Category: Nintendo

Poll: Box Art Brawl – Duel: WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$!

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Welcome, cover fans, to another edition of Box Art Brawl!

Before we head into this week’s match-up, let’s have a quick reminder of what went down last weekend. It was a one-on-one face-off for the GBA’s The Hobbit, which saw the gloomy North American/European cover go up against the colourful Japanese variant. Somewhat surprisingly to us, it was the latter that walked away with a comfortable win, taking 68% of the vote and leaving the NA/EU cover with the remaining 32% — an unexpected journey indeed!

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Opinion: Metroid II Doesn’t Care If Samus Lives Or Dies

An existential crisis courtesy of the Game Boy.

I recently started playing Metroid II: Return of Samus for the first time. I’m not sure why. Maybe it was a way of staving off my intense cravings for Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, which as of writing still doesn’t have a launch date more concrete than the vague ‘2025’ window Nintendo revealed over a year ago. In any case, Metroid II impressed me almost immediately, but it wasn’t until I saw heroine Samus Aran die that I realised just how unique it is in relation to the rest of the series.

While the video game industry places a lot of importance on the benefits of more powerful hardware, developers can also do incredible things when presented with limitations. Metroid II, released in North America in late 1991 before making its way to Japan and Europe the following year, is a great example of this phenomenon. The changes made to ensure the nascent Metroid formula was readable on the Game Boy’s small, colourless screen resulted in a handheld adventure still praised today for its austere atmosphere.

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Review: Chillin’ By The Fire (Switch 2) – Novel Camera Integration, But Won’t Set Your World Alight

RV there yet?

There’s usually a number of a certain type of game that drops when a brand new console arrives on the scene. You know the ones, the quirky ones, the ones that utilise new tech and features — such as the Switch 2’s camera and game-sharing abilities — to give us something we haven’t seen before.

And so it is that we come to be playing Chillin’ by the Fire, one of these very sorts of early-gen experiences, this time one that’s centred around using GameShare (although you can also play solo) to effectively sit around an outdoor fire pit and shoot the proverbial. You know, catch up on old times with your pals. And with GameShare, you only need one copy to then have up to four people in total involved in the fun. So, for the price of $14.99 / £13.49, even though it’s a slim affair, you can maximise your value by having other folk who’re willing to get involved.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Tron: Catalyst & John Wick Hex Dev ‘Bithell Games’ Makes “Majority” Of Staff Redundant

“Today we are less”.

Bithell Games, the developer behind John Wick Hex, TRON: Identity, and TRON: Catalyst, is sadly making “eleven jobs” at the studio redundant.

Studio founder Mike Bithell shared a message on Bluesky earlier today stating that his studio — which he founded in 2013 following the release and critical success behind Thomas Was Alone — has “been unable to secure a new large scale project” and is “reducing in size” as a result.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Dbrand ‘Joy-Lock’ Replacements Now Available Following Killswitch Joy-Con “Controversy”

Update: Emails have been sent to customers.

A short time ago, Dbrand came under fire for design issues with its Killswitch Case for Switch 2 – in short, some users were finding that, with the case attached, the magnetic connection between the console and its Joy-Con 2 controllers was weakened, leading to them disengaging unintentionally.

At the time, Dbrand appeared to dismiss the issue, only to quickly apologise and promise to issue replacement parts that would solve the problem. It has now contacted its customers to clarify how it is dealing with the fault.

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Talking Point: Nintendo Is Laser-Targeting Your Toddlers With This New ‘My Mario’ Line

Full-on Disney mode engaged.

Of the big three platform holders, Nintendo is the ‘family-friendly’ one. Did you know that?

Of course you did – you’re an intelligent human being. And over the course of the Switch generation, with all the company’s eggs now in a single console basket, Nintendo has diversified its business, leaning into non-gaming areas and getting its IP under the noses of a broader audience with mobile apps, movies, theme parks, stores, and all that game. This has been a stated goal for many years, and the monster success of The Super Mario Bros. Movie worked as planned, funnelling interest back to its gaming hardware and software, resulting in revenue bumps across the board.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com