During the Final Fantasy XIV Fan Festival in Europe earlier today, Square Enix commented on a possible version of the game for Switch. It’s under “consideration”, the company said.
In August 2015, director and producer Naoki Yoshida stated that Square Enix was open to putting Final Fantasy XIV on Switch, when it was called NX. It sounds like things are slightly more concrete, though we still don’t have a confirmation of it actually happening.
Nintendo has provided a statement to IGN noting that “a small number” of Switch units were stolen “in an isolated incident by employees of a U.S. distributor”. The company adds that “units were stolen in an isolated incident by employees of a U.S. distributor, with one system being illegally resold.”
Fortunately, Nintendo has discovered the root of the problem. “The individuals involved have been identified, terminated from their place of employment and are under investigation by local law enforcement authorities on criminal charges,” the company says.
Here’s Nintendo’s full statement:
“Earlier this week, individuals claimed to prematurely purchase a small number of Nintendo Switch systems from an unspecified retailer. Nintendo has determined these units were stolen in an isolated incident by employees of a U.S. distributor, with one system being illegally resold. The individuals involved have been identified, terminated from their place of employment and are under investigation by local law enforcement authorities on criminal charges.
Nintendo Switch will launch worldwide on March 3, 2017, and we look forward to everyone being able to discover the wonders of the new system for themselves at that time.”
This is all related to the Switch leak from earlier in the week. hiphoptherobot, who obtained the system, indicated today that it was sold to him after it was obtained through illegal means. While Nintendo took back the system, he apparently won’t be getting into any trouble.
The 2017 winter edition of Wonder Festival is now underway. As usual, we have plenty of news about upcoming Nintendo-related figures. New items from Metroid, Fire Emblem, Pokemon, and Kirby are all on display.
These figures are currently being featured at Wonder Festival in one form or another:
– Samus figma from Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
– Sakura Nendoroid from Fire Emblem Fates
– Pikachu Nendoroid
– Lillie Nendoroid from Pokemon Sun/Moon
– Ash and Pikachu Nendoroid
– Red figma from Pokemon
– Ice Kirby Nendoroid
– GSA Kirby & Robobot Armor
Images from the various pictures are below. Some are obviously more far along than others.
Suda51 appeared on the latest episode of IGN’s Up At Noon show this past week. At one point, the No More Heroes creator tackled a few questions about Switch.
First, when asked about whether it’s easy developing for the platform and working with Nintendo, he responded by saying that it’s extremely easy. He also feels that the environments are in place to make things easy for developers.
Suda51 then said that he’s hoping to bring back many familiar characters for his new project on Switch – including Travis Touchdown obviously. He’s thinking about how to use the Joy-Con controllers for something like charging Travis’ Beam Katana. On Wii, the No More Heroes games had players recharging the weapon by by shaking the Wii Remote.
Wayward Souls started out as a mobile game, but it’s now starting to reach new platforms such as PC. A Switch version may also be a possibility in the future.
When asked about Wayward Souls coming to Switch on Facebook, RocketCat Games responded that the team is unsure if it will happen. However, they are “looking into it”.
If you haven’t heard about Wayward Souls in the past, we’ve included a brief overview and trailer below.
“Wayward Souls is an action-adventure dungeon crawler with randomized levels and permanent death. It features quick, twitch-based combat where tactics, positioning, and timing matter, controlled through touchscreen gestures. Two years in the making, it’s designed for quick playthroughs and lots of replay value.”
Thanks to Giorgio B for the tip.
One of the more memorable moments in Zelda history was when Nintendo showed a GameCube tech demo at Spaceworld 2000. A brief scene depicted Link and Ganondorf duking it out in a realistic style. But as we later learned, it was just that – a tech demo and nothing more. Nintendo ended up going in a completely opposite direction for the next Zelda game following Ocarina of Time. Around two to three years later, Nintendo released the cartoon-esque, cel-shaded Wind Waker.
So what’s the story behind that tech demo anyway? And why did Nintendo decide against moving forward with it? In the new Zelda: Art & Artifacts book, artists Yoshiki Haruhana and Satoru Takizawa commented on the situation:
The internet was set ablaze this week when hiphoptherobot came forward about having obtained a Switch system nearly two weeks early. That’s where a number of leaked videos surfaced, such as off-screen footage of the UI and OS.
hiphoptherobot has now said that “Nintendo has the console back”, though he won’t be in any trouble. He did offer up a brief explanation as to how he originally received the Switch first place. Unfortunately, it sounds like it may have been a part of a stolen batch of units.
hiphoptherobot said the following on NeoGAF:
“I probably cant talk about details but after knowing what happened I don’t necessarily think Nintendo is wrong for wanting the console back and the people I dealt with have all been very nice and reasonable. And again, I am not in any trouble but didnt feel like pushing my luck by keeping the videos up.
Well I am a barista and we dont usually carry Nintendo products at the cafe. And I am sure it is frustrating that I cant share more details but I am not sure what I can or cant share. For the sake of clarification I will say that I don’t think the person I got it from knew and therefore I certainly didn’t know but somewhere down the chain some switches had ‘mysteriously disappeared’. So while it was unknown to me, once I found out that it had probably been stolen I did’t feel comfortable keeping it.”
Definitely an interesting story. Nintendo certainly works quickly!
This week, City Connection announced a sequel to the arcade and Game Boy puzzle game Soldam. It’s planned for release on the Japanese eShop for Switch’s launch, but it will be published in the west as well under the name “Soldam 2”. Confirmation about the North American and European version was posted on the official Twitter account today.
There’s no word at the moment about any sort of release date sadly. Details will be announced “later” for western territories.
Nintendo Switch "soldam 2" will be released on March 3 (planned). ? North America Europe version will be announced in detail later. pic.twitter.com/nCPU6OSdZw
— ?????????/???????? (@claricedisc) February 18, 2017
forma.8 finally launches on various platforms next week, including Wii U. The game’s file size is in as YouTubers and media gain early access. forma.8 will take up 1,140 MB of space on your system.
Update (2/18): We’ve been seeing some confusion about the release date for this guide, but Piggyback confirms that it’s releasing on March 31. The other two versions are still on for March 3.
Also, Amazon Canada has strangely pulled its listing for whatever reason. When it goes back up, we’ll let you know.
Original (2/17): Amazon is now taking pre-orders for the Zelda: Breath of the Wild Deluxe Edition guide. You can secure a copy here. For those in Canada, head on over here.
The Zelda: Breath of the Wild Deluxe Edition guide features a special format of 11 ” x 15”, premium vintage hardcover, exclusive dedicated 16-page retrospective celebrating thirty years of Zelda games, a 16-page dedicated art section, and two ribbon bookmarks.
