Nintendo has taken its first foray into dedicated sleep tech with the Alarmo. Nintendo's Alarmo works like most other alarm clocks, letting users set a wake-up schedu??le and displaying the time throughout the day. The device also comes packed with a slew of additional useful and fun features, most n?otably theming the alarm and display to a favorite Nintendo franchise.

While Alarmo will walk users through creating their first ??alarm upon successful set-up, many features aren??'t readily explained during the quick tutorial. Users can connect the device to a Nintendo Switch Online account to access additional content and view some basic sleep habit info. Here's how to make the most out of your Nintendo Alarmo.

Navigating the Alarmo

The Nintendo Alarmo has two buttons and a large Dial. The Dial itself can be interacted with, rotating clockwise or counter-clockwise to navigate menus and pushed to make a selection. In addition to the Dial, the Alarmo also features a Back button and a Notification button. The Back button lets users go to a previous menu page or revert to the clock face?, while the Notification button offers essential info and tips about using the alarm c?lock.

The device also has a motion and light sensor built into the front face of the display. This is used to track motion, form some basic info about sleep habits, and allow Alarmo to actively respond to a user's movement while an alarm goes off in the morning. Though users can control how it works, the default is for Al??armo to increase in volume and intensity if you don't react to the alarm, turning off entirely once you move enough and get out of bed.

Setting a new alarm on Alarmo

If, for any reason, you need to alter or set a new alarm on Alarmo, it's pretty quick to achieve. Push the Dial to open the menu, and t?he first option will show "Set Alarm." Another push of the Dial will take you into the alarm menu??, first allowing a selection of Nintendo franchise themes and then specific alarm types.

The Dial can be rotated to cycle throug?h the options, and once selections are made, users will be asked to set a time for the alarm to sound off. A short fanfare and a success screen depicting a green checkmark will appear after completing all the steps. It's worth noting that you can only have one alarm set at any given time.

Connecting Alarmo to the internet

You can connect Alarmo to the internet so the device can receive software updates and connect to an optional Nintendo Switch Online account. An internet connection also ??lets the alarm clock set its time based on something more? accurate than your best estimation.

To connect to Wi-Fi, Alarmo users must first push the Dial to open the menu, then rotate the Dial until "Settings" is reached. Another push of the Dial will take you in, and then the Dial must be rotated again until "Internet" is selected. A push of the Dial will open the Internet menu, and a few screens will offer users ??some basic instructions. The Alarmo can search for networks, and once the correct one is selected, you can rotate the Dial and push it in to choose the individual characters that make up the password.

After a successful connection, you can automatically set the time from the internet from the Settings menu. Once there, head to "Date/Time" and select it using the Dial. Alarmo will ask if you want to set the time via the internet, and after a quick network test, it wil?l ask you to select?? your time zone and desired date and time format.

Connecting Alarmo to a Nintendo Switch Online account

Once connected to the web, Nintendo Switch Online subscribers can log into their account by returning to the Settings menu and selecting "Nintendo Account." After a few screen?s of instructions, a QR code will appear on Alarmo. Once scanned, subscribers can connect to Nintendo services and log into Alarmo.

With an active Nintendo Switch Onlne subscription, you can navigate to "Download New Alarms" in the main menu to gra??b new franchise themes and alarms as they become available. This option will also prompt the device to search for a software update, taking care of two birds with one ston??e.

How do Sleepy Sounds work?

One of the options in Alarmo's main menu is "Sleepy Sounds." ??The idea behind the feature is that it will play soothing music and sounds from the selected ?franchise theme to help users fall asleep. However, there's more worth knowing about how this feature works to get the most out of it.

Sleepy Sounds isn't something you can toggle on and off with a whim; it's meant to be automatic. Navigating to Sleepy Sounds in the main menu will first ask users to set a desired bedtime. Afterward, it'll confirm that you want to ??enable the feature. Sleepy Sounds will only activat??e if you head to bed after the entered bedtime.

As Sleepy Sounds determines whether to turn on based on the time you physically get to bed, two people sh??aring the same bed with different bedtimes can complicate matters. There's no way to set multiple bedtimes, so the feature may not work if your partner makes it into bed before your set bedtime.

What does Records record?

Alarmo has a feature called Records that lets users gain insight into their sleep health and patterns. That said, as t??he alarm clock can only measure time and movement, it can't provide the same kind of detailed analysis that other sleep health products can.

Alarmo ca??n show users an average of how long they've spent in bed each day, with the data deleting itself after a month has passed. It can also tell you how long it takes you to wake up once the set alarm begins doing its thing. Wake-up Records are stored for up to a year before they are deleted automatically.

Finally, Records can also offer some understanding of how much you're moving in your sleep. Of course, this only counts movement within the sensor's limited range and may account for the motion of partners or pets. Movement Records are avail?able for a month before they are automatically deleted from Alarmo.

The post Nintendo Alarmo: A Complete Guide appeared first on Destructoid.

Ever since Nintendo revealed Mario & Luigi: Brothership in June of this year, ?fans have been wondering which studio was actually working on this colorful new RPG adventure, especially since the c??ompany is infamous for keeping this information under wraps. After months of speculation, it seems we finally have a concrete answer.

After many months of theories and speculation, it seems we have a concrete answer. Twitter/X user Nintendeal recently discovered copyright text for Mario & Luigi: Brothership that seems to confirm that Acquire is developing the game. This is the studio behind the Tenchu series and the Octopath Traveler series (wh??ich it developed alongside Square Enix). Although, it is important to point out that Nintendo hasn't officially confirmed this information yet.

Nintendo fans previously thought that ILCA (The studio behind Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, One Piece Odyssey, and Sand Land) was developing Mario & Luigi: Brothership, but this new revelation apparently confirms that they were wrong, and that it? was Acquire all along.

Fans reacted to this news with both excitement and relief, since the studio has previous experience with solid turn-based RPGs. Acquire has big shoes to fill, because AlphaDream, the studio that created the Mario & Luigi series and developed all the previous entries, sadly went ban?krupt in 2019.

Based on Acquire's previous experience, Mario & Luigi: Brothership is in good hands

Acquire is not a random small team that Nintendo hired but is actually a remarkable and important development studio within the industry, with tons of previous experience developing iconic and successful video games. Acquir?e has recorded its entire history on its official website, and it's quite interesting.

The studio rose to fame with the release of the first two Tenchu games on PlayStation 1, which revolutionized the stealth genre. After that, it went on to develop the Way of the Samurai series on PlayStation 2 and subsequent consoles, but its biggest and most recognizable IP is undoubtedly Octopath Traveler, which it developed in collaboration with Square Enix. These are a pair of critically acclaimed turn-based RPGs that brought back the essence of the classic 2D Final Fantasy games. So, when taking Acquire's entire history into consideration, it's evident that Mario & Luigi: Brothership is in great hands, but we ??won't be 100% sure until the game launches on Nintendo Switch on N??ovember 7.

The post Mystery S?olve?d: Mario & Luigi: Brothership was developed by the studio that made Octopath Traveler appeared first on Destructoid.

If you’ve been into gaming for a few decades, you’ll have fond memories of Saturday mornings diving into the latest releases on Nintendo 64. While the? likelihood of you having a Nintendo 64 still available to play is slim, the Switch offers a limited number of titles from the iconic console. 

It’s been 28 years since the Nintendo 64 first hit TV units across the world, and 22 years since the final game was released for the console in North America (Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3, ?for those interested). That’s a long time to go without playing some of the classics?? that were available during the console’s six-year tenure. 

However, if you’ve got a Nintendo Switch Online+ Expansion Pack membership, there are a few of those classics available to play. While some of them are definitely more niche, here are 10 of the best titles available to play. Apologies in advance if this list reminds you tha?t we're aging up a little too fast...

Super Mario 64

I can’t begin this list without mentioning Super Mario 64. It was one of two games that were released alongside the launch of the N64 in North America (alongside Pilotwings 64), so it’s one of the fi??rst games that springs to mind when ??I think back to queuing outside my local video game store to get the console on launch day in 1996. 

I don’t feel like I need to explain Super Mario 64 too much, but just in case you’ve been living under a rock for the last 39 years, let me give you the TLDR (which goes for most of the games): Mario is invited to visit Princess Peach, only to find Bowser has infiltrated and kidnapped her.? Cue a mad dash across the realm to locate and rescue the Princess, and take down Bowser. 

Pokémon Snap

If you want an updated version of this classic 1999 Pokémon title, then you can get New Pokémon Snap, which was released specifically for the Switch back in 2021. However, nothing quite touches the original in terms of nostalgia and classic design. There’s something really spe?cial about curling up and snapping shots of Pokémon as remembered from ??childhood. 

What tips the original over the successor, personally, is the lack of pressure to complete tasks. Admittedly there isn’t much in the new one e??ither, but if you face a lot of pressure on a daily basis, being able to simply focus on taking photos rather than needing a reason to is actually really nice. 

Paper Mario

First reaching North America in 2001, Paper Mario is the first in a series of six games (or seven, if you count Paper Jam) to feature Mario and associated characters in their �?.5D�?forms. Again, the plot is familiar to all Mario fans - ??Bowser has Princess Peach, and Mario must battle through the Mushroom Kingdom to get her back and kick some overgrown turtle ??butt. 

What makes the Paper Mario series incredibly ??special, and especially the first, is ?not only the art style but the puzzles and cooperation with other characters as well. The RPG elements and turn-based combat moments are tense, but not overly so. 

GoldenEye 007

GoldenEye 007 is an absolutely guaranteed m??emory for anyone who grew up in the 90s, whether you actually played or simply knew other people who did and desperately wanted to but your parents thought it was too graphic. The idea of the latter is laughable now, considering the current gaming graphics we’ve become so used to, but the 90s were a ??different time. 

Regardless, the cover art of GoldenEye 007 is enough to trigger some childhood memories for most, featuring Pierce Brosnan as Bond and Izabella Scorupco as Natalya Simonova. It’s based on the story from 1995’s GoldenEye, and as Bond, it’s up to the player to take down a cri?minal syndicate and prevent them from using a satellite weapon. It also had multiplayer options, which would usually result in an argu??ment or two. 

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Released in 1998, Ocarina of Time was the first of the Zelda game series? to feature 3D graphics. It is, arguably, among the best and most iconic video games of all time, and at the time of release, it received far more pre-orders than any other game before it. 

As with most other Zelda titles, you take the role of Link and have all of his usual weapons in your arsenal, including the iconic sword a?nd shield. The story is hard to explain if you’ve never played, but in short, Link must awaken the five Sages, defeat Ganondorf, and protect the kingdom of Hyrule. 

Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards

Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards was released in 2000, and as with the previous Ocarina of Time, The Crystal Shards was the first Kirby title to have 3D graphics. For most people of a certain age, Kirby is one of those games that invokes a huge amount of nostalgia and has come to many platforms in th??e time since it was first released, including the Wii, Wii U, and now the Nintendo Switch.?? 

The story of The Crystal Shards involves Kirby having to reassemble a sacred crystal that has been shattered by Dark Matter. If you’ve ever played a Kirby game, you’ll know what to expect - explore 2.5D levels and devour your enemies to gain their powers. However, The Crystal Shards also introduced Power Combos, allowing you to mix and match p??owers to create new and much more powerful ones.&nbs?p;

Banjo-Kazooie

As far as platformers go, Banjo-Kazooie borders on being wildly underappreciated. The first in a line of five titles, Banjo-Kazooie was released back in 1998. Banjo, the honey bear in fetching yellow shorts and always in possession of his trusty backpack, was first introduced in 1997 as part of the cast of Diddy Kong Racing. Kazooie, the Breegull who can be found sheltering inside the aforementioned backpack, was introduced in this game and the pair ?became a beloved duo. 

Together, Banjo and Kazooie must track down Banjo’s kidnapped sister, Tooty, who has been kidnapped b??y the evil witch Gruntilda. Gameplay is a mix of delightful (although often frustrating) platform levels, puzzles,? and boss fights. There’s something incredibly satisfying about collecting music notes and Jiggies that open doors to new worlds. 

Yoshi’s Story

Yoshi’s Story was released in North America in 1998, and is a fruit-eating joy to play regardless of age. While most of the other titles on this list are adventuring games with someone to rescue, Yoshi’s Story provides something different: the endless frustration of trying to be better than you were before. There is an element of adventure and storytelling, but it arguab?ly takes a back seat to beating your own high score.

There are two modes in Yoshi’s Story: Story Mode and Trial Mode. To unlock new levels in Trial Mode, you must first complete the levels in Story Mode, and completing them req??uires the apparently simple task of eating 30 fruits. But of course, it’s not that simple. Each type of fruit is worth a different amount of points, with Melons giving the most, and there are also Lucky Fruits that offer a bonus. 

Perfect Dark

Perfect Dark is described as a “spiritual successor�?to GoldenEye 007, runs on an upgraded version of the same game engine, and was developed and released three years later in 2000. Perfect Dark came not only with a solo campaign mode but also multiplayer options such as co-operative and deathmatch modes. It's making a comeback as w?ell?, but it remains to be seen whether a remake can touch the nostalgia of the original.

As Joanna Dark, you must complete objectives w?hile avoiding or eliminating opponents to eventually stop an extraterrestrial conspiracy by a corporation known as dataDyne. As with GoldenEye, there are ?many weapons to choose from, but now these weapons all have additional useful features. The K7 Avenger, for instance, will detect threats such as nearby explosives. 

The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask

Released two years after Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask hit shelves and TV screens in 2000 and features the same 3D graphics that premiered in the previous title. Majora’s Mask is�?Confusing, to say the least. The gameplay involv??es a 3-day cycle that must be replayed, using knowledge learned from previous cycles to perform better during subsequent ones. 

One of the best features of Majora’s Mask is the transformations provided by the core masks that Link can use - a Deku Scrub, a Goron, and a Zora. Each transformation provides Link with diff??erent, incredibly useful abilities, and you’ll need to think carefully about which form you take to complete puzzles and quests throughout the story. And did I mention that Link can control time and the moon is enough to give any kid nightmares for weeks?

The post 10 Best N64 games on Nintendo Switch Online appeared first on Destructoid.

The latest update for Pokemon HOME is adding a Mystery Gift reward system. You know, because we trainers needed more reasons to catch them all. This mechanic offers rare Pokemon as prizes to Pokemon players? who complete specific goals, and the? first one up for grabs is a Shiny Meloetta.

This, to put it plainly, is a big honking deal. Until now, the only way trainers could get themselves a Shiny variant of this elusive Mythical Pokemon was by hacking a fifth-generation or beyond Pokemon game. Thanks to the new Pokemon Home update, however,? casual Pokemon players and die-hard Shiny Hunters alike can finally add this musical-themed 'Mon to their collection without getting gobsmacked by Nintendo's well-loved ban hammer.

How to download Pokemon HOME

If you're one of the many Pokemon players who hasn't created a Pokemon HOME account yet, now's the perfect time to do it. You can download Pokemon HOME onto your smartphone or your Nintendo Switch, and the account-building process is a little different for each system. Let's walk through how to get started on Pokemon HOME.

How to download Pokemon HOME on Nintendo Switch

• Download Pokemon HOME from the Nintendo eShop
• Launch Pokemon HOME from your Switch's Home menu, using whichever Switch account you want to transfer your Pokemon to and from.
• Progress by hitting any button.
• Pick your Language, then hit "Start."
• Read the Terms of Use and Privacy Notice, then agree to it by hitting "Yes."
• When asked if you plan to use Pokémon HOME on your mobile device, select "Yes." If you plan on using Pokemon HOME on mobile, of course.
• If asked if you have linked a Nintendo Account to the mobile version of Pokemon HOME, hit "Yes" or "No," then go through the tutorial

How to download Pokemon Home on a smartphone

• Download Pokemon HOME from your phone's app store.
• Start the app.
• Choose your language, then hit "YES."
• Choose your region and country, then hit "YES."
• Enter your date of birth, then hit "Yes." You can't change this once you've put it in, and certain features of Pokemon HOME are only available to players over the age of sixteen.
• Read and agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Notice, then hit "NEXT."
• Review the info that pops up, then hit "I Agree."
• Select "Link your account" to link the same Nintendo Account you're using with Pokemon HOME on Nintendo Switch. The last thing you want is to lose that Shiny Gholdengo you worked so hard to get because of a network error.
• Click "Yes," then follow the on-screen instructions to link an existing Nintendo Account or create a new one.
• Click "Yes," again to confirm the Nintendo Account link and complete the tutorial.

How to get Shiny Melotta from Pokemon HOME

Before you get your Shiny Meloetta from Pokemon HOME, you'll have to complete the Paldea Pokedex, the Kitakami Pokedex, and the Blueberry Pokedexes. These Pokedexes encompass all the Pokemon found in Pokemon: Scarlet & Violet and its two-part The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero DLC. All 843 of them.

Filling in all three Pokedexes is no simple task, especially since Pokemon HOME won't let you put a Pokemon in a Ninth-Gen Dex slot unless you caught it in Pokemon Scarlet & Violet. Luckily, we have some fantastic guides on where to find some of Paldea's rarer Pokemon. Your ??hunt will be difficult, but it shouldn't be ??impossible.

Once you've transferred all the Pokemon you need to fill the Pokedexes, you'll be eligible to receive a Shiny Meloetta. Click the "Mystery Gi??ft" option in the app's menu, then hit "Search for Gifts." As long as you have a solid internet connection, you'll receive a Shiny?? Meloetta of your very own.

The post How to get a free Shiny Meloetta fr??om Pokemon HOME appeared first on Destructoid.

I’ve been playing the Mario Party series ??since it started in 1998. My mother and I used to play the stick-rotation mini-games with the palms of our hands. We both got blisters. We tried ??to call a truce and outlaw the practice, but in the heat of competition, someone would break, and it would be back to blister-city.

The series is something I can play with my parents and family. Because Mario Party is 80% luck, 15% cruelty, and 5% skill, winning isn’t a foregone conclusion for me. Even with my dec?ades of extensive experien??ce, my victory isn’t guaranteed, so it’s more fun for everyone. I may never be able to pay my parents back for my upbringing, but I will not hesitate to rip a star from their grasp.

The series has had its ups and downs. Even if we could glean fun from any entry you can name, some are more beloved than others. Super Mario Party, we weren’t too hot on. It had four boards, and you hit the bottom of it way too soon. I always hoped we’d get DLC for Mario Party Superstars, and was a bit disappointed when Super Mario Party Jamboree was announced. My skepticism was unwarranted: this is the best Mario Party has ever been.

Super Mario Party Jamboree (Switch [Reviewed])
Developer: Nintendo
Publisher: Nintendo
Released: October 17, 2024
MSRP: $59.99

If you’re not familiar with the Mario Party series, it’s a cross between a board game and a video game. You pick a character from the Mario series, roll dice, and take them around the board. The goal is to gather coins that you can trade for stars and othe??r it?ems and events. The person who ends with the most stars, wins.

When everyone completes their turn, you’re all taken into a short mini-game to compete. These are all very simple, sometimes involving direct competition, whereas others have?? you collect as many coins as possible. Some spots on the board will also start mini-games that have players put their coins down in a winner’s pot, and others are duals between two players. Winning mini-games doesn’t guarantee you’ll win, however. It’s all about the stars. If you have 200 coins and no stars, the person who has one star will cinch the win. On the other hand, if two players have the same number of stars, the most coins decide who wins the tie.

To win, you really have to play the board. You have to be locked in on reaching stars before anyone else and take advantage of every opportunity to steal them from others. There are optional bonus stars at the end, rewarding players for sometimes random accomplishments, giving players one last opportunity to steal the game. There are lots of opportunities to screw over other players; Mario Party can be extremely vicious.

One thing I really want to stress is that this variation of Mario Party doesn’t really follow the deviations made for Super Mario Party. Character-specific dice aren’t included, and it reverts to the 1-10 dice blocks. However, rather than the old standard 20 turns, the default is now 10. You can pick up Jamboree buddies, which we’ll get to, but they’re not quite like the allies you could gain in Super Mario Party. Instead, they only stick with you for three turns and can cause a lo??t of stuff to trigger twice, such as buying a star or even suffering Bowser’s wrath.

Super Mario Party Jamboree feels a lot closer to the original format, which is probably the intention after Superstars. There are board gimmicks, but they don’t entirely overshadow the central formula. If there’s one thing I’m glad they kept, it’s the amount of characters from Super Mario Party. Somewhere north of 20. I mean, I’m always going to play as Luigi, regardless of who ??gets added, but it’s nice to have a bigger cast for variety’s sake.

There are also superfluous side modes, like one where you cooperate to fire cannons at Bowser and a few motion controller activities. There’s also a weird story mode where you explore under-construction boards and help with their setup. They’re okay distractions, but I don’t think they’re going to distract from the standard Mario Party m?ode. That’s f??ine. I’d probably be upset if it felt like resources had been taken from the board gameplay, but considering how strong it is, the side activities are just a bonus.

Speaking of motion controls; they’re optional. That’s not to say that every mini-game can be played without them, but rather that you can just toggle them out of circulation. This reduces the pool of games that might come up in any given round, but at least it means that you can play on a Switch Lite or Pro Controller if that’s you??r preference.

Speaking of “pro�?there’s a “pro mode�?in Jamboree that should ease things for anyone who hates the luck aspect of Mario Party. What it does is set a number of factors to be more static. For example, there are no hidden blocks that would randomly award somebody a star or coins. When you send out a Boo to rob a player, they always return with 15 coins, but you can still pay them to steal a star. There’s only one bonus star at the end of the game, and its criterion is announced at the beginning of the game. There is a limited number of stock at the item stores. A game is also?? locked to 12 rounds.

I’m no doubt forgetting to mention a few rules, but the important takeaway is that it’s a mode for people who want to take things more seriously. As I said, there’s still an aspect of luck when dice rolls are involved, but there’s less to get in the way of any strategizing. It’s a welcome inclusion for anyone frustrated by random chance and want their skill to play a more prominent role in thei?r victory.

And speaking of skills, if there is one thing that bothers me about Jamboree, it’s the fact that a lot of the Jamboree Buddy games rely on skills that my family can’t match me at. Unlike Super Mario Party, you don’t gain allies simply by landing on a designated spot on the board. They appear occasionally, and once you reach them, it begins a mini-game where everyone competes. The victor gets the ?buddy, regardless of who actually reached them on the board. The person who triggered the mini-game does get an?? advantage, but it’s not so immense that it’s insurmountable for everyone else. It would be less fun if it was, I suppose.

But the problem is that many of these mini-games are much longer than standard ones and involve reflexes for platforming or rhythm. Not to brag, but my family can’t compete with my expert-level Rock Band skills and Champion’s Road?? honed platforming. Not in the same way that they can in games about cutting a steak perfectly in half. I normally win the most mini-games anyway, even if that doesn’t mean I always win the game, but this feels like I will always have the best chance at companionship.

Understan?dably, that’s more of a problem in my personal circumstances and isn’t going to bother everyone. Jamboree Buddies don’t completely skew the overall outcome of the game, as they on?ly provide a temporary advantage to a player and can actually wind up hurting more than helping. However, it’s also strange that these mini-games are so much longer than standard ones. It feels like everyone gets dragged into them, and the game stalls temporarily. It’s almost disorienting when they happen.

Circling back to my personal circumstances, it’s important to note that if my family didn’t play Mario Party with me, Mario Party Jamboree would be effectively worthless. You can play just about everything single-player, but the series is only really exciting if you have someone to play it with. That hasn’t changed with Jamboree. You can play it online, but I feel that something is lost when you’re not in the same room as the people you??’re stealing stars from. Torpedoing someone’s success just isn’t the same when you can’t hear them mope and/o?r scream.

If you do have a reliable group �?preferably one who you already play Mario Party games with �?then Mario Party Jamboree is probably going to be your new go-to. In many of the recent entries, I feel a lot was phoned in. Not enough would be changed, but some aspects would feel weaker or even unwelcome. However, while Jamboree mainly just builds off the original framework, it’s a lot tighter and more rounded than we’ve seen since the N64 days. I’ll admit it can be hard to get excited about yet another Mario Party, but this one is absolutely worth attending.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

The post Review: Super Mario Party Jamboree appeared first on Destructoid.

Do you struggle to wake up in the morning? Do you dread the sound of the alarm clock going off to drag you out of bed to face another day? If you’d rat?her wake up immersed in sounds and music from your favorite Nintendo games, then Alarmo might just be the answer.

Alarmo is now available on the Nintendo Store for $99.99 USD, and requires Nintendo Switch Online in order to function as intended.

Alarmo, the weirdly innovative alarm clock from Nintendo, allows you to pick a scene from your favorite game. When it’s time for you to wake ??up and take on the day, sounds and music from that scene will play. Even before the alarm goes off, a character from that scene will appear ?on the clock face, waiting for you to open your eyes. 

Rather than the j?arring beep-beep of a regular alarm, Alarmo will start introducing subtle sounds, which will gradually begin to get louder the longer yo?u leave it to go off. You don’t even have to touch the clock to turn it off, as waving your arm at it or moving around in bed will be enough to quieten the noise briefly. There is also a button mode too, if you want to keep things old school. 

According to the Nintendo S??tore website, if you stay in bed too long and your original visitor isn’t enough to get you out of bed, a more “persuasive�?visi?tor will come along accompanied by much more intense sounds. When you eventually get out of bed, the clock will even celebrate this small victory with fanfare! Honestly, we could all do with someone congratulating us the second we start the day. 

Alarmo is apparently not just for waking up, either. It can track your sleep ?patterns, including how much you move around in the night, and keeps a record of how long it takes you to get out of bed in the morning. It also plays “Sleepy Sounds�? which is presumably white noise or ambient music from your chosen scene. 

It’s worth noting that Alarmo will only work for you if you have a twin to king-sized bed, so anything out of this range will cause the mot??ion sensor capability to suffe??r. However, you can just switch to button mode and still enjoy the ambient waking experience. 

?So far, there ??are five games from which to choose scenes:

• Super Mario Odyssey
• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
• Splatoon 3
• Pikmin 4
• Ring Fit Adventure

On top of these five choices for wake-up buddies, if you link your Nintendo Account to your Alarmo, you’ll be able to get Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Animal Crossing: New Horizons wake-up? calls when they’re released in future via free updates. 

I’m not sure a??bout anyone else, but I’m ??incredibly tempted to get one and see how it helps me wake up in the morning. Although having said that, the hour that I spend scrolling on my phone after waking up might make this more annoying than anything else. But still, I’m tempted.

The post Nintendo has released a futuristic? yet nostalgic alarm clock called Alarmo appeared first on Destructoid.

Fun that doesn't break the bank

For some, the Nintendo Switch can be an expensive investment. Once you've purchased the console itself, there are additional Joy-Con controllers, the Nintendo Switch Online membership, and, of course, first-party titles like Super Mario Odyssey that almost never seem to? go on sale, even years after their release.

Thankfully, there are some awesome games on this system tha?t cost absolutely nothing to play and are most certainly w??orth your time and attention. Here are the 10 best free-to-play games on Nintendo Switch you can enjoy right now.

Asphalt Legends Unite

Those missing the Burnout series may want to check out Asphalt Legends Unite by Gameloft. The intense speed, the outrageous tricks, and the decent graphics all go a long way in this racing experience. Performing t?ricks to ??increase your boost meter is satisfying, and being able to ram opponents into the walls is even more so. If you can ignore the micro-transaction-heavy side of Asphalt Legends Unite, you’ll find an underrated gem of a r??acing title for free.

Deltarune

Toby Fox’s follow-up from the Undertale series Deltarune is entirely free-to-play with no microtransactions in sight. The story is suitably entertaining, while Toby Fox maintains the much-loved, oddly-natured lore of the Undertale world and characters. As you’d expect from the series, there is some stellar battle music and a unique pixel art style. If you’re a fan of Undertale, this is a must-play.

Fall Guys

One of the most adorable free-to-play games you can play on the Nintendo Switch is Fall Guys. Against 59 other players, you�??�re competing to get the crown at the end of several mini-games. You’re going through tough obstacle courses with the silly physics of the game, scoring goals by heading a ball into the net or trying to outlast other players from disappearing platforms. It’s a lot of fun. I’ve only ever been able to get a crown once, but when I finally got it, I felt like a million Show-Bucks.

There are cosmetic items you may want to buy in Fall Guys, but the good thing is that they don’t affect the stats of?? any player.  This isn’t pay-to-win. Something to keep in mind is that ?developer Mediatonic organizes free events, giving you costumes for finishing tasks.

Fortnite

Some hate it, and others love it, but no matter where you stand you can’t deny that Fortnite is a smash success. Epic Games brings out compelling maps and guns that keep its fanbase entertained. The battle pass every season provides a lot of value, and the quests the developer provides are entertaining enough to keep you invested in the chaos of the game. I personally disliked the building elements of the original concept, but there is now a popular Zero Build mode that has consumed my gaming schedule.

F-Zero 99

F-Zero 99 brings the chaos of the original SNES game and puts you in a race aga??inst 98 other players. Similar to Tetris 99, you’ll need to survive as they bash into you and in some cases, self-destruct around you on purpose. The controls are stellar as you drift around each corner and spin to dish damage to your foes. It??’s a phenomenal take on the classic game. You’ll need Nintendo Switch Online to play this free game, however.

Brawlhalla

If you’re getting tired of playing Super Smash Bros. Ultimate after all these years, you might want to try Brawlhalla for free. It has a charming comic-like ??art style and a simple yet engaging battle system that has you constantly switching between two combat styles. The game’s cross-play, so you can check it out with all your pals on PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and even mobile. 

There are also pop culture icons who’ll never join Smash, like th??e WWE’s John Cena and SpongeBob Sq?uarePants fighting each other. They’re available as skins via paid DLC.

Pokémon Unite

Pokémon Unite is an absolute delight. It takes the MOBA mechanics of a game like League of Legends and places it into a thrilling 3v3 battle arena. The action is frenetic as you ??master each Pokemon's specific moves and work together to defeat the enemy team. The graphics are quite delightful, despite the game being available on both mobile and the Nintendo Switch. Like the previous entry on? this list, there is also crossplay between those two platforms.

Something to keep in mind is that there are multiple microtransactions in the game. There are cosmetics such as costumes for your Pokémon and trainer, a battle pass, and other purchases that your wallet should be scared of. You can earn in-game rewards, however, through the fre??e battle pass and performing well in Ranked.

Rocket League

Rocket League is a simple concept that works so well on the Switch. You drive RC cars on a football??/soccer pitch, flipping and turbo-boosting in order to score goals. If you need help as a beginner, on the other hand, you can enlist your friends from all platforms and still have fun on the field, There are car skins, antennas, rocket trails, and more to unlock th??rough paid content, but some rewards are given to you periodically as you play.

Smite

With over 100 gods to choose from and a console-friendly third-person perspective, Smite is one of the best MOBAs out there. There are beginner-friendly modes like Arena and Joust (3v3) to get you started and accu??stomed to learning your favorite characters. Then there's the Conquest mode with an expansive map and 5v5 combat. Each move adds a strategic element to the battle; for example, Cupid's Heart Bomb is a ranged attack that slows enemies on impact, while Hades can pull in his foes towards him with Pillar of Agony. Like most other free-to-play games, there are real money cosmetics to purchase.

Tetris 99

One of the best free games on Nintendo Switch, Tetris 99 is engrossing as you survive to be the very last player standing. You have to keep up with the ever-increasing tempo of the gameplay and finish lines to send them to an opposing player. The action gets pretty intense at times, but is always worth it thanks to the compelling and rewarding gameplay. Thankfully, there are no microtransactions in Tetris 99, and you unlock new skins for your p?layfield by finishing in-game tasks.

Tetris 99 comes free?? with your Nintendo Switch Online subscription.

Palia

The world of Palia is expansive, and it’s completely free to dive in and explore. As with many cozy games, there are a selection of NPCs who can be befriended or even romanced, and they all have a seemingly endless number of quests for you to complete. Palia also benefits from almost monthly updates, which add new side content, items, and ac??tivities to take part in. 

The only thing that will cost you anything in Palia is premium store outfits, tool skins, or glider skins. But choosing not to hand over your cash has zero effec?t on your gameplay, so it’s easy to ign??ore if you don’t want to spend anything. 

Disney Speedstorm

Disney Speedstorm is like Mario Kart if it was free, and all of the drivers were beloved Disney characters with cars themed around them. You can drift, charge up your Nitro Boost and even knock other racers off the road by side swiping them. Again, presumably heavily inspired by Mario Kart, racers can also pick up sprites along the track to give them power ups, which can then be used to ga??in an advantage in the race. 

Sky: Children of the Light

Sky: Children of the Light is a social game in which you can meet and befriend other players. In Sky, your only task is to explore the seven realms, unlocking new cosmetics and increasing the level of your Cape. This Cape is your means of transportation, as it ??allows you to fly through the skies of the realms, taking you further into the wilds. You can chat and send gifts to friends, play musical instruments, and a whole lot more. 

My Hero Ultra Rumble

Ultra Rumble is a MOBA fit for any fan of the Anime or Manga, and sees you grouped into parties of three in order to take out the rest of the 24 players in a match. The map you play on shrinks over time, leaving just two teams of three battling it out against each other. There is a Gacha element to Ultra Rumble, but don’t let that put you? off. You have six characters unlocked by default, so you’ve got plenty to work with right off the bat. 

Pokémon Café ReMix

If any of the games on this list are perfect for simply relaxing and zoning out, it’s Pokémon Café ReMix. Using the touchscreen?? capabilities of your switch, you need to swipe at a pool of Pokémon faces in order to fulfil the orders of other Pokémon, who will then eventually come and work for you and unlock new recipes. It’s weirdly addictive, and also adorable on top, so definitely worth it given the lack of payment needed. 

Guardian Tales

If you want a dungeon crawling game with cute graphics, then Guardian Tales is very much recommended. Originally released on iOS and Android back in 2020, and then coming to Nintendo Switch in 2022, you need to use all the tactics at your di??sposal to lure enemies into the open so you can complete each area. It can get a little frustrating at times, but it’s immensely satisfying and you can join guilds with other players, allowing you to take on even bigger and stronger enemies. 

Angry Bunnies: Colossal Carrot Crusade

If you’ve ever played Angry Birds, then you’ll have a good idea what to expect from Angry Bunnies. It’s the same concept with some slight twists �?you fire bunnies out of a hop-powered cannon to try and take down structures at the other end of the playing arena, which have been constructed by wildlife critt?ers. I stumb?led across this by accident, and then quickly racked up more hours playing than I’d care to admit. 

Tricky Doors

Tricky Doors is a puzzle-game-meets-escape-room experience that will really make you think outside the box, but it’s not too d??ifficult that it becomes ultimately frustrating. There are a long list of mini-games and small quests to complete, and the different rooms in which you find yourself trapped are absolutely jam-packed with detail, so you’re unlikely to ever find yourself becoming bored. 

The Elder Scrolls: Blades

Compared to the Elder Scrolls titles that you may be more familiar with, Blades is much more linear and you’re essentially forced into one-on-one combat situations in order to progress. However, that doesn’t detract from th?e fun experience that this game offers. There are three modes: Abyss, which is an endless dungeon to test yourself against, Arena, which is player versus player multiplayer, and Town, which is a town for you to rebuild and upgrade. 

Hamster Playground

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a hamster whose sole purpose in life is to navigate various mazes and competing with other hamsters? No? Just me? Well if you haven’t wondered, then perhaps you should, because Hamster Playground is just that. Not only are you playing as a hamster, but you can also dress up your hamster in a huge variety of costumes. It’s adorab?le and incredibly fun, as long as you don’t take it too seriously. 

The post 20 best free games on Nintendo Switch right now appeared first on Destructoid.

Since the 80s, th??e Zelda franchise has had a huge variety of enemies for the hero Link to hack and slash his way through while exploring Hyrule. As the years have gone by, the best foes have often appeared in multiple games, however, it’s been a while since we’ve seen some of them.

With the latest title Echoes of Wisdom ushering in a new era for the franchise, there are some enemies we wish would come back to the series. Here are the ten enemies we want back in Zelda �?and luckily ReDeads don’t need to be on this list since they’re in Echoes of Wisdom.

10 enemies that Zelda should bring back 

1. Darknuts

An imposing suit of armor that gives me a chance to sword fight? Yes, please. Darknuts have been around in the series for a while now, but it’s no contest that their Twilight Princess appearance is the best. These black suits of armor with intricate detail are just so much fun to fight and provide a unique challenge that ??simple ba?ddies like Bulbins and Lizalfos just couldn’t compete with. 

2. Deku Babas

Every good fantasy series needs an evil plant, and Deku Babas have long served that purpose for The Legend of Zelda. Sadly, they didn’t show up in Breath of the Wild or Tears of the Kingdom, and there wasn’t anything similar. Were they particularly difficult? No, but there’s nothing quite like seeing Link suddenly tossed 10 feet away screaming because one of these guys popped u??p out of nowhere.

3. Wallmasters

Another classic that’s sadly missing, Wallmasters were Gloom Hands before Gloom Hands existed. These disembodied hands will slowly fall from the ceiling before snatching up Link and throwing him back to the beginning of the dungeon. Equally terrifying and annoying, the moment you first run into one in Ocarina of Time’s Forest Temple is just as memora??ble as your first Guardian fight.

4. Dodongos

Dodongos are the closest thing to dinosaurs we’ll probably ever have in Zelda, so it’s not hard to see why we want them back. While they weren’t ever too difficult, they provided a great unique enemy to volcanic regions like Death Mountain that weren’t just fire variations of common enemies. We hope to see these lizard-dinosaur-li?ke creatures again.

5. Armos

Our favorite foes from the series are typically the most intimidating, and the Armos is certainly one you’ll be wise to tread carefully around. These huge statues shoot lasers and explode upon death, so taking them out is a special challenge. Their Majora’s Mask appearances, including the Death Armos?, are by far our ?favorite, and we’d love to see them appear in the next 3D title.

6. Soldiers

While the soldiers of Hyrule are normally a good help (or at least not hostile) to Link, it’s been a while since we’ve seen them actively fight the hero. A Link to the Past is our favorite, providing tons of variations including soldiers with spears, bows, bombs, and even ball and chains. Human enemies are not common in Zelda, and it’d be awesome to be able to fight some brainwashed soldie?rs again.

7. Guardians

It hasn’t been that long since Guardians struck fear into our hearts for the first time in Breath of the Wild. Initially one of the most dangerous enemies in the game, once you learned how to beat them you never felt cooler. These mechanical tanks were one of the most iconic parts of the game, so it was sad to see them completely omitted from the sequel. How terrifying would ??it be to find these guys roaming around in the next title? We want to see it happen.

8. Geldman

We’ll forgive you for not recognizin??g this sand monster since it hasn’t been seen since A Link Between Worlds over a decade ago. This creature might not have been the hardest to beat in their previous appearances, but the original artwork featuring the Geldman that lives in the desert sands is just so imposing and cool, that we’re hoping to see it make a comeback. Just think of the possibilities a massive sand monster could have.

9. Poes

These ghosts have certainly had quite the switch-up in the most recent 3D Zelda, going from combative foes to whisps of light you can collect for rewards. While their Tears of the Kingdom appearance is nice, we would love to see these guys back in action like they were in their heyday, lanterns, and all. Af??ter all, there are neve?r enough ghosts you can fight off.

10. Gohma

Technically Gohma is a recurring boss, however since this massive spider loves to send her children to fight for her as common enemies, we’ll count her on this list. Gohma is one of the quintessential Zelda enemies, instilling arachnophobia in all who pick up the game. Sadly, there were no enormous spiders in the most recent titles for Legend of Zelda, and it?? just feels ?wrong. We want Gohma back and with more of her babies than we’ve ever seen before. 

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Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom has no shortage of epic and imposing ene?mies for Link to fight. From the coliseums in the Depths to the ?tallest sky island, Hyrule is stuffed with fun combat encounters.

But which creatures and face-offs are the absolute best? It’s all, of course, somewhat subjective based on the player. However, i?n this complete TOTK enemies tier list, we’re going to do our best to sort all the adversaries objectively. Legendary clashes, cool visual designs, and neat interactions with systems like Fuse will pus?h enemies further up the list.

Warning: Major spoilers for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom follow.

S Tier: The Most Epic Showdowns in Hyrule

Demon King Ganondorf,?? Flux Construct, Gleeoks, Colgera, Phantom Ganon, Demon Dragon, Bokoblin

The top category in this tier list is made up almost entirely of memorable boss fights with great visuals and mechanics. However, there’s one exception. The class??ic Bokoblin is a staple of Hyrule with a weirdly charming design that does a solid job of introducing the game’s basic fighting mechanics. Meanwhile, bosses like the Flux Constructs and the Gleeoks look cool and give players tons of interesting ways to defeat them using the new Ultrahand and Ascend powers. 

Boss Spotlight: Ganondorf and the Demon Dragon

Tears of the Kingdom nails the epic showdown with Ganondorf from start to finish. Whether you’re facing off against his phantom visage in the throne room or his final draconic transformation at the end of th?e game, you’re in for an epic fight that gets the blood pumping. The Demon King’s flurry rush abilities made for the perfect foil to Link’s own combos. When you see the boss’s health bar break the normal limit and reach for the far right side of your screen, y?ou know you’re up against an evil like no other.  

A Tier: Flurry Rush at the Ready

Boss Bokoblin, Gibdos, Captain Constructs, Lynels, Master Kohga, Frox, ?Moldugas, Marbled Gohma, Muckto??rok, Gloom Spawn

Some of the best fights in Tears of the Kingdom are the ones that seem challenging at first but then get progressively easier once you discover that there’s not just one way to defeat the monster, but many. Lynels, Captain Constructs, Gloom Hands, and the Marbled Gohma boss fight are all great examples of this. There are also plenty of fun w??ays to experiment with Fuse when taking down Boss Bokoblins, Molduga, and Frox. Muc??ktorok, the Water Temple boss, also belongs in this tier because of the epic low-gravity arena in which you face him.

Boss Spotlight: Master Kohga

The leader of the Yiga Clan and his horde of misappropriated Zonai devices is a more than worthy showdown for Link. In fact, Tears of the Kingdom improves upon the encounter with this enemy from Breath of the Wild i??n almost every way. Instead of a single fight that’s solvable with a few arrows, you now have to track Kohga through the Depths. Every time you find him, he gets progressively stronger and busts out a new set?? of moves.

B Tier: Worth Wasting Bomb Arrows On

Keese, Evermean, Moblins, Horriblins, Zonai soldier construct, Yiga blade master, Hin??ox, Stalnox, Moragia, Queen Gibdo

The middle section of this tier list includes all the monsters that have cool designs but offer more simplified fights. Horriblins look terrifying, but once you learn how to drop them over water, they become trivial. Moblins, Hinox, and Stalnox, are also rather intimidating and fun to fight b?ut don’t bring as much tension as the monsters in the A and S tiers. Evermeans give you a good jump scare the first time you find them, but after that, you know what ??to expect. I’ve also put Keese in this tier simply for the quality of their fuse drops. 

Boss Spotlight: Queen Gibdo

The final boss of the Lightning Temple is a challenging fight for aspiring heroes of Hyrule. The queen looks like a suitably terrifying foe, and during the first phase of the fight, there are plenty of fun options for taking he??r down. However, it’s the second phase of the fight that knocks this boss down from the higher tiers. Using Riju’s lightning power is the easiest way t??o take out the purple nests in the chamber’s four corners. However, the power takes a long time to recharge, and I found myself running away from attacks and kiting mobs while waiting for it to come back.

C Tier: Master Sword Fodder 

Like Like, Aerocuda, Lizalfos, Wizzrobes, Battle Talus, Yiga Foot sol??dier, Seized Construct

Enemies in this tier are decent enough mobs to fight occasio??nally but not otherwise particularly noteworthy. Like Likes and Wizzrobes require only a few arrows to take down. Aerocudas, while at least offering viable fuse drops, have?? only basic move patterns. Yiga footsoldiers have a cool design, but you usually get rid of them quickly before they do anything interesting. As for Lizalfos, those guys are just plain pesky.

Boss Spotlight: Seized Construct

The final boss of the secret fifth sage temple in the Depths was something I admittedly found a bit disappointing. In this fight, Link has to use the spirit sage’s power to step into a boxing ring-like arena and defeat the construct. While this might sound c??ool in principle, the mechanics instead felt clunky. Additionally, there wasn’t anything particularly visually interesting in the boss fight compared to Colgera, for e?xample. Perhaps I was also expecting something a bit darker in theme, considering how the game set up this fight’s mysterious location in the Depths. 

D Tier: Blobs, Globs, and Rocks

Chuchu, R??ock Octorock, Pebblits, Stone Talus, Sludge ??Like, Little Frox  

Not every enemy in Tears in the Kingdom is an automatic home run. Some are just blobs of goo that get in your way when you’re trying to make it to your next quest o??bjective. This category is made up of unfortunate, uninteresting creatures that don’t offer much in terms of either battle prowess or drops. Just knock them on the head a few times with a stick, and you’ll be on your way without a second thought.

The post Tears ??of the Kingdom enemies tier list: Com??plete Ranking (TOTK) appeared first on Destructoid.

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom's Overworld is f??ar from the largest the series has seen, but it's still a sizable landmass that'll take so?me time to map out completely. Luckily, you can unlock a handy-dandy fast-travel system that will hasten your quest to seal the rifts to the Still World.

Echoes of Wisdom's Fast Travel is easy to unlock and even easier to use

You won't have to wait too long to uncover Echoes of Wisdom's fast-travel system. The game subtly points you down the path you need to go to unlock it, and it takes time to ensure you understand how useful it is. Of course, if you're rushing to get your first dungeon or scope out some fun side-quests, you might breeze by the fast-travel tutorial.

To unlock fast travel, head east along the base after you've escaped Hyrule Castle, spelunk your way through Beach Cave, and finally stop by Suthorn Town. Instead of heading north to the Suthorn Temple??, keep going east until you find a green, glowing statue. This is the first of ?many Waypoints you'll find on your travels across Hyrule.

Once you're close enough to the statue, Tri will explain what it is and how to activate it. To activate the Waypoint, walk u?p to it and hit the "RZ" trigger, like when you learn a new Echo. Once you've lit the Waypoint, you can activate it anytime by opening the map w??ith the "-" button.

Before you wander into the unknown, remember that the first waypoint you find is the only ?one the game highlights for you. From here on out, you’ll have to ??keep your eyes open and take the time to activate every Waypoint you stumble across. Trust me, you’ll need them once the side quests start piling up.

The post How to unlock fast tra?vel in The Legend of ??Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom appeared first on Destructoid.

There's no denying that The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is one of the best and most successful video games released in 2023, and it's evident that gamers still recogni??ze its high quality to this day, late into 2024.

Japan's Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association (better known as CESA) recently an??nounced? all the winners of the Japan Game Awards 2024 during this year's Tokyo Game Show, and, to the surprise of many people, Tears of the Kingdom ended up winning not one, not two, but three different awards in what e??nded up being an excellent night for Nintendo.

Per Siliconera, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom won the Best Sales Award (which makes se??nse, considering it sold more than 19.5 million units), one of eleven Awards for Excellence and the Grand Award, which would be the equivalent to Game of the Year in the American Game Awards. The director of the game, Hidemaro Fujibayashi, and ?series producer, Eiji Aonuma, went up to?? the stage in order to thank CESA and take home their third and final statue.

These are far from the only accolades that The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom received since its initial release on May 12, 2023. It also won the award for Best Action/Adventure Game in The Game Awards 2023, it was named Best Adventure Game of the Year in the 27th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards, and it received an award for Technical Achievement in BAFTA's 20th British Academy Games Awards. Not to mention, Destructoid also named it the Best Overall Game of 2023.

The Legend of Zelda franchise is experiencing one of its best moments

Nintendo has recently opted for a format of yearly releases for The Legend of Zelda series and, to the surprise of most fans, it ended up working extremely well for both the company and the IP. From 2020 to 2024, it released a slew of quality titles, from long-awaited remasters like Skyward Sword HD to exciting spin-offs, like Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity.

But, as the next mainline entry, Tears of the Kingdom was without a doubt the most anticipated game in the series for multiple years and, fortunately for fans, it successfully delivered on all of its promises. And if all that wasn't enough, Nintendo recently released The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, a creative new game that is already receiving positive reviews all over the internet. The Zelda franchise is going through one of its best eras, and fans are certainly enjoying it??.

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In 2013, Nintendo published PlatinumGames' The Wonderful 101, a unique and stylish action game that ??slowly?? became a cult classic. For many years, the IP belonged to Nintendo, but fans recently noticed that PlatinumGames acquired its trademark from the publisher earlier this month.

Reddit user r/Joseki100 recently discovered that on August 19, PlatinumGames filed a document in the United States Patent and Trademark Office requiring the transferal of the Wonderful 101 trademark from Nintendo, which was successfully ??completed by September 9, ultimately confirming that the studio fully owns the rights to the game now.

This is quite an unprecedented event, since it is extremely rare for Nintendo to give one of its IPs to someone else. Although this acquisition isn't much surprise in retrospect, considering that PlatinumGam?es has been trying to become indepe?ndent since 2020, not to mention that Nintendo hasn't done much with the Wonderful 101 IP, aside from allowing PlatinumG??ames to remaster?? the game and port it over to other consoles in 2020.

The potential future of The Wonderful 101 franchise

News of the acquisition made some fans speculate that PlatinumGames may have plans of developing a sequel to The Wonderful 101. It all depends on the studio that created the franchise now, as it no longer needs to rely on the funding or approval of Nintendo. It's possible that PlatinumGames may even do another crowdfunding campaign in order to develop a new The Wonderful 101 game, similarly to?? what? it did for the 2020 remaster.

There's only one problem: the director of The Wonderful 101, Hideki Kamiya, left the company in September 2023. Some fans believe tha?t his departure means that making a new entry in this series is almost impossible, since his signature style ??was a big part of the original game's identity. However, there still are many other talented people working today at PlatinumGames who may be able to take over from him and successfully direct a solid sequel.

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Just days after winning its $15 million dollar copyright lawsuit against a Chinese company behind a mobile game called Pocket Monster Reissue that seemed to blatantly use Pokemon characters, The Pokemon Company and Nintendo have filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Pocketpair Inc., the developer of hit game Palworld that released earlier this year.

According to the press release by Nintendo, the joint patent infringement lawsuit was filed today, September 18, 2024, and seeks an injunction against infringement and compensation for damages on the grounds that Palworld infringes multiple patent rights. Th?e release also reiterates a statement provided by Nintendo earlier this year in which Nintendo indicated that it will continue to take necessary actions against any infringement of its intellectual property rights including the Nintendo brand itself, to protect the intellectual properties it has worked hard to establish over the years.

Palworld released in Early Access in January this year and sold over a million copies in just 8 hours. By the end of January Palworld had surpassed 19 million total ??players, becoming one of the fastest-selling games on Steam of all time.

This story is still developing and may be updated in real time as more details become available.

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Nintendo has dropped four new games into the Nintendo Switch Online SNES catalog. It��s quite a surp?rising lin??eup, especially if you’re digging the Japanese games on the service.

The one that I assume the most people reading this will recognize is Battletoads and Double Dragon (or just Battletoads Double Dragon; the logo isn’t clear). It’s another early Rare game for the pile. As the name implies, it crosses over Technos�?Double Dragon with Rare’s Battletoads. It was developed by Rare with very little input from Technos, but they sort of tried to find a mid-point between the two series. I did a full write-up of it a while ago, but I think this summarizes it: “It’s not a great Battletoads title (if one happens to exist), and it’s not a very good Double Dragon game, but there are enough appreciable factors here to keep it from being a bad game.�?/p>

The other three games are Japan-only titles. There’s an SNES port of Big Run, a raster racing game that was originally released in arcades in 1989. It’s based on the Paris-Dakar Rally event. By many accounts, it’s not great, but I have a soft spot for raster racers. There’s also a falling block puzzle game called Cosmo Gang: The Puzzle. It’s a cute falling blocks-st?yle puzzle game It was also originally an arcade game (1992). I have less context with this?? one, but the trailer makes it look cute.

Finally, there is Kunio-kun no Dodgeball da yo: Zen’in Shūgō! This is sort of one of Super Dodgeball’s sequels. As a Kunio/Nekketsu/River City/Downtown fan, I actually have the Super Famicom cartridge for this. It’s�?Like, it’s Super Dodgeball but on more powerful hardware. As such, it’s still fun, but th??e single-player is massively unbalanced. You assign skill points to your team, and it’s incredibly easy to overpower your team. On the plus side, it’s four-player, and if I remember correctly, you can play the main campaign coop.

These four games are now available on the Ninten?do Swi?tch Online Super Nintendo app.

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The Legend of Zelda series is no stranger to featuring quirky characters, and it seems that the upcoming new title, Echoes of the Wisdom, will be no exception. Nintendo recently unveiled promotional artwork of two interesting characters that Zelda will interact with on her new adventure, alongside a detailed ov?erview trailer.

Stamp Guy and the Great Fairy will appear in Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom

Nintendo UK just published these new Echoes of Wisdom character renders on its official Twitter/X account. First, the company revealed a new version of the Great Fairy, a recurring character in the franchise that usually assists Link in some way. According to Nintendo??, this time she will reside somewhere in Hyrule, and she will help Princess Zelda "on her path to true sty?le".

The second character Nintendo UK revealed is Stamp Guy, and the post details that Zelda will meet him after he drops out of the sky. The company didn't disclose much more information about Stamp Guy's role in the new game, but he seems to be based off of Stamps, a character from The Minish Cap who, in turn, was inspired by the Postman from Majora's Mask. Ho?wever, this new character's design is completely original.

Nintendo also released an overview trailer of Echoes of Wisdom

The reveal of the Great Fairy and Stamp Guy came alongside a brand-new overview trailer for The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom that Nintendo published on its YouTube channel. For the most part, this video contains information the company already revealed in the past, like the creepy new location of Still World and Zelda's ne?w and unique Bind abi??lity. Although this is a perfect summary for fans who may have missed any previous trailers.

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom comes out in two weeks, on September 26 f?o??r Nintendo Switch.

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Masahiro Sakurai, the director of Nintendo's Super Smash Bros. series and creator of Kirby, recently shared on his Twitter account that he has been playing and enjoying the new PlayStation 5 hit, Astro Bot. And the development team at Team As?obi even responded to his kind words.

The Super Smash Bros. director appreciates that Astro Bot didn't waste his time

Sakurai claims that he rescued all the 300 bots in the game. He confirmed that this didn't take him much time to achieve, but that the game was interesting enough for him to do it. Furthermore, he even signed off his tweet by explicitly praising Astro Bot, saying it's a "great game".

This tweet was made in response to his most recent YouTube video, in which he explains how important it is for developers to be mindful of the time players are giving them when playing through their games. After all, modern audiences have a variety of different options for things they can do with their free time, and therefore they must feel like their time investment must be worthwhile. He kept this philosophy in mind when he developed Super Smash Bros. and, with this new tweet, Sakurai seems to pose Astro Bot as an example of a good game that doesn't waste any?? time.

Team Asobi, the developer behind Astro Bot, responded on its official Twitter/X account to Sakurai, and said: "Dear Sakurai-san, thank you so much for taking the time to play Astro Bot! Love from Team ASOBI".

Twitter users responded positively to this exchange, with many of them even asking Sakurai to add Astro Bot as a playable fighter in a future installment of Super Smash Bros.

The parallels between Super Smash Bros. and Astro Bot are evident, since both titles work a?s gigantic celebrations of not only their console brands (Nintendo and PlayStation respectively), bu?t also of the gaming industry as a whole, thanks to the inclusion of many third-party IPs.

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Super Mario Party Jamboree is the much anticipated multiplayer sequel that has over 110 mini-games, a mix of old and new boards, and long-awaited characters that have yet to? join the series.

It's going to b??e an exciting time for Nintendo f??ans when the party truly begins. Here's everything we know so far about the game.

Super Mario Party Jamboree release date and pre-order bonuses

Peach, Yoshi, Wario, and many other characters will compete for star supremacy when Super Mario Party Jamboree launches exclusively for the Nintendo Switch on October 17.

If you pre-order the game through GameStop, you'll gain a Mario Party Dice keychain with your purchase. Best Buy, meanwhile, is offering a free Super Mario Party Jamboree-themed tote bag, which it claims ?is a $9.99 value. All copies of the game seem to come with three months of Switch Online for free as well, no matter where you get it.

Are you based in the United Kingdom? You can get the aforementioned dice keychain and a star pin set with your purchase of the game on the My Nintendo Store. GAME?? also includes the keychain with pre-orders.

All Super Mario Party Jamboree characters

The Super Mario Party Jamboree features many series reg??ulars, but it also has two newc??omers joining the fun-filled chaos. Here are all of the characters confirmed for the game so far:

• Mario
• Luigi
• Peach
• Donkey Kong
• Bowser
• Toad
• Toadette
• Daisy
• Shy Guy
• Yoshi
• Wario
• Waluigi
• Rosalina
• Boo
• Birdo
• Goomba
• Koopa Troopa
• Ninji
• Pauline
• Bowser Jr.
• Spike
• Monty Mole

Despite some other Nintendo characters joining the Mario Kart series, we won't be seeing The Legend of Zelda's Link or the Inklings joining this Mario Party game.

All boards, retro and new

Similar to the Mario Kart series, however, there will be a mix of old and new boards to play on. Here are all of the boards confirmed for Super Mario Party Jamboree so far:

• Mario's Rainbow Castle (Mario Party)
• Western Land (Mario Party 2)
• Roll 'em Raceway
• King Bowser's Keep
• Rainbow Galleria
• Mega Wiggler's Tree Party
• Goomba Lagoon

All mini-games we know so far

Thanks to Mario Party Legacy, we have an idea of what some of the mini-games are called and what types to expect. There are also some returning mini-games like the last entry Mario Party Superstars.

The returning mini-games include:

• Domination (Mario Party 4)
• Three Throw (Mario Party 4)
• Granite Getaway (Mario Party 6)
• Treasure Divers (Mario Party)
• Platform Peril (Mario Party)
• Stamp Out! (Mario Party 4)
• Blame it on the Crane (Mario Party 4)
• Snow Brawl (Mario Party 6)
• Defuse or Lose (Mario Party 5)
• Jump the Gun (Mario Party 6)
• Leaf Leap (Mario Party 5)
• Bumper Balls (Mario Party 2)
• Shy Guy Says (Mario Party 2)

The new games discovered, thanks to the preview coverage (read ours here) at PAX East 2024 include the following:

• Sandwiched
• Hot Cross Blocks
• Sunset Standoff
• Prime Cut
• Tricky Turntable
• Lane Change

What is the Koopathalon in Super Mario Party Jamboree?

The Koopathalon is a new online multiplayer mode that has up to 20 people competing against each other on a track. As you win mini-games, you'll gain traction and get clos??er to the lead.

"While I have nothing against the traditional Party Mode, Koopathlon presents a more high-octane approach to getting you into minigames," said our preview. "There was no rolling of the dice to move, nor store to buy items, or Stars declaring the winner �?from what ?I could tell."

There is also a new co-op mode called the Bowser Kaboom Squad. It has you trying to take down a huge Bowser destroying a city. You're runni??ng around the bo??ard and collecting bombs to place into a cannon. Once they're fired, Bowser's health goes down.

Does Super Mario Party Jamboree support online for party mode?

The party doesn't just have to take place on the couch as you can take the action online with four players. You'll all just need a Switch Online subscription, which in comparison to ??Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Plus, is cheap.

The post Everything we know about Super Mario Party Jamboree – Characters, mini-games, release date appeared first on Destructoid.

A recently released art book for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom has reveal??ed that it was planned to have a different title. And that original title might have spoiled one? of the game's biggest twists.

Obviously, know that major spoilers for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom will follow. If you haven't finished the gam??e yet, read at your own peril.

Nintendo released the Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom "Master Works" art book in Japan on August 30, 2024. Thanks to this, Legend of Zelda fans got a fascinating first look at a great amount of concept art for what was one of 2023's biggest and most critically ac?claimed games. However, a very interesting piece of new information didn't come from the art itself, but from something the producer of the game, Eiji Aonuma, revealed in the book.

This new tidbit was translated from the book by Nintendo Every?thing and says that, according to Aonuma, the original title for the game was going to be The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Dragon. Those who have played the game in its entirety will immediately recognize that this would have been a big problem, since this subtitle contains a huge story spoil??er.

Aonuma agr??ees. "Letting it slip that the Light Dragon is Zelda would have been a problem, and this had an effect on the ?title too," said Aonuma.

Aonuma and his team managed to prevent this spoiler with a clever change

The team struggled to figure out a way to incorporate the dragon imagery into the logo, without giving away the whole thing. Nothing good was coming to mind, until someone on the team suggested "Kingdom" and thus, they decided to change it to The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

“It felt like the phrase could connect to the Light Dragon to us, and we could use dragons in the logo. With the title decid?ed, the logo finally became what it is now�? ??said Aonuma.

It makes sense now, as Tears of the Kingdom went quite a while without an official subtitle. "As for why we’re holding back on the name, you’ll just have to stay tuned because, obviously, Zelda names are kind of important", said Nintendo's Bill Trinen back in June 2021.

Fortunately for Nintendo and for Legend of Zelda fans, the change from Tears of the Dragon to Tears of the Kingdom was a brilliant decision that let players experiment?? a perfectly crafted plot twist without suspecting anything.

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Despite its status as a spin-off, Mario Party has become a well-established franchise of its own over the course of many years. Since 1998, the series has delighted and, often, enraged many fans. Super Mario Party Jamboree is next in line, bringing new ways to play an??d yel??l.

To be fair, most of the venting is due to the series of party games being surprisingly competitive, despite its delightfully spirited aesthetic. I've often joked that if you're looking to ruin friendships, few things work better than discussing religion, politics, or playing Mario Party. The games are a lot of fun for large gatherings, featuring exciting minigames to compete in as one of many dozens of Mario characters.

Party up in here

There are more than 20 Mario Party games across an assortment of consoles, handhelds, and arcades playing host to hundreds upon hundreds of minigames. It's impressive that the series continues to grow and add even more ways to play. Super Mario Party Jamboree will be no exception when it arrives on Nintendo Switch. It's a massive Mario Party game, featuring seven game boards, 22 playable characters, and more than 110 minigames. It also sports some coo?l new modes �?two of which I got to try while at PAX West.

Sitting down at the event, I hopped into a traditional Party Mode with three others. We picked our chosen character, one going with Ninji, who makes their Mario Party debut. Pauline comes to Jamboree as the second of the two new characters to the roster. I wen??t with my boy Wario, because, let's just face it, he's the best. Accept no substitute.

Wigglin' on by

We played on one of the new boards, Mega Wiggler's Tree Party. Super Mario Party Jamboree has five new boards for fans to try out, along with two from the series' past. Mario's Rainbow Castle from the original game is getting gussied up for Jamboree, as is Western Land from Mario Party 2.

Mega Wiggler's Tree Party is pretty much as you'd imagine. It's a board dressed up with bright, green grass, trees, and mushrooms. Piranha Plants are strategically placed arou?nd the board, napping away until a player got close enough for a bite. A gigantic Wiggler is holed up in the center �?in a literal hole �?with spaces on its back on which players could use to progress. Bells dotted around the map can be rung, causing the Wiggler to move and potentially ruin someone's grand plans.

The map may be new, but the goal remains the same as it has for ?the last 26 years: Hit ?the dice, move around the board, grab coins, win minigames, and collect those Stars! The one with the most Stars is the winner and the target of scorn.

Our match also started as expected. We took turns punching a rolling die, and the person with the highest number went first. For us, that was the newcomer Ninji, who managed to grab the game's first Star within a span of about? tw?o minutes. The tension was already rising.

We hopped into a few minigames while traveling around the board. One had us sliding around an icy platform while giant heads blew a gust of wind that threatened to push us into the cold water. Another had us ground-pound a button that sent out a ring of light; get hit by the light three times and you're out. Most of the games we played were were a blast, offering a blend of challenge and humor. Jamboree lets you practic?e the minigame and learn its rules b?efore starting, which is typical.

W?e didn't manage to get too far. The Nintendo reps quickly mo?ved us to the first of the game's new online modes before Ninji claimed another Star. I put down my chair.

A race to the top

Next was Koopathalon, a new, online multiplayer mode for up to 20 people. Our match was mostly filled with bots, but that didn't leave things any less competitive. In Koopathlon, you choose a character and dash laps ar??ound a large race track. Winning minigames allows you to advance on the course, while losing sets you back.

Of course, this means that the stakes are so much higher for winning those minigames. The last player standing gets a massive boost forward, while the stragglers end up eating dust. Things certainly felt more heated in Koopat??hlon, and I found myself nearing closer to the edge of my seat as we hopped from minigame to minigame. Being a somewhat competitive person in multiplayer games, Koopathlon kept me focused. I caught myself holding my breath a few times as my vision tunneled around the screen.

I found myself closely behind the player in first place. We raced on, using minigames as fuel to propel our characters forward. I discovered I'm quite good at a racing minigame where you press left or right to switch tracks while avoiding obstacles and collecting coins. I'll count my years grinding rails in Sonic games for that skill. There was another minigame that stood out in which you had to pull bread o??ut of an oven at the right time. As someone who spent years worki?ng in professional kitchens, this one stressed me out more than taxes.

I ended up really enjoying Koopathlon. While I have nothing against the traditional Party Mode, Koopathlon presents a more high-octane approach to getting you into minigames. There was no rolling of the dice to move, nor store ?to buy items, or Stars declaring the winner �?from what I could tell. You move, play minigames, and move again. So far, it feels like a fantastic alternative for those who want to ditch ??the Stars and chase the checkered flag.

Cooperative kaiju battles

The last mode we tried was another one new to the series. Bowser Kaboom Squad is an online multiplayer mode that's co-op, where you work together with a?? crew to take down a massive, city?-stomping Bowser. The round-based mode tasked us with running around a board, busting through crates to collect bombs to toss into a cannon. When 20 bombs were loaded, it would fire at Bowser, chunking away at his health bar.

There were still minigames to play in Bowser Kaboom Squad. But afterward, you could collect items to help your team win. You could pick a banana peel and place it on Bowser's path, causing him to slip and fall on his scaly butt. Grabbing the mallet lets you break through the wooden boxes containing bombs faster. But my favorite is the pads that give you and your allies a brief burst of speed. Think of them like those Boost Pads in Mario Kart.

Bowser becomes more dangerous the longer the match goes. At low life, he belches firebal?ls into the ai??r that land and continue to burn on the ground. The fire would block off certain paths, making it harder to get bombs to the cannon. Items like the boost pads could also be destroyed by the fire, slowing your progress.

We managed to win in the end. The final salvo of bombs was hand-delivered by your truly, and Bowser was beaten.?? (For now.) Bowser Kaboom Squad feels like a good addition to the roster of modes comin??g to the game. It was exciting to team up with the crew to take down a single big bad, as opposed to trying to one-up each other. The mode should prove to be a great for folks not wanting the high competition the other modes bring. It might also be a welcome palate-cleanser for those long party sessions.

Just around the corner

Super Mario Party Jamboree is shaping up to be a fantastic addition to the long-standing franchise. While fans of the traditional mode should be happy with the game, I'm glad to say that it has plenty of options to prevent things fr??om getting stale.

I'd love to play more Koopathlon shortly, but I'm also looking forward to its co-op additions. Things should hopefully stay less stressful that way. Super Mario Party Jamboree is heading to the Nintendo Switch on October 17.

The post Hands-on: Super Mario Pa??rty Jamboree sparks fresh excitement (and a bit of road r?age) with its new Koopathlon mode appeared first on Destructoid.

Nintendo recently released a brand-new Mario & Luigi: Brothership trailer, which reveals the main new location of this anticipated game, ahead of it's November 2024 release. And that's not all, because they disclosed even more fascinating information on the game's official Japanese website.

Mario & Luigi will explore Concordia in their newest adventure!

This new trailer, which Nintendo recently posted ??all over their social media, reveals the name of the main location that the famous plumber brothers will visit and explore in their upcoming RPG adventure: Concordia. Judging by the footage, it's evident that this is a beautiful place with its own unique flora & faun?a. The official description of the video describes this adventure as an "island getaway", so it's evident that they're aiming for a setting?? with a tropical atmosphere.

Luckily for Mario fans, Nintendo revealed further information in the official Japanese website for Mario & Luigi: Brothership. The main takeaway is that Conco??rdia is a mysterious land that the plumbers are visiting for the first time, and it's entirely made up of different dri?fting islands that they will be able to explore throughout their adventure.

Mario and Luigi will get to Concordia by setting sail on a drifting island that also works as a ship, fittingly named Ship Island. From that point onwards, they will have to explore the multiple other drifting islands of the region, like Gran Gran Island, a place filled with rock-like residents and environments, Tuis Island, a tourist destination where a species of twisted tree can grow, Xenialver Island, an urban island with a big city that contributes to the economy of the region, Kandang Island, an island that is half magm??a and half ice, ??and much more.

On each island, Mario and Luigi will meet curious characters and fight threatening monsters, so each one of them will surely contain many surprises for the player (Keep in mind that Nintendo hasn't revealed the official English names for these islands, but it's most likely that the English localization will either keep the same names or use new ones th??at sound very similar).

Meet new, funky-looking characters!

The website also revealed a bunch of interesting new information about the antagonistic group of characters that was seen in previous Mario & Luigi: Brothership trailers. They are the Boldrud Squad, and the site explains that they are "suspicious characters giving orders behind the scenes". It did no?t reveal much more information about them, so it's most likely Nintendo is keeping them under wraps, so play?ers will be able get to know more about the Boldrud Squad in the game.

On the other hand, however, the website also showed off the new Combination Attacks that the pair of brothers will be able to pull off in Mario & Luigi Brothership. This is a s??taple of this RPG series, and the animation in this new entry is absolutely beautiful and extremely detailed. Based on all the trailers and screenshots, it is evident that the presentation of this upcoming title will not disappoint.

Fans will be able to get their hands on an alluring pre-order bonus

And if all that wasn't enough, the community discovered that Micromania, a video game retail store from France, revealed the bonus that those who pre-order Mario & Luigi: Brothership will?? receive a shiny exclusive steel book that displays the beautiful promotional art of the two brothers on the cover. Nintendo of America has yet to confirm if this pre-order bonus will also be available in the United States, or in other parts of the world, but most fans are confident that it will be.

Mario & Luigi: Brothership is launching on November 7, 2024, and fans are ecstatic for the anticipated return of the beloved Mario & Luigi RPG series, especially after the shutdown of AlphaDream in 2019. Although, Nintendo still hasn't officially revealed which studio is developing Mario & Luigi: Brothership??, which left fans heavily speculating on the topic.

The post Nintendo reveals exciting new inf?ormation about Mario & Luigi: Brothership appeared first on Destructoid.

As I previewed The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, there was a moment where the first line ever spoken in the series came back to me. The famous quote from an old man in a cave takes ??on a s??trange reflection in Zelda's solo outing.

"It's dangerous to go alone," the old man began. We know it well. Those iconic words led to our hero of legend taking up the imparted sword to save the land of Hyrule and its princess, Zelda. The roles are reversed in Echoes of Wisdom, with Zelda taking on the mantle of hero f?or the first time (let's just say, o??fficially). And as with the first game, she's not going at it alone.

The Adventure of Zelda

I got to play a couple of small sections in The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom while at PAX West. I experienced the start of the game not long after Link and a chunk of Hyrule and its populous get swallowed by mysterious purple rifts. The preview also included the first dungeon, which showcased Echoes of Wisdom's distinct take on puzzle-solving and combat.

Echoes of Wisdom begins at the end of a Link-led adventure. Ganon is defeated once more, but the celebrations have to wait. The spear he wielded caused rifts to spread, taking Link who barely managed to break Zelda free of Ganon's magic. The demo I played took place soon after the intro, where, in a twist, Zelda is blamed for the rifts and is tossed into jail faster than a typical Elder Scrolls protagonist.

Tri this on for size

This is no A Link to the Past, and Zelda can't rely on Link to break her free from her cell. But help still arrives. It's ?here you're introduced to Zelda's new partner, a small yellow fairy named Tri, whom only the princess can see. Tri offers Zelda a magical tool called the Tri Rod, which can creat?e copies �?called echoes �?of objects and creatures.

But there are catches, of course. You can't copy every object; the ones you can shimmer with a gold light. Creatures can only be collected after ?defeated. You can also only create so many echoes a?t once, indicated by the number of yellow triangles floating behind Tri. If you place one more than what's allowed, the first echoed object disappears.

I was given only a small handful of these triangles ??to start, but it was enough. The first object I added to my collection was a wooden table. Stacking three tables like a small staircase allowed me to break out of my cell and make for the exit.

On my way out I was stopped by Impa, who handed me Link's blue cloak for a disguise (which worked for all but three seconds) and a logbook with gameplay info and a map. Read??ing the logbook also clues you in on how to use echoes you've attained. Once you're equipped with the cloak, pressing the 'R' button makes you twirl. Doing?? so lets you shred grass as easily as Link could with a sword �?and it's just as fun. You can also use it in the water for a short boost.

It became es?tablished that the king of Hyrule is a phony, hence Zelda's surprising incarceration. The meeting with Impa was short, and I left to continue my escape while she went off to ninja-kick some guards. No matter the timeline, Impa still rocks.

Puzzle smarter, not harder

The castle basement is the training ground for the Tri Rod. Rooms filled with guards and puzzle challenges stand between you and sweet, sweet freedom. Zelda is no warrior in Echoes of Wisdom (sorry, Sheik fans). Against platforming puzzles and deadly enemies, her success relies on not being strong, but clever. Stacking tables will?? only get you so far.

Tri is ??Zelda's constant companion in the game, offering thoughts and instructions. With Tri's h??elp, you soon expand your list of objects from tables to beds, boulders, crates, and much more, giving you multiple options on how to approach puzzles and navigation challenges. Boulders and potted trees can grant a vertical boost, while wooden crates or beds help you cross bodies of water.

Sneak Queen

Tables give you a step up, but they can't exactly span over a lengthy gap. Horizontally stacking a few Old Beds, however, might give you just enough rea?ch. The Old Bed does have an amusing second purpose. Hopping on top and pressing the 'A' button lets you sleep, which slowly heals you over time. I was told that, yes, you can heal to full, but it takes longer depending on how much health you've lost. Hearts can be found in the typical clay pots and tall grass, sure, but I love the idea of Zelda completely zonking out in the middle of a dungeon on a magic bed.

The castle also introduces the game's stealth mechanics. Patrolling guards wandered thr??oughout the castle basement, where shelves lined with items or books created a maze-like path. I did have some trouble, sadly, and I ended up getting caught a few times. But using echoes of the Hyrule Castle Pot, I managed to get past by shattering said urns and hopping over shelves. So?on, freedom was mine.

Dungeon delving

Once I managed to escape, the Nintendo rep quickly whisked me off to the next section which takes place not long after the castle. I found myself actually ??inside a rift, called the Still World, which wasn't anything like the Dark World I expected. Chunks of land floated in a sea of swirling miasma, with captured Hylians trapped frozen in time.

Here was the location of the game's first dungeon: Suthorn Ruins. In the starting room was a waypoint marker, a strange-looking object that lets you fast-travel bot?h in dungeons and in the overworld. Beyond the door, I learned Tri's other neat trick.

In a bit of a Bind

By sending Tri into objects and creatures, you can manipulate them to open up new paths or solve puzzles in a method called "Bind." If a massive stone is in the way, use Bind and then walk to move it. Binding makes an object match your vertical height. Jump and the object will mimic th?e movement. For those statues that Link would normally need to push onto a button, Bind lets you slide them over easily. Is a button on top of a raised platform? Using Bind and a few stacked tables may be the key.

You can also hold the 'R' button while bound to follow along with moving objects such as mobile platforms and enemies. Yes, this means you can create an echo of an enemy that can climb walls then Bind and "follow" it up vertical cliffs. Binding is a remarkable new tool for Zelda games, and I'm excited to see just how much it'll blow open world exploratio??n.

New challenges await

The castle may have introduced the concepts, but the dungeon is where I was put to task. Puzzles were harder to figure out, demanding a bit more thinking power to complete them. Echoes of Wisdom certainly feels like a Zelda game for fans of the series' puzzles. More than once I had to stop and rub my chin for a ?moment before going at a puzzle from a different angle. Thankfully, with the Tri Rod and a stable of echoes, there is no on??e way to solve a problem.

There were harder, optional puzzles to face in the dungeon. I was assured that critical items such as keys could be attained with the right echoes ??and some time. The tougher challenges typically result in a chest containing some other reward, like a cache of Rupees.

Unlike the castle guards, the dungeon enemies weren't in any capturing mood. You must use echoes to defend yourself against foes. Summoning a Moblin echo to chuck spears is certainly a good play against smaller beasts like slimes and bats. But when ??I went against a heavily armored Darknut, I needed a different approach.

As ??mentioned, you must outthink not just puzzles but also Zelda's opponents. The Darknut is resistant to blunt weapons, but not against fire. By capturing an Ignizol, a fire enemy, I was able to distract and damage the brute. You can't directly control your echo warrior, but holding the 'ZL' button lets you target an enemy, sending your fighter their way. Using fire and some rocks I heroically hurled in its direction when its back was turned, the Dar?knut went down and a new echo was mine to claim. Just in time, too, as I was about to face a stronger, sadly familiar foe.

"Take this"

Imagine my shock when I entered a room to come face to face with an old friend... or so I thought. Shrouded in a purple mist and sporting red eyes, Dark Link, or maybe Rift Link, appeared as a mini-boss, wielding his sword and t??rademark shield.

Defeating the angry doppelganger wasn't a cakewalk for our weaponless Zelda. Even a Darknut echo seemed to have trouble dealing with the more nimble foe. But it served well as a shield and distraction. As the two warriors fought in mortal combat, I ran around the arena chucking pots and boulder echoes at the anti-Link. After I moved into th??e tall grass that lined a path between two rock platforms, Link lost track of me for a moment. But doing so gave me enough time to bring out another Darknut and continue? the fight.

He went down eventually, leaving his sword planted in the ground. The "Mysterious Sword" did apparently belong to the real Link, as his name was carved into it �?likely a nod to the opening act of Link's Awakening.

It was here that the quote flashed across my mind. "It's dangerous to go alone," the old man said. "Take this." Nearly 40 years after the original game, I found it strangely poetic for Link's sword to at last?? end up in the hands of the protagonist whose name is on every game in which he's starred.

Taking up the blade

The sword lets you activate Swordfighter form, during which Zelda glows blue while wearing Link's cap, tunic, and shield. Swordfighter allows you to fight enem?ies as Link, and also slash through slime-like obstructions blocking paths. It gives you all his basic abilities, such as the spin attack and defending with the shield.

But it's not permanent. The form uses energy, shown as a blue bar underneath your health. It drained rapidly after I activated it, giving me only a few moments before it burned out. You can press the activation button to cancel it and save energy. Filling the bar requires you to ?collect blue bits of energy in the Still World or dropped during battle. In the demo, the blue bar had "Lv. 1" written on the side, suggesting it can be upgraded.

The Swordfighter form came in handy later agai?nst the dungeon's?? boss, Seismic Talus. Pairing up with a Darknut echo running a distraction, I chipped away at the boss' glowing weak point with boulders and the Swordfighter's blade. Each phase dropped a healthy supply of energy as well, making the fight feel like a real brawler.

Out into the world

The boss' defeat announced the end of the demo, which was quickly turned off to prevent cutscene spoilers. Oh well. I was given a chance to briefly check out some of the overworld, though. Doing so also allowed me to really soak in the game's gorgeous visuals. Echoes of Wisdom uses the Link's Awakening remake engine, complete with its charming toybox-like visuals a?nd depth-of-f?ield blur when the camera moves to an isometric angle.

The game is just as beautiful as its top-down precursor. I also noticed it ran at a much more consistent framerate with slowdowns rarely occurring,?? noticeable only when I paused or unpause?d the game. Zelda, with her determined face and blue cloak, is positively adorable, and I gleefully navigated her through the demo.

There are puzzle challenges and more to discover in the game's overworld. Treasure chests perched high on platforms gave off Breath of the Wild vibes. I managed to get one by stacking a couple of boxes and using a trampoline for the extra oomph. Various crates reveal Rupees and also fruit such as Refreshing Grapes. Also seemingly influenced by Breath of the Wild, you can gather and eat fo?od for health or combine it into smoothies for greater effect.

Before I finished my time with the game, I found one last blast from the past in Echoes' growing list. While out and about, I was able to use a meat echo that baited M??oblins �?a humorous nod to the original?? game.

Sadly, I wasn't able to experience everything Echoes of Wisdom has to offer. I didn't discover a town, spend Rupees at a shop, or complete any possible quests. And that irks me! The time I spent with it wasn't nearly enough. I wanted to ask for a ??little more time. Just let me check out the Bind system some more... or make a smoothie! What happens when I stack two trampolines? Gah, I should have tried that.

I was excited already for The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, but the wait for its September 26 launch date is now much more difficult. So far??, the Tri Rod is a brilliant idea for ??a Zelda-led odyssey. Using it to tactfully solve puzzles and fight enemies felt natural and engaging.

My time with Echoes of Wisdom was regretfully short. I came away feeling it could end up being not just a great Zelda adventure??, but one of the year's most memorable. We only have a few short weeks to find out.

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I can’t say I was expecting remakes of the long-dormant Famicom Detective Club series, let alone a completely new entry. That’s to say nothing of how it was announced. The series lived an?d died on the Famicom Disk System (excluding some dalliances on the Super Famicom).

In a way, the visual novels feel very representative of the genre’s heyday on early Japanese home computers. Detectives were a popular subject, and the Famicom Disk System had a handful of its own. Here in North America, visual novels, in general, are niche, and retro detective stories are a niche within a niche. S??o, it’s refreshing to not only see these games for the first time in English, but also get to join in the revival.

Emio �?The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club feels very much like a continuation?? of both the style and spirit of its predecessors, for better and worse. Before I even start talking about it, you probably already know if you’re on board to check it out.

Emio �?The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club (Switch [Reviewed])
Developer: Nintendo
Publisher: Nintendo
Released: August 29, 2024
MSRP: $49.99

Emio �?The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club takes place a few years after The Missing Heir (which is the first game released and the second game chronologically). The trio at Utsugi Detective Agency gets called into action by the?? police to help them with a murder. A schoolboy was found strangled. More unusually, a paper bag with a smiling face drawn on it was placed over his? head.

The paper bag is referenced in a local urban legend abou??t a paper bag-clad man who promises crying girls a way to smile forever before strangling them and leaving them wearing his signature smiling bag. However, more realistically, it harkens back to a series of murders 18 years prior to the start of the game, whe?re girls were found strangled in the grinning headwear.

The plot gets a few wrenches thrown into the gears. First, the original serial murder victims were all girls, whereas this one was a boy. The boy was also strangled with a rope or cord, while the girls were bare-handed. However, the fact that the original victims were found wearing paper bags was kept out o?f the press, so the likelihood of a copycat is rather low. So, it’s time to pound the pavement.

I want to stress that Emio is not an investigative game. It’s purely a mystery visual novel about detectives. You don’t have much agency when it comes to figuring things out; you’re mostly along for the ride. I don’t say this to disparage?? the game. I just want to set expectations.

However, the format do?es get in the way. You generally go around interrogating people, and this takes the form of asking questions, looking at stuff, and thinking. You’re sometimes given a list of questions, and you kind of just click through them. You ask about one subject, and eventually, the person yo?u’re talking to just starts repeating themself. So you start asking about something else, and when you stop getting new information, you think, and that unlocks more. It’s not a far cry from the format of the first two games, but I’m not sure it was worth keeping it for continuity’s sake.

Murder aside, Emio is kind of a cozier detective game. The subject matter is grim, but the story isn’t told with much tension. I think telling you what the story doesn’t have in comparison to what you might expect could ruin the surprises more than telling you what it does, so I’m going to refrain fro??m doing that. ??Instead, I’ll illustrate it like this:

There is an early scene in the game where you wait for a bus. This isn’t a timed thing. It doesn’t have really much impact on the narrat??ive. To get through it, you do the exact same thing you do everywhere else: you poke through the menu to try and find the options that move things forward. It’s long, quiet, and somewhat comical. It’s not padding, nor is it significant. It’s just more time to spend with the protagonist in a way that makes them relatable.

And there are a few of these scenes throughout. Conversations with characters that don’t really have any meaning or significance. There are characters without any meaning or significance. There’s a scene where a character keeps wincing in pain??, and when you find out the reason for it, you discover that it wasn’t anything important or concerning. The whole story could have been told much more concisely, but it relishes in bringing you into the world. Perhaps a little too much.

It’s not even that it’s boring. Usually, when you’re trapped in a scene, there’s something fascinating about it. The characters that it’s so keen on showing are legitimately interesting and well-rounded. Suspicion is?? cast on so many of them that it’s easy to wonder what dark spots they have and how they tie into the overall mystery.

The main problem with its storytelling is its astounding lack of focus. It throws threads in all directions and raises so many questions, that t??he conclusion has to do a lot of scrambling to tie them together. A few don’t really wind up in that knot to any satisfying extent. When all is said and done it’s a bit of a? mess, but manages to find paydirt where it counts.

Emio spends so much of its runtime setting u??p dominos just so it can satisfyingly knock them down at ?the end. That works in a lot of media, but video games take a lot longer to get through than a movie or even most novels. Expecting a player to stand at a bus stop for a portion of the story just so the ending hits marginally harder is a big ask.

Regardless of how I feel about Emio overall, I’m happy to have experienced it. Back in the �?0s and �?0s, publishers put a lot of thought into whether or not a game was worth localizing. We missed out on a lot of RPGs in the West because the games in the genre sold about as well as boxes of pre-chewed fingernails, and many titles didn’t have a chance because they were too Japanese. Emio - The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club is both very niche and very Japanese, but Nintendo still found it worthwhile bringing it across the pond. The??y probably aren’t even forecasting record sales; it’s just less risky to attempt it in today’s industry.

With that said, I’m not sure Emio is going to stick with me in the same way that Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo will. If anything does cement itself in my mind, it will be its conclusion, which is so incredibly impactful, partly because you’ve spent so much time immersed in the very human side of its mystery. It’s also impactful because it’s incredibly dark in a way the re?st of the narrative only hinted at. You'll just have to do some digging before you find the body.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

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It's time for another Nintendo Direct, though not a fully Nintendo-focused one. Today, the Switch manufacturer presented two back-to-back showcases, spotlighting indies ?and third-party partners bringing games to the Nintendo console through this year and into the next.

Though it didn't have any Nintendo or Switch 2 news, that's not to say we didn't get a few stunners. Fans of old classics should especially enjoy this one; rema??sters, remakes, and classic collections were all over the place in today's dual showcase broadcast. Let's look at everything announced.

Everything shown during the Indie World Showcase - August 2024

• Balatro is getting so, so many crossovers. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Dave the Diver, Vampire Survivors and more. Those crossover "Friends" arrive as cosmetic skins in a free update later today.
• Gris dev Nomada Studio will deliver Neva on October 15, 2024. It looks gorgeous and emotional, so it should definitely be of interest to Gris fans.
• Moth Kubit looks like a quirky adventure through corporate hell. Look forward to a creepy, relatable journey in spring 2025.
• The Coffee Talk franchise is carrying on with many folks who worked on it, with Coffee Talk Tokyo now "brewing" for a 2025 pour.
• Sabotage's hit RPG Sea of Stars is getting some DLC in spring 2025. Throes of the Watchmaker looks pretty rad, and I love all the clockwork imagery here.
• Some-BODY Shrek Powerwash Sim
• CRT scanlines and a pretty... distinct art style certainly ensured that Morsels left an impression on me. Furcula's indie project is set to make an impact in February 2025.
• Date Everything is what it says. Date everything. Every. Thing. The lamp. Doug. Even the game itself. Date it all on October 24, 2024.
• Peglin is a pachinko-style RPG that, somehow, was not made by Konami. It arrives on Switch later today!
• Live a Wobbly Life in December 2024 with this co-op physics-based simulator.
• Pico Park 2 is a co-op game bound to break some friendships, even if the rope doesn't go. It's out later today.
• Sizzle reel time! Some dates for upcoming Switch games:

  • Shovel Knight: Shovel of Hope DX - 2025
  • Europa - October 11, 2024 with a demo today
  • Cuisineer - January 28, 2024
  • On Your Tail - November 21, 2024
  • Metal Slug Tactics - Fall 2024
  • The Plucky Squire - September 17, 2024

• One last thing for the indies: smash indie hit Pizza Tower is heading to the Switch, and it's arriving later today! Now, onto the Partner Showcase.

Everything shown in the Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase - August 2024

• Digital Eclipse is giving Tetris the retro collection treatment. Tetris Forever looks like a bundle made for block-dropping enthusiasts, with tons of classic games and some documentary footage to boot, set for 2024.
• Star Overdrive asks, "do you love hoverboards?" Because this sure does have hoverboards. It arrives sometime in 2025.
• The remaster might have just been announced, but Goat Simulator 3 is still causing chaos. It's out on digital for Switch later today, with a physical version lined up for November 2024.
• A The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky the 1st remake just got casually announced in a sizzle reel for 2025?!?!?!
• Other reel entries include:

  • Star Wars: Hunters Season 3 - September 24, 2024
  • S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Legends of the Zone Trilogy - November 2024
  • Worms Armageddon: Anniversary Edition - September 26, 2024
  • Disney Dreamlight Valley new in-game event - September 4, 2024

• This is Patrick? SpongeBob SquarePants: The Patrick Star Game is all about the sponge's starfish pal, but will still feature plenty of cameos from the cast on October 4, 2024.
• Fitness Boxing 3 will try to help you punch your way to fitness on December 5, 2024.
• We've been taken for a ride, now it's time for true love. Capcom Fighting Collection 2 has officially been announced, with a stellar lineup of Capcom classics including two Capcom Vs. SNK games, two Power Stone titles, Street Fighter Alpha 3 Upper, and Project Justice. That's set for 2025.
• Also, the first Capcom Fighting Collection arrives on September 12 for digital, with a physical version arriving on November 22, 2024.
• A new alchemist is mixing things up. Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land adds a new series protagonist in early 2025.
• Remember the Suikoden remasters? Suikoden I&II HD Remaster Gate Rune and Dunan Unification Wars is a mouthful that's arriving on March 6, 2025.
• The HD-2D remake of Dragon Quest III still looks fantastic, and is still set for November 14, 2024.
• More vampire-slaying goodness is on the way. Portrait of Ruin, Order of Ecclesia, and Dawn of Sorrow arrive on the Switch via the Castlevania Dominus Collection later today.
• Civilization 7 will be coming to the Nintendo Switch on February 11, 2025, so you can play for just one more turn on-the-go.
• An interesting page of Tales past is getting a visual upgrade. Tales of Graces f Remastered is set for January 17, 2025.
• The MySims Cozy Bundle gathers up both MySims and MySims Kingdom into one package on November 19, 2024.
• Looking for animatronic horror? FNAF Help Wanted 2 and some DLC for Security Breach both arrive this holiday.
• Sizzle reel time again! Here are some more dates:

  • Disney Epic Mickey Rebrushed - September 24, 2024
  • Tales of the Shire: A LOTR Game - Holiday 2024
  • Just Dance 2025 Edition - October 15, 2024
  • Funko Fusion - Holiday 2024
  • EA Sports FC 25 - September 27, 2024
  • Lego Horizon Adventures - Holiday 2024

• Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma could be a welcome up-turn for the Rune Factory series. It's got a great look, some neat-looking combat, and of course, some locals to romance. It's set for Spring 2025.
• One last thing: Yakuza Kiwami is coming to Nintendo Switch! If you haven't started this series yet, you'll get your chance on October 24, 2024.

That's all for today's double-header Nintendo Direct. It was an interesting, maybe even a bit strange showcase, but there are definitely a few reveals that took me by surprise. Got a fav?orite? Let us know down below.

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A new Nintendo ?stream is upon us, and it's airing on pretty short notice. Tomorrow, August 27, Nintendo will host a two-part stream featuring an Indie World Showcase followed by a Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase.

The stream goes live at 7 a.m. PT / 10 a.m. ET on Nintendo's YouTube an??d other channels. The Indie World Showcase will air first, followed by the Partner Showcase, for a total of roughly 40 minutes, after ??all is said and done.

In case the names didn't tip you off, don't expect any news about the successor to the Nintendo Switch here. Not only do these streams normally not focus on Nintendo news (Partners and Indies are both third-party showcases), but Nintendo is outright saying that there will be no mention of the Swi??tch successor.

What can we expect then? Well, the Silksong faithful are already donning their clown masks. And I mean, we have to hear something about that game again at some point, ?right? Oh no. It's ?happening to me too.

I expect the Indie World side of things to be full of? surprises and, fingers crossed, a "later today" drop or two. Those are always exciting to see, and my Switch could use a new indie game or two to pick away at.

As for the Partner Showcase, that will be all third-party offerings. My best speculation is to expect some frequent collaborators; Square Enix, for example, or Marvelous. I'd love to get some more details on whatever Level-5 has been up to as well. After the delay of Fantasy Life i into 2025, I'm curious about where that's left their other games, like Decapolice.

We'll find out what's? in store for the Switch as we head into the Nintendo Direct double-header ??tomorrow at 7 a.m. PT.

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The Nintendo Museum Direct gave us our first look at the inside of the Nintendo Museum. On top of exhibits full of items from Nintendo's colorful history, the Museum also features multiple interactive elements for p??atrons to enjoy, including some really big controllers.

During the Direct, we get a look at a variety of interactive experiences such as an Ultra Machine Pitching experience, a shooting gallery wi?th the Zapper and Super Scope, and more. Arguably the most exciting of these interactive experiences is a room full of giant Nintendo controllers.

With these giant controllers, and a friend to help you out, you can play a wide array of games. In the vid?eo, Miyamoto controls the D-pad on an NES contro??ller while a museum staff member presses the A and B buttons. In the background we're even able to spot a giant Wii Remote, Wii Balance Board, and SNES controllers.

While only four interac??tive experiences were shown in the video, the rest of the exhibits can be found on the Ni??ntendo Museum website. The last few exhibits are an Ultra Hand minigame, a Love Tester, a giant Game & Watch console, and Nintendo games with regular-sized controllers.

You can try out any of these interactive experiences by using digital coins. Each visitor will get 10 digital coins to use. The required amount of coins for each experience varies, so you won't be able to try every experience with just 10 coins. The coins needed for each exhibi?t will be anno?unced in the future, so for now you'll just need to pick a couple of favorites from the bunch.

You'll also be able to try your hand at Hanafuda in the museum's Play Room. The rules will be explained t?o you if you're unfamiliar with the game, allowing anyone to enjoy the card game. This experience will cost 500 Yen per?? person, so you won't need to rely on digital coins.

??The Nintendo Museum is scheduled to open on October 2, 2024. The Museum was first announced in 2021 when Nintendo revealed their plans to repurpose the Uji Ogura Plant as a gallery to showcase Nintendo's history. Originally, the Uji Ogura Plant was used b??y Nintendo all the way back in 1969 to create toys, so it's fitting that such a historical place would become a monument to Nintendo's legacy.

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If you’ve been on Twitter today, you’ve likely seen Animal Crossing trending and wondered whether a new console game was on the horizon. There’s still no news on that front, but there is news relating to the mobile game Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp.

Pocket Camp has been a staple in the cozy gaming world since it first released back in 2017, and it’s maintained a dedicated player base throughout that time. It allows players to take Animal Crossing with them literally in their pocket, constantly updating and evolving with new events and things ?to do.&nb??sp;

Sadly, Nintendo announced today that Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp will be shutting down on November 29.

Players who are currently paying for a Pocket Camp Club subscription, or anyone who signs up for a subscription before October 28, will be able to continue using their Pocket ??Camp Club benefits until the shut down on November 29 at no extra cost. If your subscription is set to renew between October 28 and November 29, you’ll continue receiving benefits aft??er the usual renewal date, but you won’t need to pay for renewal. 

As for Leaf Tickets, you won’t be able to purchase any additional Tickets after November 26, but you will be able to continue spending any that y??ou have until shutdown on November 29. You’ll need to make sure you do this, because Leaf Tickets will not be transferable to the new offline app.

While this could all have been devastating news for anyone who has spent hours increasing their level, ??improving friendships with campers, and pour??ing their hearts into creative designs for their campsites, there is a light on the horizon and it’s far from all doom and gloom. 

Rather than simply shutting down the game and leaving players at a loose end, Nintendo will be releasing a paid, offline version of Pocket Camp. Anyone with a save file in the current vers?ion will be able to import their ?save file to the paid version, allowing them to continue their game offline. 

What’s more, according to Nintendo, the paid version of Pocket Camp (which is as yet unnamed) will have no micro-transactions or subscription costs, such as the Pocket Camp Club plans. After a one-time purchase, you’re fre?e to play as much as you like.? 

There are some downsides to this new offline version of Pocket Camp. Gifting, visiting other players' camps, and Market Boxes will no longer be available, so Pocket Camp will become very much a single player end??eavor. While some social aspects of the game may be lost in this transition, it seems like a small price to pay for not losing all of? the effort put into perfecting your camp.

There is no concrete release date for the new offline version of Pocket Camp as of yet, but Nintendo will be announcing further information �?a href="//faq.ac-pocketcamp.com/hc/en-us/articles/36353725150489-What-is-the-paid-version-of-the-app#" t??arget="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">around October�? As a long-time player of Pocket Camp, I’ll definitely ??be keeping my eye out for any new updates.

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The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom will have amiibo support, and a list of compatible toys-to-life figures has been revealed. Some even include the Smash Bros. interpretations of the Zelda characters we know and love.

Every Echoes of Wisdom amiibo that works with the game

According to a translation of the game's official website spotted by Nintendo Life, the Echoes of Wisdom amiibo include the following:

• Ganondorf (Tears of the Kingdom)
• Zelda (Tears of the Kingdom)
• Link (Tears of the Kingdom)
• Zelda & Loftwing (Skyward Sword)
• Link (Link's Awakening)
• Young Link (Smash Bros)
• Urbosa (Breath of the Wild)
• Daruk (Breath of the Wild)
• Mipha (Breath of the Wild)
• Revali (Breath of the Wild)
• Link (Skyward Sword)
• Link (Twilight Princess)
• Link (Majora's Mask)
• Guardian (Breath of the Wild)
• Zelda (Breath of the Wild)
• Bokoblin (Breath of the Wild)
• Link Rider (Breath of the Wild)
• Link Bow (Breath of the Wild)
• Zelda (Wind Waker)
• Toon Link (Wind Waker)
• Link (Ocarina of Time)
• Link (The Legend of Zelda)
• Wolf Link (Twilight Princess)
• Ganondorf (Smash Bros)
• Sheik (Smash Bros)
• Toon Link (Smash Bros)
• Zelda (Smash Bros)
• Link (Smash Bros)

The unlocks from each amiibo will vary. They'll give Zelda different items, similar to how Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom work. Additionally, we'll also gain different colors of clothing for the princess. It would be cool to see a Wolf Zelda variant, but ?that seems just a drea??m. When you look at the list, it's quite astonishing how many Zelda-related amiibo figures have been released over the years.

There is no word yet on whether or not there will be amiibo specifically for Echoes of Wisdom. It seems unlikely, as we're just a month out from the game's launch as of the time of writing.??

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The Emio Famicom Detective Club demo will creep into the Nintendo eShop on August 19, with additional free chapters to follow until August 27. Those disappointed with the initial reveal of Emio being a part of the Famicom Detective Club can give it try before its August 29 release.

Strangely, the Emio - The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club demo will be released in installments. You'll be treated to the Prologue and Chapter 1 on August 19, Chapter 2 on August 22, and then Chapter 3 on August 27. All three sections of the free demo will launch at 6 pm Pacific Time (9 pm Eastern). As you may expect, your progress from the first three chapters will progress into the full game when it launches later this month.

Nintendo has released a trailer, showing new footage of this murder mystery. It shows the strange criminal ap?proaching a victim and saying, "I can give you a smile that will last forever." After killing them, they then place a pap??erbag with a drawn grin on it. Creepy!

Throughout the adventure, you'll play as a prior character featured in the series Ayumi Tachibana for the first time during sections of the stor?y. For most of it, you'll be an assistant private investigator, solving a crime that repeats the actions of a disturbing string of murders 18 years ago.

Nintendo teases that this will be an "intense story of suspicion, isolation and fragility" as you dive deeper into the narrative. We'll discover if this Detective Club can be successful when? the game launches on August 29 for the Nintendo Switch. You can pre-order it for $49.99. It will be one of very few times that Nintendo releases a Mature-rated title.?

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The Nintendo Switch is very nearly at the end of its life cycle. It's had a pretty successful run, being a vehicle for Animal Crossing: New Horizon, Tears of the Kingdom, Super Mario Bros. Wonder, and many more. Not to mention, it picked up a lot of the slack from the lackl?uster Wii U. But what of its follow-up?

Well, many of us have been anticipating a launch of the Switch 2 (as it's being referred to currently), with some expecting it to launch maybe at the end o??f this year. However, that idea seems out of reach now.

According to a recent report from Eurogamer �?which has corroborated information with the likes of GamesIndustry.biz �?the Switch sequel may ?not see the light of day until later in calendar year 2025. Developers have reportedly been told to not e??xpect it until after the end of the financial year, which would be April at the earliest.

Nintendon't do this to us...

Look, we know it's happening. That's just a given. Rumors about the Nintendo Switch 2 have been inbound for a good while now, and Nintendo itself has confirmed there's a successor on the way.

The Eurogamer article goes on to speculate that we could be looking at a Switch-esq?ue a?nnouncement, which was revealed in October 2016, and was subsequently released in March the following year.

Whether this is the plan is anybody's guess at this stag?e. But it feels like we're so on the cusp of receiving official word on the elusive Nintendo Switch 2, if Nintendo's plans to announce news this fiscal year hold true. It also means that �?if the rumors are true �?then we can wave goodbye to any hopes of getting the new console in time for Christmas 2024.

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On July 31, 1989, Nintendo released the Game Boy to the US, a gray brick of a handheld console that would go on to dominate the m??arket for years to come.

Sadly for us in the UK, we had to wait more than a year to get ?one ourselves. On the plus side, it did drop just two days befor?e my 7th birthday. Oh, what a joyous occasion that was! Thanks, parental units!

Although Game Boy itself has long departed as both hardware and a line entirely, the mark it left on the gaming sphere is long and deep. In fact, it's less of a mark and more of a geological fault line that shatters everything in its ??wake, leaving millions to recoil from its impact.

The Game Boy and Game Boy Color have sold more than 118 million units worldwide combined, right up until they were discontinued in 2003. Even though that figure combines sales data for the original gray model and its 1998 color version (while the Color is technically the Game Boy's successor, Nintendo has always treated it more like what we would call a mid-gen refresh today), it still make?s the Game Boy the fourth-best selling console of all time.

A young boy's obsession

It's tough to look back across the decades without some sense of no??stalgia. The Nintendo Game Boy was a phenomenal success at a time when gaming as an industry was still finding its feet. But we'd had consoles in our home for some time now, such as the Atari 7800, SEGA Genesis, and Nintendo's NES. We were accustomed to playing games from our sofas and beds ??or sitting cross-legged on god-awful shag carpets. We were ready to move on.

And move on we did. While mobile gaming wasn't a completely new idea, the Game Boy revolutionized the concept of digital play on the go, despite its hardware limitations. In many ways, because of said limitations. It may have had a tiny screen capable of only displaying shades of green at resolutions no bigger than 160 x 144 pixels, but what it did have was Tetris.

Its roster of games was probably what set it apart from potential competitors. Remember, Nintendo was already flying high on the success of its home console, so the name carried weight. We knew of Super Mario, so when he got his own title on the Game Boy, that was a surefire hit. It's also worth remembering that the handheld was the springboard for Pokémon adaptations. We all know how that story goes.

Sadly, I never got into the whole Pokémon craze. But I did have some stonking games, like the aforementioned Super Mario Land, Tetris (which came bundled with the console itself), Batman: Return of the Joker, Mortal Kombat 2, and maybe some others.

Over its lifetime, the Game Boy amassed over a thousand titles, around 765 of which were on the original gray model. Obviously, my?? collection was barely a? speck compared to the sheer amount of games that were available at the time.

Some that I sadly missed out on �?but are deemed classics on the console �?include Kirby's Pinball Land, Dr. Mario, a series of Mega Man titles, Harvest Moon, The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, Wario Land, and even some Final Fantasy games. Well, the Final Fantasy Legend games, at least.

Many may look at the Game Boy as a kind of conduit simply for Tetris, but the small example I've listed above lists some of the best-known names in gaming, proving that the Nintendo handheld was capable of making a huge impact on a growing industry. I sadly ??never had the Game Boy Color or Game Boy Adv?ance �?or any other variation on the OG �?so I missed out on even more potential classics.

Nokia who?

The ??Game Boy was not exactly a portable powerhouse of hardware supremacy. It didn't even have its own backlight, so good luck playing in the dark. However, Nintendo was able to make the most of what it had. This also meant the machine was not as sizeable, weighty, or pricey as some of the alternatives. While the Game Boy cost around $90 when it was released, the SEGA Game Gear was a pretty hefty $150 when i??t was released a year later.

The reduced hardware also meant Nintendo's device flexed a boast-worthy battery life. According to the Nintendo website itself, the original could last up to 30 hours on four AA batteries. That's 30 hours of playtime, as well, not just it being idle. Sega's Game Gear devoured battery in comparison. Even the Steam Deck's rech??argeable battery can't touch the Game Boy.

It was also a sturdy mother. I can't tell you how many years I had my Game Boy, but I almost certainly dropped it on the floor, and it kept on ticking. While it's popular to meme the Nokia 3310's alleged indestructible nature, the Nintendo Game Boy was proving its worth as a machine built to last long before Nokia. One Game Boy, which was previously on display at Nintendo New York, lit??erally survived an explosion during Operation Desert Storm. The fact that it's said to still work feels lik??e an alien concept in an era of planned obsolescence.

Of course, that hardiness wa?s never really a selling point, mind. We were too young to truly appreciate the structural integrity of technology. But to have a portable gaming console that can last for a day and a bit �?even through constant use �?and survive global conflict sort? of puts the Game Boy on a pedestal of gaming greatness that I'm proud to have experienced.

The memory remains

Yes, that is a rather obscure?? Metallica reference. However, what I wanted to talk about was the cultural significance of the Game Boy. You mean I haven't been doing that already? Well, yes, but I think there is another aspect that's worthy of mention.

Although we've? moved on somewhat over the years, video games can still be seen as a masculine hobby. Many strides have been taken, and glass ceilings have been broken, ??but it often feels like there's still a discrepancy when it comes to attitudes. When gaming started becoming a global phenomenon, girls didn't get much of a look-in.

When the SEGA Genesis came out, it very much aimed to appeal to young boys, with promises of action, sports, and—inexplicably—the ability to emasculate school bullies. But the Game Boy had a broader appeal. In 1995, an article in the Gainesville Sun that looked at gender disparity in gaming quoted Nintendo of Amer??ica as saying that girls accounted for 46?% of those who were playing its handheld device. That's compared to 29% for its own NES console.

The fact that nearly half the Game Boy players were female was newsworthy even then. Nintendo was a company that was leading the charge ?in moving away from gaming being largely a boyish pursuit.

For me, the Game Boy was the perfect console. I know that just sounds like rose-colored glasses, but I was genuinely obsessed with mine. Despite not having that many games for it, I racked up hours and hours on that thing. I shudder at the thought of how much my par?ents had to spen?d on batteries (sorry, Mum).

I remember the Game Boy-shaped carry case I had for it, as well as the monstrous attachment that added a magnifying glass and light (sort of like this one, only somehow bigger). I remember running down to the arcades with my console in hand, looking for my sister so I could excitedly tell her that I'd completed Super Mario Land for the first time.

I'm not going to berate the current generation by insisting that 'we had it better in those days.' All forms of nostalgia are just desires. Desires for youth. Desires for innocence. Desires for shell suits (maybe). Or perhaps just desire to hear the Game Boy's iconic DING one more time and know that the only thing you had to worry about was which TMNT figure to ask for for Christmas.

I'm glad that I was around to experience the Game Boy, even if knowledge of its age and the fact that it was discontinued more than 20 years ago makes me feel old. But then, everything makes me feel old. I got excited the other day when our new clothes air dryer arrived (it's black!), and I no longer recognize most artists and actors who appear on Sunday morning cooking shows. Oh yeah, I watch cooking shows now. That old.

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