Arms hands-on preview

Published on by Chris Scullion4 Comments

arms-uk-boxThere was a moment when I was playing Arms (not ARMS: come on, people) where I was suddenly hit with a flashback of something I’d experienced nearly a decade before.

It was when I performed a grab move in the game, flinging both my extendable arms at my opponent and pulling them towards me for a beat down.

“Shake the controllers”, the rep at the Switch event told me. “Shake them fast and you’ll do more damage.”

So I did. And as I did, I suddenly found myself at the Wii post-E3 event in 2007 again, trying out Mario & Sonic At The Olympic Games for the first time.

“Shake the Remote,” the rep told me back then. “Shake it fast and you’ll run faster.”

So I did. And I convinced myself then that it was a fad and ‘waggling’ wasn’t going to be a popular control method for too long.

We meet again, Old Scratch. Continue reading “Arms hands-on preview” →

Zelda: Breath Of The Wild Switch hands-on preview

Published on by Chris Scullion5 Comments

zeldabotw-boxI wasn’t fortunate enough to get to play the Breath Of The Wild Wii U demo back when it was doing the rounds after E3 last year.

By all accounts, the demo I played last week was the same as that one, with the only obvious difference being that this time it was running on Switch hardware.

Since the contents of the demo itself are more than half a year old now, I figured I’d spare you the same rundown of what it entails, what I got to see and the like. Every site worth its salt already has a hands-on preview of the Wii U version in its archives somewhere, so me adding my own would be like pissing into Lake Hylia.

What I can do, though, is tell you how it feels playing the game on the Switch, as well as going into other details like playing with the Joy-Con Grip and how easy it is to do the whole ‘switching from TV to handheld’ process. Continue reading “Zelda: Breath Of The Wild Switch hands-on preview” →

Let’s not piss around – the Switch is a handheld

Published on by Chris Scullion11 Comments

nintendoswitch_hardware-0-0Ever since the late 1980s, when the Game Boy started its global dominance, there has been an overwhelming agreement on the difference between home consoles and handhelds.

A home console is one that, as the name suggests, can be played at home: you plug it into your television, sit back and enjoy all the platform-jumping, goal-scoring, enemy-fragging shindiggery you want from the comfort of your sofa.

A handheld, meanwhile, is a console you can take on the move with you. It has its own screen and, crucially, never needs a TV. You can take it wherever you like and play games on it no matter where you are in the world.

That’s why I’m really bewildered at the way many online are comparing the Switch to other consoles (including the Wii U). Although Nintendo – for some bizarre reason I still can’t comprehend – is adamant that the Switch is a home console, that’s frankly bullshit. It’s a handheld, and anyone saying otherwise is… well, ‘wrong’ sounds harsh. Not right, basically. Continue reading “Let’s not piss around – the Switch is a handheld” →

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe hands-on preview

Published on by Chris Scullion8 Comments

mario-kart-8-deluxe-boxThe reaction to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has been oddly tepid so far.

Maybe there’s a slight sense of disappointment that while Splatoon gets its own proper sequel, Mario Kart 8 instead gets an enhanced re-release.

Or maybe it’s just the fact that this is the first time in Mario Kart history that Nintendo has dipped back into the same well rather than offering a brand new helping of tracks, characters and gameplay mechanics.

Whatever the reason, I don’t share the same indifference. I believe Mario Kart 8 is the best game in the series, so getting the chance to play it wherever I want in the world is something that would excite me even if it was a straight carbon copy of the Wii U game. Continue reading “Mario Kart 8 Deluxe hands-on preview” →

Nintendo Switch hardware hands-on impressions

Published on by Chris Scullion9 Comments

Yesterday I attended the UK Nintendo Switch Premiere in London’s Hammersmith Apollo (or whatever it’s called these days).

There I went hands on with a bunch of games planned to launch for the Switch in its first couple of months.

Over the next week or so I’m going to be writing up a series of in-depth hands-on articles for each of these games, one at a time (except for Splatoon 2, which I unfortunately didn’t get time to try out).

Before that though, it makes sense that I would give my thoughts on the Switch hardware itself: its strengths, any weaknesses it may have and, ultimately, whether I personally think it’s worth the £279 / $299 price that’s caused so much controversy. Continue reading “Nintendo Switch hardware hands-on impressions” →

Nintendo Switch presentation – Every announcement and trailer on one page

Published on by Chris Scullion6 Comments

zelda-botwWell, it finally happened. Nintendo finally lifted the lid on the Switch and revealed all the juicy details.

The problem is, it did it in Japan. Which meant here in the UK we had to get up at 4am to see it.

Yer man Scullion did it. Because he’s a maniac. But there’s a real possibility you didn’t. Maybe you had work or school the next day, or maybe just “fuck that”.

The thing is, if that’s the case and you’ve just woken up and are ready to head out, you don’t have time to watch an hour-long presentation.

Enter yer man Scullion (not like that, you deviant). Continue reading “Nintendo Switch presentation – Every announcement and trailer on one page” →

My 100 best (and worst) ONM headline jokes

Published on by Chris Scullion5 Comments
ONM issue 5, the first I appeared in
ONM issue 5, the first I appeared in

My six years at the Official Nintendo Magazine were (at the time of writing at least) the best six years of my career.

There were plenty of reasons for this: it was my first major job, it was the job I’d always wanted to do, and there was a massive reader base who regularly communicated with me (many of them still do to this day).

One of the main reasons, though, was that I always had the freedom to tell bad jokes.

I’ve told bad jokes all my life, but usually people at school and uni would groan and walk away. ONM was my chance to tell bad jokes to tens of thousands of people who were less tempted to bail because they’d already paid £3.99 for the privilege. Mwa haaaa.

Recently I was going through my ONM archives and I started chuckling at some of my worst jokes, many of which I’d forgotten over the years. It got me in a nostalgic mood, so I’ve decided to share said nostalgia with you.

I’m going to run a series of articles based on my time at ONM, sharing my favourite ‘funny’ moments. In the future these will include my best screenshot captions and my best review quotes.

Today though, I’m sharing 100 of my headline jokes – be it the headlines themselves or (most often) the snarky one-liners under the game name in previews and reviews. Continue reading “My 100 best (and worst) ONM headline jokes” →