Nintendo has announced the ARMS Japan Grand Prix 2017. The tournament will be held this fall, with local qualifiers held at four major cities: Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, and Fukuoka. A champion will then be determined with a large tournament. More details will be shared through the official Twitter account later.
Nintendo held a tournament for Japanese ARMS players earlier today, and towards the end, producer Kosuke Yabuki appeared. It was reconfirmed that Max Brass will be delivered as a playable fighter, along with his stage. Yabuki also indicated that Nintendo will be adding another game mode, new Arms, and fixes based on gathered data from online battles. Yabuki noted that Nintendo is trying its best to release the update in the middle of July.
Here’s today’s tournament in its entirety for those who’d like to view it:
Nights of Azure 2: Bride of the New Moon was announced for the west earlier this week. Following up on that, we have the game’s boxart. Despite the text saying it’s not final, we can’t see the packaging changing much before release.
To compare, here’s the Japanese version:
Nights of Azure 2: Bride of the New Moon launches in Japan on August 31. North America and Europe are getting the title in late October.
Metroid: Samus Returns producer and series co-creator Yoshio Sakamoto has been fielding media interviews since the title’s initial showing at E3 last month. This includes TIME, who has some choice words from Sakamoto.
Among his remarks, Sakamoto touched on what inspired Chozo and the overall aesthetic. And for Samus Returns specifically, he discussed working with MercurySteam and the studio’s true understanding of the franchise. Sakamoto also further commented on why it’s the right time to remake Metroid II.
Find these excerpts from Sakamoto below. You can read TIME’s full piece here for a few more comments.
Nicalis isn’t done with Cave Story+. The company is working on an update for the game, which will let players change the graphics. If you want to play with the original visuals rather than the high-res sprites, doing so will be possible.
Nicalis teased on Twitter:
We heard you like #CaveStory in your Cave Story+. We're working on it! #NintendoSwitch pic.twitter.com/8bxM7LMdgF
— Nicalis, Inc. (@nicalis) July 1, 2017
Just like in North America, new My Nintendo rewards are up for grabs in Europe. Most of these are comprised of discounts, but Swapdoodle DLC and wallpapers are also available.
Here’s the full lineup:
At the very least, Implosion – Never Lose Hope is slated for the Japanese Switch eShop on July 6. Europe could be getting the game next week as well, and possibly North America. Note that the game takes up 3.1GB of space.
Source: Switch eShop
XSEED has written up its first localization blog for the upcoming Story of Seasons: Trio of Towns patch and DLC. You can read it right here.
The blog should give you a pretty good idea as to what you can look forward to with the update and new content. XSEED also says that both are “close to completion,” so that’s pretty good news.
Marvelous has prepared a first Japanese commercial for Fate/Extella: The Umbral Star on Switch. Watch the advert below.
The requirement to participate in Pokemon GO’s new Raid Battles has slowly been dropping over the past few days. Originally, you had to be level 35 or above to join in. Now, however, it’s all the way down to level 5 and above. A majority of players should be able to give Raid Battles a shot at this point.
Niantic shares the news in a post made on its website today:
