Square Enix opened the official Japanese website for Lost Sphear. Access it here. We also have new screenshots and art in the gallery below.
Brand new details have just been revealed for Switch’s paid online service, now known as Nintendo Switch Online.
The highlight of today’s news concerns pricing. You’ll need to fork over $20 a year, $4 a month, or $8 for three months. The service will now be free until 2018.
Switch players who subscribe will be able to participate in online multiplayer gaming and use a dedicated smartphone app for online play sessions. Classics with added online play are reconfirmed, including Super Mario Bros. 3, Balloon Fight, and Dr. Mario. eShop discounts will be offered, too.
Get the full lowdown on Nintendo Switch Online below.
In a recent interview with Gamerant, Hidemaro Fujibayashi commented that he would like to further explore the game design that was used to create The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. As the director of said game, he would likely be in a position to do such a thing in future installments. His full answer to the question of whether open-world design will be the new standard for the Zelda series going forward, is as follows:
We can’t really say much at the moment but there are lots of things in this current game design we still want to explore. If, as a result of that exploration, we feel positive we can provide our audience with new experiences it’s possible this design could become the standard.”
While Breath of the Wild is a huge phenomena, it would still be quite a departure for the series to stray away from the design philosophy it’s adhered to so closely since Ocarina of Time. Only time will tell what the future holds for the Legend of Zelda now.
In a recent interview with Time, ARMS producer Kosuke Yabuki and art director Masaaki Ishikawa spoke at length about the game. A wide range of topics were covered, including how much of ARMS is luck versus skill, which control method the development team prefers, and how tools from the development of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild were used in the development of ARMS.
On whether or not ARMS was designed with data from data aggregation tools that were used by the Breath of the Wild development team, Yabuki said this:
Arms and Breath of the Wild are made on the same floor at Nintendo, and we are able to use things that the Breath of the Wild team found useful. But it’s important for us to choose the right tools for the game. In development of this game, we looked a lot at the results of the battles, the overall picture of what character matches well with what character and what arms go up well against what arms. That information comes from humans fighting other humans. But we also use the artificial intelligence in the game to match A.I. against itself and look at that data. And of course the players who participated in the Arms test this last weekend, we looked at that to check and see if there are any balance issues.
In an extensive video chat with Gamasutra, Thumper co-creator Marc Flury spoke at length about the game. Some noteworthy topics include the creation of an original game engine as opposed to using a popular, third party one such as Unity, and how the use of rumble in Thumper attracted the attention of Nintendo.
On the subject of Nintendo being interested in the use of rumble in Thumper, it seems that the game caught the eye of some Nintendo executives when it was being shown off in Japan for PS4 and PC. Flury was asked if he would be interested in working with Nintendo’s new rumble system, which we now know as the HD Rumble used in the Joy-Cons on the Switch.
On the subject of creating an original engine instead of using a pre-built one to make a game, Flury wanted to emphasize that this approach shouldn’t be seen as crazy and unrealistic as it often is. He believes a lot of the anxiety around such an approach in the games industry comes from a lack of proper education. He believes that it might be time for schools to rethink their approach to introducing programming to younger individuals.
Check out the full video below.
Some last-minute maintenance has been scheduled for Switch. The system’s internet connectivity features such as online play, rankings, etc. may be impacted while it’s taking place.
The schedule is as follows:
– 5 PM PT – 11 PM PT
– 8 PM ET – 2 AM ET
– 1 AM in the UK – 7 AM in the UK
– 2 AM in Europe – 8 AM in Europe
After being denied certification for a Wii U release previously, Hive Jump is progressing towards an eShop release with a second attempt at receiving certification after a round of bug fixing. In a recent Kickstarter update to backers, Graphite Lab announced that they’re now just waiting on word from Nintendo.
Our last update explained some of the issues we faced with our first run through certification. We’re happy to share that we’ve fixed those issues (and a few more that we’d uncovered along the way). We’ve submitted once again to Nintendo and are anxiously awaiting approval!
Hopefully this means we’ll soon see Hive Jump on Wii U.
The latest episode of the Play Nintendo Show has gone live. Minecraft: Nintendo Switch Edition, NBA Playgrounds, and FAST RMX are all featured. Check out the full episode below.
Shantae: Half-Genie Hero is coming to the European Switch eShop next week. In order to download the game, 1.6GB of free space will be required.
North America should be getting Shantae: Half-Genie Hero soon as well. Also, XSEED will be publishing a physical version at some point.
In addition to a tournament for ARMS at E3 2017, Splatoon 2 will also be getting the same treatment. Take a look at a teaser for the 2017 Splatoon 2 World Inkling Invitational below.
The #Splatoon2 World Inkling Invitational begins in two weeks at #E32017! Watch 4 teams from around the world battle for the gold! pic.twitter.com/MaSjBt6Rvm
— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) June 1, 2017
