developer Niantic, the popular mobile game will FINALLY be getting player-to-player trading. It’s not that simple, however. First, you have to share your friend code with another person, and register each other as friends. After this, you only need to be level 10 to be allowed to trade. Performing these trades requires a very large amount of stardust, I’m talking 1,000,000 dust to trade in a worst-case scenario. If you want to make it cost less, you can improve your friendship level with the person. You do this by participating in raids with them, or by sending them gift items (now findable at pokestops). You have to be a certain friend level to trade legendaries, as well. More details can be found in the Niantic post about it.

Nintendo TV Show

Nintendo has teamed up with Disney to produce a competitive video game show. Titled the Nintendo Switch Family Showdown, the show pits four families against each other in a series of challenges on the Nintendo Switch console. This ranges from finding coins in Super Mario Odyssey to direct matches in Mario Tennis Aces. No word on when the show will launch, but there better be a Mario Party episode.

Beyond Good and Evil 2 Beta Date?

The game made waves at last year’s E3, and again at this years with a new cinematic trailer. While the release date of the game remains uncertain, game director Michel Ancel stated that “we aim for a playable beta for the end of next year” on Instagram. So here’s hoping to that.

That’s all for today! Tune in tomorrow for more news and such. Starting Wednesday, I’ll be posting a series of guest reviews from some other journalists I know, Stay tuned for that, some of them are pretty good. Just remember that, while they are on my site, they do not reflect my own personal thoughts on these games, simply the guest writer’s.

Thursday 5-10-18: Miitomo, PaRappa, Destiny 2, and Risk of Rain 2

By Branden

On May 10, 2018

In daily update, News

Shout if ya nasty. Or don’t, I’m not your mother. Here’s the news.

Miitomo is Officially Gone
Hackers Find PSP Emulator in PS4 game
Bungie can Disable Guns in Destiny 2
Risk of Rain 2 Gameplay Footage

Miitomo’s End

It’s final, folks. Miitomo, the (not-so) popular Nintendo mobile game, has officially closed down. This was a long time coming, with plenty of heads-up, but it’s still sad to see all the same. My sympathies go out to those who still used the app regularly. I recently reported on Nintendo’s announcement to develop a web-based online Mii maker. So at least we’ll have that soon enough.

Emulators All the Way Down

Ever played PaRappa the Rapper, the 1997 PlayStation game? How about the 2007 PSP port of the game? If you’re a fan of the game, then you might have heard about the PS4 remaster of the game that released last year. As it turns out, the PS4 remaster is simply a high-resolution port of the PSP version. The game is running on a Sony-built PSP emulator running on the PS4. This has hackers and modders very excited for the discovery of what they consider an official emulator for the PSP.

Bungie Bogarting Guns

I’m not that familiar with Destiny 2, so forgive me if things are mildly false or vaguely worded. A newly updated exotic weapon, called the Rat King, has been hot-locked by Bungie when they discovered it was the source of a game exploit. Apparently there’s been a bug that would allow players to have more ammo in their clip than they’re supposed to. What’s so interesting about this is that it wasn’t through a game patch that the weapon has been locked away. This means Bungie can control access to weapons server-side. The implications of this are lost on me.

Risk of Rain 2 Footage

Risk of Rain is a popular beat ’em up/bullet hell game developed by Hopoo Games. The 2D side-scroller released in 2013 and would go on to receive critical acclaim. Since then, the devs have been hard at work making a sequel. This time it’s taking a three-dimensional approach. The news here is that nine minutes of gameplay footage has been revealed. It’s interesting seeing such a different approach to the game, while still keeping the rest of the game’s mechanics so similar. One thing I noticed is how there is a sort of lock-on feature with your attacks. it’s much easier to shoot something in 2D compared to 3D, so I’m glad to see the found a peaceful solution to the shift. You can watch it for yourself here.

That’s all for today, thanks for reading. I’ll be at the Columbus Podcast Festival this weekend (no, not as a panelist). Check back in tomorrow for the final news post of the week. Otherwise, have a great day!

Monday 5-7-18: Oculus Prototypes, E3 Floor Plans, and Nintendo Job Listings

By Branden

On May 7, 2018

In daily update, News

We edge ourselves ever closer to the next day. Here’s the news.

Oculus’ Latest VR Prototype
E3 Floor Plans
Nintendo Hiring Zelda Level Designer

Oculus: Half Dome

Popular VR developer Oculus has announced a new prototype VR headset, one that features 140-degree viewing, varifocal displays, and potentially even eye tracking. The prototype can allegedly achieve a far wider view range, thanks to more advanced fresnel lenses within. It also has varifocal displays, which means two lenses moving back and forth, much like a camera. this should allow for dynamic focus shifting. When combined with eye tracking, seen in various other prototypes, this should allow for better focus on both near and far objects alike. I may not like Oculus as a corporation, but this is certainly a nice device.

E3 Floor Plans

This is exactly what it says on the tin. E3 floor plans have been making their rounds online. Event marketing partner GES has released the floor plans for the event online. This does offer some insight as to who is where, and who has the big spots. It also confirms which publishers and studios are scheduled to attend, like CD Projekt Red and Marvelous America. If you don’t want to have to download the PDFs, ResetEra has image files of the contents on their site.

Zelda Level Designer

Twitter user @bk2128 has translated a Japanese job listing found on the Nintendo website. The listing appears to call for ‘Level designer of “The Legend of Zelda” series.’ The job starts as a three-month trial contract, in which it will be reviewed for whether you’ll be kept for the remainder of the project. Since Breath of the Wild has already finished their last DLC, this listing is presumably for a new Zelda game. All we have to go off of beyond that is speculation, though.

That’s all for today. Thanks for reading. Tune in tomorrow for more video game news. Otherwise, have a great day!

Thursday 5-3-18: Mii Maker, Nintendo Pro Steam Support, and Cities: Skylines

By Branden

On May 3, 2018

In daily update, News

I stayed up too late playing Stardew Valley multiplayer. Man, I’m tired. Here’s the news.

Online Mii Maker
Nintendo Pro Controller Support on Steam
Cities: Skylines Natural Disasters for Consoles

Mii Maker Online

Nintendo’s social networking app, Miitomo, will be closing for good soon. The game company has announced that with this loss, they plan to release a web browser Mii maker tool. Expected towards the latter half of May, interested users can even load up their Miitomo characters if they so desire. I’m happy that Nintendo is still offering an option for those wanting to make Miis.

Pro Controller on Steam

If you’re one of the few individuals that consider the Nintendo Pro controller to be the ideal gamepad option, then I have news for you. Steam now offers controller support in their current Beta option. This means native support for the controller, custom game layouts through the Steam interface. So that’s cool.

Cities: Skylines Natural Disasters

Cities: Skylines is a pretty good game, and certainly the spiritual successor to the Sim City games. One of its expansions, Natural Disasters, offered a plethora of weapons from mother nature’s arsenal to wreak havoc on your city. Developers Paradox Interactive has announced that Natural Disasters will be coming to consoles on May 15. Have fun, mayors.

Thanks for reading. Check back tomorrow for more news! Otherwise, have a great day!

Friday 4-27-18: Zelda BotW Sells, Nintendo E3, and Splatoon x TMNT

By Branden

On April 27, 2018

In daily update, News

Another week nearly over! I can’t wait to bunker down in my home and not leave. WE’re all Nintendo today, it seems. Here’s the news.

Breath of the Wild is the Best Selling Zelda Game
Nintendo’s E3 Plans
Splatoon X Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Beast of the Wild

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has sold 8.48 million copies on Switch and 1.5 million copies on Wii U. That’s nearly 10 million copies worldwide. Technically speaking, this is the best selling Zelda game of all time. The only one that beats it is the Ocarina of Time, assuming you included sales of both the N64 game, as well as the 3DS remake. That would total around 11.6 million units.

Nintendo at E3

Nintendo released their official E3 webpage for 2018, They’re listed for June 12-14, and detail… well nothing much new. There will be a video presentation on June 12, at 9:00 am PT / 12:00 pm ET. There will also be a Splatoon 2 World Championship finals and a Super Smash Bros Invitational on June 12. I honestly have no idea what Nintendo might announce at E3 this year. We’ll see soon enough.

Teenage Mutant Ninja SplatFest

Those familiar with the popular Nintendo shooter know that every so often, special events take place that pit the players into two groups. This time, players are choosing between four options, each of the teenage mutant ninja turtles. Raphael will compete against Leonardo on May 4 until May 5, while Michelangelo goes up against Donatello May 11 until May 12. The finals, pitting the two winners against each other, will take place May 18 through May 19.

This is another promotional partnership with Hasbro, who are pushing their upcoming TMNT reboot on Nickelodeon.

Hey folks, if you like podcasts, and haven’t checked out mine, do that. We released our next episode today, it’s about Doom. Even if you don’t, maybe pull it up on the site, iTunes, or google play, and let it play on mute, inflate my listener count! (I’m not serious) Check back on Monday for a weekend wrap up. Otherwise, have a great weekend!

Thursday 4-26-18: Nintendo Resignations and GPU Prices

By Branden

On April 26, 2018

In daily update, News

There’s a few interesting happenings in gaming today. Here’s the news.

GPU Shipments Falling
Nintendo President Ready to Resign

Graphics Card Plunge

According to DigiTimes, Taiwanese graphics card factories are seeing a 40% decline in shipments. It seems that the cryptocurrency mining fad is starting to fall out, and miners are no longer buying cards. And with exuberant prices on graphics cards right now, gamers aren’t interested in buying any either. This very well might mean that the price of these cards may finally go back down to their previous, more affordable prices. I’d certainly like to upgrade my PC without paying $800+.

Nintendo President

The current President of Nintendo, Tatsumi Kimishima, has announced his resignation from the company. He will step down at the end of June, in which Nintendo’s global marketing department head Shuntaro Furukawa will take his place. Fukukawa is also The Pokémon Company’s outside director and Nintendo’s managing executive officer. He’s been with Nintendo for about 23 years. Best of luck to Furukawa with his new responsibilities, and we wish Kimishima a happy retirement.

We have a new episode of the podcast tomorrow. This time, we talk about Doom. It’s a good time. Check back tomorrow for more video game related news. Otherwise, have a great day!

Wednesday 4-25-18: McElroys, Wolfenstein on Switch, and Battlefield One Support

By Branden

On April 25, 2018

In daily update, News

Whoops! I forgot to do the news in the morning. Evening news it is! Here is that news.

The McElroys Leave Polygon
Wolfenstein II Nintendo Switch Launch Date
DICE Ends Battlefield One Support

The McElroy Brothers

It saddens me to hear, but Griffin and Justin McElroy have announced their resignation from popular gaming news outlet, Polygon. They have been vital inspirations to me and is largely responsible for me becoming a journalist myself. You can read their full statements at Polygon. I wish you the best, you wonderful boys.

Wolfenstein II on Switch

We have a release date! That’s all. Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus will release on Nintendo Switch on June 29. Nintendo released a nice little trailer for it, which appears to display Switch quality graphics.

Battlefield One Support

In a statement by DICE, developers of popular WWI shooter, Battlefield One will no longer be receiving regular updates. The latest DLC, Rupture, has just launched, and at the end of their blog post about it, they state that monthly patches will end this June. This makes sense, given the game’s age.

That’s all we got today. Come back tomorrow for another wonderful news day. Otherwise, have a great evening!

Monday 4-23-18: Night Trap, Ben Brode, and Valve Owns Campo Stanto

By Branden

On April 23, 2018

In daily update, News

The weekend has ended. I was enjoying it, too. Here’s the weekend wrap up

Night Trap on a Nintendo
Hearthstone Game Director Resigns
Valve Acquires Firewatch Devs

Night Trap, dododo do doo. Watch Out Behind You!

It was 25 years ago when the popular Sega game, Night Trap, released in stores. The event caused a newfound controversy with its definitions of violence and sexuality, even though both accounts of such were pretty mild. At the time, Nintendo stated that the game would never come to a Nintendo game system, due to its depiction of violence against women.

Now the game returns with a special 25th-anniversary edition converted for the Nintendo Switch. Developed by Screaming Villians, the game has no confirmed release date.

Ben Brode Leaves Blizzard

Ben Brode, the game director of Hearthstone, has announced his leave this weekend. While having loved his 15 years working for Blizzard, five of which were on Hearthstone, he has decided to pursue other ventures. You can read the full details at his Battle.net post about it.

Campo Santo is a Valve Brand Now

The developers best known for Firewatch, the first-person mystery adventure game, has been picked up by game distribution giant Valve. The studio will still finish their current project, In The Valley of the Gods, uninterrupted, but it will release as a Valve game. It seems Valve has learned that if they can’t make their own games, they can build a nice pile of devs under their umbrella. More details about the aqcuisition can be found on their blog post.

That’s all for today, folks. Check back tomorrow for the next news posting. Also, I wrote a silly article called 13 Heckin Good Boyes in Gaming, it’s about dogs. Check it out! Otherwise, have a great day!

Friday 4-20-18

By Branden

On April 20, 2018

In daily update, News

It’s been quite the week. Also lol the weed number. More on that later, here’s the news.

High School eSports Sans Shooters
PUBG Map Selector
The Fractured But Whole on Switch

New Kind of School Jocks

The National Federation of State High Schools has a number of responsibilities regarding high school regulations around the country. One of those responsibilities includes regulated school sports. The NFSH has recently announced that they’re working towards including eSports into the system. They recognize that around 70 percent of students identify as gamers, and want to include that. The NFHS partnered with a startup called PlayVS to build the digital infrastructure needed to support high school esports. Soon, students will be able to compete in official state championship competitions and be recognized by their state athletic associations. Next up, scholarships.

PUBG Map Selector

Not long ago, PUBG Corp announced that yet another new, tropical map is in the works. This one would allegedly have large caverns to explore and compete in. Being the third map option for the popular battle royale game, the developers have also stated that a map selection menu will be implemented. You will be able to toggle which maps you want to be randomly placed into while avoiding the ones you don’t want. Unfortunately, the Xbox One version of the game won’t get the second map, Miramar, until May.

Switched But Whole

This is news that probably wouldn’t merit a full post, but I’m wanting to report three things a day. So this is filler. South Park: The Fractured But Whole, the sequel RPG to the popular satirical cartoon, will its way onto the Nintendo Switch eShop. For a full $59.99, you will be able to download the standard edition (meaning no DLC). It releases on the eShop on April 24.

We have a new episode of The Cozy Co-op out today! It’s about To the Moon, check it out. That’s it for this week, check back Monday for a nice weekend wrap up post. Otherwise, have a great weekend!

Monday 4-16-18: Agony Censorship, New Gen Pokemon, and Playtonic Projects.

By Branden

On April 16, 2018

In daily update, News

Thursday Morning, and man does it feel like a Monday. Gross. Here’s the news.

Agony for PC can be Uncensored
New Pokemon Generation in Official Magazine
Yooka-Laylee Devs’ New Project

True Agony

You may not have heard about Agony. It’s a hellish horror game coming to consoles and PC. Originally the game was to launch on March 30, but it was delayed after the developers had a hard time coming to an agreement on the age rating. In its original state, it would be rated Adult Only, which isn’t allowed on consoles. The devs didn’t want to, but they removed certain content to get the game down to a Mature rating. But to keep to their original vision, they’re going to offer a downloadable patch for PC versions of the game that restores it to its uncensored glory. They are also offering their Kickstarter backers the chance to switch their game of choice to the PC version for this reason. It looks horrifying, I might get it to review.

New Pokemon Gen, Maybe

Twitter user raqueruu noticed that the Spanish Nintendo Magazine talks about the upcoming Pokemon game for Nintendo Switch. The snippet claims that it will be the eighth generation Pokemon, and will be released in 2018. This would be a new land, new Pokemon, the whole shebang. Now be careful, the Spanish version of the magazine has been wrong about the franchise in the past, so this might also be false. Make what you will of this.

Playtonic Isn’t Done

Yooka-Laylee was the highly-anticipated spiritual successor to the Banjo Kazooie series. Unfortunately, it wasn’t met with the same level of success. It received a “Fair” score of 72/100 on OpenCritic. The developers have spoken up after the first birthday of the game, saying that they’re working on more content for Yooka-Laylee, as well as “other stuff.” Perhaps this means a new game? Time will tell.

Thanks for reading everyone! I’m also excited to announce the launch of my new podcast, The Cozy Co-op. It’s a show where a games journalist (me) join a creative writer to talk about video games. We already have five episodes available, and more information can be found on its official webpage. Tune in tomorrow for more video game news. Otherwise, have a great day!

Friday 3-30-18: Bricked Switches and Obscure Mario Costumes

By Branden

On March 30, 2018

In daily update, News

Now it actually is Friday. Here’s the news.

Third Party Charger Bricking Switches
Classic Digs with Mario Odyssey Costumes

Switch a Brick

Now that the Nintendo Switch has been out a while, a number of third-party chargers have circulated the market. The problem is that many users are reporting that these chargers are bricking their systems. After some in-depth analysis by Nathan K., a freelance hardware engineering and product development expert, we find out that it’s because the Switch is full of USB-C protocol errors. While some brands are safe, you cant trust a non-Nintendo product to reliably charge your system or dock. Be warned Switch owners.

Odyssey Costumes

Nintendo announced two new costumes for Super Mario Odyssey today, a Baseball outfit, and a Satellaview suit. The baseball outfit looks standard. but I noticed it has the same colors as the Seattle Mariners, a team that Nintendo used to own. The Satellaview is actually a reference to a space suit Mario wore in a commercial for a satellite attachment to the Super Nintendo that released in 1995. Deep Digs.

That’s all for this week. I look forward to some weekend recuperation. I do have something planned for April Fools day, however. Be sure to check back on Monday for a weekend wrap up. Otherwise, have a great night!

Friday 3-2-18: Battlefield V and Nintendo Switch Troubles

By Branden

On March 2, 2018

In daily update, News

Finally Friday. Here’s the news.

Battlefield V information
Nintendo Switch Playtime Bug

Not Battlefield 2

According to an anonymous source, The next Battlefield game will be called Battlefield V. They also stated that it will take place during World War II. This was allegedly EA’s plan the whole time, using the recent WWI game as the first step towards returning to WWII. Trust the source, or not. It’s up to you.

Switching Play Times

The title may have been misleading. The Switch isn’t switching play times but forgetting them all together. For some reason, any game you played over a year ago will forget that year’s worth of data. According to the console, everyone’s first play time for Breath of the Wild was only 6 days ago. People are only now finding this out because the Nintendo Switch released a year ago tomorrow. Nintendo of America said it was an error, and they will have more info about it soon.

Thanks for reading. Today is a short news day. I can’t wait to rest and relax. Check back Monday for the weekend news. Otherwise, have a great night!