Switch Port Specialist Virtuos Confirms 270 Layoffs

It released Oblivion Remastered earlier this year.

The Switch port specialist Virtuos – known within the Nintendo space for its work on games like The Outer Worlds – has officially laid off 270 employees across its studios worldwide.

This is “approximately 7%” of the company’s “global workforce”, with 200 roles in Asia and 70 roles in Europe axed, “primarily in teams facing lower occupancy and slower demand due to structural shifts” in the game industry.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Video: Switch 2 Vs. Steam Deck System Face-Off, Digital Foundry Investigates

“We’ve got two very different systems here”.

Digital Foundry has returned with a new “system face-off” video – this time putting Nintendo’s hybrid hardware, the Switch 2, up against Valve’s PC handheld, the Steam Deck.

In the video above, you can see how the Switch 2 holds up against the Steam Deck OLED model across various “head-to-head” match-ups, including battery life, form factor, controller design, as well as OS and software availability.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Mini Review: Belkin Charging Case For Switch 2 – A Great Idea, With Middling Execution

‘That’ll do’.

If there’s one thing that’s more important than keeping your Switch 2 charged when you’re out and about, it’s a solid, reliable case to keep it safe from harm. If you imagine that you could bring those two worlds together, you’d probably be imagining something very similar to Belkin’s Charging Case.

A firm, robust outside only betrays its party trick by nature of being decidedly thicker than most cases. Not a dealbreaker by any means, but sadly the use of that space isn’t exactly perfect.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Gallery: Donkey Kong Bananza Players Show Off ‘DK Artist’ Masterpieces

Lookin’ good.

We’re now a few days into the release of Donkey Kong Bananza and apart from the new world to explore, there’s also DK Artist.

In case you missed it, this is a creator tool mode you can access before entering the main game, and it allows you to use the Switch 2’s mouse controls to carve out, smoothen, paint, and sculpt works of art.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Review: Gulikit Elves 2 Pro Controller For Switch And Switch 2 – A Small, Yet Refined Saturn Tribute

Sega would be proud.

My first impression of the Gulikit Elves 2 Pro wasn’t particularly positive. Now, when I say ‘first impression’, I’m talking about the moment I laid eyes on the thing in a few press shots online. I suspect that some of you checking out the photos in this review might be thinking the same thing. Yes, the obvious throwback to the Sega Saturn is great, but does a controller of this design really hold any weight in the modern age?

Well, thankfully, the answer to that question is a hearty “Yes.” When the controllers arrived and I unboxed them from their translucent cases (a nice touch to add extra protection when travelling), I immediately fell in love. The coloured ‘Retro’ model in particular, based on the ‘Model 2’ Japanese Saturn, is absolutely gorgeous and a lovely homage to Sega’s Mega Drive successor.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Random: Shigeru Miyamoto Did Exactly What We Did When Playtesting Donkey Kong Bananza

Makes a change from climbing up and down trees.

Cast your minds back to the year of our lord 2017, and you may remember we reported on how a certain Mr. Shigeru Miyamoto liked to play a pre-release version of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild by climbing up and down trees repeatedly for treats that the devs would leave for him. No, this isn’t a wind-up, and he can do what he wants. He created the series. Jeez.

Now, as revealed in The Guardian‘s interview with Bananza’s producer, Kenta Motokura, (thanks, GamesRadar), it seems “Shiggy” has an equally unique and stylish way of playing Donkey Kong Bananza, which involved simply smashing and digging instead of doing anything that would further the campaign along whilst playing a pre-release version of the game.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com