What’s that coming over the hill?
Howdy partners! It’s time for another good old natter about our weekend gaming plans.
Before we dive into what we’re all up to, however, let’s look back on the week’s highlights. There were a couple of big Switch 2 drops as Nintendo revealed the console’s final tech specs, announced what we can expect from its free upgrades, and showcased its fancy new battery settings.
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Update: Now open!
It’s not every day Nintendo opens a new store to the public, but this week happens to be one of those very special occasions.
In case you somehow missed this news, Nintendo San Francisco opens its doors this week and the US branch has been teasing all things related to it – including special merch as well as some photos. Select individuals have also been able to visit the store ahead of it opening its doors to the general public.
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“Didn’t pre-order?”.
If you haven’t pre-ordered a Switch 2 yet and feel like you’ve missed out, the US video game retailer GameStop has announced it will be offering additional units both in-store and online at launch.
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Celtic connections.
It’s possibly becoming a bit of a hard sell these days, the old roguelike dungeon-crawling adventure, replete with retro/pixel visuals. We know it. However, as busy and as overstuffed with pale imitators to the greats as this genre is, it’s still well worth keeping an eye out for the odd gem.
And here we have an example of said gem. Into the Restless Ruins is a fantastic thing – put simply, a game that takes a whole bunch of mechanics you might think you’re tired of, and weaves them together into something entirely fresh and unique.
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You overestimate my power.
Here’s a statement that gets worse the longer you read it: Fortnite‘s new Star Wars season has gained a Darth Vader NPC that can talk to you in the voice of the late, great James Earl Jones via a generative AI chatbot. Forget Imperial Admiral Motti’s lack of faith, we find this disturbing (thanks for the heads up, Eurogamer).
If an AI chatbot thrown into the middle of a game as popular with children as Fortnite sounds like a recipe for disaster, that’s because it probably is. Despite only existing in Epic’s infamous battler for a matter of hours, players have already caught the Sith Lord making all kinds of questionable statements like calling Twitch streamer Loserfruit a “thug” and dropping the F-bomb — yep, language warning for the embedded tweet below.
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Despite studio troubles.
Too Kyo Games and co-director of The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy, Kazutaka Kodaka, could probably take a bit of a break and bask in the critical reception of the recent strategy RPG. But that’s completely the opposite of what’s actually happening.
Yep, the studio — along with publisher DMM Games — has announced a brand new game: Shuten Kyodan (thanks, Gematsu!). It’s confirmed for Switch and PC, and all we have to go on is a teaser, a website, a social media account on X, and the line “168 days left until the end of the world.”
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It’s likely performance will still be improved.
12 Switch games are due to receive free updates for the upcoming Switch 2, and Nintendo has finally revealed what these will entail. Mostly, it’s exactly what we’d expected, with Pokémon Scarlet and Violet receiving much-needed resolution and frame rate boosts, and Super Mario Odyssey receiving a visual bump, HDR support, and GameShare support.
Something a few folks are picking up on, however, are the upgrades for The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening and The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom. Nintendo details that both games will receive optimised visuals for the Switch 2 along with HDR support, but notably, there’s no mention of any performance / frame rate update.
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Nintendo’s free updates arrive next month.
As you might recall, Nintendo will be releasing “free updates” for select Switch games on the Nintendo Switch 2.
It’s already revealed the specific titles that will be getting this treatment and now it’s detailed what exactly you can expect. Once again, these updates will enhance the overall gameplay experience with visual enhancements, frame rate improvements, additional feature support, and more.
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Ultra combo!
Fighting game and Rare fans are in for a treat today with Nintendo adding Killer Instinct Gold to the Switch Online + Expansion Pack service.
As long as you have an active subscription to the Expansion Pack tier, you’ll be able to update your Switch app and play it right now. Here’s a bit more about it, courtesy of the official Nintendo description:
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Cap’s off.
Diddy Kong has been strangely missing in action from much of Nintendo’s marketing, particularly around the Switch 2. At least he was there when Donkey Kong Country Returns HD came out in January…?
Anyway, the big question on everyone’s lips when Donkey Kong was shown off in Mario Kart World back in January, sporting a brand new design was: will Diddy Kong meet the same fate?
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