Some of the more interesting perks of being a Nintendo Switch Online subscriber are the collections of retro games you gain access to. Nintendo has two such collections currently on offer: one for NES, and a second for SNES. Switch owners can only play these games with an active subscription to Switch Online, and they can even buy special controllers that mimic the familiar gamepads of both consoles.
At this point, I think it’s safe to say that Pokemon Sword and Shield are the most controversial Pokemon releases we’ve ever seen. Game Freak’s announcement that Sword and Shield wouldn’t feature a full national Pokedex was the straw that broke the camel’s back for a lot of people, and after that, we saw a wave of criticism coming from longtime Pokemon fans online. By the time these games launched, taking a look at fan communities online would have someone who was out of the loop to believe that no one was buying these games.
We're quickly closing in on the end of the year, but before we move into 2020, Sony has one more PlayStation State of Play presentation it plans to premiere. Today, the company said that it will host one final State of Play for 2019 next week, where it will dive into release dates for upcoming titles and reveals for new games.
The one good thing about Google's strategy of rolling out Stadia features piecemeal is that you are assured that the service is still alive and kicking, despite the many setbacks and criticism it has encountered in just a few weeks. Of course, that also means that you're being kept at the edge of your seat, waiting when your favorite feature will be implemented. The latest update doesn't directly affect the service itself but makes life a little bit easier buy letting Stadia players browse and buy games on their desktop.
Earlier this week, 343 Industries and Microsoft added Halo: Reach to the Master Chief Collection on both Xbox and PC. This was a big launch for PC players, because it's the first release for the Master Chief Collection. More importantly, it's the first mainline Halo game to release on PC in more than a decade, with the last one being Halo 2 way back in 2007.
Whenever a new type of game becomes extremely popular and profitable, there comes a flood of titles that try to jump on board and capitalize on the hype. Sometimes, one or two successfully become the kings of that genre, like Fortnite and PUBG or battle royales and League of Legends and Dota 2 for MOBAs. The one genre that seems to be an impenetrable fortress is card games, still ruled by Hearthstone. Many have tried but just as many bit the dust. CD Projekt's Gwent, spun off from The Witcher franchise, may still be in the running but it is now shedding off its console version to focus on PC and mobile.
The Nintendo Switch is currently in the midst of its third year on store shelves, but it just managed to have its best sales week of all time in the US. Sales were helped along by two separate deals Nintendo had running for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, with Nintendo confirming today that the Switch now sits at 17.5 million units sold in the US alone.
Before Project Scarlett was officially confirmed at E3 2019, we had a pile of rumors that indicated Microsoft's plans for the next generation included more than one console. Consoles codenamed Anaconda and Lockhart were the two machines said to comprise Project Scarlett, but shortly after reveal, Xbox boss Phil Spencer confirmed that Project Scarlett was only one console.
Ever since the launch of the Game Boy in the 1980s, Nintendo has been a dominant force in the world of handheld gaming. A number of companies tried to challenge that dominance, and the one that best gave Nintendo a run for its money was likely Sony with the PSP and its follow up, the PS Vita. Earlier this year, Sony discontinued the final remaining PS Vita SKUs with no concrete plans for any kind of follow up.
Today is a big day for the PlayStation brand, because today marks the 25th anniversary of Sony's entrance into the world of gaming. On December 3rd, 1994, Sony launched the first PlayStation in Japan. Those of us here in the US and our friends over in Europe would have to wait another 10 months to get our hands on the PlayStation, but going from its Japanese launch date, the PlayStation turns 25 years old today.
If you made it through both Black Friday and Cyber Monday without picking up one of the Switch bundles on offer, Walmart is back today with a new bundle to tempt you. This is the third distinct Switch bundle we've seen throughout the week, and it's a pretty solid alternative to yesterday's Cyber Monday deal.
It isn't too often that we see iFixit tearing down legacy hardware, but today is a special occasion. Today marks the 25th anniversary of the original PlayStation's release, which launched in Japan on December 3rd, 1994. In honor of that milestone, iFixit has decided to teardown an original console and take a look inside.