Don’t let this gem disappear unloved into the long dark night.
After eight years of articles and YouTube content covering the Switch, you might think there are no surprises left to uncover, but I’m here to say that the very best couch multiplayer on the system – a game by Nintendo themselves – was completely missed by seemingly everyone on the planet. There’s barely any mention of it online except for my own desperate Reddit posts trying to find someone who agrees with me.
What’s more, due to the peripherals it came packed with, it’s currently very difficult to buy – and it’s also one of the only games Nintendo have listed as being unplayable on the Switch 2.
Hello reader who is also a reader, and welcome back to Booked For The Week – our regular Sunday chat with a selection of cool industry folks about books! This column is likely slightly late today, but that’s simply because I know there’s at least one of you rapidly thumbing through the last few pages of your current book so you can share your thoughts. Laziness is, in it’s own way, the greatest form of charity. When I do it. Everyone else needs to pull their socks up. God.
This week, it’s Magic: The Gathering, Vanguard Exiles, and many, many more’s Richard Garfield! Cheers Richard! Mind if we have a nose at your bookshelf?
SEGA is reviving its ninja classic Shinobi with the help of Lizardcube this August and in the lead up it’s sharing new details and footage.
The latest update is a ‘stage introduction’ showing off the general design and flow of levels. While this is a 2D action platformer, there will be a bit more on offer as you can see towards the end of this trailer. The “hand-drawn look” also comes from the same team behind Streets of Rage 4.
The GameCube library will be joining the Switch 2’s online ‘Expansion Pack’ tier this June and one of three launch titles for this particular collection is Link’s cel-shaded adventure The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker.
Nintendo’s new app ‘Nintendo Today!‘ has been sharing some additional footage of this title in action on the Switch 2 and earlier this week it featured more gameplay footage. This includes Link using all his gear to overcome various obstacles and you can even see him conduction some music.
Doug Bowser: There’s no specific time you “must launch video games”.
Nintendo has confirmed the Switch 2 will be arriving on 5th June 2025, but why exactly did it choose this specific month?
Speaking to NPR recently, Nintendo of America president Doug Bowser revealed some of the reasons behind this decision – explaining how there is really no specific time frame as to when you “must” launch video games, or a console in this case, and both the hardware and games were “ready to launch”.
There isn’t a huge list of things that’ll immediately sell me on your game, but there is one that’ll draw me in without fail pretty much every single time: you can drive around in a kei truck. Now, admittedly, there are very few games where you can actually do this, the delightful Promise Mascot Agency being the most recent one. There’s the yet to be released Honcho from the devs behind Landlord’s Super and Jalopy, you can bet your bottom dollar I’ll be playing that one. And now, there’s Easy Delivery Co., a game with a kei truck that isn’t exactly what it says on the tin.
I’m sure like me, some of you would really like another Nier game. A Nier 3, if you will, except I won’t, because it already came out and it was called Nier Reincarnation. Unfortunately it was also a free-to-play mobile game, and as most mobile games are destined for, it shut down last year rendering it completely unplayable. Nier celebrated its 15th anniversary this year, so far with no big announcements, though there is a new website that’s slowly sharing bits of a special novel. And curiously enough, it appears to be teasing something Nier Reincarnation related.
The weekend is officially here, and we’ve rounded up the best deals you can find! Discover the best deals for April 20 below:
Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition for $49.99
Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition brings the long-requested Wii U game to Nintendo Switch with numerous quality-of-life updates and features. There’s also even an added epilogue story chapter with a new ending for the game, which likely will directly lead into the future of the series. With a soundtrack by Hiroyuki Sawano and a massive world to explore, Xenoblade Chronicles X is a game you can easily spend hundreds of hours in.
Razer Huntsman V2 TKL for $74.99
Best Buy has the Razer Huntsman V2 TKL Mechanical Keyboard for just $74.99 today. This keyboard features clicky optical switches that feel much lighter than most other mechanical switches out there, as you can get up to true 8000Hz polling rate for lower input latency. The Huntsman V2 TKL features doubleshot PBT caps, which are more durable and sturdy to ensure longer life. Another key offering of this keyboard is the detachable USB-C cable, so you won’t need to worry about wrapping your cable around when moving.
Persona 5 + Persona 5 Royal: Official Design Works for $57.31
If you’re a fan of Persona 5, this is the ultimate item for you. This Official Design Works contains 544 pages of artwork across both Persona 5 and Persona 5 Royal. You’ll find character illustrations, promotional art, rough concepts, detailed creator commentary, and even an interview with Shigenori Soejima.
Dragon’s Dogma 2 for $30
You can score Capcom’s massive RPG for just $30 this weekend at Amazon. We gave the game an 8/10 in our review, stating, “It is a retelling and reimplementation of all of those wonderful ideas from the 2012 cult-classic, including an awesome dynamic world and some of the best combat in the genre that integrates a subtle but amazingly complex physics system.”
Resident Evil 3 for $19.93
You can save $10 off the PS5 version of Resident Evil 3 this weekend at Amazon. In our 9/10 review, we wrote, “Resident Evil 3 is a wonderful continuation of Capcom’s latest remake efforts. Although its just-okay multiplayer mode falls short of the bar set by its magnificent single-player campaign, the latter does such a good job at balancing 2020 gameplay and a classic Resident Evil tone that I recommend it without reservations.”
Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii for $49.99
The latest Like a Dragon game stars everyone’s favorite ex-yakuza, Goro Majima, on an adventure to sail the seas as a pirate. When Majima wakes up unable to remember anything about himself, he embarks on a quest to regain his memories, and of course, in true Like a Dragon fashion, things get crazy. This is the lowest we’ve seen this game so far, so be sure to pick up a copy while you can.
Star Wars Outlaws Limited Edition for $29.12
Finally, Star Wars Outlaws for Xbox Series X is on sale for $29.12 at Amazon. We gave the game a 7/10 in our review, writing, “Star Wars Outlaws is a fun intergalactic heist adventure with great exploration, but it’s hindered by simple stealth, repetitive combat, and a few too many bugs at launch.”
I think to properly convey my severe dislike of always online games I’d probably need more space and time than what an average RPS news article provides, but I’ll try to contain myself on this one. You see, EA’s just started up this new thing it calls The Grind (like what you do on a skateboard, get it?), which they describe as their “platform to talk directly to you, the community.” The first volume had quite a few questions from expectant skaters about the upcoming Skate reboot, one of the first being whether or not it’ll have an offline mode. Can you already guess from my tone so far that it won’t?
The thing about computers is that they’re just really annoying, actually. They’re massively complicated, constantly changing machines, and despite the fact the hardware is technically better now, they can sometimes struggle to run older games because of… reasons. Those reasons often being software issues I won’t even attempt to understand. So, it always brings a smile to my face when I see another game back from the dead through the efforts of GOG’s preservation program, the most recent entry being the classic CapcomJRPGBreath of Fire 4.
