Latest News - Page 5
Tuesday31st Dec 2024
News SNK Announces New ‘King Of Fighters’ Studio
"KOF Studio will proudly carry on the 30-year legacy"
As part of The King of Fighters 30th anniversary, SNK Corporation has established a new King of Fighters studio to keep the "legacy" going and also bring forth a new "revolution”. Here’s the official announcement on SNK's website: Revolutionize the legacy Fatal Fury, Samurai...
- King of Fighters
- SNK
- Industry
- Nintendo Switch
- Anniversaries
Monday30th Dec 2024
Here comes the boom
Lena Raine has so much to say, and she’s figured out a lot of different ways to say it all. Of course, avid game players have been listening to her musical scores for over a decade now, which includes music for Minecraft, as well as the soundtracks for Chicory: A Colorful Tale and the BAFTA-nominated Celeste score. She’s...
- Features
- Interviews
- PAX
- Music
- Upcoming Releases
Feature That Time I Was Invited To Square HQ To Playtest Final Fantasy VI
I was there 30 years ago…
If you’re reading this on October 11th 2024, then 30 years ago today Final Fantasy 3 (aka VI) was released in North America. A lot of memorable games (Super Metroid, DKC, Earthworm Jim, Ridge Racer, and Doom
- Features
- Final Fantasy
- Square
- Retro
- Anniversary
News Acquire Almost Called Brothership 'Mario & Luigi Wonder', But Nintendo Got There First
Wondership..?
Just recently, it was revealed that developer Acquire worked with Nintendo to brainstorm "over 100 options" for the title of its new RPG that would go on to be called Mario & Luigi: Brothership. Now, in a fresh interview with Nintendo Dream (thanks,
- Nintendo
- Nintendo Switch
- Super Mario
Soapbox Splatoon 3's 'Grand Festival' Was The Perfect Goodbye
Please wrap it up
Soapbox features enable our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they've been chewing over. Today, Jim's reliving Splatoon 3's epic climax... I was a latecomer to the Splatoon series. If you had asked me three years ago what my favourite Turf War stage is, the 45 minutes I had...
- Soapbox
- Features
- Nintendo
- Nintendo Switch
- Splatoon
News Atari's 2024 Recap Video Shows How Important Its Acquisitions Have Been
Firing on all cylinders
Things really weren't looking good for Atari for a while. Before current CEO Wade Rosen shifted the company's focus back to retro gaming, Atari had its eyes firmly on cryptocurreny and... hotels? Yeesh. It wasn't great. Now, however, the future looks bright for the once-mighty Atari, with the firm's acquisitions of Digital...
- Atari
- Nintendo Switch
- Switch eShop
News Nintendo Shares Fresh Zelda: Echoes Of Wisdom Art To Celebrate The New Year
It's gonna be a big one
Nintendo has shared an adorable piece of artwork for The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom as it looks ahead to 2025 and "all the wisdom it brings". The artwork itself is a pastel-based image of our heroine chilling out atop a small hill with her companion Tri in tow along with a couple of Zols (which, presumably, are...
- Nintendo
- Nintendo Switch
- Zelda
News Stardew Valley Has Now Sold More Copies Than Mario Kart Wii
And nearly 8 million of those are on Switch
We all know Stardew Valley has been a runaway success ever since it released on PC in 2016. But it continues to sell gangbusters across multiple platforms, and as of December 2024, has reached an absolutely huge milestone. The farming sim has now sold 41 million copies, ConcernedApe announced on the...
- Switch eShop
Sunday29th Dec 2024
Feature The Company You Can Pay To X-Ray Unopened Pokémon Card Packs Speaks Out
"The technology is not going away, and people know what it can do"
The entirety of the trading card community — that is, people who collect, buy, and sell the Pokémon Trading Card game, sports cards, Magic: The Gathering, Disney, or literally any trading card game you can think of — has gradually become aware of what might be an existential...
- Features
- Interviews
- Pokemon
- Best of 2024
Feature 15 Best-Looking Switch Games Of 2024
Hello, my pretties
Another year, another set of beautiful-looking Switch games to savour. Even as the Switch is approaching its eighth birthday, we've seen a stunning variety of art styles grace our OLED (or NoLED) screens. We know the Switch 2 is on the horizon, and we can't wait to see what our favourite games look like on the successor, but...
- Features
- Poll
- GOTY 2024
- Nintendo Switch
News Nintendo Reveals Japan's "Top 30" Most Downloaded Switch eShop Games Of 2024
Suika Game takes out the top spot
As we approach the end of 2024, Nintendo has revealed the most downloaded Switch eShop games of the year in Japan. As you might expect, the usual titles and series are on there like Minecraft, The Legend of Zelda, Dragon Quest and Monster Hunter. There are also a few surprises, indie representatives and viral...
- Switch eShop
- Nintendo Switch
- Japan
- Nintendo
News Level-5 CEO Shares Another Update About Its 2025 Switch Game Schedule
The CEO hopes 2025 will be a "breakthrough year"
In October, Level-5 CEO Akihiro Hino reconfirmed the Japanese video game company would release three major titles next year. Now, in 4Gamer.net's annual "end-of-year" round up with Japanese creators, he's reassured fans that the same three titles are definitely launching in 2025. Once again, this...
- Nintendo Switch
- Switch eShop
- Upcoming Releases
- Level-5
Soapbox Why I Love A Good Map, And That Time I Mapped Yoshi's Melons For Nintendo Power
Worth a thousand words
Soapbox features enable our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they've been chewing over. Today, Nathan goes mapping the pixels... What is your greatest video game pet peeve? That one thing that, when present, ruins your experience, no matter how good the game is...
- Soapbox
- Features
- Nintendo
- Best of 2024
News Freedom Wars Remastered Japanese Switch Box Art Revealed, Here's A First Look
Update: English language support confirmed
In September, Bandai Namco surprised fans with the announcement of Freedom Wars Remastered for the Nintendo Switch. It will be arriving in January 2025 and is a remaster of Japan Studio's PlayStation Vita exclusive which is celebrating its 10th anniversary. Fans have now been given a first look at the...
- Nintendo Switch
- Switch eShop
- Upcoming Releases
- Japan
Poll Box Art Brawl - Duel: Zelda II: The Adventure Of Link
Second innings
Hello everyone, and welcome back to another edition of Box Art Brawl! Last time, Capcom's SNES classic Breath of Fire II was put in the spotlight as North America and Europe joined forces against Japan. It wasn't even remotely close either, as Japan absolutely nailed it with 71% of the vote. Well done! This week, we sifted through...
- Features
- Poll
- Box Art Brawl
- NES
- Zelda
Feature "I Want You To Be Mad" - Crazy Viking Studios On The Brutality Of Volgarr The Viking II
"We didn't have any intention of ever making a sequel"
The original Volgarr The Viking might have flown under a lot of folks' radar when it launched back in 2013, but it's one of those games where if you know, you know. It garnered a solid 8/10 from us when it landed on Switch and it's cultivated a hardcore, dedicated fanbase whose members are...
- Features
- Interviews
- Nintendo Switch
- Switch eShop
- Best of 2024
News NieR:Automata Surpasses Another Sales Milestone, Plans For 2025 Teased
The 15th anniversary takes place next year
Square Enix and PlatinumGames' excellent action-adventure RPG NieR:Automata has reached another lifetime sales milestone - surpassing the nine million mark in total shipments and digital sales. This title originally launched on the PlayStation 4 in 2017 with the Switch 'The End of YoRHa Edition' following...
- Nintendo Switch
- Switch eShop
- Anniversaries
- PlatinumGames
- Square Enix
Saturday28th Dec 2024
Feature The Famicom Failure That Almost Bankrupted HAL, But Shaped Nintendo's Future
HAL be there
Unless you’re a dedicated Famicom collector, it’s unlikely that you’ve heard of Metal Slader Glory. Released right at the tail end of the Famicom’s life in 1991, the year after the release of the Super Famicom, Metal Slader Glory never made it out of Japan, and it proved to be a massive flop for HAL Laboratory. But the very...
- Features
- NES
- Retro
- Nintendo
- Best of 2024
News Japanese Game Creators Reveal Their "Top 20" Video Games Of 2024
Here's the full list
It's the end of the year and as we round up the best games and all sorts of other interesting facts and figures, Weekly Famitsu's latest issue (released on 26th December 2024) has revealed the "most popular games played in 2024" according to 181 industry figures and "game loving celebrities" in Japan. As explained by Persona...
- Nintendo Switch
- Switch eShop
- Famitsu
- Japan
News Here's Another Look At Sonic's DC Crossover Comic Series
The Sonic characters become famous superheroes
Update [Tue 24th Sep, 2024 17:45 BST]: Sega and DC Comics have elaborated on their upcoming "partnership" and it involves monthly crossover comics between DC and the Blue Blur. From March 2025, comics penned by Archie Comics writer Ian Flynn will be published all the way through to 2026. These will...
- Sonic
- Sonic the Hedgehog
- SEGA
- Batman
- Nintendo Switch
Quiz How Well Do You Remember 2024? Nintendo Life's End-Of-Year Gaming Quiz
Q and Eh?
Somehow, December returned. The end of the year is finally upon us, and while we all get to grips with the passage of time, we thought it'd be only right to take a look back over the past 12 months in Nintendo land. Yes, 2024 might not have been quite as jam-packed a year as 2023, but that's not to say we haven't had our fair share of...
- Quizzes
- Nintendo
- Nintendo Switch
News Final Fantasy Team Wants To Hear Your Thoughts About The Series
Fill out the Final Fantasy questionnaire
The role-playing series Final Fantasy has been going strong for almost 40 years now and with this in mind, Square Enix wants to know how fans feel about the series. To find this out, it's released a “10-15 minute” questionnaire – covering all things Final Fantasy. It’s the usual type of questions...
- Nintendo Switch
- Switch eShop
- Final Fantasy
- Square Enix
Talking Point What Are You Playing This Weekend? (New Year Edition)
Looking forward '2' the new year
This is it, folks - our final WAYP feature for 2024. 2025 is going to be a pretty huge year for Nintendo fans, with the likes of Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, Pokémon Legends: Z-A, Professor Layton and the New World of Steam, and Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition all launching within the coming months. Oh, and...
- Features
- Talking Point
- Nintendo Switch
- What Are You Playing
Feature 'POCA!' Is A Game Boy Camera Photobook Adventure & A Heartfelt Homage To 'Hip' Tanaka
"I feel like I made the book almost for him"
Sitting down to speak with Jonathan Traynor, a Glasgow-based artist and writer, about his newly-released book, POCA!, we were expecting a few things. Y'know the sort of stuff: how the Kickstarter went; where the idea for the book came from; hopes for the future; picks for the Top of the Pops Xmas #1; and...
- Features
- Interviews
- Retro
- Game Boy
Feature How Lemmings, ChuChu Rocket & Nintendo Inspired Unpacking Devs' Next Game
"When you play it, you feel connected, not judged"
Developer Witch Beam isn't ready to rest on its laurels. After creating two wildly different games — the twin-stick shooter Assault Android Cactus and the BAFTA award-winning, heartfelt puzzler Unpacking — it's ready to move back to the outside and go with something even more relaxing. We were...
- Features
- Interviews
- Switch eShop
- Upcoming Releases
- Best of 2024
News Night Slashers: Remake Is Getting A Physical Switch Release In 2025
Japan only, but English language support is included
Following the release of the beat 'em up Night Slashers: Remake in September, a physical release has now been confirmed. The catch is it's Japan only for now. Fortunately, it does include English language support. It's around the $30 USD mark (or your regional equivalent) on sites like Play-Asia...
- Nintendo Switch
- Switch eShop
- Upcoming Releases
- Japan
News Guilty Gear Strive’s Next DLC Character Will Be A Free Update On Switch
Joining Season 4
Back in September, Arc System Works shared a “first in-game look” at Guilty Gear Strive’s next DLC fighter Queen Dizzy. This fighter will be added to the Switch version of the game as part of a “free content” update. Arc System Works confirmed this on social media alongside the news this update is scheduled to arrive on...
- Nintendo Switch
- Switch eShop
- Guilty Gear
Friday27th Dec 2024
Feature Nintendo Life's Alternative Game Awards 2024
Biggest surprise! Most long-winded title! Crappiest Switch publisher!
The end of 2024 is nigh, but before we get there it's time to look back on what has been a surprisingly chonky year for Switch, software-wise, in the eighth year since we first got our hands on the thing. We've listed our personal Switch GOTYs, you've ranked yours - now it's time...
- Features
- Nintendo Switch
- GOTY 2024
Japanese Charts What Successor? Switch Hardware Sales Top 100,000
Spare a thought for PS5 and Xbox
Nintendo's gamble to save its 'Switch 2' announcement for the New Year has seemingly paid off - at least in Japan, anyway. Starting with software, Super Mario Party Jamboree has once again topped the boxed charts, selling a further 133,542 copies and inching ever closer to a total of 1 million lifetime sales. Dragon...
- Nintendo Switch
- Japan
- Charts
- Sales
Feature Meet Four Developers Making Brand-New Game Boy Titles In 2024
35 years and stronger than ever
The Game Boy turned 35 years old on 21st April 2024. Today, George speaks with four talented individuals keeping the candle burning for the DMG-001 in the 21st century... The humble Game Boy may be turning 35, but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing new to look forward to. Far from it, in fact – the homebrew...
- Features
- Interviews
- Game Boy
- Retro
- Anniversary
Feature How Can Switch 2 'Fix' The eShop? Devs Share Their Storefront Stories
"It's feast or famine, really"
If you are the proud owner of a Nintendo Switch (and if you're reading this, we'd wager that you are), then it will come as no surprise when we say that the eShop is a wild place in 2024. While gaming may have never been better, Nintendo's storefront has never been worse. Discoverability is a thing of the past with...
- Features
- Interviews
- Nintendo Switch
- Switch eShop
- Industry
Reminder New Mario Kart And Animal Crossing Lego Sets Launch Next Month
Here's another look
Earlier this year, LEGO announced it was extending its Nintendo range with the addition of a new Mario Kart line and more Animal Crossing sets. Nintendo's Japanese website has now issued a reminder that three new Animal Crossing sets and six new Mario Kart sets will be launching on 1st January 2025. The six Mario Kart sets...
- Reminders
- Lego
- Nintendo
- Animal Crossing
- Mario Kart
News Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita's Rewind First Major Update Now Live On Switch
The "online" patch has also been submitted to Nintendo
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita's Rewind made its debut on the Switch last week and it's gone down relatively well so far with critics and fans alike. In saying this, not everything is available on every platform (like online play), but the developers are working on it and have now rolled...
- Switch eShop
- Nintendo Switch
- Power Rangers
- Updates
News Switch Online's 'Missions And Rewards' Brings Back Previous 2024 Icons
Available for a limited time
Nintendo has released all sorts of icon designs for Switch Online subscribers throughout 2024 and now to wrap things up it's bringing back select designs you might have missed. Like last year, you'll be able to redeem icons for a limited time - with the event running until 14th January 2025. Some of the icons up for...
- Nintendo Switch
- Switch Online
- Nintendo
Soapbox The Trauma Of Giygas & Growing Up In EarthBound
EarthBound turns "adults into kids, and kids into adults"
Soapbox features enable our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they've been chewing over. Today, Nile celebrates the innocence of youth, the pain of growing up, and the magic of a cult classic SNES RPG, which celebrates its 30th...
- Features
- Soapbox
- Nintendo
- EarthBound
- Mother
Feature Pepper Grinder's Solo Dev Digs Into Scope, Smash Bros. & "Crunchy Feedback"
"I just made a game I always wanted to play"
It might feel like a long time since Pepper Grinder was unearthed for Switch at the November 2022 Indie World Showcase, but it has been even longer for Riv Hester, the game's solo developer at studio Ahr Ech, who first dug up the idea seven years ago. This is Sonic the Hedgehog meets Drill Dozer (by way...
- Features
- Interviews
- Switch eShop
- Best of 2024
News Antonblast Receives Update On Switch With Performance Boost To 60fps
Better late than never
One of our biggest gripes with Antonblast on the Switch was its performance at launch. In our review, we noted that slowdown during more chaotic moments of gameplay can "cheapen the experience enough to be disappointing", which isn't really ideal for a 2D platformer in which speed is a key factor. Thankfully, a new update has...
- Nintendo Switch
- Switch eShop
Random Sonic 3's Movie Writers Would Love To Adapt Zelda: Wind Waker To The Big Screen
"We're putting it out there in the world"
There's already a live-action Zelda movie in the works, but beyond this, it's not clear how else this legendary Nintendo series could be adapted to the big screen going forward. Enter Sonic 3 movie writers Pat Casey and Josh Miller - who revealed to IGN in the same interview recently the video games they...
- Zelda
- Sonic
- Movies
News Sonic X Shadow Generations Full Soundtrack Now Available, Here's Every Song Included
Send out the year of Shadow with a bang
Sonic X Shadow Generations is arguably one of Sonic's best outings ever and if you enjoyed the soundtrack in Shadow's new campaign as much as we did, you might be interested to know Sega has now officially released the entire album on all "major" digital services. This includes sites (and apps) like Spotify,...
- Sonic
- Sonic the Hedgehog
- Music
- Nintendo Switch
Nintendo Download 27th December (North America)
It's a quiet one!
The latest Nintendo Download update for North America has arrived (a day later, as many of us at NL were enjoying our Boxing Day leftovers) and it's bringing a handful of new games to the eShop in your region. And, uhhh... it really is a handful. But hey! There's plenty of games on sale in both North America and Europe, so tuck...
- Nintendo Download
- Nintendo Switch
- North America
Thursday26th Dec 2024
Feature Why Play Final Fantasy VII Remake When You Could Play FFVII 'Demake'?
"more than just pirate versions"
You’re probably aware of Square Enix’s lengthy and somewhat lavish efforts to remake the 1997 game Final Fantasy VII. The second instalment of this ambitious remake, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, was released just recently, and we’re still likely to be years away from any sort of conclusion. But you might not be...
- Features
- Final Fantasy
- Interviews
- China
- Nintendo
Feature The Best Hidden Gems And Underrated Switch Games Of 2024
Some shinies that may have slipped through your fingers
2024. It was a bit of an odd one for Switch, with the impending announcement of Nintendo's follow-up console. It never materialised, but its shadow has been looming over the entire year. Still, if there hasn't been an absolute avalanche of games to dig into! Nintendo had many first-party...
- Features
- GOTY 2024
- Nintendo Switch
- Poll
Feature Meet The Three Brothers Making Their Dream 'Secret Of Mana'-Inspired RPG
"We want to make one of the most accessible and playable RPGs of all time"
Couch co-op and JRPG are two genres you don't often see together. Secret of Mana is one of the earliest examples of the genre, with most of the Tales of series also allowing fans to play together while sitting side-by-side. But outside of those examples, playing JRPGs with...
- Exclusive
- Features
- Interviews
- Nintendo Switch
- Upcoming Releases
Feature Can We Track Down Every Cart In Our Top 50 Game Boy List In One Week?
Collection Quest GB
The Game Boy turned 35 years old on 21st April 2024. Today, George goes on an epic quest to see if he can acquire the 50 finest GB games — as ranked by you — in physical form with just 100 pounds sterling in his pocket... I’ve been enjoying something of a love affair with the Game Boy recently – or more specifically,...
- Features
- Game Boy
- Anniversary
- Best of 2024
Feature "It's Fun, So It's Okay!" - Celebrating Takashi Tezuka's Astonishing 40-Year Nintendo Career
A look back at a glittering catalogue
Takashi Tezuka seems like a good laugh, the kind of chap who knows how to have fun. Despite all the Master-Sword-waving and PR-related hijinx from fellow Nintendo luminary Shigeru Miyamoto over the years, you still get the impression he's merciless in the workplace — an exacting, intimidating,...
- Features
- Nintendo
- Japan
- Industry
- Anniversary
Feature Evolving With Pokémon: How The Games Helped Me Navigate A Confused Childhood
This coping mechanism was super effective!
The Game Boy turned 35 years old on 21st April 2024. Today, Tim thinks back on how Pocket Monsters came to his aid in his formative years, and how the series that started on Nintendo's iconic portable would stay beside him in the years that followed. Pokémon is a clockwork franchise. Its cyclical...
- Features
- Game Boy
- Retro
- Nintendo
- Anniversary
Soapbox 20 Years On, Pikmin 2's Waterwraith Remains Nintendo's Scariest Moment
H2Oh no
Soapbox features enable our individual writers and contributors to voice their opinions on hot topics and random stuff they've been chewing over. Today, Jim is reliving a childhood trauma to mark Pikmin 2's 20th anniversary... To the casual observer, Pikmin must seem like a pretty relaxed experience. Everything is colourful. The characters...
- Soapbox
- Features
- Nintendo
- Pikmin
- Anniversary
Feature Open Your Drawers - An Ode To Rummaging Through Houses In RPGs
Tea leaf!
Strolling down the road in a brand new, unfamiliar town, taking in the sights, you stop in front of a pleasant-looking house. Lovely big oak door, ruby red slate tiles, stone brickwork stained by sunlight and mud. It's quaint and cosy, the idyllic village house, perhaps home to a young mother who's just returned home from the local item...
- Features
Wednesday25th Dec 2024
Feature Meet Morphcat Games, The New-Gen NES Devs Pushing The 8-Bit Envelope
"No one has come close to exhausting its full capabilities"
Four decades after it became an international sales phenomenon and dominated a crowded games market, the Nintendo Entertainment System – the 8-bit box that gave birth to some of the medium’s biggest enduring franchises – today finds itself playing host to something else entirely: new...
- Features
- Interviews
- Nintendo
- Retro
- NES
Guide Best Nintendo Switch Games Of 2024
The finest Switch games of 2024
Despite its advancing years, Nintendo's hybrid handheld showed that it wasn't going quietly into that good night in 2024, at least where great games were concerned. Nintendo's first-party output was mainly helmed by partner studios in 2024. with plenty of HD remakes and remasters in the mix. However, Switch did play...
- Nintendo Switch
- Guides
- Switch Essentials
- Best Switch Games
- Best Games
