Destructoid |
- Nintendo reveals a new color Switch Lite, but is it blue or purple?
- The success of Animal Crossing: New Horizons could influence future games, Nintendo says
- Let's relive the unspeakable horrors of high school with Mary-Kate and Ashley: Crush Course
- It Takes Two is a blast and I hope Hazelight keeps making co-op games forever
- A year later, you still can't keep Animal Crossing: New Horizons away from the top of the UK Charts
- Diablo II: Resurrected feels like a magic trick
- The original Shantae will come dancing onto Nintendo Switch next week
- Epic expected to lose over $300 million in effort to gain market share
- I think we've all collectively suffered the same fate as the person in this hilarious Monster Hunter Rise clip
- In March, Twitch users spent two million hours watching streamers sleeping
- This fan made hand painted Monster Hunter Switch should inspire a lot of potential crafters out there
| Nintendo reveals a new color Switch Lite, but is it blue or purple? Posted: 13 Apr 2021 02:30 AM PDT Nintendo has revealed a brand new color variant of its Switch Lite hardware and - mere minutes later - some corners of social media are already getting set to draw swords over whether it is truly the color that its manufacturer claims it is. Earlier this morning, Nintendo tweeted out images of its brand new "Blue" Nintendo Switch Lite, which will launch on May 25 at a retail price of $199.99. But it seems the internet is less concerned about its price and release date and more focused on whether the new console is - in fact - blue, as many in the gaming community are convinced that the new hardware is clearly purple, with some equating its tone to that of Nintendo's previous little box of wonders, GameCube. Yes, folks, it's one of those "What color do you see?" deals. Just like "The Dress" back in 2015, people in a bit of a furor over the actual pigment splashed all over Nintendo's new baby. I guess I'm adding to the WaCkiNeSs by writing about it myself. Still, it's been a terrible morning and my head is spaghetti, so you'll all just have to give me this one. This is what I have become. The Horror.  |
| The success of Animal Crossing: New Horizons could influence future games, Nintendo says Posted: 13 Apr 2021 02:00 AM PDT Animal Crossing: New Horizons is a hit. It's such a hit that it will probably end up as the number one Switch game of all time, dethroning Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and could hold that top spot forever. So it makes perfect sense that Nintendo is going to try and chase that success. Speaking to Nikkei (as translated by Nintendo Everything), Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa explains how the game got so popular, in fairly obvious terms: "It’s true that our recent growth has stemmed from the need for people to stay at home. Even though (Japan’s) state of emergency is over, people are spending more time at home than before." OK that makes a lot of sense, but there's a lot to unpack here. New Horizons really tapped into the portable and communal element of the Switch, something consoles can lack on an emotional level. Furukawa wants to tap into that more, explaining: "As games with long lifespans like Animal Crossing become more accepted, we believe this will have a significant impact on future development. We want to provide games that can allow communication between friends and families." This doesn't sound like anything that's drastically outside of Nintendo's purview. But Furukawa also isn't resting on his laurels, noting "As we spend more time in our homes, we are becoming increasingly spoiled for choice when it comes to entertainment. For people to choose to play our games with their limited free time, the games must be interesting. Competition is fierce and we’re not looking at the current situation lightly. We are constantly looking out for new ideas and researching what we can utilize next. In future, we want to not only work on our staple series like Mario and Zelda but also work on new games and new series." It's a good day to be a Nintendo executive. Sales are booming and you have the option to capitalize on basically whatever you want at this point. We're going to see some very interesting things coming out of the publisher in the next few years, as they pivot toward New Horizons' success. Animal Crossing [Nikkei via Nintendo Everything]  |
| Let's relive the unspeakable horrors of high school with Mary-Kate and Ashley: Crush Course Posted: 12 Apr 2021 09:00 AM PDT There’s a method to my madness when picking kusoge. A lot of the time, I go by reputation. I may not have played Carmageddon 64 or BMX XXX until I chose them as subjects for articles, but they’re generally understood to be crap games. This helps in two ways; the first is that I’m not going to be stepping all over someone’s favorite game, and the second is that more people will recognize it off the hop. But I’m not always going to do that, and this is one of those times. This is a time where I’m going to look at a game because it’s an easy target. Its relevance is long past stale, I’m not even in the same area code as its target audience, and I’m completely detached from its source material. It’s a game that I’m completely divorced from, and I know I’m going to hate it, so let’s dive into Mary-Kate and Ashley: Crush Course.  |
| It Takes Two is a blast and I hope Hazelight keeps making co-op games forever Posted: 12 Apr 2021 08:30 AM PDT After revisiting A Way Out a few months ago and just wrapping up It Takes Two over the weekend — it was surprisingly long! — it's been tough to muster my usual enthusiasm for other co-op games. I love teaming up with my girlfriend whenever and wherever our gaming interests intersect, and I know we still have countless hours left on our Year 3 farm in Stardew Valley, which will continue to be our go-to "unwinding" game for the near future. (We still have a few super-expensive purchases left, including two of the four warp obelisks and the Gold Clock, and I guess we're really going for perfection?) Once we've tapped out, I'll be back on my weekend routine of looking for something new for us to play. A lot of the time, after flipping through stores on multiple platforms and searching in vain for Reddit recommendations, I draw a blank. "This game would be fun... but it's online-only." "That one looks cool, but it's not out for a couple more months." "I don't know when Pikmin 4 or Overcooked 3 are happening." We either resort to digging out a known favorite (again!) or take a chance on something iffy that one of us probably won't like all that much — or we just do our own thing. It's a sentiment that I think a lot of couples and families can relate to. And while I'll often settle for okay games with reasonably decent co-op modes, I would be thrilled to see more games that follow Hazelight's "co-op only" prime directive.  |
| A year later, you still can't keep Animal Crossing: New Horizons away from the top of the UK Charts Posted: 12 Apr 2021 08:00 AM PDT It's been on the shelves for over a year, but Animal Crossing: New Horizons continues to invite new residents onto its islands. This week, the Switch social sim found its way back to the top spot of the UK Charts, usurping Electronic Arts' soccer sim FIFA 21, which now sits at number two. In terms of the UK's physical sales, it remains The Nintendo Show. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe pulls in at number three, while the remastered Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury sits just behind at number four. The Switch edition of Minecraft and newly released adventure Monster Hunter Rise are at five and six respectively, while Ring Fit Adventure is still toning tummies at number nine. The remaining three spots are taken up by AAA mainstays Grand Theft Auto V, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, and Assassin's Creed Valhalla. As we push into mid-April, the shelves remain relatively bare, with only Housemarque's Returnal, Nintendo's New Pokemon Snap, and Square Enix's NieR Replicant likely to shake up the physical sales scene, if only temporarily. For the near future, it appears the UK Charts will remain a testament to the mainstream appeal of the Switch platform.  |
| Diablo II: Resurrected feels like a magic trick Posted: 12 Apr 2021 07:00 AM PDT There is a part of my head, some reptilian section of my brain, that just loves watching numbers go up. It finds joy in methodically kiting and whittling down enemies, clearing the area of loot, and moving on to the next; like a farming simulator for pillaging and plundering. Because of that, Diablo should be right up my alley. And while I've enjoyed a fair bit of time with the third installment of the series, I have only the faintest memories of Diablo II and its expansion, Lord of Destruction. Diablo II: Resurrected felt like the right opportunity to revisit those distant blobs of memory, and understand better the reverence that fans hold for this particular dungeon-crawler.  |
| The original Shantae will come dancing onto Nintendo Switch next week Posted: 12 Apr 2021 06:30 AM PDT WayForward has announced that the original Shantae will launch on Nintendo Switch on April 22, when the classic platformer will be made available to download via the eShop. Despite the overwhelming popularity of WayForward's Shantae series, many fans are still yet to play the Half-Genie Hero's first-ever foray into video games. The original Shantae title saw the adorable adventurer sashay onto the Game Boy Color back in 2002. Coming at the end of the platform's lifespan, Shantae really pushed the GBC to its limits, and is considered one of the most technically ambitious titles available on the best-selling handheld. Originally published by Capcom, Shantae sadly failed to find success, having gotten lost between the cracks in the jump from GBC to Game Boy Advance. But, thanks to this new Nintendo Switch release, Shantae fans will finally be offered easy access to our gal's first magical adventure, as she runs, jumps, and hair-whips her way through Sequin Land, gathering the four elemental stones required to put paid to the plans of the troublesome pirate Risky Boots. Shantae for Switch will include both its original Game Boy Color and "enhanced" Game Boy Advance iterations and, with the release, will see the entire Shantae franchise available for the Nintendo platform. Magic!  |
| Epic expected to lose over $300 million in effort to gain market share Posted: 12 Apr 2021 06:00 AM PDT Epic and Apple's legal feud over Fortnite is still ongoing, and more details are being brought to light as it carries on. In a new filing, it's shown that Epic is set to lose at least $330 million in minimum guarantees alone. As reported by PC Gamer, a new filing from Apple (found here) goes into detail over Epic's spending to establish the Epic Games Store. According to Apple's filing, Epic committed $444 million in minimum guarantees for 2020 alone while projecting $401 million in revenue for the year. Epic also lost $181 million on the Epic Games Store in 2019, and Apple's projections suppose that the Epic Games Store will not be profitable until 2027. It's already known that Epic has been paying for store exclusives, including spending more than $10 million on Remedy's Control. Third-party games have been selling on the store, but in a breakdown released earlier this year, they made up 37% (or $265 million) of over $700 million spent on the PC Epic Games Store in 2020. For all the money spent though, Epic CEO Tim Sweeney seems unfazed. He responded on Twitter to these reports, saying they were right and "it has proven to be a fantastic success" in both reaching gamers and an investment in growing the business. "Apple spins this as 'losing money,' but spending now in order to build a great, profitable business in the future is exactly what investment is," said Sweeney in a follow-up. "It's equally true whether you're building a factory, a store, or a game." Epic has already filed in response as well, saying it expects Epic Games Store will start earning annual profits in 2023. It also reiterates Sweeney's comments about investing, saying it has "front-loaded its marketing and user acquisition costs to gain market share." It's also worth noting that Epic generates enough revenue to absorb these losses. Apple and Epic will go to trial in May over a feud that started with Fortnite's implementation of a way to directly pay Epic through the in-game store, bypassing Apple's cut on the App Store. Apple took the game down from the App Store, leading to Epic filing suit. It also resulted in a bizarre parody of the old Apple commercials, this time in Fortnite.  |
| Posted: 12 Apr 2021 05:30 AM PDT Stop me if you've heard this before. You're about to square up with a creature in a Monster Hunter game. You just upgraded your weapon and it's fully sharpened. And you've cooked enough supplies and are all packed and ready to go. You step up to the plate, and you get knocked off a cliff or into some other hazard. Yep, sounds about right. This clip shared by ThomasWiig on Reddit of their tango with a Rathian is so relatable it hurts. That leaping tail cleave sounded like such a good idea on paper, but right at the apex of the jump, the monster roars and basically punches them off a cliff. Undeterred, they climb back up with a wirebug and all the stamina they can muster, and a wing buffet knocks them on their ass again. Classic. Now there's ways to combat this, as the game offers "roar resist," you can use a Wirebug recovery, and you can approach the monster in such a way that would avoid this sort of situation. But still, with the Wirebug on offer in the game, why not use it to zip around everywhere? Just remember it could go horribly wrong. I think what makes the video for me is the bone-crunching sounds of pain that the hunter experiences when they fall. F**k me, right? [Reddit]  |
| In March, Twitch users spent two million hours watching streamers sleeping Posted: 12 Apr 2021 05:00 AM PDT According to a new report by StreamElements' analytical website Rainmaker.gg, March 2021 was a record-breaking month for Twitch, as the premier streaming website recorded an incredible 2.06 billion watched hours. This number represents a year-on-year growth of over 100%, suggesting that streamers - or specifically watching streaming - has never been more popular. For the most part, video games have taken the lead in regards to viewer interest, with Rockstar's crime sim Grand Theft Auto V pulling in around 181 million hours, celebrating its debut at the top of the streaming charts, despite the title's advancing age. This was followed by Riot Games' League of Legends at 143 million hours, and Epic Games' juggernaut Fortnite at 107 million hours.  |
| Posted: 12 Apr 2021 04:30 AM PDT Look, some people are just born crafty. My wife built a lazy Susan contraption for us to play the Marvel United board game with, and I kind of just sat there, stunned, the entire time. That deer in the headlights expression is exactly how I'd look if I watched dr_kelga of Reddit hand paint this custom Monster Hunter themed Switch. The creator says they used stencils, paint, a matte clear coat varnish, and masking tape to finish their project. It's actually super involved, as evidenced by the creation video linked below. They even dissembled and reassembled most of the components! "Just" the Switch is kind of a misnomer, too. They also managed to tag the Switch dock, as well as a Pro Controller and a Joy-Con Charging Grip. I love the classy photo too, with the wood surface, the Monster Hunter Rise case in plain view, and the sneaky Magnamalo amiibo. I will probably never achieve this level of crafting nirvana, but I want to. The step-by-step video gives me hope. I painted my Switch Monster Hunter themed [Reddit]  |
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