Back in the heyday of the 3DS, Square Enix released a fascinating little JRPG called Bravely Default. Despite the weird name, Bravely Default captured itself a sizable fanbase with its gameplay that seemed to take inspiration from classic Final Fantasy games. The first Bravely Default was released in 2013, followed by a successor called Bravely Second: End Layer, which made its way to western shores in 2016.
The annual Game Awards are happening tonight, and to celebrate the nominations various Switch games have received, Nintendo has kicked off an eShop sale. This one follows the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sale Nintendo held for the eShop, so it won't be shocking to learn that the list of discounts isn't as long as the one we saw a couple of weeks ago. Still, this eShop sale has a number of deals that weren't available during Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
Tetris 99 had received a pretty beefy update, as this one adds a new Team Battle Mode to the game. While Tetris 99 normally focuses on every-man-for-himself battle royale gameplay, Team Battle Mode splits players up into one of four teams. Those teams then do battle, with the last team standing being declared the winner.
As promised, today Nintendo debuted a new Indie World Showcase for the Nintendo Switch. The 20-minute presentation showed us a number of games that are coming to the Switch next year (along with a couple that are available today), and while there are some familiar names on the list, there were also a number of new reveals. Chief among those reveals was Axiom Verge 2, the follow-up to one of the more popular Metroidvania titles in recent memory.
For a lot of people, the Switch has managed to become a solid machine for playing indie games. A lot of indie developers have brought their games over to the console as well, and Nintendo periodically highlights these games through presentations it calls Indie World Showcases. Nintendo has announced that the next Indie World Showcase is happening tomorrow, giving us an update on a number of indie titles that are on the way to the Switch.
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.
One of the perks of Nintendo's Switch Online service is access to a roster of classic Nintendo titles that were promised to grow every month. That, however, mysteriously stopped after the introduction of SNES titles back in September. Worry not because Nintendo has finally announced the addition of new games to the Switch Online list and it happily does include four games for the SNES, including a long-lost sequel to a less-known but still beloved franchise.
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.
At long last, Nintendo's highly-rated gaming console is coming to China. But when the Nintendo Switch does land in stores there next week, it might barely even make a ripple. But while getting approved to officially start sales in the country is newsworthy in itself, it will probably make very little difference in global sales numbers, especially considering there will be only one game available for sale for the console when it launches.
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.
A new update has been announced for Super Mario Maker 2, and it has a number of new course elements that players will be able to do a lot with. The contents of the new update were revealed in a trailer today, with a number of familiar Mario characters joining the fray. Chief among the new course parts, however, is the Master Sword from The Legend of Zelda series.