Switch Online’s Missions & Rewards Adds Donkey Kong Icons You Can Only “Get By Playing”

Play the arcade hit on the NES library to unlock them.

Nintendo has announced a new batch of Switch Online icons you can only “get by playing” its digital retro library.

It’s already hosted missions like this for Super Mario World and The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past and now it’s Donkey Kong’s turn. This time, Switch Online members will need to boot up the NES and arcade hit Donkey Kong via the app.

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Feature: “This Isn’t Just Yars, It’s A Love Letter To Atari” – How WayForward Is Breaking The Mould With ‘Yars Rising’

From Revenge to Rising.

WayForward Technologies has worked on several well-known franchises over the years, including the likes of Contra, Silent Hill, The Mummy, Transformers, and even Aliens. Despite this, the reveal that the developer would collaborate with Atari on a brand new Yars entry came as a genuine shock to many, this writer included.

Not only is Yars’ Revenge one of the most beloved Atari 2600 games of the early ’80s, but the game, along with its sequels, is fundamentally an arcade shooter. So when WayForward introduced Yars Rising as a Metroidvania starring charismatic hacker Emi Kimura, you’d be forgiven for raising an eyebrow. How could such a drastic departure from the original possibly work? Would snippets of classic Yars gameplay sprinkled throughout the experience be enough to satisfy old-school fans?

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Don’t Expect Kingdom Hearts IV News At Summer Game Fest 2024, Says Keighley

“People are setting themselves up for failure”.

Those expecting more news of Kingdom Hearts IV at this year’s Summer Game Fest might want to temper their expectations as a recent message from Mr. SGF himself, Geoff Keighley, suggests that Sora’s next adventure won’t be making an appearance in the showcase (thanks, Push Square).

The message comes from Keighley’s latest Q&A Twitch stream where the show’s organiser and host ran through what to expect from this year’s event.

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‘Tales Of Kenzara: Zau’ Director Addresses “Constant Targeted Harassment”

Switch version is currently discounted in the US.

Abubakar Salim, founder of Surgent Studios and director of Tales of Kenzera: ZAU, has taken to social media to address the “constant targeted harassment” levelled at him and his team since the game’s launch on 23rd April 2024.

In a video posted to Twitter clocking in at just under five and a half minutes, he states that the constant criticism from people who “see diversity as a threat” has now “reached this fever pitch.” He goes on to promote the inclusion of diverse stories and characters in games, stating, “If there are people who aren’t like you in a game, I want you to know that that game is still for you.”

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Feature: Nintendo Life eShop Selects & Readers’ Choice (May 2024)

Our picks for the best eShop games in May.

Pinc yourselves — May is over, the big Summer of Gaming is here, and it’s eShop Selects time again. Time flies!

To say May has been crazy is a bit of an understatement. Nintendo may have had two big(ish) releases with Endless Ocean Luminous and Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, but have you seen the indies this month? We’re practically drowning. But as always, we have a job to do — our staff and contributors vote for their top three eShop games from the list of games we’ve reviewed, and we give you the winners (and the best that didn’t quite make the top)

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Marvelous Officially Reveals Farmagia, A New Monster Game Releasing This Year

Meet the characters.

One of the other highlights during the Marvelous Game Showcase this week was an update on “Project Magia”, now officially known as Farmagia.

This title was initially revealed during a “sneak peek” in May last year, and during the latest broadcast, the game’s product manager Takehiro Ishida introduced viewers to the game’s intro video, which you can see at the beginning of the video above.

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Tomb Raider: The Legend Of Lara Croft Netflix Animated Series Locks In October Release

“Uncover lost truths”.

Netflix has announced the new animated series Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft will make its debut on 10th October 2024.

The events of this show pick up after the video game Survivor trilogy (Tomb Raider; Rise of the Tomb Raider; Shadow of the Tomb Raider) and follow Lara in her next chapter.

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Video: 10 Exciting New Games Coming To Nintendo Switch In June 2024

Luigi, Monster Hunter and more.

We’re now at the halfway mark of the year for 2024 and it’s been a blast on the Switch so far with games like Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. Thankfully, there’s even more on the way in terms of first-party exclusives, with the 3DS title Luigi’s Mansion 2 making a return this month in HD.

As for third-party releases, it’s just as exciting with Capcom’s 3DS game Monster Hunter Stories also being revived for the Switch, and the Atlus title Shin Megami Tensei V making an encore with ‘Vegeance’ – a definitive version.

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Talking Point: How Do You Define ‘Retro’?

10 years? 20? Anything older than two console generations?

If you’re reading this, you’re getting older. Right now, at this moment, you’re older than you were when you started reading this sentence. And this one. No, you can’t go back and read it again to get younger. Time marches on, so thank you for spending your precious seconds on this silly intro. We’ll get to the point.

‘Retro games’ — how do you classify them? Do you count years, generations, or is there some other personal metric you use to delineate between what’s ‘old’ in the realm of video games? Do you need to be able to count the pixels with the naked eye?

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