News Articles
Monday11th Mar 2024
UK Charts Unicorn Overlord Makes The Top Ten And Sells Best On Switch
WWE 2K24 takes the top spot
Three new releases enter the top 40 UK boxed charts this week, including WWE 2K24 at number 1 and Expeditions: A MudRunner Game at number 16. Most notably for Switch owners, however, is Unicorn Overlord, the excellent tactical RPG from Vanillaware, which debuts at number 7. It also comfortably sold the most on the...
Monday15th Jan 2024
News Mario + Rabbids Sparks Of Hope Has Reportedly Sold Almost 3 Million Copies
Bouncing back after a quieter opening
After Ubisoft admitted to being "disappointed" by the launch sales of Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope last year, it looks like the sleeper sequel's luck has been somewhat on the turn in the ensuing period. A new report from VGC claims that Mario's tactical follow-up is, in fact, knocking on the
Wednesday15th Nov 2023
Poll What's The Best RPG Starring Mario?
Paper, Partners, and everything in between
Mario, the world's favourite platforming plumber, has done everything — kart racing, tennis, golf, partying, and a little bit of turn-based RPG-ing. 1996 saw Mario's RPG debut in the Super NES favourite, Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, and since then, he's starred in 14 different RPGs (plus...
Monday13th Nov 2023
UK Charts Mario Wonder Takes Bronze As Call Of Duty Makes Its Mark
Like clockwork
The latest physical UK charts are here and, as expected, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III has landed with a band, comfortably taking the number one position despite selling roughly 25% less than the previous entry in the franchise (thanks, Chris Dring). This means that Super Mario Bros. Wonder is no longer holding onto the gold...
Monday16th Oct 2023
UK Charts Mario + Rabbids Sparks Of Hope Hops Into Top Ten As EA Sports FC Keeps A Clean Sheet
Prime Day deals shake things up
This week's physical gaming charts for the UK are now in and despite some tasty Amazon Prime Day discounts mixing things up a little, nothing has managed to knock EA Sports FC 24 off the top spot. The latest not-FIFA title sees its third week in first place (the Switch still only accounts for a small 7% of its total...
Friday25th Aug 2023
News Mario + Rabbids Sparks Of Hope Creative Director Teases "Secret Hidden Message" In Rayman DLC
He wants to "bring Rayman back to the glory he deserves"
Ahead of the launch of the Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope - Rayman in the Phantom Show DLC next week, the game's creative director Davide Soliani has shared a rather interesting message with the game's fanbase. He starts out talking about how Rayman was the first game he worked on at Ubisoft...
Wednesday9th Aug 2023
News Mario + Rabbids Sparks Of Hope Dev Is "Not Worried" About Game's Initial Sales
"We know that we achieved what we wanted with this sequel"
Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope came to the Switch last year and was generally well received by all those who played it. It's true, the game did not get off to the best of starts as far as sales numbers go (Ubisoft's CEO later confessed that the game might have been better suited to
Tuesday1st Aug 2023
News Rayman Returns In Upcoming Mario + Rabbids DLC, Out This Month
He's back!
Nintendo and Ubisoft have revealed the trailer for the upcoming Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope DLC expansion: Rayman in the Phantom Show. He looks great, doesn't he? Well, the good news is you won't have to wait too long to reunite with the iconic platforming character, as the third DLC pack will launch later this month on August 30th,...
Tuesday25th Jul 2023
News Ubisoft Has Reportedly Cancelled Plans For An Immortals: Fenyx Rising Sequel
Fenyx Sinking, right..? Hello..?
Ubisoft's surprisingly great open-world adventure Immortals: Fenyx Rising launched on the Switch back in 2020, but it appears that plans for a sequel have been shelved. According to VGC, numerous development sources have confirmed that while the game was in early development over at Ubisoft Quebec, it was cancelled...
Wednesday21st Jun 2023
News Surprise! Mario + Rabbids Sparks Of Hope - The Last Spark Hunter DLC Is Out Today
It looks sparkin' great
Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope's second DLC is out right now on Nintendo Switch, today's Nintendo Direct revealed. The Last Spark Hunter is set in the Melodic Gardens, a gorgeous musical-themed locale with brand-new enemies, maps, and missions to complete. Mario and the Rabbids will be taking on The Last Spark Hunter and her...
Tuesday20th Jun 2023
News Mario + Rabbids Sparks Of Hope "Should Have Waited" For Switch Successor, Says Ubisoft CEO
"We will update it for the new machine"
We were a bit heartbroken to hear that Ubisoft was "disappointed" in sales for Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope, though it's fair to say the developer had a bit of a rough 2022 all around. Now, in an interview with GamesIndustry.biz (via
News Mario + Rabbids Sparks Of Hope - The Last Spark Hunter Story Details Surface
Some promotional artwork, too
After another teaser for Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope - The Last Spark Hunter at Ubisoft Forward last week, new details have surfaced about this second DLC update. This has been posted via a message on the official Switch news channel. It mentions how Mario and the Rabbids will be tasked with saving the Melodic...
Tuesday13th Jun 2023
News Mario + Rabbids Sparks Of Hope Final DLC "Coming Later In 2023", Here's A Teaser
Featuring Rayman
At the Ubisoft Forward presentation earlier before, the company provided Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope another update about the game's final DLC. It reconfirmed it would be arriving later this year. In addition to this, there was a short cinematic showing Rayman meeting the Mario Rabbids. You can see this brief scene play out at...
Saturday3rd Jun 2023
News Grant Kirkhope Appears To Have Completed His Work On Mario + Rabbids
"8 years writing music for Mario is at an end"
Legendary video game composer Grant Kirkhope, known for hits like GoldenEye 007 and Donkey Kong 64, appears to have completed his work on Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope. In a brief message on social media at the start of this month, Kirkhope mentioned how he thought his time writing music for Mario was...
Wednesday24th May 2023
News Mario + Rabbids Sparks Of Hope 'The Last Spark Hunter' DLC Teased
Get ready for a new adventure
Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope made its debut exclusively on the Switch in October last year and since then Ubisoft has announced three DLC packs. In an update, the development team behind the game have now teased the second DLC - The Last Spark Hunter. As shown in the brief clip below, it appears to take place in the...
Thursday18th May 2023
News Mario + Rabbids Sparks Of Hope Wins Award For Best Original Video Game Score At The Ivors
BWAAAH!
We had a good time with Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope when it was released on the Switch in late 2022, and the game has just been recognised for its excellent soundtrack at this year's Ivor Novello Awards, where it took home the prize for Best Original Video Game Score. The award was presented to Gareth Coker, Grant Kirkhope and Yoko...
Thursday2nd Mar 2023
News Mario + Rabbids Sparks Of Hope Lands Free Switch Demo, Out Today
BWAAAH!
Just when you thought that Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope had faded into the category of 'forgotten games', two pieces of news come along to bring it back into significance. Today kicked off with the release of the game's first wave of DLC 'Tower of Doooom', and the team at Ubisoft are keeping the news ball rolling as it revealed that a...
News Mario + Rabbids Sparks Of Hope Updated With Spooky 'Tower Of Doooom' DLC
A Season Pass exclusive
The award-winning title Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope today receives its very first DLC offering, officially titled the 'Tower of Doooom'. As part of this Ubisoft and Nintendo have now rolled out a new update for the game. The patch notes at the moment are only available in Japanese. Below is a rough translation (via...
Friday24th Feb 2023
News 2023 D.I.C.E. Awards - Winners Revealed, Mario + Rabbids Sequel Wins Family GOTY
Elden Ring awarded GOTY
Update [Fri 24th Feb, 2023 07:05 GMT]: FromSoftware's epic Elden Ring dominated the awards and also took out the 2023 D.I.C.E. Game of the Year award. God of War: Ragnarok also picked up a lot of awards. On the Nintendo front, Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope was the only game to walk away with a win on the night - taking out...
Thursday23rd Feb 2023
News Mario + Rabbids Sparks Of Hope 'Tower Of Doooom' DLC Will Spook Next Week
Exclusive to the Season Pass
Ubisoft has finally revealed when the first expansion for hit strategy game Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope releases. The Tower of Doooom, which is exclusive to Season Pass owners, will be dropping on 2nd March. Getting just a short teaser on Twitter, we know very little about the upcoming update. Ubisoft has previously...
Monday30th Jan 2023
UK Charts Fire Emblem Engage Tumbles Down To Seventh Place
Sales slide by 76%
The latest UK charts are in and, as expected, the top ten is headlined by EA's recently released Dead Space remake. Meanwhile, Fire Emblem Engage, last week's star performer, has tumbled down to seventh place after a 76% drop in sales for the week. Not unexpected, necessarily, but we'd hoped to see it continue its exceptionally...
Monday23rd Jan 2023
UK Charts Fire Emblem Engage Bags Franchise's Second Biggest Boxed Launch
Though sales are 31% lower than Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Well folks, it's happened: FIFA 23 has finally been knocked off its throne by none other than Fire Emblem Engage, the latest entry in the tactical RPG franchise from Intelligent Systems. Its debut marks the second biggest launch in the series to date, coming in ahead of the 3DS fan-favourite...
Wednesday11th Jan 2023
News Ubisoft Share Price Tumbles After Dire Sales Report
Three more games cancelled
Ubisoft appears to be in a spot of financial trouble, according to its latest financial report on January 11th, 2023. In a three-page press release, the company admits to being "disappointed" in the sales of Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope and Just Dance 2023, despite "excellent ratings" and "an ambitious marketing plan"...
Thursday29th Dec 2022
Japanese Charts Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Surpasses 5 Million Sales
Pokémon Scarlet & Violet reach 4 million
The holiday week Japanese charts are in, and Switch games make up the entire top ten this week! No surprise to see that Pokémon Scarlet & Violet are again at the top with an impressive 375,665 units sold, with Splatoon 3 in second with 121,173 units. However, the big story is that Mario Kart 8 Deluxe...
Wednesday28th Dec 2022
UK Charts Sonic Frontiers Races To Its Highest Position In Weeks
Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope also benefits from heavy discounts
The latest UK boxed charts are in and there is very little change in the wind this week, with FIFA 23, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, and God of War Ragnarok all leading the market once again. The only major change of note is the fresh inclusion of both Sonic Frontiers and
Friday23rd Dec 2022
Japanese Charts Crisis Core - Final Fantasy VII - Reunion Makes A Strong First Impression
Scarlet and Violet close in on 4 million
The latest Japanese boxed charts are here (albeit slightly late this week) and there's no change for the top two spots, with Pokémon Scarlet and Violet and Splatoon 3 sitting comfortably in their usual positions. Scarlet and Violet are very close to crossing the 4 million sales mark, and we wouldn't be...
Thursday15th Dec 2022
Japanese Charts Pokémon Scarlet And Violet Sales Overtake Splatoon 3
Dragon Quest Treasures has strong debut
The latest Famitsu Japanese charts are in, and the inevitable has happened — Pokémon Scarlet & Violet has overtaken Splatoon 3 to become the best-selling game of the year in Japan. Topping the charts once again, Generation IX of Pokémon has sold a further 277,676 units in the weeks of 5th December to...
Friday9th Dec 2022
News The Game Awards GOTY For 2022 Is Elden Ring
Nintendo also took out a bunch of awards
The Game Awards has just concluded for another year and FromSoftware's Elden Ring has been crowned Game of the Year. It was up against A Plague Tale: Requiem, God of War Ragnarok, Horizon Forbidden West,
Wednesday7th Dec 2022
News Never Played Mario + Rabbids? Nintendo's Video Guide Is Here To Help
Sparks of inspiration
Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope came out a little over a month ago now and was instantly met by high praise indeed (scoring 8/10 in our review). If the first game in the series is anything to go by, then we can see this sequel being something of a sleeper hit thanks to some nice eShop discounts in the coming years. If, however,...
Tuesday6th Dec 2022
News An Unannounced Super Mario Bros. Movie Character Has Been Spotted In The Wild
A galactic error..?
We're fast approaching the launch of The Super Mario Bros. Movie on April 7th, 2023 (yes, it'll be here before you know it!) and we've already seen a boatload of characters from the first two trailers, including the likes of Peach, Bowser, Donkey Kong, Funky Kong, and more. It seems Nintendo is still keeping a few things under...
