Category: Nintendo

It’s time for every Switch owner to go grab a bowl of ramen because everybody’s favourite Ninja is finally coming to the new Nintendo console (we think). Let’s get you guys caught up:

Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm Trilogy

• In the Summer of last year, Bandai Namco released Naruto Ultimate Storm Trilogy and Legacy for Xbox One, PS4 and PC. These titles are both collections of the highly popular fighting games based on the hugely popular anime Naruto.
• The trilogy collects all 3 titles of the last gen Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm fighting games, while updating their graphics and including all of the DLC for each respective title. On the other hand, The Legacy edition contains everything listed above, plus the recently released Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 and all of its DLC.
• Well, as of now it looks like only the trilogy will be released on the Nintendo Switch in Japan, with no word if the Legacy edition will be coming as well.
• This news comes from an ad in the Japanese magazine Shonen Jump, which announces the upcoming release in Japan.
• Although, this ad does not release any information about an upcoming release anywhere else other than Japan. The trilogy already has localized versions out there on other consoles. So, I personally think its just a matter of time until we see this title released on the Switch in the US and EU.

Does the prospect of the Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Trilogy on Switch excite you? Or are you guys bummed that it’s not the Legacy edition? Let me know in the comments below!

Hideki Kamiya, known for his superb work on Bayonetta, Ōkami, Viewtiful Joe, Devil May Cry and Resident Evil 2, has spoken about the ongoing development of Bayonetta 3 for the Switch.

Bayonetta 3 For Switch: I’m Not Much For The Talkative Types

Somewhat ‘infamous’ for his tough stance on internet trolls and gaming immaturity, Kamiya responded with simple logic to why Bayonetta 3 is a Switch exclusive with the following tweets:

I’ve got something I want to tell you all. It’s about Bayonetta 3. (1/15)

— 神谷英樹 Hideki Kamiya (@PG_kamiya) February 13, 2018

 

We are a developer that creates games by signing contracts with publishers and receiving funds from them in order to cover development costs. (2/15)

— 神谷英樹 Hideki Kamiya (@PG_kamiya) February 13, 2018

 

For Bayonetta 1, we signed a contract with Sega and received funds from them, then we proposed a design for the game and entered production. All of the rights belong to Sega. (3/15)

— 神谷英樹 Hideki Kamiya (@PG_kamiya) February 13, 2018

 

At the time, our company had only just been established, and we weren’t properly equipped for multiplatform development, so after discussing with Sega, we decided to develop the game exclusively for Xbox 360. (4/15)

— 神谷英樹 Hideki Kamiya (@PG_kamiya) February 13, 2018

 

However, after that, one of Sega’s trading partners ended up making a port for PS3, at Sega’s behest. More recently, they also decided that a Steam version should be developed, which was released last year. Sega owns the rights to all of these versions. (5/15)

— 神谷英樹 Hideki Kamiya (@PG_kamiya) February 13, 2018

 

When we started making Bayonetta 2, we initially received funds from Sega to develop the game for multiple platforms, but the project was halted due to circumstances at Sega. Nintendo then stepped in to continue funding the game, allowing us to finish it. (6/15)

— 神谷英樹 Hideki Kamiya (@PG_kamiya) February 13, 2018

 

As such, the rights belong to Sega and Nintendo. The rights owners decided the game should be made for Wii U. (7/15)

— 神谷英樹 Hideki Kamiya (@PG_kamiya) February 13, 2018

 

Nintendo was also kind enough to fund a port of Bayo 1 for Wii U, and they even allowed us to use the Japanese voice track we created for the Wii U version in the PC version of Bayo 1 as well. (8/15)

— 神谷英樹 Hideki Kamiya (@PG_kamiya) February 13, 2018

 

I am extremely thankful to Nintendo for funding the game, and to Sega for allowing them to use the Bayonetta IP. (9/15)

— 神谷英樹 Hideki Kamiya (@PG_kamiya) February 13, 2018

 

As for Bayonetta 3, it was decided from the start that the game was going to be developed using Nintendo’s funding. Without their help, we would not have been able to kick off this project. (10/15)

— 神谷英樹 Hideki Kamiya (@PG_kamiya) February 13, 2018

 

All of the rights still belong to Sega and Nintendo. The rights owners decided that the game should be made for Switch. (11/15)

— 神谷英樹 Hideki Kamiya (@PG_kamiya) February 13, 2018

 

Game development is a business. Each company has its own circumstances and strategies. Sometimes this means games get made, sometimes it means they get cancelled. (12/15)

— 神谷英樹 Hideki Kamiya (@PG_kamiya) February 13, 2018

 

But I believe that every single person involved is dedicated to delivering the best possible experience. I know that, to me at least, that’s one of the biggest goals when I set to work. (13/15)

— 神谷英樹 Hideki Kamiya (@PG_kamiya) February 13, 2018

 

I cannot express how happy I am that we get to make Bayonetta 3, and we intend to do everything within our power to make it as good as it can be. That’s all we can do, and we consider it our greatest mission. (14/15)

— 神谷英樹 Hideki Kamiya (@PG_kamiya) February 13, 2018

 

It took a while for production of Bayonetta 3 to be okayed, but now that it has kicked off, I hope it will turn into a wonderful encounter for all of you. (15/15)

— 神谷英樹 Hideki Kamiya (@PG_kamiya) February 13, 2018

 

Kamiya makes some great points about the difficulties of game development and implies, as most with any realistic view or sense of maturity about them would assume, that companies such as SEGA and Nintendo have an amicable business relationship. That is, after all, what the game industry is: a business. And all businesses need money to survive.

As for those ‘upset’ about Bayonetta 3 being an exclusive, it’s clear without both Nintendo and SEGA that Bayonetta 3 wouldn’t exist in the first place. Probably something to think about before the next rant on Twitter.

Arms is a multiplayer action-fighting game that released for the Switch on June 16, 2017, and has since had various substantial updates. So, here’s one more.

Arms Gets Another Free Update

The premise of the game is literally that every character has a unique arm with a different attribute – these are equipped with superpowers to make for strategic battles, whether in 1 v 1 or 2 v 2. The premise is simple but the game leads to exciting fights.

Though the game’s Director, Kosuke Yabuki, said that there were no major content changes planned, the title has now been updated with the following:

• More badges/achievements
• A gallery with art for players to unlock
• An all-new tournament mode
• Lastly, the artwork is unlocked by completing missions at a higher difficulty

The new IP has had a solid reception since its release and the continued support is welcome from Nintendo. Hopefully, there’s more on the way…

The Super Smash Bros. inspired beat ’em up Brawlout launched late last year to lukewarm reviews and a large number of performance issues. Even with all of that holding Brawlout back, it’s still been a massive success for developer Angry Mob Games.

Brawlout Nintendo Switch News

Charting in with a dedicated player base of 80k in the first month of release, Angry Mob isn’t going to ride Brawlout into the sunset and abandon the community, they’re taking action to make Brawlout the best game they possibly can. Let’s get you guys caught up:

• All the way back in mid-January, Angry Mob Games released patch notes for their newly released game.
• This huge patch is supposed to fix a large number of issues within Brawlout. With the most notable fixes being character balancing, fixing the frame-strutting issues, along with the overall lagginess of the online play.
• If you were waiting for this patch, I have some good news for you! Angry Mob Games announced the patch will be releasing today (February 7th) at 6 PM PST.
• Additionally, with the patch news came the announcement that Brawlout will be getting a physical release in May of this year.

The CEO of Angry Mob Games, Bogdan Iliesiu, had this to say about the upcoming physical release:

“Brawlout had such an amazing reception on Nintendo Switch, with a dedicated community of over 80K players in its first month alone.

It’s impressive, and humbling, to see people throw themselves so wholeheartedly into Brawlout and we hope to cater to even more types of gamers with the physical release!”

So, will you guys be downloading the new patch for Brawlout? Or are you waiting for the physical release? Let me know in the comments below.

A few days back Nintendo released its earnings report, giving us a look at the lifetime sales of all of its hardware launches. It was unsurprising to see that the Switch is doing extremely well, however, what was a little surprising is that it has sold more in ten months then the Wii U did during its entire run. That’s in 5 years.

Nintendo Switch Sales VS. Wii U

This can be explained by the differences in titles and features that both systems had: the Switch launched major first-party titles early that are open world and frankly rocked just about every review site there is, with Super Mario Odyssey and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild selling 9 and 6.7 million respectively.

The Switch also has a solid selection of third-party titles to go along with a growing list of download only games. The Wii U never really seemed to get off the ground and was always waiting for the major titles – it also placed a lot of focus on the second screen gameplay of its tablet. A concept that was, to me, pretty clever, but it was difficult to market and certainly hard to use, even for more experienced gamers. Most thought the Wii U was an attachment for the original Wii.

The Switch is on pace to pass the GameCube’s figure of 21.74m and it may well overtake the Nintendo 64 at 32.93m as well. However, it is still a long way off from the PS4, which Sony believes sold 18 million alone in 2017 bringing its total sales to 73 million. (The PS4 has been on sale since 2013).

With that said, it’s early days yet and the Switch is proving to be a great place for indie developers to get their games noticed in a marketplace that isn’t supersaturated – at the time of writing anyway.

Side-scrolling beat ’em ups were commonplace amongst the consoles of old with unforgettable titles such as Final Fight and Streets of Rage.

Raging Justice: Clean Up The Streets

So, as with everything in life, the gaming industry is also cyclical, and new title Raging Justice pulls at the strings of nostalgia, drawing much inspiration from those classic games.

Featuring two playable characters, a 41-year-old ex-cop Rick Justice and a 31-year-old ex-military Nikki Rage. The basic premise of the game is as simple as those aforementioned names: you beat up a lot of thugs on the streets.

What’s interesting is the wide variety of weapons available, however. From lawnmowers to tractors, the player will have a lot of fun in choosing their preferred method of cleaning up the streets. Raging Justice adds an interesting twist as players can defeat their enemies physically or arrest them too, each garnering a different reward:

The game is being developed by MakinGames and will be published by Team 17. It’s set to come out later this year on PC, Mac, PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch.

SteamWorld Dig 2 was already released on the Switch in September, but fans of the series will be happy to know that SteamWorld Dig, the original, is coming (early!) next month. When we say early, we mean this week: the official release date is February 1st.

Image and Form Games seem to enjoy releasing their titles on the Switch too, as three titles from the series will officially be on the hybrid console: Dig 1 and 2, along with SteamWorld Heist. The fourth title, SteamWorld Tower Defense – released on DSiWare – started the ball rolling. Will it also make an appearance on Switch? We reckon so.

According to a tweet by the developers, the price for SteamWorld Dig is $9.99/€9.99 – a good price for a solid indie title. A UK price is yet to be revealed, however.

The original SteamWorld Dig garnered excellent reviews across various platforms. It’s a platform mining adventure with strong Metroidvania influences. As compared to the sequel, players will take control of Rusty as they dig through the old earth gathering riches for an old mining town that needs resources.

Switch fans should look forward to yet another great title coming to the platform in a few days.

Badass Hero from Awesome Games Studio has received an update titled “The Last Stand of Earth” – via Steam Early Access.

That Was My Last Cigar

The update, available now, is a brand new chapter in the rogue-lite action-platformer and serves as the introduction to the third comic book The Last Stand of Earth.

It includes the following:

• Eleven new enemies to defeat
• Three minibosses
• One super boss!
• An intro and outro to the comic book
• Five new melee weapons

The indie developer has additional content planned with extra level patterns, enemies, minibosses and super bosses all on their way too. Here’s a trailer showing the latest additions:

The fully launched Badass Hero is also due out on Xbox One, PS4 and Switch, we believe, at some point this year. Although a release date has yet to be revealed…

After being known as “the bad baseball game” compared to MLB: The Show, the annual multi-platform game in R.B.I. Baseball is once again coming back for 2018. But, there are a few major changes for the budget baseball game this year.

These changes make you think that the developers are starting to take their game a bit more seriously. Let’s get you guys caught up:

• R.B.I. Baseball 18 was announced this week, with Cleveland Indians star Francisco Lindor gracing the cover this year.
• Quite a few new modes and features were announced along with the game’s initial announcement.
• The first one being: R.B.I. Baseball 18 is receiving a newly revamped franchise mode. You can sign free agents and rookies, make trades, and hopefully take your team to the world series at some point in 10 full seasons.
• At the end of the 10 seasons, you will receive a grade of your team’s overall performance. This little grading feature adds some replay value – by you wanting to chase down the best grade possible.
• Secondly, the home run derby mode has finally been added to R.B.I. Baseball. This mode can be played with a friend, or you vs the CPU in a head-to-head on who can hit the most home runs. This mode will also include a leaderboard, so you can see how you stack up against the rest of the world.
• Thirdly, loads of MLB Legends will be added into the game. These legends can be signed as free agents in franchise mode or used in your standard quick play modes. Some of the legends listed so far are Chipper Jones, Reggie Jackson and Nolan Ryan.
• Lastly, R.B.I. Baseball 18 will have upgraded graphics for players and stadiums. Including updates to player likenesses, animations and redesigned player models.
• For stadiums, there will be new lighting effects, enhanced textures, 3D crowds, and brand new dynamic camera angles that put you right into the action.
• Although, with all these updates and improvements comes an increase in the game’s overall price. R.B.I. Baseball 18 will be jumping to $29.99 from the usual $19.99 price tag.
• R.B.I. Baseball 18 launches this March for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch and mobile devices.

So, what do you guys think? Will R.B.I. Baseball finally come out of MLB: The Show’s shadow this year? Why or why not? Let me know in the comments below!

JRPG fans take note: Lost Sphear is out today for Switch, PS4 and Steam.

Lost Sphear: Kanata’s Quest To Save Reality

We first noticed the allure of Lost Sphear way back in May of last year. So with that said, what’s it all about?

Well, Tokyo RPG Factory’s new game takes place in a world where people are inexplicably vanishing. Loved ones are no longer there. The flowers are fading, and the world is turning cold.

What’s causing this? That’s where you, a young boy named Kanata, come in. Oh, and don’t forget the ominous darkness threatening the very fabric of reality. Here’s a trailer for you:

The JRPG quest to save us all features the following:

• Turn-based battles – You can fight with the freedom of strategic movement in turn-based battles
• ‘Vulcosuits’ – You deploy Vulcosuit armour in the fields and in battle to amplify your abilities and execute skills
• A moving soundtrack – I Am Setsuna’s composer Tomoki Miyoshi is back!

Lost Sphear is out digitally on all of the key stores, while a physical package for PS4 and Switch is available for pre-order only from Square Enix’s store: here be the PS4 and Switch versions.

You can also download the ‘Day One’ patch for the game on all platforms which adds a number of free upgrades including new equipment and artefacts, a new dungeon, the new Moonlight Battleground mode and, we’re told, even more.