Nintendo Switch – Page 3 – The Gaming News Corner

TL; DW Nintendo Direct 8.18.2018: The Smash

Didn’t watch the direct at 7am like most people?! Don’t worry, I have it covered in this TL; DW for the Nintendo Direct. The game shown was Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and it showcased many new characters and info about the game. The animation was stellar in the direct.

New Characters!

Simon Belmont from the Castlevania series joins the list of fighters. His moveset is reminiscent of his NES/SNES whips, items, and attacks.
Echo fighter for Simon: Richter. The voice, animation, and a few moves are different.
King K. Rool joins the fray from the Donkey Kong series. Another big fan request! This fatty comes with his classic rifle, huge stomach strike, and castle!
Alucard is an assist trophy.
The Castlevania stage featuring the monsters, bosses, and Dracula is Dracula’s Castle. If you hit the candles, it will release items! No wall chickens yet but Dracula only appears at specific times…
Chrom from Fire Emblems Awakening and Dark Samus from Metroid Prime join as Echo Fighters!
You can have echo fighters on the fighter select option

New Stages:

New Donk City Hall from Mario Odyssey. Platforms are rising and falling as you move around the stage. The musicians and Daisy appear as well. The theme of Odyssey will also appear
Returning stages from Melee will include some rebalance changes.
N64 stages are meant to be classic and nostalgic for players
There are now 103 stages to choose from. Every stage has an Omega and Battlefield form.
Every stage now has 8-player mode!
You can turn stage hazards off
A new option called Stage Morph! You can have a stage change midmatch and alter the time when it occurs. Just select two stages before the fight.
Not just Final Destination

Music:

Stages now have tracks based on the franchise. You will be able to hear different tracks and can change the frequency of how often it plays!
900 tracks! It is separated by franchises. You can make a playlist
You can listen to it with the screen turned off. Not sure anybody will be casually carrying their Switch to listen to music.
Turn up the jam!

New Battle Options and Rules

You can finally start with stock instead of time.
Whatever option you left it at before is saved.
Stamina battle is now a standard option
Stages are selected before fighters. This gives you the option to choose your character based on the stage if you play competitively.
You can make the option to have the loser choose the stage.
Sudden Death will cause the screen to zoom in to add drama and shorten the KO borders!
Final Smash Meter rather than a Smash Ball. It will charge as you fight but it will be weaker than a Final Smash Ball version
Final Smashes can’t occur at the same time! So no Samus vs Dark Samus Final Smash beam clash
The options are meant for competitive play so it’ll be interesting to see how the Smash community changes with these new options!

Battle Modes

Squad Strike: 5v5 or 3v3
Start team fights online with players choosing multiple characters. You can do it solo or with multiple players
Tourney Mode: Start your own tournament and brackets! IT can go up to 32 players.
Smashdown: After each round, those fighters are unselectable and you’ll have to choose different characters. It continues until there are no more characters left
Training Mode Map: It will show you how the characters fight and how they will react based on hits
Classic: Fight through a set number of characters and stages similar to Melee’s adventure mode

Items:

Banana gun: Shoots one strong bullet before becoming a banana peel
Killing Edge: Sword which will glow to grow stronger
Bomber: Lift it up and it’ll explode and damage enemies around you
Death’s Scythe: It kills you…if you’re badly damaged
Staff: shoots a laser but it deals more damage the further the enemy is from you
Ramblin’ Evil Mushroom: Reverses opponents’ controls
Rage Blaster: The higher your damage, the stronger it is. For players who take hits a lot

Pokemon:

Executor Alolan Form. It’s so tall you can wall jump on its neck!
Abra: Teleports your enemies over the edges
Solgaleo: The legendary Pokemon charges up and smashes into your enemies for huge damage!
Lunala: The legendary Pokemon shoots a huge laser from afar that deals major damage
Mimikyu: Grabs the enemy and gives it a big hug underneath its disguise.
Pyukumuku: Damage it and get hit with a huge fist!
Vulpix and Vulpix Alolan: Shoots a fireball which hits multiple times. Alolan form freezes you.
Marshadow: The mystic pokemon makes you dizzy and punches you
Ditto: transforms into you and attacks enemies

Assist Trophies:

Zero from Megaman X series slash, dashes, and teleports!
Knuckles from Sonic digs and punches your enemies
Krystal from Starfox hits you with her magic staff
Klaptrap from DK bites you. Not to be confused with the Borderlands character
Kapp’n from Animal Crossing kidnaps you off the stage and drives away to kill you
Chef Kawasaki from Kirby throws you in a pot and cooks you and makes food items appear.
GREY FOX from Metal Gear Solid reflects projectiles and slashes enemies
Nikki draws stuff to hurt your enemies
Shovel Knight shovels your enemies
Moon from The Legend of Zelda smashes into the stage and damages everybody
Rathalos from Monster Hunter appears as a boss and an assist trophy!

Pokemon Let’s Go isn’t for Long Time Fans

*This article is my opinion**

I’ve been playing Pokemon ever since I was four years old. I’ve played every generation of handhelds Pokemon series: From Yellow to Ultra Moon. Like every longtime fan, I’ve been waiting for a new big entry into the series for the consoles and when the Switch was announced, it was a dream come true. “A console that can also be a handheld?! This is perfect for Pokemon!” When Pokemon Let’s Go: Pikachu/Eevee Edition was announced, I was ecstatic as every Pokemon players dreams came too. As the game comes closer to release on November 16th, I hear more news which discourages me from buying the game.

Back to Kanto in the Wrong Way

The first generation Pokemon are classics. Their designs are great, simple, and appeal to every age. What isn’t a classic is Kanto. While Gold & Silver are revolutionary for including the Kanto region thanks to Iwada, the appeal was because players just played the first generation and it provided more opportunities to explore than Johto. Players want to explore more than one region, it doesn’t have to be Kanto. I think going back to Kanto and only having Kanto is a mistake.

I think starting with the first generation of Pokemon and simplifying the genre for potential new players is good, I wish it wasn’t the next big Pokemon game. While Gamefreaks (Developers of Pokemon) have confirmed they are working on the next generation for 2019, I am worried they believe having one big region to explore is what fans want.

Image result for pokemon let's go map — The map looks amazing but if you filter through it, it’s just the same thing we have played before

Simplifying the Catching System

Pokemon Go completely changed how we catch Pokemon. Rather than clicking the button, we can now feel and throw the ball in Pokemon Let’s Go! However, catching them feels more like luck than strategy. While weakening Pokemon isn’t complex, it helps makes the player like they are working towards a higher success rate. The biggest annoyance in Pokemon Go is Pokemon running away after failing to catch. While curve throws and aiming are skill based, GameFreaks didn’t need to cut out the Pokemon battling portion. Both systems should be available but Junichi Masuda (Director of Pokemon) felt the game changes needed to be made for the Switch game.

Image result for pokemon let's go catching pokemon — Give me that Clefairy

Forcing Gym Battles to be easier

Siliconera showed a new screenshot regarding Gym battles. In front of most gyms, an NPC stands to give you advice on how to beat the Gym Leader with certain Pokemon types. In Pokemon Let’s Go, they won’t let you even challenge the leader until you have a Pokemon that is type effective against them. While it is great for new players to hear, it removes the freedom of gameplay. You should be allowed to challenge and play however you like in Pokemon. Letting players struggle should be an active learning experience.

Conclusion:

I hope Pokemon Let’s Go Pikachu/Eevee does well. While I will most likely skip this game, I love the series. I think it may be a test to see how players respond to the changes before they consider finalizing the details on Pokemon 2019. Many of the changes are controversial to longtime players like me but perhaps the sales numbers and review responses will affect future gameplay changes. I like Pokemon Go but I treat it like a different game than the main series. I prefer the style of a console game to be different than a mobile game.

The Pokeball accessory looks cool though.

Will you be buying Pokemon Let’s Go?

Nintendo Everything – Junichi Masuda Interview

Siliconera

Is the Switch doing well for 2018?

Last year, Nintendo set the gaming world on fire with the launch of the Switch. Within one year of its launch, it has sold more than 1.5 million units. Despite a very strong last year, 2018 has made fans and investors spectacle on the future of the Switch. Nintendo has stated they will sell 20 million units before the end of the consoles’ life cycle but investors are uneasy.

Investors POV

Nintendo rarely listens to investors or their insights. It took many years for them to start in the mobile market despite it being a multi-billion business. Gaming investors and shareholders generally push for companies to start in the mobile industry. After this year’s E3, Nintendo didn’t impress and their stocks dropped dramatically. Their highest this year was in March but has dropped by 34%. The drop is so drastic that Nintendo’s former President Tatsumi Kimishima had to reassure shareholders that Nintendo still has more games to be announced for 2018.

The two big games Nintendo has announced for 2018 are Pokemon Let’s Go and Super Smash Bros: Ultimate. Despite the new Pokemon entry, it is not a new mainstream Pokemon title. Smash is also more of an updated port of Smash 4 rather than an entirely new title. This has led to investors’ lack of confidence in the company. Despite this, Nintendo has made over three million dollars in profit from their new title, Pokemon Quest. Their other mobile games such as Mario Run, Fire Emblem HEROES!!!!!!! and Pokemon Go have also made millions in profit. Despite fears, GameStop has seen massive sales increase for the Switch.

Switch Sales grows at GameStop

While the digital purchases continue to grow, GameStop still remains a prevalent store for young consumers. After E3, Switch sales doubled over the course of the week. Super Smash Bros: and Pokemon received a multitude of pre-orders including the Pokeball accessories. However, the sales of the Nintendo Labo still remains to be heard but based on all of the boxes left at stores, I don’t think it is going well.

Opinion

I have complete faith in Nintendo. Despite the slow year, I am having a blast with the Nintendo Switch. Although many of their games this year have been ports, Nintendo will continue to work on great games. They take their time and are willing to take fan complaints without succumbing to pressure from investors or public demand. How well do you think Nintendo will finish their 2018?

Sources:

Forbers – Investor Worry

Gameindustry Biz – GameStop sales

IGN – President of Nintendo tries to quells investors fear

Cnet – Pokemon Quest Revenue

Nintendo Life – Pokemon Go profits

Nintendo brings the Ban Hammers on Hackers

Nintendo has always had their share of hackers and devices throughout their console releases. Everything from GameShark, R4’s, and homebrews have broken through Nintendo’s hardware. The Nintendo Switch is filled with hackers as well. Hacking ranges from playing pirated games, cheating in Splatoon 2, and adding pornography on Mario Odyssey. Fortunately, now that Nintendo has a stronger online game presence, they’ve been able to slam the ban hammer on hackers.

Anybody who plays pirated games online on the Switch are banned. An exploited hardware patch in April allowed hackers to play pirated Switch games. However, a recent patch allows Nintendo to detect players using the hacking software on their Switches. Each Nintendo Switch games has a unique token for the game and when you play online, the console submits a token. This counts for physical games. Downloaded games have an encrypted game ID tied to the Nintendo Switch console and the Nintendo ID. Pirated games don’t have the token or code and Nintendo will notice and ban you instantly from playing online.

Of course, there are complainers on forums such as GBAtemp and on r/SwitchHacks but they have high hopes of getting past Nintendo’s defense.

Examples of hacks:

In Splatoon 2, hackers are plaguing online multiplayer matches by being invisible, having more specials and rapid fire. While you can report them and they disconnect frequently, hackers appearing on ranked games have frustrated players. Super Mario Odyssey recently added Balloon World to allows players to create platforming time trials. When you’re playing, you can see other players Switch icons. Through homebrew hacking, players were able to add pornographic images throughout the game which would be difficult to explain to your parents.

Thanks to Jairus for the news suggestion!

Sources:

Gamenesia – Super Mario Odyssey Porn?

Gamasutra – Nintendo Switch Pirate game detection

Reddit: Original Source

[PSA] Strong anti-piracy measures implemented by Nintendo for online. from SwitchHacks