Category: Video Games

Nintendo Will Repair Out-Of-Warranty Joy-Con For Free In The UK, EEA, Switzerland

Policy change extends free Joy-Con drift repairs to new territories.

Nintendo will now offer free repairs of faulty Joy-Con to Switch owners in the UK, European Economic Area, and Switzerland.

This is according to an update to the company’s support page on its UK site (which appears to be reflected on other official sites across affected territories), which labels the now-infamous ‘Joy-Con drift’ as “responsiveness syndrome or so-called ‘drifting'”.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Ninterview: Menko Cards And Niche Nintendo History – The Hunt For Mario’s Rookie Card

A different kind of ‘game card’.

If you have ever read up on the history of Nintendo, you know that before it went into the video game business, the company began life by making cards and other novelties. The hanafuda and playing cards which Nintendo produced from its formation in 1889 took a back seat following the popularity of toys like the Ultra Hand in the 1960s, and the company would soon move into electronic games and, ultimately, arcade and video games.

But this is not to say that the company left cards behind completely. Nintendo-branded Japanese Menko cards were released in Japan in the early 1980s and collector Ben Gilmore has a sizeable colletion of these lesser-known Nintendo-branded cards. This milk cap/Pog-like tabletop game is older than Nintendo itself, and there are Nintendo Menkos with Mario designs that date from the plumber’s pre-NES arcade days.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Video: Is 3DS StreetPass Dead?

Zion investigates.

The start of this week saw the closure of the 3DS and Wii U eShops, a sad time for all of us, many of whom spent last weekend feeling a little sentimental about all of the brilliant games that we would be losing as we attempted to download as many titles as possible (not speaking from personal experience, of course). But what does this closure mean for the 3DS’ other features? Just three months into what we declared “the year of 3DS StreetPass,” could the feature really be dying just as we were getting started?

This is the precise question that our lovely video producer, Zion, attempted to answer this week. As many of you may be aware, Zion has been making a public push for the return of StreetPass ever since the start of 2023 — we even held a StreetPass event at this year’s PAX West. Aside from providing an update on how this journey has been going so far, the latest video explains the reality of Streetpass in 2023, how the eShop closure has affected the feature, and what its future might look like.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Poll: Box Art Brawl: Duel – Kirby’s Adventure

No copying here.

Hello folks! We made it through April Fools’ Day, so it’s time to say: welcome to another edition of Box Art Brawl!

First off, let’s have a quick look back at last week’s tussle. Super Mario Bros. 2 (or Super Mario USA) took to the stage, and while it was fairly close, Japan won this fight with 59% of the vote. We’re fans off both, so we’re not disappointed with the result at all.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Random: Bitmap Is Bringing Xeno Crisis To N64 And GameCube

“This is no joke”.

April Fools’ Day has been one heck of a minefield this year, with some video game companies going an extra step by actually releasing a real product.

With this in mind, Xeno Crisis developers Bitmap Bureau have announced they’ll be bringing the retro-inspired shooter to the Nintendo 64 and GameCube. And yes, it’s not a joke! We’ve seen this Kickstarter release on all sorts of platforms already – including Switch and now pre-orders are live on these classic Nintendo systems.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Ark 2 has been delayed, so they’re switching off Survival Evolved and charging $50 for a remaster

ARK 2 has been delayed until the end of 2024. The dinosaur survival sequel currently best known for having Vin Diesel in it, for some reason, was originally aiming for a 2023 release, but developers Studio Wildcard say they need more time.

To compensate, they’re going to instead release Ark: Survival Ascended in August, a remaster of the original Ark: Survival Evolved that moves it over to Unreal Engine 5. That’s the good news. The bad news is you can only buy it in a $50 bundle with the sequel (which won’t be finished for at least a year), and that the original Survival Evolved servers will be switched off when Ascended launches.

Read more

April Fools’ Day 2023: The Best Video Game Pranks on the Internet

April Fools’ Day has once again arrived and has brought with it some hilarious video game pranks. While most can be found to be fake for a laugh, there are a few clever ones that catch us by surprise and become actual new games or updates to existing titles that are just as wild as the day they are released.

It can be hard to keep track of all the best video game pranks on April Fools’ Day, so we are here to gather all the best ones in this roundup! Let us know which prank is your favorite below!

We’ll also be updating this article throughout the day, so be sure to check back for the latest additions!

The Super Mario Bros. Movie Voices + Nintendo Switch Online Announcement

To kick off the April Fools’ Day festivities, IGN presented to the world the latest Nintendo Direct, where Shigeru Miyamoto revealed all the voices from The Super Mario Bros. Movie would be coming to your favorite games. Yes, this includes Chris Pratt voicing Mario in the original Super Mario Bros., Seth Rogen’s Donkey Kong laughing his way through Donkey Kong Country, Anya-Taylor Joy’s Peach dominating the competition in Mario Kart 8, Jack Black’s Bowser destroying everything in his path in Super Mario Odyssey, and much more.

The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog Is a Real Game You Can Play Now

While this technically came out a day early, SEGA had a very special treat planned for Sonic fans with the actual release of The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog, a free murder mystery visual novel game on Steam that stars Sonic and his friends.

Among Us Brings Back Horse Mode For Another April Fools’ Day

From March 31 – April 2, Innersloth has brought back Horse Mode to Among Us, which turns player into either a horse or a rancher to compete in two modes – Horse Wrangling Mode and Classic Horse Mode. While the classic mode is very similar to a normal game, Horse Wrangling Mode is a new version of Hide N Seek with the Seeker becoming the Rancher and the crewmates becoming Horsemates.

Overwatch 2’s ‘Very Serious’ Patch Notes Brings a New Level of Fun to Arcade Mode

In celebration of this special day, Overwatch 2 has released some “very serious” patch notes that reveal some new additions to Arcade Mode. Not only are there googly eyes and new hilarious Ultimate Voice Lines, but each Hero has also been buffed in certain ways to make each match more chaotic and fun.

PUBG’s New Bizarre Battle Royale Mode Features Super Powers, Zombies, and a Monster Chicken

PUBG’s latest April Fools’ Day mode is called Bizarre Battle Royale and it brings in super powers, zombies, and a monster chicken that will give you the fight of your life.

League of Legends Will Let You Stack Hats Upon Hats To Get In the Holiday Spirit

If you hate the thought of just one hat on your head, League of Legends is here for you. Until midnight on April 2 in your local timezone, you will be able to “up your hat game in any blind pick match.” This means you can wear A LOT of hats at once.

Become ‘Legend-Dairy’ in Baldur’s Gate 3 and Cheese Your Way Through Encounters

Some online have said you can cheese your way through certain encounters in Baldur’s Gate 3, and Larian Studios took that to heart. To make the community happy, it is happy to announce on April Fools’ Day that an actual wheel of cheese will be a new character and will allow the cheesing to go to a whole new level.

The Razer Razer Is the ‘World’s First Shaving Mouse Powered by Rare Chroma RGB’

If you need more RGB in your life, Razer has your facial hair covered with the brand-new Razer Razer, the “world’s first shaving mouse powered by Razer Chroma RGB.” Not only can you get a perfect shave, but you can do so without ever leaving your computer.

HyperX Cloud20 Is a New Headset That Will Keep You Hydrated by Spraying Water in Your Face

It can be hard to stay hydrated while gaming, and HyperX wants to solve that problem with the new Cloud20 headset that will spray your with water from time to time to keep you as healthy as possible! Oh, and the video is a real winner.

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