Nintendo has launched the list of My Nintendo rewards for the month of June and they are a little underwhelming. While I love the idea of rewarding loyal Nintendo fanboys with discounts, giving those discounts on already discounted Nintendo Selects titles isn’t really that appealing. Sure it’s always nice to get a discount but let’s be honest. Most of use likely already have some of these titles.
Additionally some of these discounts require spending gold coins, which one can only collect though purchases of digital content through the Nintendo eShop. Any of us who still primarily pick up physical copies of Nintendo’s AAA titles (like myself) won’t get any of these coins, leaving us out of these savings. You can read my thoughts on the cost of collecting gold coins here.
In the early days of My Nintendo there were some really worthwhile rewards, most of which required the redemption of Platinum coins. Those are the ones that you can get by logging into the Nintendo eShop and Miiverse weekly, and also by playing and completing quests in Nintendo’s mobile games. Playing these games, collecting platinum coins, and then spending these coins on mobile in-game rewards was satisfying. Wallpapers are also somewhat fun to redeem with these ‘free’ coins. Nintendo also released the Kid Icarus anime for the Nintendo 3DS as a My Nintendo reward and they even released a special My Nintendo The Legend of Zelda Picross game for 1,000 Platinum coins.
Nintendo announced via their social media channels on Monday afternoon that they are planning a special Nintendo Direct for tomorrow which will be all about Pokémon.
The special Pokémon Direct is set to go live worldwide at 10:00 AM ET and will be a special 8-minute presentation of “Pokémon news.” Nothing else is known about the direct as of yet but speculation is running wild already.
With the latest mainline Pokémon title(s) Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon having been out for under a year it’s possible that this will be an announcement of a third incarnation of the series similar to what Nintendo has done previously. Red and Blue had a third version of the game released later on in Yellow while Gold and Silver had a third version released in Platinum. This trend had been done many times, however X and Y never got a Z release, despite the fact that the third season of the television series was called XYZ the series.
Upcoming Switch titles ARMS and Splatoon 2 will have their own dedicated tournaments at this years Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles California, Nintendo has announced. Featuring brackets for amateur and professional gamers both tournaments will allow fans and professional gamers to get some hands-on time with both titles before their respective release dates.
2017 Splatoon 2 World Inkling Invitational – Tues June 13 @ 2:30PM Pacific
4 four person teams from different worldwide regions will participate in a round-robin style tournament. The specific rulesets used in the World Inkling Invitational will change as teams progress forward: Round 1 – Turf War, Round 2 – Ranked Mode, Round 3 – Best of 5, Round 4 (finals) – Best of 7. Up for grabs are not only bragging rights but also the chance to have the winners names engraved on a special Splatoon 2 trophy.
The four teams that rose through the local tournaments to come to the E3 finals include:
Deadbeat from USA
Dynameu from Japan
Rising Moon from Europe
Blue Ringed Octolings from Australia
2017 Arms Open Invitational – Weds June 14th @ 3:30PM PST
Nintendo’s other big multiplayer title, ARMS, will have an open competition where any E3 attendees can swing by Ninty’s booth between 10am and 1PM Wednesday the 14th for a shot at being one of the final 4. The four selected attendees will go up against 4 professional gamers for a shot at bragging rights as the winner of the Arms Open Invitational and best ARMS player at E3 2017. Let’s hope those going to E3 got a lot of practice in during the Arms Global Test Punch.
Both of these tournaments will be streamed via Nintendo’s YouTube, Twitch and special E3 website. If you happen to be working or miss one of them – like all of Nintendo’s E3 presentations they are archived on Youtube the same day they are live streamed.
Today Nintendo unveilled some information about their upcoming online paid service. While online gameplay with the Wii, Wii U, and Nintendo 3DS has been free, online gaming with the Switch will be a paid service starting in 2018.
Nintendo will launch a paid service called Nintendo Switch Online, which allows Nintendo Switch owners to enjoy online multiplayer gaming as well as a dedicated mobile app that connects to the Nintendo Switch console. This app will help players chat with their friends during online matches in compatible games, set play appointments, and invite their friends to join them online.
Online play will continue to be free for Nintendo Account holders until the paid service launches in 2018.
Farming Simulator 18 – Develop and expand your very own farm… wherever you go! Become a modern farmer in Farming Simulator 18! Plant, harvest, and trade in crops, including for the first time sunflowers. Diversify your activity with animal husbandry and forestry. Develop and expand your very own farm… wherever you go! More than 50 farming vehicles including AGCO brands Breed and transport animals: cows, sheep, and for the first time, pigs Plant crops, sell the product of your labor, and invest your profits! Develop your farm in a new American environment
Season Pass ($44.99, twenty-two pieces of content): The Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia Season Pass includes all five DLC packs as they release. By purchasing the Season Pass, fans who want to receive all DLC will save more than 30 percent compared to purchasing all 22 pieces of content individually.
Rise of the Deliverance Pack ($12.99, four pieces of content): Discover the previously untold history of Valentia in this Prologue pack. Complete with new story content and additional voice acting that details the rise of the Deliverance in Zofia, this collection of challenging maps includes new support conversations between selected heroes, as well as the ability to take command of a character players won’t be able to control in the main game.
The big N has been pretty consistent with their mobile offerings despite the fact that the majority of them have been developed by third parties. Magikarp Jump is the company’s latest attempt to bring the world of Pocket Monsters to our smart devices and unlike last year’s very faithful translation, Pokemon Go, Magikarp jump knows that it stars a flailing joke of a Pokemon and takes that to its logical conclusion.
I was kind of blindsided by the release of Magikarp Jump just a little under a week ago, I hadn’t played Select Button’s (the developer of Magikarp Jump) other smash hit Survive Mola Mola so I had no clue what I was getting myself into. Jump and Mola Mola shares a lot of elements – namely the training & grooming of sea creatures over multiple generations – so if you’ve played Survive Mola Mola you have an idea of how Magikarp Jump works mechanically.
Players take on the role of a Magikarp trainer (yes those apparently exist) after stumbling upon a once bustling seaside town whose main source of pride & entertainment are their Magikarp Jumping competitions. Lately, the fish Pokemon has decided that jumping into the air for the amusement of humans is for the birds and now it is up to the player to bring the motivation back to these once floppy fish and restore the town.
Gameplay in Magikarp Jump is divided into three distinct phases:
Feeding your fishie in a pond or stream.
Training them through several automated training sessions.
“Battling” other Magikarp trainers in jumping completions to become the league champion.
Each of these three phases is a core part of maxing out your Magikarp’s “Jump Points”, which determine how far into the air they can fling themselves. In the feeding phase, you simply tap on the food in the stream and the Magikarp will swim on over and eat it up, increasing its JP. In the training mode, your Magikarp will do one of a number of unlockable automatic training sessions that will raise its JP further than food will. “Battles” are probably the most aesthetically pleasing part of the whole process – narrated by commentators and featuring absolutely silly animations of fish flopping on the ground before creating large creators in the ground. Try and watch a Magikarp battle and not crack a smile, I swear it is impossible.
Another win in Magikarp Jump’s appeal over other attempts to bring Pokemon to mobile devices is how this game handles monetization. The amount of Jump Points earned from activities like training and feeding is tied to a percentage, which can be raised using in-game coins. Coins are earned for completing achievements, competing in League Battles and found randomly within the pond gameplay sections. Real world money can be spent on extra items to give your Magikarp that extra % or give the player a number of coins to buy training upgrades but you are always limited by your overall training level which can only be raised by participating in League Battles. Speaking of League Battles these are also locked behind a timer to replenish your total # of attempts. These timers, however, are so small (approximately 30 minutes) that you’ll hardly notice them. To top it all off – all of these optional purchases are capped at $100 USD – lifetime! Meaning you can’t just dump your entire wallet into the game to watch an imaginary fish fly high.
Overall Magikarp Jump is an absolute delight. Whether it’s the nearly fourth wall breaking commentary, the grin-inducing animations of an orange and white fish flopping against a sandbag, the colorful art-style or the sad feeling you get when putting your first generation Magikarp into retirement – Jump is a self-aware and often silly game that never takes itself seriously. It is definitely worth checking out if you are a Pokemon fan – it is currently available in the App Store and Google Play Store.
Disgaea 5 Complete – In the Disgaea 5 Complete game, lead Killia and his tenacious army of rebels on their dark and dangerous path to vengeance. This strategy RPG offers hundreds of hours of over-the-top, award-winning gameplay, and marks the first time the core game is available on the go. The game includes all eight bonus scenarios, four fan-favorite characters and three character classes that were originally only available as DLC. For people who want to try before they buy, a free demo for the game is also available in Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch.
Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challengers – The newest iteration of Street Fighter II in 10 years, the Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challengers game is now available for the Nintendo Switch console. The fighting game features the full Street Fighter II roster, plus two new roster additions – Evil Ryu and Violent Ken – as well as a host of new single- and multiplayer features. Ultra Street Fighter II: The Final Challengers will be available on May 26.
Also New this Week
Astro Duel Deluxe (Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch) – Available May 30
Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia – On a continent that was torn asunder by warring gods, guide two armies through brutal tactical battles, as this reimagined RPG epic invades the West for the first time. Uncover the intertwining stories of Alm and Celica, engage foes, fend off dragons and explore 3D dungeons. Your prowess will grow as you master this melding of modern and legacy Fire Emblem gameplay. The Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia game is available May 19.
Season Pass ($44.99, twenty-two pieces of content): The Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia Season Pass includes all five DLC packs as they release. By purchasing the Season Pass, fans who want to receive all DLC will save more than 30 percent compared to purchasing all 22 pieces of content individually.
DLC Pack #1 – Fledgling Warriors Pack ($7.99, three pieces of content): Ideal for early- to mid-game adventurers, this pack includes a new dungeon (The Astral Temple) and two new maps, great for gaining more items, in-game currency and experience points.
Nintendo’s bizarre upcoming brawler ARMS will be playable for free during two different ‘Global Test Punch’ events taking place from May 26th through 28th and June 2nd through 4th. Like the Splatoon 2 Global Testfire before it the ARMS demo will have 10 hour long slots where players can login and duke it out online against other Nintendo Switch owners.
Here are the Global Test Punch times as tweeted by Nintendo earlier in the day:
Other details about ARMs were also released during today’s Nintendo Direct including specific details surrounding online modes, what single player and versus modes will be available and how ARMS fighters can be customized.
Below you’ll find a rundown of all of the game’s multiplayer modes as summarized by the folks over at SKNR.net:
Multiplayer Gaming: Playing with friends either locally or online is easy when using one of the various multiplayer modes in ARMS.
Grand Prix– Win 10 straight matches in Grand Prix and players will face a final opponent to be crowned the ARMS (This mode is played locally with one or two players.)
Party Match– By connecting the Nintendo Switch console to the internet, players can battle with up to three other ARMS players at a time that are in the same lobby as them. One lobby can hold up to 10 systems, but with up to two players per system, 20 players can potentially get together in the same lobby.
Ranked Match– In this time-honored coliseum, players compete online in 1-v-1 battles. By winning a match, a player’s rank goes up, while, conversely, losing will make that rank go down. While waiting to play a Ranked Match online, players can participate in any other mode to pass the time (and tighten up their skills).
Local Wireless Mode: When playing in Local Wireless mode, up to eight players with eight separate systems in the same room can gather in an in-game lobby and battle up to three other players at a time like in Party Match.
ARMs’ Versus Mode will include a versus mode which will allow two players to battle it out one on one. While a match is in progress items and assorted power-ups are dropped into the arena for combatants to use. Team Fight is similar to versus but allows opponents to select a team of two instead of a single fighter. Hoops is Arms’ take on basketball, challenging players to knock a ball into a net (although this should be kind of obvious). Honestly, I think the most interesting mode is the 1 Vs. 100 mode (and no it has nothing to do with the Xbox Live Arcade game of the same name) – it challenges players to defeat 100 opponents in a row, fighting game ‘survival mode’ style.
If you missed the Nintendo Direct be sure to watch it in the player above from Nintendo’s YouTube channel. At the end of the Direct, they also revealed the Splatoon 2 Single Player ‘ Hero Mode ‘ which Jason already covered earlier this evening. If you’d like to give ARMs a shot during the Global Test Punch the client is already available for download in the Nintendo Switch E-Shop and clocks in at just over 1.4GB.
ARMS Launches exclusively for Nintendo switch on June 16th 2017 at an MSRP of $79.99 CDN.
At the end of the Nintendo Direct presentation, a new trailer for Splatoon 2 debuted, showing off the game’s single-player mode.
In the newest single-player story Callie – of Squid Sisters fame – has gone missing and her right-tentacle squid Marie tasks the player to search for Callie and the Great Zapfish.
In a switch from the original Splatoon, players have more weapons to work with than just a simple splatershot. Players can use different weapons in single-player mode to overcome obstacles, defeat enemies and take down towering bosses – weapons like the Roller, Slosher, Splatling or the new Dualies.
The single-player mode is designed to teach players tips and tricks that they can then use in multiplayer.
Nintendo’s upcoming ARMS game for the Nintendo Switch was the game that most impressed our Les Major at the Nintendo pre-release event for the Switch. To be honest as I was unable to attend the event I wasn’t completely sold but the game looked like a unique take as a uniquely Nintendo fighter.
Today Nintendo premiered a new Nintendo Direct video presentation all about its upcoming ARMS game for the Nintendo Switch console which dove deeper into the characters, their weapons, and the different modes within the game. To say the least the video presentation did a superb job of selling me on the game, which will be released next month.
ARMS was created by many of the same team members that developed Mario Kart 8 Deluxe for Nintendo Switch, promising the same level of polish and competitive action as the hit racing game.
“With games like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, ARMS and Splatoon 2, the next few months will be a summer of social competitive gaming on Nintendo Switch,” said Doug Bowser, Nintendo of America’s Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing. “This Nintendo Direct presentation offered great reasons why ARMS is perfect for players of all ages, whether they are familiar with fighting games or not.”
Check out the full Nintendo Direct presentation below as well as the point by point breakdown of the features from the game.
Starting May 15th (today) a Summoning event will introduce four heroes from the upcoming 3DS game Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia to Nintendo’s mobile game Fire Emblem Heroes.
The Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia characters being added are Celica, Mae, Boey, and Genny. Story maps: Rite of Shadows as well as limited-time special quests featuring these heroes are also available.
These heroes are available right now and will be available to summon thru May 30th, 2017 at 2:59am. Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia of course will be released for the Nintendo 3DS later this week.
I’ll admit that I have a soft spot for the Mario spinoff games. No players gaming experience would be complete with a spin around the racetrack of Mario Kart for example, but I’m talking about the sport titles. From golf to soccer, baseball to 3-on-3 basketball, the Mario crew has done it all. The latest Mario spinoff title for the Nintendo 3DS brings five sports together in one package, and does all of these sports justice.
Mario Sports Superstars features five full-on sports and features Soccer, Tennis, Golf, Baseball, and Horse Racing. This game is what you get if you took four of the previous full sports games Nintendo has given the Mushroom Kingdom treatment to, streamlined the presentation, trimmed some of the fat, added a new sport, and released it as a fresh title.
Let’s look at the sports individually.
I spent the bulk of my time playing between two sports – soccer and baseball. Both of these sports get a lot more airtime in the real world and I’m more familiar with them.
Baseball has a lot of depth in Mario Sports Superstars. In the team sport you can choose two of the mainline characters to captain and co-captain your team. You then fill out the rest of your team with a selection of minor characters consisting of toads, hammer bros, koopas, and more. You can select between multiple colours and styles of the characters, each with their own unique stats and pitching styles. You can put any character in any position and set up the batting order to your liking.
The sport of Baseball in the game has a lot of depth and detail, all of which you would expect from a baseball simulation game but wouldn’t expect necessarily from a Mario title. In addition to customizing your batting order and positions, you can also control the depth of your infield and outfield, attempt to pick off base runners, bunt, and more. There is also the option to let the game control your outfield or do so manually.
The other great team sport is of course Soccer. Now there isn’t much new that you can really do with the game because soccer is soccer, but there are a few nice Mario twists to the game. Like with some previous soccer titles, and the bulk of the sports games, there are special moves you can perform. As you play the game you charge up a power meter which can be discharged for a super shot. The type of shot differs depending on which character is taking the shot, but the powered up move can be the difference maker in a close game.
The special shots can be turned off though if you’re looking for a more pure soccer experience. You can also optimize some of the settings and decide if you want to have penalty kicks or extra time turned on or off. The total match length can also be modified, however you can’t choose to play a full time 90 minute match. The minimum game length is five minutes with fifteen being the maximum. Settings can’t be modified in the tournament mode however.
amiibo cards scanned in the game can also be played in this mode letting you play with slightly boosted stats for scanned characters.
Tennis and Golf also have the special Mario play styles which can be disabled if you prefer to play without the trick shots and special moves. These special flavours of moves are a staple of the series, but it’s nice to be able to play without them if you crave a simple match. The addition of horse racing is also a nice simple addition. While it’s not as fast and furious as the Mario Kart racing series, it is fun to play. The game also has a pretty comprehensive stable mode which allows you to raise, dress, and take care of your steed.
While the sports aren’t as fully fleshed out as they are in the single sport games there is more than enough packaged in this game to make it worthwhile. Mario Sports Superstars is definitely a home run Mario sports title.
The list of Pokémon able to mega evolve with mega stones is growing. The Pokémon Company has just released a password that can be entered into the game to get four more mega stone.
When you enter the following password in your game, you’ll receive Pidgeotite, Steelixite, Heracronite, and Houndoominite Mega Stones, the items needed for Pidgeot, Steelix, Heracross, and Houndoom to Mega Evolve during battle.
These Pokémon aren’t available in the wild in Pokémon Sun or Pokémon Moon, but you can bring them into Pokémon Bank via Poké Transporter from earlier games. The Pokémon you transfer will lose their items in the process, however, so this distribution is currently the only way to get these Mega Stones in Pokémon Sun or Pokémon Moon.
Minecraft: Nintendo Switch Edition – Explore randomly generated worlds and build amazing things from the simplest of homes to the grandest of castles. Play in Creative Mode with unlimited resources or mine deep into the world in Survival Mode, crafting weapons and armor to fend off dangerous mobs. Share the experience with four-player split screen or up to eight players online*. Several fan-favorite add-on packs, including the Super Mario Mash-Up pack, are included in the Minecraft: Nintendo Switch Edition game, available at 6 p.m. PT on May 11 in Nintendo eShop.
