The history of the “free update” model in Switch games
Posted on 7 months ago by Ethan in Features, General Nintendo, Switch | 0 comments
Today, we’re going over the history of the “free update” business model of certain first-party games released for Switch.
Free updates and DLC weren’t quite as common for Nintendo games back in the Wii U and 3DS era. Company culture changes aside, one possible reason for this is that those consoles could only store so much extra data and updates for their games (with Super Smash Bros. pushing the limits of this restriction). Needless to say, things have sort of changed during the Switch era. Free updates have gone from a nice bonus to… something else, we’ll say. Here are some of the most prominent examples of Switch games that relied on a free update content cycle, and what these updates added to each game.
Worst Shiny Pokemon of all time
Posted on 7 months ago by Ethan in Features, General Nintendo, Switch | 0 comments
Following our recent list of the best Shiny Pokemon of all time, we’ve put together a list of the absolute worst Shiny Pokemon of all time. When you look at a big list of every Shiny Pokemon, you’ll notice that there are many more average or poor ones than good ones. This is especially prevalent in some of the earlier generations. It’s rumored that Shiny Pokemon colors were originally determined via an algorithm, but we couldn’t actually find any confirmation of this – maybe the developers just got better at picking colors as the years went by. In any case, we’ve looked through every single Shiny Pokemon and included some of the very worst ones here.
Cutting the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate roster in half
Posted on 8 months ago by Ethan in Features, General Nintendo | 0 comments
At the time of writing, we’re kind of in a dull spot for the Super Smash Bros. series. Ultimate’s DLC ended several years ago, cementing that title as the franchise’s definitive entry. We’re left wondering – what’s next for Smash? An enhanced port that retains all of the characters plus a few new ones, or a complete reboot with fewer characters? No one knows what’s next, but just for the fun of it, we’re going to speculate on which characters are most likely to stay or leave for Smash’s next entry.
Revamping Kirby’s moveset in Super Smash Bros.
Posted on 8 months ago by Ethan in Features, General Nintendo | 0 comments
If you’re familiar with developer talk centered around Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, you might recall game director Masahiro Sakurai saying that Kirby is one of the most challenging fighters to develop – especially in Smash Bros. games with DLC characters. This is because Kirby has a unique neutral special for every single character, and each one gives him a unique hat to wear. Given that Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has well over seventy characters, that means over 80 unique hats for Kirby were needed – plus seventy “Kirby-ified” versions of the corresponding moves.
At the time of writing, we’re not sure what the next Super Smash Bros. game will look like. Will it be a port of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate for the next hardware with even more characters? Or will it be sort of a soft reboot of the franchise with fewer characters, but new movesets for the returning ones? Whichever the case may be, we’ve come up with a new Copy Ability system for Kirby that would most likely make developing his character easier while remaining true to his series.
More: highlight, Kirby, Super Smash Bros., top
7 Star Dondozo guide for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet
Posted on 8 months ago by Ethan in Guides, Switch | 0 comments
The 7 Star Dondozo Tera Raid Battle for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet is live now, and we have a guide for it ready to go. For this particular event, Dondozo is running Tera Water, which will further increase the strength of its Water-type moves. The event lasts until August 8, so you’ve got plenty of time to prepare yourself with one of the counters we’ve listed here.
More: Game Freak, Pokemon Scarlet, Pokemon Violet
ScareScraper ghosts guide for Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD
Posted on 8 months ago by Ethan in Guides, Switch | 0 comments
Today, we’re going over the best strategies to beat the ScareScraper in Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD, as well as the best way to farm a whole bunch of ScareScraper ghosts.
As we discussed in our 100 percent guide for Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD, the toughest part of achieving full completion is catching all 45 exclusive ScareScraper ghosts. There are three main modes in the ScareScraper: Hunter, Rush, and Polterpup. Every time you clear four floors, the fifth floor will always be one of these boss ghosts. The idea is that you’ll team up with other real-life players to take down these bosses more easily. Fortunately, it doesn’t matter which one of you sucks up the boss ghost – it counts for all four of you.
[Rapid Review] Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition
Posted on 8 months ago by Ethan in Reviews, Switch | 0 comments
System: Switch
Release date: July 18, 2024
Developer: Nintendo / indieszero
Publisher: Nintendo
Nintendo World Championships NES Edition was revealed by surprise a few months back, and now it’s finally available. In a way, this game is a kind of spiritual successor to the NES Remix games on Wii U and 3DS – they’re all made by the same developer, in fact. This time around, though, the game focuses on taking a more competitive approach to the genre. In doing so, it makes itself accessible to both casual and hardcore gamers, as well as introducing a bunch of classic NES games to a brand-new audience. Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition was made with a wide audience in mind, so there’s something here for everyone.
SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos announced for Switch
Posted on 8 months ago by Ethan in News, Switch eShop | 0 comments
SNK Corporation today announced that SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos is launching for Switch on July 22 for $19.99.
SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos is a large crossover fighting game with newly added rollback netcode and revamped online lobbies. It includes 36 different characters in total.
Here’s an overview of the game from the official press release:
More: SNK, SNK vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos, top
3 things we want to see in the next Paper Mario game
Posted on 8 months ago by Ethan in Features, General Nintendo | 0 comments
It’s no secret that the Paper Mario series took a steep downhill tumble when Sticker Star first released in 2012. In many ways, it was almost not a Paper Mario game at all. The franchise is known for its story, unique characters, and RPG mechanics – and starting with Sticker Star in 2012, the series lost just about all of those things. Paper Mario: Color Splash was then released in 2016, and while it retained many of Sticker Star’s questionable-at-best design decisions, it was a much better game overall. Then we got Paper Mario: The Origami King in 2020, which actually introduced more than one original character for the first time in years. To everyone’s surprise, the next Paper Mario game was a remake of The Thousand-Year Door, with no original characters cut in any way. Between this and the revival of Super Mario RPG, things are looking better for the Paper Mario series. But what could we expect out of a future game in the series?
More: highlight, Intelligent Systems, Paper Mario, top
Best Pokemon games of all time, ranked
Posted on 8 months ago by Ethan in 3DS, DS, Features, Switch | 0 comments
Today, we’re going over the best Pokemon games of all time – more specifically, the top 10 main series Pokemon games. Spin-offs don’t count for this particular list, but there are definitely plenty of those that are more than worth playing in the modern day.
The Pokemon series is, in a way, difficult to write about. At present, the series isn’t quite in a lull, per se, but it’s also most certainly not at its peak. Developing games is difficult, and for a never-ending media franchise like Pokemon, deadlines can be tough to meet. Over the past few years, titles like Sword and Shield and especially Scarlet and Violet have drawn criticism for several reasons. Though the design quality of individual Pokemon has remained strong, things like the graphics, performance, and postgame content have become somewhat inconsistent. This leads us to ask: what do you think are the best Pokemon games of all time? We’ve made our own list, so be sure to let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
