Results Get!
Altus have announced that the persona series has now achieved 22 million worldwide sales, an impressive feat indeed!
This shouldn’t come as a shock though, while the series has always enjoyed popularity the release of Persona 5 has slowly but surely climbed the series to new heights.
With the recent release of Persona 3 Reload and rumors of more coming down the pipeline it feels safe to say that Persona will be around for a long time!
Capcom Highlights Digital Event Announced for March 7th and 11th
A look at things to come
Capcom have announced two upcoming Capcom Highlights events which will reveal details on upcoming games and updates.
The first event will start on March 7th at 3PM PT and will focus on Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess and Dragon’s Dogma 2.
Th second event will start on March 11th at 3PM PT and will focus on Street Fighter 6, Exoprimal, Monster Hunter Stories and Monster Hunter Now.
We will of course keep you updated on any Nintendo relevant news that comes from these events.
New Japanese Switch Commercial Highlights Pokémon Scarlet and Violet DLC
A bit of home wherever you roam.
A new Japanese Switch Commercial has just been released, this time highlighting Pokémon Scarlet and Violet as well as The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero DLC.
The commercial focuses on two brothers who once connected over Pokémon at a young age and rekindle their bond over the game before the oldest leaves home. It’s a touching commercial that ties cleverly into the themes of Pokémon, setting out into the world and growing up.
Super Mario World Icons now available on Nintendo Switch Online
An Iconic world indeed!
From now until April 1st you’ll be able to purchase icons from the Super Nintendo classic Super Mario World.
As always, the character icons themselves are 10 Platinum Points, while the borders and backgrounds are 5. This time however, you’ll need to first play a bit of Super Mario World through NSO to unlock the ability to purchase. This can be easily accomplished by opening the game in the app and closing it so this shouldn’t be too big of a hurdle to jump.
Streamer achieves first 100% no-damage run of Majora's Mask
Dawn of a New Record
Streamer MajinPhil has made history by completing the first recorded 100% no damage run of The Legend of Zelda Majora’s Mask, you can see their reaction the claiming victory up above. This comes as a follow up to their previous no damage Any% run three years ago.
The incredible achievement was made over a 10-hour long marathon in which MajinPhil also forbade themself from using glitches or even the shield requiring themselves to dodge every enemy attack. Reflecting on the challenge MajinPhil credits their victory to practicing the final boss early in the stream which helped them bring the win home.
The world of challenge runs is a testament to the legacy games can leave long after their original release date.
Rainbow Sea descends onto Switch this Summer
Can you ascend to godhood?
Developer Shirokurohitsuji has teamed up with publisher G-MODE Corporation to release the pixel-art adventure game ‘Rainbow Sea’ on Switch this summer.
The game has you take control of a Human trying to prove yourself to the Seven Lucky Gods of Japanese myth and join their ranks. As you sail for a year aboard the god’s treasure ship you will make choices that will lead you to one of the games twenty-two different endings.
You can read a full overview from the game’s Steam page down below.
About
Rainbow Sea is a multi-ending adventure with pixel-art style based on the myth of the traditional Japanese gods—Seven Lucky Gods. It depicts a year in the life of “Human,” who was chosen as a candidate for god, and the Seven Lucky Gods, who do not seem to open up much to her. You—the Human explores inside a treasure ship and make choices to change the storyline. All twenty two endings are true endings, and only you, the player, will know the authentic story.
Story
You wake up in an unfamiliar storeroom with nothing but the sound of waves. As you are trying to figure out why you are here, you are spoken to by yourself in a mirror. The mirror tells you to tell a lie and it disappears.
When you leave the storeroom, you meet people who call themselves the Seven Lucky Gods. According to one of them, Daikoku, you are “Human” who was chosen to become a god. Most of them do not seem to welcome your sudden appearance.
When the treasure ship returns to the human world in a year, will you become a god who can be one of the gods on the ship, will you return to your original world as a human, or will you…?
A bittersweet year with the Seven Lucky Gods begins.
System
Move around the treasure ship and trigger events by talking to gods and examining objects on the ship. Events begin when certain conditions are met, such as the level of affection from the gods, the weather, and the time of day. In the events, you can make choices to change the story.
In the game, every second of reality passes as a minute, and you can be active from 6:00 to 24:00. Note that if you are not eating or sleeping enough, you will fall asleep in less time than that.
One year later, on New Year’s Day, you will have a final ending, depending on the events you have seen and your choices.
It takes roughly two hours to play a round of the game.
As of now we only have the release window of Summer but we will be sure to keep you updated on the official release date when it is announced.
FInal Fantasy VII Rebirth director had no idea about Sephiroth's Smash Bros. Inclusion
A well-kept secret
By now Super Smash Bros reputation precedes itself, it’s one of the biggest gaming crossovers and was thusly prone to lots of rumors and leaks whenever a game was in active development. With so many prying eyes on the series it’s only natural that eventually something would fall through the cracks and leak to the public before Nintendo wanted, but it’s also just as impressive when an announcement is made that no one was expecting.
One such announcement was that Sephiroth would be joining the roster as part of the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Fighter’s Pass Vol. 2. Announced during the 2020 Game Awards, many fans were shocked by this inclusion as rumors and speculation was not pointing to Sephiroth or anything else from Final Fantasy VII at the time. Turns out another group that was just as shocked were people who were more familiar with Sephiroth than anyone else in the gaming industry, the developers of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth.
In an Interview with Kinda Funny Games, game director Naoki Hamaguchi revealed that neither him nor anyone on the dev team was aware of Sephiroth joining the battle and found out at the same time as everyone else. You can read his full words down below.
So, actually, um, with sort of Sephiroth in Smash Brothers, it was actually extremely confidential that he was even going to be in it…So, none of the dev team knew, including myself. So it was more like when the whole world knew it, and that’s when we knew it like, ‘Oh! I had no idea!’
Given the iron grip Nintendo tries to maintain on Smash’s development this makes sense. Information on Smash fighter’s development is on a need-to-know basis and the developers of a game featuring the character wouldn’t need to know at all as funny as that may sound.
You can watch the full interview with Hamaguchi on Kinda Funny Games’ YouTube Channel down below!
Latest Episode of The Simpsons references Mario Kart
I sleep in a Mario Kart, do you?
The Super Mario series, and by extension, Mario Kart is no stranger to being parodied. Things like SNL’s gritty HBO Mario Kart sketch show that the series is well known not just by Nintendo fans but by the greater entertainment industry. This is all to say that it’s no surprise that the latest episode of ‘The Simpsons’ would also parody the series.
The episode entitled “Lisa gets an F1” (Season 35 Episode 12 to be exact) features Lisa becoming a pro kid go-cart racer and Homer fearing for her safety. Homer’s concern leads to a nightmare sequence in which Homer dreams himself as Wario tossing a bomb at a Mario-esque Lisa and knocking her off Rainbow Road, Homer even straight up calls himself Wario in the dream and does the iconic “WAH!”.
The nightmare also features other cameos like Milhouse as Yoshi and Nelson as Bowser and it also gets referenced later on in the episode as one big Mario Kart reference by Lisa, a fact that is completely lost on Homer. You can watch all the clips down below.
Devolver Digitial releases SNES-styled online manual for Pepper Grinder
Digging up memories!
In our current digital age many nostalgic memories of gaming past have fallen to the wayside, traditional game manuals being an oft discussed one, but every now and then a company like Devolver Digitial puts the extra effort to bring the magic back. The company has released an online manual for their upcoming release Pepper Grinder done in the style of classic Super Nintendo Manuals.
While this obviously isn’t a full replacement for an actual printed manual included with the game, it’s nice to see the extra retro effort thrown in for what seems to be a very retro-inspired title. If you want to read the manual for yourself you can check it out on Devolver’s website by following the link below!
Heavenly Bodies floats onto Switch February 29th, 2024
Take that Newton!
We’ve known that that the free-floating physics game Heavenly Bodies was bound for Switch sometime this month but now we can confirm that it will land on Switch February 29th, 2024 at the price of $19.99.
Challenge your mind, body, and the physics of space in this unique puzzle game inspired by the efforts of real life space explorers. You can check out a trailer for the game as well as an official overview down below.
Discover the ever-changing nuances of weightless motion in this challenging physics game. Wrangle control of your cosmonaut’s arms with the left and right thumbsticks to push, pull, and clamber through fully physically simulated scenarios aboard a scientific research station.
You have been entrusted to bring into operation Earth’s proudest feat of engineering. With only radio contact with mission control as your aid, you will have to use your sharp mind and dexterous limbs to assemble space telescopes, maintain delicate solar arrays and research cosmic botany. But without gravity, nothing is still, nothing is secure, and nothing is simple.
Key Features
- A collection of stellar scenarios inspired by the feats of space explorers and researchers throughout history.
- Expressively control every limb of a weightless cosmonaut to perform challenging and delicate maneuvers.
- Play single player or with a friend via local-coop. You’ll be able to play missions either solo or with a space friend.
- Play online with Steam’s Remote Play Together.
- Manipulate incredibly expensive space vehicles and elaborate machinery.
- Stylised 70s visual aesthetic influenced by archival space photography and technical illustration.
- Customisable control mode difficulty
Switch firmware version 17.0.1 gets a "rebootless" update
The banned words list grows
The Nintendo Switch has been updated to version 17.0.1 and with it dataminers have taken to the files to see what has changed. As usual it seems the only updates are to the Switch’s ever growing roster of banned words the full list is as follows:
- The words “Hate” or “H8” combined with minority groups
- Various Japanese death threats
- The phrase “トモダチヤメ” which translates to “stop being friends”
It’s a pretty run of the mill update all things considered, thanks to Oatmeal Dome for always providing timely information on these updates when they drop.
More episodes of Pokémon Concierge now in Production
The relaxation continues!
Pokémon has taken to Twitter/X to reveal that new episodes for their Netflix series, Pokémon Concierge, are now in production.
Pokémon Concierge launched late last year to near universal praise from fans with the only complaint being that the series was only four episodes long, a problem that shall now be rectified. There’s no telling when these new episodes will be ready as stop-motion animation takes quite a bit of time but we did receive a new piece of concept art showing Haru and Psyduck hard at work animating the new episodes.
We will keep you updated with news on Pokémon Concierge as it comes out.
New Illustration shared for Splatoon 3's Upcoming 'Best day of the Weekend' Splatfest
Octolings and Gentlesquids... The Weekend
The official Splatoon Account has shared a new illustration commemorating the upcoming Splatfest which is a battle to determine which day of the Weekend is best. Will you side with Shiver on team Friday? Fight with Frye on team Saturday? Or maybe battle it out with Big Man on Team Sunday? Whatever day of the weekend strikes your fancy you can hop into the game and start playing the event right now!
We’ve reported in the past about Gelato Pique’s Super Mario collaboration line, a deluxe collection of comfortable lounge and sleep wear decked out with everyone’s favorite Mushroom Kingdom residents. While the Mario collaboration has only been available via Japanese Import for the longest time it now seems to be making it’s debut in the states.
Nintendo NY has posted that the apparel line will be available at the Nintendo NY store February 16th. While we don’t know the full details of this release yet it seems that this will be focused on the latest addition to the line which includes Bowser. You can see the full range of products on Nintendo’s Japanese website here.
We will keep you posted on any additional information on the American launch of this line as it becomes available.
Spirit Hunter: Death Mark II makes it's mark on Switch February 15th
The mystery continues
Horror Visual Novel Spirit Hunter returns with Spirit Hunter: Death Mark II coming to Switch on February 15th, 2024.
Solve a new mystery with familiar faces and engage with new 2D exploration sequences as you work to unravel the truth behind the disappearance of students at Konoehara Academy.
You can read a full overview down below or click here to check out the game’s official website.
Return to H City!
The latest installment to the Spirit Hunter Series – Spirit Hunter: Death Mark II – finds Kazuo Yashiki back in H City to investigate supernatural occurrences at Konoehara Academy. Posing as a teacher, you will search the school and surrounding area for any clues to the mysterious disappearances of the students.
As in previous games in the series, the developers have drawn on Japanese myths and folklore to create an immersive and nuanced tale of terror. Some old faces return to aid Yashiki in his quest, and a 2D side-scrolling mode offers a new way to explore locations.
Be ready, for when a spirit does attack, crucial mistakes mean certain death.
KEY FEATURES
• Solve the mysterious deaths with help from many of the original characters from the first game - Spirit Hunter: Death Mark
• Choose who will accompany you from a designated selection of characters to help you solve the mystery and accompany you in all new 2D exploration gameplay.
• All new artwork from the same team of the first 2 games – Spirit Hunter: Death Mark & Spirit Hunter: NG