Nintendo’s latest original game is ARMS, which is coming to the Switch on 16 June.
In case you don’t already know, it’s a fighting game in which all the characters have extendable arms, meaning they can attack from a distance. I played it way back in January: here were my obscenely early hands-on impressions.
Nintendo has promised that, as was the case with Splatoon, ARMS will be supported after launch with a bunch of free downloadable content updates.
This will include new stages, new types of arm and – most interestingly – new playable fighters.
The fifth and ‘final’ wave of Lego Dimensions characters is due to be released on 10 May, adding Slimer, Bane and Ninjago character Lloyd to the roster.
Warner Bros and developer Traveller’s Tales have made it very clear that there’s a three-year plan for Lego Dimensions, and so far we’re only 7 months into it.
It’s almost certain that more ‘seasons’ of content are on the way, adding even more characters as well as (hopefully) level packs and free-roaming adventure worlds to expand the game further.
On Friday, an apparent promotional image showing off a Supergirl minifig for Lego Dimensions was supposedly leaked, suggesting the second batch of content could be announced any time now.
Today Nintendo president and CEO Satoru Iwata revealed during a presentation that the next ‘dedicated game platform’ from Nintendo was in development.
Naturally, the main response to this should be “no shit”.
The official Nintendo NX logo. Um, probably
Video game hardware doesn’t just appear out of thin air, it takes an extremely long time to develop and perfect. PS4 lead architect Mark Cerny once confirmed that his console, released in November 2013, was in development as early as 2008.
So yes, of course Nintendo’s working on new hardware. We all knew that. What we didn’t know was its (code)name and when it’s coming out.
Today’s announcement at least answers part of that. The new system has been codenamed the Nintendo NX and is due to be properly revealed in 2016, which – given Nintendo’s usual routine – means we’ll probably see it on shelves in 2017.
What we still don’t know is whether the NX is a handheld or a home console… or even the much-rumoured hybrid system that acts as both.
In fact, here’s the full extent of what was actually said about the NX:
Not a lot to go on, I’m sure you’ll agree. Still, that hasn’t stopped the gaming press jumping on it with some deciding, among other things, that it’s a new home console designed to replace the struggling Wii U (i.e. the console everyone who has one loves and everyone who doesn’t thinks is shit).
I’m not about to get into speculation, because that’s just daft and frankly unprofessional, but what I will do is share a list of things I hope the NX implements.
Nintendo’s latest original game is ARMS, which is coming to the Switch on 16 June.
Tired Old Hack 