As is now our routine we have a mini Nintendo Download Update on a Tuesday, due to the crowded Switch eShop line-up now typically bringing us some goodies a little earlier in the week.
This time around it's no different, with some rather tempting and even high profile arrivals on the store. Without further unnecessary pre-amble, let's get to it.
The End is Nigh (Nicalis) - £13.49 / €14.99 / $14.99USD
A game by Edmund McMillen, this follows protagonist Ash and his attempt to navigate a post-apocalyptic world packed with hazards and enemies. A mature hardcore platformer that boasts of "600+" levels and lots to collect, fans of McMillen and Team Meat's previous work in the genre will no doubt be very tempted.
Pinball FX3 (Zen Studios) - Free-to-start
An exciting arrival for pinball fans, it's a platform / community with a whole lot of tables and packs to buy. Aside from that it's all about the infrastructure to add a competitive element to the play, with various online options, multiplayer and challenge modes. You can get three tables for free (though two are only free for a limited time, so be sure to grab the Carnivals and Legends pack right away from the eShop), with many more available to buy, while the TATE vertical layout will be worth trying out.
Stern Pinball Arcade (FarSight Studios) - Free-to-start (PAL only)
Yep, it's a battle of pinball games. In this case the focus is realism and accuracy, with this game seeking to digitally recreate classic real-life tables. As with Pinball FX3 there are lots of options to buy individually, with two distinct price brackets of premium and slightly less expensive tables. You get Mary Shelley's Frankenstein included with the free download.
Plantera Deluxe (Ratalaika Games) - £4.99 / €4.99 (Previously released in NA)
A rather cute and relaxing game in which you tend to a garden and some animals; it's rather simplistic but can be a pleasurable game with the right mindset. We gave a modest recommendation to the Wii U version.
Party Planet (Mastiff) - $39.99USD - $39.99USD (North America only)
The big offering here is 30 minigames for multiplayer shenanigans, including the likes of Fruit Invaders, Viking Defence and Super Vegan Anaconda - the latter of which wins the award for best-named mini-game of all time.
Those are the new games out today, while the slate for 14th December is looking rather busy once again. So, will you download any of these titles?
Comments 49
Yaaaay, pinball! Gonna have to download of course.
Important note. To celebrate the 10 year anniversary of the zen pinball/pinball FX series their newest pack will be free for all platforms for a limited time only.
Edit: It’s called carnival and legends and is listed under the pinball FX3 dlc
@darkswabber Thanks for that, I've updated the entry.
Pinball FX 3 comes with 3 free tables, at least for this week. Sorcerers Lair as usual but also the Carnivals and Legends pack.
Nice.... I love Zen Pinball, but hate that I have most of their table spread across Wii U, Xbone and now the Switch....
@rockodoodle same here, already own every table on ps4/ps3/psvita for both zen pinball 2 and pinball FX3 and own most of their tables on wiiU plus zen pinball 3D and marvel pinball 3D on the 3ds. And I will most likely buy everything again on my switch down the road.
Luckily their newest pack is free for every platform that has pinball FX3 (switch, ps4, xbone and steam)
I thought I saw somewhere that Last Blade was getting released today too. Found that weird, since normally Neo Geo games are out on Thursday, but I'm pretty sure I saw 12/12 for Last Blade...
Has The Pinball Arcade since early last week.
Brilliant port all around and somehow looks even a bit sharper than the PS4 version.
Worth a purchase for the Ghostbusters table alone.
The End Is Nigh deserves some love.
From the creator of Super Meat Boy and Binding of Isaac.
I have Pinball F/X 3 on PS4 and it is great. I love the Universal Movie-themed tables.
@JaxonH Yes! I am picking up a physical copy.
Getting the Endmund is Nigh.
Looks like Zen is the pinball game to get? Also, is there a TATE mode?
@KIRO did a quick google search, yes there is.
Be sure to download the carnival and legends pack in the dlc section as it is free for a limited time due to the 10th anniversary.
@thomasBW84 I don’t know if nintendolife is going to review pinball FX3 but if so I imagine not every table can get a in depth playthrough, so if anyone has questions about table recommandations in the comment section of the review or table specific questions the reviewer may direct those questions to me if he wants to. I’ve played the game for over 5 years and played every table for over an hour at minimum with the exception of bethesda pinball and universal movie pinball.
Just a suggestion. 😊
Pinball FX3!
@darkswabber Nice Not sure what form our review will be yet, but I'm sure everyone will appreciate feedback (maybe there can be a forum thread too?)
@ThomasBW84 I was thinking about a forum thead to. Kind of a pinball FX3 buyers guide.
I’m going to post one as soon as possible.
@darkswabber Awesome find to alert us of that! Downloaded it right away.
I picked up Stern Pinball physical copy from Amazon last week and I’ve downloaded a few tables for Pinball FX3 ready for when I finish work.
Looking forward to the reviews.
Pinball FX3 seems to have Bethesda tables on other consoles and Steam. Anyone know if they're going to add those to Switch version as well?
I already got Pinball FX3 this morning, can't wait to lose my life to pinball again tonight.
A real shame that Pinball FX 3 only runs at 60fps in docked mode, not portable, where it's locked at 30.
Wish I would have known this before buying €26 worth of tables.
Hope they can patch it so that it runs at 60 in portable more as well cause it feels really flimsy now.
@Late The intention (apparently) is to bring more tables to Switch, but we'll see whether it happens!
For some reason, Pinball FX3 isn't giving us the Star Wars or Marvel tables on Switch. Which means I have next to zero interest
@meppi yeah I think I just gonna get stern pinball as 30fps undocked sucks
@darkswabber You sound as addicted as me lol. I've sunk no less then 1000 hours into the Wii U and 3ds versions. I plan to do the same with FX3 lol. Hope we get those Marvel and Star Wars tables soon though.
@meppi Such a shame! Even more considering Stern Pinball is 60 fps in handheld. That said I'll go for FX3 but more cautiously thus time
Stern pinball hit the states today as well according to Nintendo website!
@Mando44646 them tables are dropping in January
Would rather have The End is Nigh as permanent download, but I love those NIcalis packages too much. Got my preorder waiting for me after work. Last physical purchase of the year, for me, I think.
Pinball FX for me, wish they could give me a full table download, instead of micro-transactions
Ah great the hostel i’m Staying in, in Vienna, is not letting me download it, guessing their WiFi blocks any Nintendo login from working, can’t get my 3DS working either
My copy of The End is Nigh arrived right before I took off for the day. Looking forward to opening it up when I get home and putting it with the rest of those awesome Nicalis releases.
Normally free games would get boring very quickly, I can see Pinball FX3 being quite addicting. I played a little bit of it (and recorded a mode, but no one cares about that, lol) and chances are I may buy the tables that has American Dad in it. Also Portal, I forgot about Portal...getting that one...I miss GlaDOS, lol
Thanks for the hint about the free tables, darkswabber 😊
@darkswabber thanks !
I’m not normally bothered by games at only 30fps, however, pinball fx3 is very noticeable in handheld mode. It just doesn’t look right which is a shame.
@darkswabber with Stern also being released, I might not double dip at all, or if I do, only for a few. I don't have Family Guy or Universal, so I will probably get those.
Pinball FX is 30 fps in handheld? That's not gonna work well for pinball... is it at least 60 fps when docked?
Super delay from trigger to flippers on both pinball games but stern damn near unplayable
Wow I didn’t even realize at first that the Star Wars and Marvel tables were missing at first! I miss the plants Vs zombies table too!! Great table! 3 free tables to kick it off is good though!
weird that the two pinball games release on the same day
Update... yeah, Pinball FX has some performance issues in handheld... too bad... playing Zen Pinball on the WiiU Gamepad was a wonderful experience.
Hopefully FX is better when docked, but if I'm playing on the TV, I might as well use the PS3, where I have tons of tables already.
I was really looking for to portable FX/Zen tables... maybe they can fix some stuff with a patch... but I highly doubt they can double the frame rate.
Good News: Pinball FX3 runs pretty smooth when docked... however, there are still some stutters when a lot of action is happening on screen.
Bad News: This makes handheld mode feel even worse.
Note: The Switch Pro controller is the second best controller for pinball, after the WiiU Gamepad.
@realchevyman Is that undocked performance for Stern? Docked seemed fine to me.
Pinball FX = 30fps and vertically option is not so good,because you can turn only to play on right joy-con (this worst one and analog is on the middle and very hard to play on buttons,,another big BUG is when you turn the screen ,menu cursor not rotate and is impossible to choose proper options.
Stern Pinball = 60fps but no verticall options
..ok after 2hrs i try on dock and Pinball Fx is great !! smooth and sharp details,,,im put my monitor verticaly for play great experience ,see full table on screen.
@rockodoodle it’s strange, I loved the pinball arcade at first (I own s1 and s2 on psvita) but I discovered that I prefer to play those tables physical after gaining acces to some of the available tables. I like what zen studios does, they take adventage of the fact they’re making a video game while still holding true to a pinball table with realistic physics.
Crazy that they both arrived the same day. I love Stern's solid realism and the fact they bring us classic, hard to find tables but Zen's tables can be quite imaginative (although Sorcerror's Lair is annoying) and their use of rumble is great.
@darkswabber I like both. I just played on Switch for the first time and really like what I see. Pinball is great for me bc there's not a tremendous amount of thought that goes into it and can be played in bursts.
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