After much delay, Nintendo has mostly pulled the lid off of its paid online service. Let’s break down the good and the bad of what you could be buying into this September!
nintendo switch
Untitled Video Game Show Episode 0.3
We break down Nintendo’s new paid online service for the Switch, gush over Valkyria Chronicles, and share our memories of wrestling legend Rey Mysterio Jr.!
Buy The Nintendo Labo Variety Kit Now From Amazon.com
I Got the Nintendo Labo Variety Kit
With age comes wisdom, gray hair, and sometimes, gifts!
My family and friends actually spoiled me with two Nintendo Labo Variety Kits. One got exchanged for something else, but I still have one ready to rock! Looking forward to trying this out to see if Nintendo’s latest creation is the next big thing! Stay tuned!
Buy The Nintendo Labo Variety Kit Now From Amazon.com
Excited for NBA Playgrounds 2?
I really wanted to like the first NBA Playgrounds.
Appearing to be a spiritual successor to NBA Jam with a dash of NBA Street for good measure, NBA Playgrounds should have been a slam dunk. Instead, it stumbled horribly out of the gate with wonky shooting mechanics, a barebones single player experience, bad AI, a reliance on loot boxes to unlock players, and specifically for Nintendo Switch owners, no online play for the first few months of its release. Even though Saber Interactive gone a long way towards writing the wrongs of their base product, I still have a very sour taste in my mouth from that first experience.
Despite a lukewarm reception from myself and other online critics, the game sold well and the sequel is just around the corner. Is there anything in this new game to change my mind?
The Latest ARMS Global Testpunch Starts Today!
Did you pass on ARMS the first time around? This underrated Nintendo fighting game is offering a new free Global Testpunch starting today and ending on April 2nd at 11:59 PM EST. You don’t have to take my word for it, give it a go and try it out for yourself!
Nintendo and Hori Are Releasing a Left Joy-Con With a D-pad
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As much as I love my Switch, my biggest gripe with it to-date is the lack of a d-pad on the left-hand side. It’s the reason why I can’t play Ultra Street Fighter II on the go and why I haven’t bought the otherwise excellent Puyo Puyo Tetris. Thankfully, it seems like Nintendo and Hori have heard our prayers, as a left Joy-Con with d-pad is headed to Japan in July, retailing for about $25 US.
Oxenfree Review
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. A group of teenagers get together for a night of debauchery in a secluded area before twisted and horrific things begin to happen. Even in the world of video games, this premise has been done before by Until Dawn on the PlayStation 4.
Oxenfree by Night School Studio puts its own twist on the teen thriller by shifting the perspective. In this game, you watch the action from a 2D side-scrolling view. While it does give the game a unique look, it’s not the only trick the game has up its sleeve.
SteamWorld Heist Review
Before the release of SteamWorld Dig 2, Image & Form expanded on the SteamWorld franchise with a 2D turn-based strategy game. SteamWorld Heist is that game. Set in space, you control a team of robot space pirates as they venture through the galaxy, oftentimes finding themselves caught in gunfights within enemy ships. Is this a secret gem in the SteamWorld series?
de Blob Remastered is Headed to the Switch
A cult hit when it was originally debuted on the Wii about a decade ago, de Blob is set to make its triumphant return to a Nintendo platform in 2018! If you’ve never played it before, imagine a game where Splatoon is a pure platformer before Splatoon became a thing. I have a soft spot in my heart for it due to how much I enjoyed it at the time, on top of the fact that it was a diamond in the rough of the Wii library. I picked it up for dirt cheap from a Blockbuster clearance bin and was surprised by how fun it was.
This remaster is already out on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One if you can’t wait for a Switch version. Before this announcement, I actually came across this at Walmart and almost bought it. However, I think I’ll hold out on a Switch version if the price differential isn’t too much. Would love to play this on the go. Regardless of which version you’d prefer, I’d certainly recommend giving de Blob a shot!
Buy de Blob Now From Amazon.com
Celeste Review
There is a magic to Celeste that you won’t see at first glance. Having seen it in Nintendo’s Direct Mini, I brushed it off as just another Super Meat Boy clone. Hasn’t the world been subject to enough challenging 2D platformers with retro graphics? After playing this game, the answer is a resounding, “No.”
In Third Person 