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If you like Smash, you’ll love 'Super Smash Bros. Ultimate'
It was inevitable that a new Nintendo console would spawn another installment in the storied Super Smash Bros. series. And now we're just weeks away from the return of the fun and frantic fighter that's been responsible for countless smiles, frayed friendships and broken controllers. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has far more characters and stages than any of the preceding releases, but the general gameplay formula has merely been tweaked and tuned. That's exactly what we all want, of course, and as a side-effect it gave Nintendo the time to focus on single-player aspects much more than it's done before.
Ben Wander's quest to become a household name
Even casual video game fans know Sid Meier's name. They've seen it countless times, printed in sturdy text across every box in the Civilization series for the past 27 years, the most recent one being 2016's Sid Meier's Civilization VI. It's come to the point where most gamers can't hear "Civilization" without immediately thinking, "Sid Meier," and vice versa. "People know who Sid Meier is because his name's on the front," indie developer Ben Wander said on the busy Tulsa Pop Culture Expo show floor. He was showing off his first game as independent developer The Wandering Ben, a noir murder mystery called A Case of Distrust.
Underwater adventure game 'Abzû' is coming to the Nintendo Switch
Abzû, the award-winning underground aventure game from Giant Squid Studios, is making its way to the Nintendo Switch. The game will be available on the platform starting November 29th. It will sell for $19.99, but you can save 10 percent off by pre-ordering it.
Nintendo’s holiday deals include two Labo kits for $99
Black Friday is right around the corner and Nintendo has a couple of deals on the way. The first bundle it's offering includes a Nintendo Switch system and a download code for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and it's priced at $300. The second comes with a Nintendo 2DS system with Super Mario Maker for Nintendo 3DS pre-installed. That bundle costs $80. Nintendo says both deals are only available on Black Friday and they'll be available from Target, Best Buy, Walmart, GameStop and Amazon.
Gorgeous platformer 'Gris' arrives December 13th
Indie platformer Gris, which caught our attention for its beautiful visuals, now has a firm release date. Publisher Devolver Digital has revealed you'll be able to explore the game's gorgeous landscape starting December 13th.
Get your first look at the 'Super Smash Bros. Ultimate' Adventure Mode
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is getting a single-player mode, and the latest Nintendo Direct offered a first glimpse on what to expect when the game launches on December 7th. Nintendo is calling it Adventure Mode: World of Light, and promises that it's "more about fun than story."
Nintendo Switch passes the GameCube in lifetime sales
The Nintendo Switch has overtaken another console in lifetime sales: the GameCube. The Japanese console maker sold 3.19 million units in the last quarter, bringing the Switch's total install base to 22.86 million. The beloved GameCube, by comparison, managed 21.74 million in its six-year run. (The Switch eclipsed the Wii U back in January.) For Nintendo, these are healthy numbers. The company sold 2.93 million Switch consoles in the same period last year, before entering a bumper holiday season that shifted 7.23 million units. The house of Mario will need similar success this Christmas to hit its sales target of 20 million for the current financial year.
Three ‘Resident Evil’ classics are heading to the Nintendo Switch
Capcom is bringing a trio of classic Resident Evil games to the Nintendo Switch. The company announced via Twitter today that Resident Evil, Resident Evil 0, and Resident Evil 4 will soon shamble onto Nintendo's platform. No concrete release dates have been given, just that they'll arrive sometime in 2019.
Nintendo is bringing Labo to elementary school classrooms
Nintendo's Labo kits for the handheld Switch platform have always had a STEM foundation, which is why the company's latest announcement makes complete sense. Nintendo is partnering with the Institute of Play to introduce Labo kits into elementary school classrooms around the country.
'Rocket League' cross-platform profiles delayed until 2019
Rocket League's cross-platform profile system, RocketID, has been pushed back until early next year. Psyonix said that it's working "incredibly hard to ensure that it's as intuitive, stable and polished as possible, before releasing it to the world." When it arrives, RocketID will enable cross-platform parties and friend connections.
WSJ: New Nintendo Switch planned for 2019
Nintendo has been on an excellent run between the release of the Switch and its mini retro consoles, and the Wall Street Journal reports that next year its new hardware launch could be a revised version of the Switch. Pitched as a way to "maintain sales momentum" it's unclear exactly what might change in a new version, but one possibility is swapping its LCD screen out for a more battery-friendly and better-looking OLED display, although it's likely to stick with LCD.
A ‘Dota’ veteran’s take on ‘Arena of Valor’ for Switch
I've been playing multiplayer online battle arena games -- better known as MOBAs -- for the best part of two decades. First it was Dota, back when the game was still a custom Warcraft III map. Steam tells me I've sunk over 2000 hours into Valve's Dota 2, and I must've spent at least another few hundred hours dipping into both League of Legends and Heroes of the Storm. MOBAs are a genre I could never see working on consoles -- controllers just don't have enough buttons, nor do thumbsticks have the precision of a mouse. And yet I just spent a significant slice of my weekend completely glued to Arena of Valor, a port of a mobile MOBA that was released on the Nintendo Switch last week.
Nintendo used ‘Pokémon Go’ to reveal a new mythical critter
Recently, there have been sightings of a new mythical Pokémon in the popular mobile game Pokémon Go. The rare creature is apparently called Meltan, and it's a Hex Nut Pokémon. But there's more going on here than just the addition of a Pokémon: According to the release, Pokémon Go is somehow the key to encountering Meltan in the upcoming Nintendo Switch games Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Pokémon: Let's Go, Eevee!, which are available on November 16th. The video below teases more, but it doesn't tell us much because this is apparently just the first of many updates.
Nintendo Switch Online lands today, complete with strange cloud saves
Welcome to 2018, Nintendo. After 38 years in the gaming-hardware business and 15 years after the launch of Xbox Live, Nintendo is finally offering an online subscription service in its latest console, the Switch. Nintendo Switch Online goes live on the evening of Tuesday, September 18th, allowing players to access multiplayer, cloud saves and a collection of 20 classic NES games for $20 a year. However, there are a handful of caveats. Nintendo operates outside of the standards established by Xbox and PlayStation, its two main rivals in the console market. Both Xbox and PlayStation have offered online subscription plans for well over 10 years, with Xbox Live launching in 2002 and PlayStation Network in 2006. Nintendo has offered barebones connection options for a handful of games in the past, but Switch Online is its first attempt at a subscription scheme. And, like many of Nintendo's grand plans, it's wrapped in red tape.
'Fortnite' Switch bundle arrives October 5th with in-game perks
Back in June, Fortnite fans cheered when the popular game arrived on the Nintendo Switch. But starting October 5th, fans of the battle royale shooter can express their love for the game in a new way: a Nintendo Switch bundle featuring special items from the game. The set retails for the same price as a regular Nintendo Switch console, $300.
The cyberpunk bartending sequel to 'VA-11 HALL-A' arrives in 2020
The expert mixologists at Venezuela's Sukeban Games invented the cyberpunk "booze-em-up" with VA-11 HALL-A, combining William Gibson with a dash of Charles Bukowski -- which Engadget's Jessica Conditt lovingly described as "Papers, Please, but with alcohol instead of immigration papers." That indie hit sold 200,000 copies and now Sukeban has announced its sequel, with yet more eccentric characters and whiskey-soaked shenanigans.
Switch 'Super Smash Bros. Ultimate' set bundles system and game for $360
If you're planning on picking up a Nintendo Switch to play Super Smash Bros. Ultimate this winter, consider this branded bundle edition. There's a special dock emblazoned with many of the game's characters to hold your system, while the Joy-Cons themselves have the game's logo splashed all over them.
Yes, 'Animal Crossing' is coming to the Nintendo Switch
Nintendo has heard your pleas, Animal Crossing lovers -- A new, full-fledged entry in the series is heading exclusively to the Switch in 2019. Nintendo saved this juicy announcement for the end of its September 2018 Nintendo Direct live stream, keeping hungry fans waiting just a little bit longer. Over the past few months, players have been clamoring for a Switch version of Animal Crossing, and they've finally gotten their wish.
'Final Fantasy VII' and other classics will hit Switch, Xbox One
If you've always wanted to play classic Final Fantasy titles on your Nintendo Switch, now you can. Nintendo just announced that a whole array of older Final Fantasy games will be available on its flagship console either later this year or in 2019. Final Fantasy XV pocket edition is available now, World of Final Fantasy Maxima will drop on November 6th, Chocobo's Mystery Dungeon will be available this winter, while 2019 will see the arrival of Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy IX, a HD remaster of Final Fantasy X/X-2 and Final Fantasy XII: the Zodiac Age. A whole host of legendary FINAL FANTASY titles are being released on #NintendoSwitch over the coming months and into 2019! pic.twitter.com/Y6pLAVx54h — Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) September 13, 2018
'New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe' hits Switch in January 2019
New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe is the latest previously released Nintendo game to find a fresh home on the Switch. It's heading to Nintendo's new console on January 11th, 2019, throwing New Super Mario Bros. U and the Luigi-based platformer New Super Luigi U into the same package.
